The Gambia & Senegal birding trip report

Guide: Nick Buys – January 2025

Our short birding tour covering mostly Gambia and a couple of days in the southern part of northern Senegal started of just south of Banjul and the first two days was spend exploring the area near the coast. We decided to spend the first morning in the open scrub Savannah close to Tanji Bird Reserve which was a great choice and an excellent introduction to birding in this part of the world. A Broad-billed Roller was seen at the hotel and a roadside Red-necked Falcon was a great start to the day. Once we stopped and started walking the birds came quickly. Our main target here was Chestnut-bellied Starling and we quickly found a good number of them including a nest.

Yellow-crowned Gonolek, Singing Cisticola, Lavender Waxbill, Red-billed Firefinch, Little Weaver, Abyssinian, Purple and Blue-bellied Roller, Double-spurred Spurfowl, Black-billed Wood-Dove, Senegal Coucal, Green Woodhoopoe, African Grey Woodpecker, Viellot’s Barbet, Grey Kestrel, Northern Crombec, Senegal Eremomela, Red-chested Swallow, Beautiful, Splendid and Variable Sunbird, White-billed Buffalo-Weaver, Northern Red Bishop, Lesser Honeyguide, Yellow Penduline-Tit and Chestnut-crowned Sparrow-Weaver were all seen in a couple of hours.

A quick stop at the coast produced Lesser Black-backed, Slender-billed and Grey-headed Gull, Caspian and Lesser Crested Tern, Great Cormorant, African Sacred Ibis and Osprey. We enjoyed a great coffee and seafood lunch before a quick stop at the water points at a nearby woodland produced Olive-naped Weaver, African Paradise-Flycatcher, Blue-spotted Wood-Dover, Western Plantain-eater, Grey-headed Bristlebill, Brown-throated Wattle-eye, Snowy-crowned Robin-Chat, Eurasian Blackcap, African Thrush, Blackcap Babbler, Brown Babbler and Gambian Sun Squirrel. A final late afternoon stop in the Brufut Woodlands produced several new species including Red-bellied Paradise- Flycatcher, African Golden Oriole, Yellow-gorgeted Greenbul, Little Greenbul, Yellow-billed Shrike, Lanner Falcon, African Harrier Hawk, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird, Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, Violet Turaco, Long-tailed Glossy Starling, Lesser Blue-eared Starling, Common Chiffchaff and Yellow-breasted Apalis. A roosting Long-tailed Nightjar was a fantastic end to a great first day.

On the second morning we had an early breakfast and starting making our way south towards the Senegal border. We did a quick stop for two Ovambo Sparrowhawk’s and realised that we are in a nice patch of woodland so we decided to do a short walk which turned out to be very productive with sightings of African Golden Oriole, Fine-spotted and African Grey Woodpecker, Senegal Eremomela, Wahlberg’s Eagle, African Harrier-Hawk, Violet Turaco, Palm-nut Vulture, Lizard Buzzard, Green Woodhoopoe, Greater Honeyguide, Pied-winged Swallow, Willow Warbler, Brown Babbler and Yellow-gorgeted Greenbul. A short stop a little further had a tree full of starlings including Long-tailed Glossy, Bronze-tailed, Greater and Lesser Blue-eared as well as Purple. We stopped at a few lily-covered ponds which were home to White-faced Whistling-Duck, Spur-winged Goose, Lesser and Common Moorhen, African Swamphen, African Jacana, Yellow-billed Egret, Western Marsh-Harrier, African Fish-Eagle, Malachite and Grey-headed Kingfisher, Orange-cheeked Waxbill, Pin-tailed Whydah, Northern Black Flycatcher, Blue-bellied Roller and Senegal Coucal.

Our lunch stop was on the border with Senegal offering lovely mangroves on the opposite bank. We did a short but brilliant boat cruise and had a sandbank full of Western Reef Heron, Yellow-legged, Slender-billed, Lesser Black-backed and Grey-hooded Gull, Caspian, Sandwich and Lesser-crested Tern, Ruddy Turnstone and Pink-backed Pelican. Eurasian Oystercatcher was a nice surprise and further downstream we found Giant Kingfisher, Osprey, Goliath Heron and Senegal Thick-knee, After an enjoyable lunch we had Mottled Spinetail, Pallid Swift, Mosque Swallow and African Palm-Swift overhead. Our final stop for the day was the Gunjur forest where the main target was Capuchin Babbler and after some searching we had a very quick look of a flock so typical of sightings of this elusive species. Other good birds here include Western Bluebill, Guinea Turaco, Grey-headed Bristlebill, Northern Puffback, Blue Malkoha, Brown-throated Wattle-eye, Black-headed Paradise-Flycatcher, Snowy-crowned Robin-Chat, African thrush and Striped Ground Squirrel was a new mammal.

