18th March, Brenu Beach - Fieldwork drawing to a close

Mark Hulme writes: We are into the last couple of days of fieldwork in Ghana for this winter season and I walked the last transect this morning so thought I’d post an update of the results of the last few weeks transects since Damongo before it all gets a bit hectic with preparations to leave back to the UK on the 22nd of March.

Kogyae was very interesting with a little more mud on the terrible road and a little more burning having gone on since we last visited, particularly in the reserve, which was blamed on poachers who had been subsequently arrested, opening up the understory of the dense woodland there. Much of the previously burnt ground was regenerating as in Damongo further North. 24 Pied Flycatchers were seen or heard compared to 15 on the previous visit, perhaps indicating that numbers have increased slightly or the birds have become more detectable, possibly some birds had moved into the more recently burnt woodland from elsewhere. 12 Melodious Warblers were recorded, 6 of them singing, as was also common in Melodious Warblers in Damongo, compared to 8 recorded with one singing last time. Five Tree Pipits were seen, whereas none were recorded last time and 6 Whinchats (looking rather grand in fresh breeding plumage) compared with 12 last time, which may indicate a decrease but the numbers were small enough to be unsure of this. Some points with Whinchats recorded previously did not yield any this time but a snap-shot point count does not necessarily mean all birds in the vicinity were recorded! Interestingly, though, slightly fewer Whinchats were also recorded in Damongo. 12 European Bee Eaters had turned up since last visit, 8 House Martins were on transects with a flock of 30 plus also seen near camp and, most strikingly of all, 58 Willow Warblers recorded, most of them singing, compared to 30 last time when no song was heard at all. One transect on the penultimate day produced 21 Willow Warblers in open scrub and teak with scattered large trees, compared to 8 last time. Surely this is either indicative of either a recent influx of new individuals or higher detectability due to increased frequency of vocalisations, in either case it seemed like they were preparing for an imminent journey. Some extra bonus migrants in Kogyae included a female Short-Toed Snake Eagle, an immature Peregrine Falcon and a single Barn Swallow.

Ringing at Kogyae was also very interesting with 20 new migrant birds caught and 3 retrapped from previous visits, all at the one ringing site outside the reserve, compared with around five migrants caught at the same site in February. Ringing effort was higher this time due to two ringers being present, with 3 mornings compared with 2 last time and 2 afternoon sessions catching one migrant each, but it does seem that relative catches of migrants were up. In total 8 new Melodious Warblers were caught, suggesting that the transects in the Kogyae habitat underestimate their numbers, with one retrapped from January. 6 new Willow Warblers were caught, some using a tape-lure, as well as 3 new Pied Flycatchers, 1 carrying a lot of fat, and one from December. 1 new Nightingale and 1 from December with much fat, 1 new Spotted Flycatcher and 1 new Garden Warbler rounded off the migrant captures.

Melodious Warbler, Kogyae



Pied Flycatcher, Kogyae



Nat recording habitat data on a point count, Kogyae



Charcoal burning - a common occurrence in Kogyae



After a day or two in the capital, Accra, we were off to Kakum again, in the forest zone about 25 km inland from the city of Cape Coast. There had been slim pickings previously as far as migrants go on the five transects here and not a huge amount had changed this time, though a few Barn Swallows had been joined by a small number of European Bee Eaters over the plantations on the edge of the National Park, common swifts were not seen in contrast to 32 seen flying (of course) on the previous visit. One transect did throw up a couple of House Martins, a foraging Willow Warbler and a Spotted Flycatcher flycatching what must have been a stick insect, it isn’t nesting here like Chris O’s turtle dove is it? I very much doubt it. Otherwise a Melodious Warbler seen at the new ringing site was the only other migrant confirmed. Still no definite Wood Warblers, sadly. No migrants were caught over 3 mornings ringing, 2 at a brand-new site since the CES site has mostly been cleared to make way for a new plantation, despite close to 200 birds being caught in total. Some of the highlights of those caught included Western Bluebills, White-Tailed Alethes and a White-Crested Hornbill with a tail almost as long as Steve is Tall……

Plantation and forest at the edge of the National Park



Clearing net rides in the rain forest is hard work!



