Off to the Gambia (Day 1)

Welcome to The Gambia

 Yellow-billed Shrike

Hooded Vulture

Broad-billed Roller

 Speckled Pigeon

 Cattle Egret

Beautiful Sunbird (Female)

With the boys mad sporting schedules our family holidays tend to be more of the short break variety however with a long Easter break on the calendar we opted to visit The Gambia in Western Africa for a weeks holiday. We decided came to Gambia when I simply typed into Google "where is hot in March". From this point the research suggested it could be a great destination as all the reviews looked fantastic. This would be our first visit to Africa. The Gambia has a population of 1.7 million people and sits on the Atlantic coast.

We stayed at the Kariba Hotel which was truly fantastic. Amazing gardens, stunning pool, sports for the lads, great beach, local restaurants, welcoming staff and brilliant accommodation. 

With a bird list over 550 birds in Gambia there was always going to be plenty to do to keep me happy. 

There are three main groups of bird which can be split as follows :-

1) Resident African Breeders
2) Intra-African Seasonal Migrants
3) Palearctic Over-wintering visitors

From the moment the plane landed Hooded Vultures were soaring over head and remained that way during most of our stay. Upon reaching the hotel and taking in the pool, I had a late afternoon walk around the grounds where I recorded species including Cattle Egret, Broad-billed Roller, Pied Crow, Palm Swift, Barn Swallow, Speckled Pigeon, Yellow-billed Shrike, Common Bulbel, Red-eyed Dove, Lesser Honeyguide, Senegal Cougal, Western Grey Plantain-eater, Village Weaver, Beautiful Sunbird, Splendid Sunbird, Brown Babbler, Bronze Mannakin, Little Swift, Grey headed Gull, Yellow-crowned Gonelek and African Thrush. 

I will try and write a short blog about each area I visited and birds seen.