Saturday 8th Oct 2011 - Wood warblers and nightingales, Ouagadougou

Chris Orsman writes - Next day back at the monastery, we tried a recorded playback of the full breeding-ground “pew” of a wood warbler. With no luck early on, we then switched to full song, and in the next net round caught 1 right next to the source. Oddly enough no other birds in thatround of 6 nets, except for a nightingale! Very nice indeed.

Photo above: Aly and Oumar with wood warbler and nightingale

Photo above: Nightingale and wood warbler

Next round no wood warblers, but the third and fourth produced 1 each, both in the exact same spot by the mp3 player. Are they easier to catch now on passage when they are vocal, than later on when they seemed, last season at least, to be quieter? Moved the mp3 player to a spot with a nightingale croaking nearby, and subsequently caught a second of these. Another garden warbler was also caught, so not a bad morning for migrants.
Following news of Wales’s win over Ireland in the rugby, a “relaxed” afternoon of catching up on expenditure, and a few pointers to Aly regarding data entry. Not that he needed it – he was well under way with putting ringing data in before I got involved. Good man!

Friday 7th Oct 2011 - Ringing at the monastery

Chris Orsman writes - Our first ringing session this Friday morning resulted in 63 birds caught, so a good training session, and included 1 garden warbler. There were evidently plenty of nightingales around, and thought early on that I heard something resembling wood warbler “winter pewing”. I was later near convinced, with a clearer more typical breeding-ground call heard, and ultimately saw one bird. Definitely more than one call heard though.

Photo: Busy at the nets at the monastery

This afternoon the Oursi guys had their laptops seen to, getting a French version of the operating system installed. Plus they had all the relevant other software in French too, so nothing lost.

Thursday 6th Oct 2011, Ouagadougou - meetings and monasteries

Chris Orsman writes - Meetings throughout much of the morning, for various members of the team at different times, but eventually we’ve sorted out much of what little things need sorting for this year’s work to go ahead. Not my favourite activity, discussing budgets and contractual agreements! Some more installing of various spreadsheets for the guys to use on their laptops, but then I hear that tomorrow the Naturama computer technician will be around, and able to change their operating system to French. Great news, but it will mean that all I’ve installed will be lost and will need re-installing post-update!
After getting the go-ahead from the Father Abbot on the phone this morning, he wanted to meet us when we arrived at the monastery to set our nets ready for the following morning. He was delighted to be of assistance. With minimal modification to create net rides (we had one ready-made – a ride cut for putting up telegraph poles: ideal), we put up 6 nets; plenty for a morning’s training. Would we catch more than we did last October though? Only 3 birds each morning then! This site does look promising, with loads of shrubby cover. It seems that the grounds of the monastery are fenced off so that livestock cannot wander in, encouraging plenty of scrubby growth and rank grass. Nets set and furled just before dark, we head back to town.
Back to La Source du Sahel, for spaghetti and tomato sauce, with a baguette of fried minced beef and onions. Same as last night, and would prove to be the same every night! Who needs variety when it’s so tasty and excellent value?

Wednesday 5th Oct 2011, Ouagadougou

Chris Orsman writes - Breakfast today was at possibly my favourite local eatery, and the only one in the area that’s open twenty-four-seven, La Source du Sahel. Had the “usual”, of a café au lait (a generous teaspoon of instant coffee on top of a large dollop of sweet condensed milk in a glass bowl, hot water added from a well-used flask – to be slurped from a spoon until the bowl has cooled enough to pick it up!), and a delicious Ouaga baguette stuffed with an oily omelette. All served in the shade from the 7am sun, next to the Rue de Charles de Gaul, one of Ouaga’s busiest commuter routes into the city centre.
Handing -over of equipment today, much relief for me as was a considerable bulk! 2 old laptops included, donated to the project for the Burkina team to be able to input all of their data as they go along, and email it to us at opportune stages during the season. Then to the office, to find that Idrissa and Georges are not around, but no matter, as there’s plenty to do. Meet up with Mohamed, who tells us that our hopes for some ringing training in Ougadougou Forest Park may not be possible. It seems a bit of a blow, but apparently they couldn’t accommodate only because the park staff are preparing for a visit of pan-African conservation dignitaries on the 8th, otherwise they were very keen. That’s great news, for next time at least. However, Georges has already armed Mohamed with an alternative to investigate, a monastery some 25km south of the city. Some introductions to the laptops first, and it’s clear early on that the software in English is not going to be easy for Aly & Oumar. Why didn’t we think of that before?!
Lunch next to the office, boiled rice with delicious sauce arachid, or groundnut sauce, seasoned with dried fish. We then head off to pay a visit to the monastery, arriving mid-prayers, so we seek some shade next to a nearby barrage. Despite the heat of mid-afternoon, there’s loads of bird activity, mostly rainy-season breeders, such as weavers, bishops and resident finches, all in and out of the long grasses at the lake shore. From the same grasses the calls of tawny-flanked prinias, and in the middle distance a dead tree in the lake is home to a dozen or more long-tailed cormorants.
Back at the monastery we ring a gong to announce our presence, and one of the elders agrees to see us. Not foreseeing any problems, he does suggest we should speak with the Father Abbot, and in his absence we are given his number to call him first thing the next day.