The Ringing Base at the new Kakum site - Tina, Steve and Rachel



Blue-Billed Malimbe, Kakum



Beautiful Brenu Beach (where I’m again very happy to be writing this blog from) has revealed 3 Spotted Flycatchers on one transect in rather open scrubby habitat a little inland, compared to one seen off-transect in a cassava field last time. Have they been here all along and switched habitat later in the winter as other habitat became unsuitable or have they moved in from elsewhere in the past month? It seems a little dryer here than last time. One Whinchat was viewed on transect and one off-transect, two were also recorded previously. No Garden Warblers or Nightingales have been recorded on transects but one of each have so far been caught during mist-netting, the Garden Warbler with little fat and the Nightingale seemingly fattening up for migration, as well as one Melodious Warbler, so very recent reports further North of possible passage of Nightingales and Melodious Warblers may well be true but not all have yet moved on.

Tourism on the coast is developing at break-neck speed and some coastal scrub has already been cleared even since our last visit. A nice-looking patch of scrub next to our constant-effort ringing site has been ear-marked for a new resort so this valuable habitat for Nightingales and Garden Warblers is certainly under threat at the moment, making it all the more important that we find out soon how habitat change may affect declining populations of wintering migrants. It’s been a pleasure to have been in Ghana working on this project over the last 10 weeks or so and I’m looking forward to looking at the whole dataset for these last two visits. The thanks, of course, must go to Chris Hewson for becoming a father leaving me to step into his fieldwork shoes (not literally you understand) – congratulations Chris!

Tina with a Pied Crow, Brenu



The Transect Team - Nat, Tina and Mark

Burkina Faso: Update from Chris, Tim, Mohammed and Daniel 5th March 2010

Chris Orsman writes: Even after just 2 weeks since we were last here, there’s a perceptible change in the lakeshore landscape. With water levels slowly dwindling, what remains of the grass near the lake is drying out, and receiving ever greater pressure from livestock. In places the former shoreline and dry hollows resemble the dune expanses of the “machair” of parts of Scotland, but without the greenery, and a lot more dung!

Danae and Phil at the lake in October 2009:

...And the same spot 4 months later in February 2010:

There hasn’t been any great change in the mix of migrants present, but a notable change in numbers (or detectability!) of some species. Whilst the ringing team caught a few Subalpine Warblers, the transect surveys struggled to pin many down, and only 2 were noted, compared with 30 last time! Despite the fact that these birds are about to head off to breed, those that were spotted and watched outside of the transects were largely silent, whereas many were calling or singing in January. Are they less concerned with winter territoriality at this stage?
Bonelli’s Warblers are again vocal, but their numbers appear to have dropped. It may be a measure of the further desiccation of shrublands away from the lake, where we continued to record these birds last time, but largely absent in February.

Bonelli's Warbler:

Olivaceous Warblers were almost absent during transects this time around, but the odd territorial bird was noted during the visit, including one during the whole-area-search on 3rd March. No Orphean Warblers on transects at all this time, and local warbler species not as evident either. However, a Desert Cisticola to the north on the 28th Feb was a welcome new species for the project.

Although more Barn Swallows and Red-chested Swallows were seen during the stay, very few were recorded during the transects. Away from the transects, however, “flava” wagtails have been seen in small flocks of up to 50. Hoopoe numbers have dropped, and whilst Woodchat Shrikes have remained stable, some of them have shifted habitat slightly. More of them are venturing into the denser wooded areas nearer the lake, and can also be found hunting amongst the lakeshore livestock.

Woodchat Shrike:

Also on the shoreline, and on several transects, a more than decent representation of Northern Wheatears once again, despite hearing the first early reports of some arriving back in the UK! Some of the males are looking really smart pre-breeding, and challenging the few Black-eared Wheatears for the “Top-Chat” title. Having said that, the male Common Redstarts take a lot of beating, and although few were seen on transects, our whole area search around the east ringing site yielded 7, with 4 practically together, one of them unsurprisingly ringed, and no less than 10 days earlier!