The following morning we did a final bit of birding at the coastal woodland before making our way east and crossing the Senegambia bridge over the River Gambia to northern Gambia. With a fairly long drive ahead we decided to make a few stops for missing targets. The first stop in a patch of gallery forest that looked producing was not really producing too much but we still saw Double-spurred Spurfowl, Northern Yellow White-eye, Klaas’s Cuckoo, Black-headed Paradise Flycatcher, African Golden Oriole, Splendid Sunbird, Common Snipe and African Thrush to name a few. We then stopped in an open field where the main target was Four-banded Sandgrouse which we found as well as Melodious Warbler, Woodchat Shrike, Tree Pipit, Scarlet-chested Sunbird, Red-billed Firefinch, Black-headed Lapwing, Red-cheeked Cordonblue, Western Yellow Wagtail and Northern Red Bishop. Our next stop was a very quick visit to another patch of gallery forest which produced Black-rumped Waxbill and White-backed Night-Heron. We found a huge Saltwater Crocodile before a roosting Greyish Eagle-Owl was a bonus before we moved a short distance where we watched a Spotted Honeyguide and Western Violet-backed Sunbird come to drink before being scared away by a Nile Monitor.

It was a good day for owls as we found a roosting Northern White-faced Scops-Owl and on the way out we found a Eurasian Pied Flycatcher. After lunch we stopped at a roadside pool where we saw Black Heron, Squacco Heron, Grey-headed Bush-Shrike, Pearl-spotted Owlet, Violet Turaco, Yellow Gorgeted Greenbul, African Harrier-Hawk, Purple and Long-tailed Glossy Starling, Palm-nut Vulture and Senegal Parrot. The rest of the afternoon was used to make our way farther east and then across the river to northern Gambia without too many stops. We did however see a good number of raptors including Dark-chanting Goshawk, Gabar Goshawk, African Hawk-eagle, Brown Snake-Eagle, Ruppell’s Vulture, Wahlberg’s Eagle and Long-crested Eagle.

The following morning we decided to visit some savanna and scrub areas before crossing the border into Senegal. It was initially planned for a three day stay but had to be cut short as they had to return home earlier with urgent work matters. So we had a couple of days to try and see as many of the targets as possible. We managed to see Spotted Thick-knee, Four-banded Sandgrouse, Brown-rumped Bunting, Pygmy Sunbird, Scarlet-chested Sunbird, Yellow-crowned Gonolek, Black-billed Wood-Dove, Senegal Eremomela, Tawny-flanked Prinia, Red-chested Swallow, Lesser Blue-eared Starling, White-billed Buffalo-Weaver, Red-billed Quelea, Cutthroat, Northern Grey-headed Sparrow and Sahel Bush Sparrow. Beaudouin’s Snake-Eagle and Bateleur were new raptors seen. As with all African border crossing it can take a bit of time but we managed to make it across and the rest of the day was used to travel to Tobakouta but we did stop at a wetland which produced Black Stork, Yellow-billed Stork, White Stork, Pied Avocet, Black-winged Stilt, African Spoonbill, Greater and Lesser Flamingo.

The group decided to take the following day a bit easier as they still had a lot of travelling ahead so we started with a walk in a nearby woodland and besides the usual suspects we also found Swallow-tailed Bee-eater, Yellow-fronted Canary, African Pygmy Kingfisher, Pearl-spotted Owlet, Northern Puffback, Western Banded Snake-Eagle, Shikra, African Hawk-Eagle, Purple Starling, African Grey Hornbill and Western Red-billed Hornbill. We had two new mammals with Patas Monkey and Guinea Baboon. After a break over lunch it was time for a boat cruise and luckily we had the main target, White-crested Tiger-Heron, which took the pressure off and the rest of the birding could be enjoyed. Other species seen include Goliath Heron, African Spoonbill, Yellow-billed stork, White Stork and many other more common wetland species.

The final morning it was time to for another trip highlight. With an early start the group headed to an island where thousands of Swallow-tailed Kites come to roost and what a spectacle it is to see them all take off first thing in the morning. The area around the island is equally productive and other great species seen include Quail Plover, Short-eared Owl, Saville’s Bustard, Black-bellied Bustard, African Collared Dove and Wryneck. Some mammals seen include Marsh Mongoose, Warthog and Guinea Baboon. Pity that it was such a short trip but the next trip is already planned and looking forward to travel together as a group again. The total species for the trip was just under 250 which is very good for a short relaxed birding trip.