Tuesday, 4th Oct , London - Ouagadougou

Chris Orsman writes - Today we know that the season really is underway when I’m woken at 3 ready for my 4am taxi to the airport. Some last minute packing to do of course. Rather a lot of luggage it has to be said. The early flight leaves on time to Brussels, followed by an onward delay, and then a diversion to Cotonou in Benin, before at last I arrive 6 hours late in Ouagadougou. Although it’s been hot in London lately, the 29C greeting me at 2100hrs as I leave the plane for the steps down to the tarmac, well, still a bit of a shock, even after a few trips here now. Through the usual checks, including being beckoned by the surly-looking customs guys who wanted to see in my luggage, and at some rather odd looking equipment within! Just as before, when I said it was for our work with Naturama, our project partners here in Burkina, smiles of recognition arrived and then a quick wave of the hand to usher me through. The familiar faces of Aly, Oumar and Daniel are there to greet me, and a welcome sight too! Lots of catching up to do, and a chat well towards midnight discussing what was to come this season, and, more immediately, during my week in Ouagadougou.

Post-fieldwork discovery!

Mark Hulme writes: Alex and I then headed off for a week’s travelling in the south east of the country around Keta Lagoon where the rigours of 3 months of fieldwork finally got to me and I spent most of the time feeling unwell by the beach, but, ever-dedicated to my cause half-an-hour’s birding outside where we were staying threw up a Red-backed Shrike in the vegetable fields, a palearctic migrant not seen before in Ghana. A good omen for next winter perhaps……


Red-backed Shrike post-fieldwork, near Keta

1st -3rd April

Mark Hulme writes: The field season was now drawing to a close but we had time for one more foray into the forest zone. On the way back to Accra we stopped to arrange access to the forest reserve in the Atewa hills, a fairly well-known birding site which had potential for forest-based migrant species as well as some Afro-tropical forest species which are rare or absent from many other forest patches in Ghana. After arranging to come back to see the boss early the next morning we spent several hours trying to find accommodation, mining company employees seemingly having booked up all the rooms in Kibi, we eventually found rooms on the main road towards Kumasi, a bit of a drive in the morning but better than having to put up and take down tents in the dark (or stay in the hotel still under construction which was the only other option!). In the morning we went with a guard and a chainsaw in order to clear the road of any fallen trees and branches since the track is rarely used (indeed it turned out that the guard had never ventured up it before!). On a vegetation-strewn and painfully slow drive up the hill we spotted a White-crested Hornbill and a number of the more common forest birds we see regularly in more degraded forest and once we started walking a few more unusual birds started being glimpsed – White-spotted Flufftail singing, a family party of Red-billed Helmet-shrike calling, Blue-headed Crested Flycatcher, Shining Drongo, Icterine Greenbul, African Broadbill and was that a Yellow-bearded Greenbul over that ant-swarm? Perhaps. Ultimately very difficult but quite exciting birding and, right at the top of the ridge on the very last section of the last survey Tina and I both spotted a Wood Warbler foraging in the canopy of a tree over the track. As usual many signs of logging were evident but not a bad end to the fieldwork for winter 2010/2011 I think. A successful season due to the hard work of Nat, Tina, Abraham, Chris, all in Burkina and everyone else who helped with the fieldwork and funding of this important project. Many thanks to all.


The end of the last survey of 2010/2011, Atewa Forest Reserve


Western Bush Viper, Atewa Forest Reserve