Common Redstart outside our accomodation in Oursi:

The most dramatic change has been the rise in Turtle Dove numbers, and suggestions that these latish European arrivals may actually be on the move. Whereas on previous visits they were relatively abundant in favoured roost habitat, they are now much more widespread, and have been seen on all but one transect. They’ve even been in the driest habitats some kilometres to the north, and the occasional flock of 100+ have been seen moving north from the lake during the evening. Further to this, these supposedly silent birds have at times been heard calling. During the whole area search, a single Turtle Dove was flushed from a lone acacia shrub, and amazingly a nest with egg was spotted. Perhaps coincidence that another dove species was nesting there, and I know not what a Laughing Dove nest looks like, but how I wish I’d taken a picture of said nest for others to see! When we went back at the end of the survey there was no bird to be seen. Conditions for feeding here appear to be favourable, but is it actually possible that a Turtle Dove could nest in Burkina? Fantastic news comes in the form of our ever helpful Oursi colleagues, Aly and Omar, who are going to be able to join us at Nazinga for our final 2 weeks. Extra help for us (maybe more nets to catch a few more migrants than last time?), but also fantastic training and experience for them we all hope! Once again, it has to be said the elephants will play their part, as they will be new species for the lads. Can’t wait!

Sunrise at the start of a transect in Oursi:

Burkina Faso: Ringing Report from Oursi 21 Feb - 3 March

Tim Walker writes: We were in situ again from 21 February and ringed every morning until 3 March. The four major sites each had 2 consecutive sessions and at the end we tried a new site which was effectively a fruit orchard (growing a sweet tasting fruit called gib gib?). A line of 4 60’s and a 40 kind of reminded me of Icklesham in East Sussex (though obviously on a much smaller scale). We had to work hard here to keep up with catches - 119 (+1 retrap) in 2 hours on the first morning and 141 (+1 retrap) in just under 3 hours on the second (3rd March). This latter site could be one for the future.

Mohammed setting a net at the 'Oursi north' site

The 4 main sites yielded 299 birds (+43 retraps) over 8 sessions, which is a decrease on our earlier visit. However it has to be borne in mind that average net opening times were diminished due to rising temperatures. There is no cloud cover here and it is already hot by 08h30 or thereabouts.

87 (+12 retrap) migrants were trapped over the period comprising 14 species. Most numerous were Common Redstart with 19 (+3 retraps) with interestingly, all but two of these being males of varying age. So do females winter in different areas? Bonelli’s Warblers with 17 (+1 retrap), and Common Whitethroat with 15 (+1 retrap) were the next and the only other migrants to reach double figures. A pleasing total of 8 (+1 retrap) Woodchat Shrikes were trapped, as well as 8 (+1 retrap) Olivaceous Warblers. Some work needs to be done on the latter as more than one race is involved - we have various biometrics to scrutinise at a later stage! Other species included just singles of Chiffchaff and on the final morning, a male Willow Warbler. Reed Warblers started to appear with 4 caught in the last few days. Exotics (from a British point of view!) were 3 (+2 retrap) Hoopoe; 5 Subalpine Warblers; 4 (+2 retrap) Orphean Warblers; a male Blue-headed Wagtail, and a cracking full adult male Black-eared Wheatear.

A further example of site fidelity involves the only Wryneck caught to date this year. Ringed on the 24th Jan, it was retrapped the following day from the same net. Amazingly it was caught again in the same net on the 22nd Feb when it was 2 grams heavier than previous captures.

I shall close on another raptorial note! A Gabar Goshawk is one thing, but an immature female Dark Chanting Goshawk is quite another. Hopefully the photo will give an impression of its formidable size. The wing length was 308 mm and the weight an astonishing 670 grams!

I should also mention that the lake at Oursi is a Mecca for waterfowl, with White-faced Whistling Duck and Knob-billed Ducks being the predominate species. But that is not to say that species such as Garganey are not also abundant, and to see upwards of 100 birds in a day was not an unusual sight. Being interested in waders as I am, I was keen to find Black-tailed Godwits, and the highlight must have been the 107 birds on the 23rd Feb (though these numbers had reduced to just 8 birds by the 4th March). These are of the nominate Dutch Limosa limosa race, but, try as I might, I could not track down a single colour marked individual. I also scanned the many Glossy Ibis, again in vain, for colour rings. Sacred Ibis, 3 Black-Crowned Cranes and many many Wood and Green Sandpipers, Ruff, and the odd Marsh Sandpiper were also notable.

On Sunday we head back to Nazinga for our final session. Hopefully we can improve on the solitary Redstart we caught last time. The final Nazinga report may well be written back in the UK!

Ghana: 27th February - From Kakum back to Damongo - What's changed?

Mark Hulme writes: The fourth visit has started in earnest now, we’ve just finished Damongo and preparing for the journey to Kogyae again. After finishing off Brenu Beach earlier in the month, with no more migrants seen on the second transect there and just one garden warbler re-trapped from the previous morning, we said goodbye to the beach, for now, and started in Kakum. Kakum National Park consists of semi-deciduous forest and hosts a wide variety of forest bird species plus, hopefully, the odd migrant or two.

The transects were markedly different to those I’d conducted previously, with lush vegetation and much degraded forest amongst palm oil and cocoa plantations and subsistance farmland. Many forest understory and second-growth species such as green crombec, western nicator, grey-headed bristlebill, brown illadopsis and red-bellied paradise flycatcher can be seen (or, in many cases, more often heard) outside the park but migrants were pretty low on the ground, with just two spotted flycatchers seen foraging after a thunderstorm. In the air, however, it was a slightly different story, with one honey buzzard flying overhead, 30 barn swallows seen over a number of different transects and 15 common swifts, with some more also spotted walking between transects. Not huge numbers but an indication of the geographic variation in the swallow and swift wintering ranges at this time of the year in Ghana as these were not recorded on transects elsewhere on this visit. A small number of points on the canopy walkway within the park was where a number of the common swift were viewed and also provided some excellent birding with species such as blue-headed wood dove, red-billed helmet shrike, forest woodhoopoe and Ussher’s flycatcher readily visible. Being in the canopy of a rainforest in the early morning must be one of the best experiences for anyone interested in wildlife.

The continued lack of wood warblers was a little disapointing, indicating that either they are wintering elsewhere, are at very low densities or that they are just not being detected in the dense forest habitat. This has certainly been the most challenging part of the trip so far from a migrant-detection point of view. The lack of wood warblers, or other migrants, during the ringing sessions would, however, seem to add weight to the theory that there just aren’t that many around. Kemp’s longbill, yellow-browed cameroptera and speckled tinkerbird partly made up for it this time around.

A point on the canopy walkway, Kakum National Park



Palm oil plantation, Brenu



After picking up Steve Dodd and Rachel Taylor, the new ringing volunteers, from Accra airport we headed north again to Damongo, unfortunately without two of their bags but they made it on the next flight and joined us three days later! As noted in Chris’s blog from Nazinga further north in Burkina Faso the vegetation in the savanna zone has been recovering from the lack of water and burning, with some low green grass sprouting, a few more leaves on the trees and some low saplings around with dense foliage which was not present before. The birds may have moved around a little with pied flycatchers and willow warblers more numerous on some transects than before and absent on some transects where they had been common previously. It is difficult to say, at this stage, whether there is a pattern here, but one transect which passed through some of the densest canopy open woodland contained 8 pied flycatchers compared to five last time, though only two were on points, and one transect in Mole National Park did not yield a single pied flycatcher whereas six were seen or heard in January. In Mole it seemed as if the vegetation had not grown as much as outside the park and may even have become drier that in January, so perhaps prey species were suffering. Willow warblers were singing a lot more than last time, unsurprising, perhaps, seeing as in a few weeks they will be returning to their breeding grounds to establish territories. Three whinchats were also observed, one woodchat shrike and three melodious warblers, one singing, behaviour which had not been observed on the last visit. A nice male common redstart with a marsh harrier flying overhead brightened up one point and a few house martins also seem to have appeared.

A bit greener than last time - a point on transect 1, Damongo



Whinchat in degraded savanna, Damongo




The ringing effort has been increased with two ringers present. Outside the constant effort sites more nets have been opened and targeted for certain species, which has enabled decent catches of migrants, with 14 in total over six days ringing, including two pied flycatchers, six willow warblers, five melodious warblers (including one recaptured having been ringed in October at the same ringing site) and a nightingale. One little bittern was also caught, though we have yet to confirm if this is the migratory or resident sub-species. Of the more exciting African resident species caught a gabar goshawk and a red-necked buzzard were two highlights and four stunning blue-breasted kingfishers in one morning in Mole just seems a bit greedy to me! After taking down the nets this morning we all went round the corner to see the elephants go for a swim in the nearby lake, with more than a hint of envy in our eyes.

Kogyae awaits for us now, where we hear there has been rain, it will be interesting to see if this precipitates (sorry) another change in migrant numbers. Until next time….

Tina and Rachel ringing a red-billed firefinch in Mole National Park



Willow warbler, Mole National Park




Northern puffback male, Mole National Park

Burkina Faso: Ringing Report from Nazinga 6 – 17 February

Tim Walker writes: The Burkina Team are now back in the capital, Ouagadougou, for 2 nights, before travelling north again to Oursi for our final stint there this trip.

Picture of me sporting traditional Tuareg headgear....just the thing for the sun (although notice how I've found a nice patch of shade....!)

So we are halfway through the programme and already there are stark differences between the 2 sites. From a ringing perspective, operations at the Ranch de Gibier de Nazinga revealed a more than significant drop in captures as compared to Oursi. With an identical 11 netting sessions of comparable time span, the total numbers caught were 337 new and 20 retraps. This gives a combined running total of 1223 new and 86 retraps, making 1289 captures.

Of this 1289 total, 27.7% has come from Nazinga and 72.3% from Oursi. The most revealing fact about the Nazinga catch is that it only contains 1 Palaearctic migrant, a solitary first winter male Redstart! And that, despite tape luring on alternative mornings using a variety of species calls, though concentrating on phylloscopus warblers and Pied Flycatcher.

Whilst at Nazinga we continued to catch small numbers of African warblers such as Grey-backed Camaroptera, Tawny-flanked Prinia, and Senegal Eremomela. Perhaps the most challenging to extract were a small party of 3 Bearded Barbets that seemed to be attracted to the mixed phylloscopus tape! They are hideously beautiful with massive vice-like bills and clenched feet that make Starlings a breeze to extract by comparison. Nor for the faint hearted, let alone raw trainees!

As a first time visitor to this part of the world the window of new birds revealed to me is staggering. Too many to list here, but some of the most dramatic include White Helmet Shrike, Bruce’s Green Pigeon, Grey-headed Bush Shrike, Red-throated Bee-eater, Giant Kingfisher, Pied-winged Swallow, Green Wood-hoopoe, Lavender Waxbill, African White-backed Vulture, Yellow-billed Shrike, both Lesser and Greater Honeyguide, Pearly Spotted Owlet, Banded Martin, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird, Blue-breasted Kingfisher, Black-crowned Tchagra, Striped Kingfisher, 3 species of sunbird, Yellow Penduline Tit, White-rumped Swift, White-shouldered Black Tit, Yellow-mantled Widowbird, Grey-headed Kingfisher, Little Bee-eater, Greater Painted Snipe, African Fish Eagle and Yellow-fronted Canary.

A Red-throated Bee-eater - a truly stunning bird.

The other notable difference between the 2 sites is that at Nazinga there are no domesticated goats, sheep, cattle, or donkeys. There are mammals, but they tend to be of the wild variety. Hence we are enraptured by Elephants daily, Anubis baboons, Green Monkey, Warthog, Roan Antelope, Waterbuck, Bushbuck, Oribi and Buffon’s Kob. Nile crocodiles are viewed from a safe distance in the lakes!

At Oursi nets are set at height to allow all but cattle to pass underneath. At Nazinga its fingers crossed as anything larger than a monkey or warthog will trash your net if contact is made! So far so good at that site.....

Burkina Faso: Nazinga 05/02/10 – 18/02/10

Chris Orsman writes: Back in December, our last spell in Nazinga, much of the landscape was charred following the burning of the savannas. What has changed is that so many of the once sorry looking trees and shrubs are now bright with new growth, and whilst many taller species are fruiting, yet more are now in flower.




Much more obvious than last time are the Scarlet-chested, Pygmy and Beautiful Sunbirds, busy about the flowering shrubs and very vocal defending territories. Alongside these, the local warblers are out in force. Tawny-flanked Prinias seem to be everywhere, as are the Grey-backed Camaropteras, and more than one large cisticola (Croaking or Winding – I’m still not too sure!) but most noticeable are the Senegal Eremomelas, like the sunbirds, now highly vocal and territorial. Something about the habitat has improved post-fires.


The first of the few migrants encountered was a sole Northern Wheatear, on our first transect outside of the ranch on nearby farmland. During all the 3 “farmland” transects, the dry weedy stubbles didn’t appear to be supporting as much as on previous visits - perhaps supplies are exhausted – but the lack of Whinchats and just one Tree Pipit was made up for by a scattering of Woodchat Shrikes, a couple of Emin’s Shrikes, and at least two breeding pairs of Hueglin’s Wheatears.

Our first transect back within the ranch transect has altered beyond recognition, as it passes through a research zone that is not supposed to be burnt. A fire broke out here in January, and at this late stage the grasses are that much drier than early December. As it was accidental, no one was on hand at first to control it, and it spread like, well, you-know-what! It also drastically changed one of our ringing sites, so much so that all the net rides were very open, and we considered moving to a new spot. Walking through this habitat promised little, but amazingly, it is now alive with even more Hueglin’s Wheatears than the farmland. This late burn of old grassland clearly favours them, as they weren’t recorded in any of the other earlier-burnt areas.
On the first woodland transect, the first Pied Flycatchers were seen, albeit just 3! We did elsewhere see least 3 other individuals, but not one more on any other transects. Even our “whole area search”, which centred on some very promising habitat, failed to uncover any others. Compensating for this was the now more visible Swamp Flycatchers, Pale Flycatchers and Senegal Batis.

As for the mystery of the Willow Warblers, almost entirely absent in December, they remained non-existent at Nazinga, until our 9th day. Early on two successive mornings, a handful of individuals either called or sang, but very briefly. In November, they were abundant and singing almost all morning, behaving as leaf warblers should, foraging in the fine extremities of tall, birch-like trees in full leaf (will endeavour to find out the species for next time!). By December, the leaves had browned or fallen. These trees remain largely bare in early February. However, a close examination of a few specimens shows that these are producing new growth, and that this in turn is already supporting invertebrates. Could the first few Willow Warblers be the vanguards of some hoards which will arrive in time for a full canopy in early March?
Green and Common Sandpipers have been seen about lake shores almost daily, and occasional “flava” wagtails, Barn Swallows and a few Sand Martins. A single Black Stork was also recorded.Onwards to the Sahel once more, where temperatures we hear are soaring! How will the birds cope? Will our nets survive the livestock? And most curiously, will Tim eventually turn into a chicken after eating nothing but poulet for 2 months?

Ghana 7th February - From Mole to Kogyae to Brenu

Mark Hulme writes: Mole National Park proved to be another good site for pied flycatchers, with six seen along one transect, once again in the open woodland, although the busy ringing site only yielded a tree pipit and a green sandpiper as the token migrants amongst over 100 birds caught. Despite willow warblers and pied flycatchers being present and the net positions at the new site seeming to be promising they refused to be caught. At least there were no problems with large mammals, with the elephants prefering to wallow in the dam next to the old site and the kob, bushbuck and waterbuck watering elsewhere.

Daniel, Paul, Nat and Zack having just opened the nets at the Mole ringing site



Daniel checks fat on a yellow-crowned gonolek



Paul with a green sandpiper



Grey-headed kingfisher



Lavender waxbill



On the way to the next site, Kogyae, Daniel left us to attend his lectures in Accra and we were joined by Ernestina, a graduate who will be with us for the rest of the fieldwork. Kogyae, in the central-belt of Ghana, is savanna but rather less dry and more vegetated than around Damongo. Seven transects revealed good numbers of willow warblers in the trees around the farmland, fewer pied flycatchers than further north, though some did frequent the farmland as well as the patchy teak and cashew plantations with open understories, and a few more melodious warblers in the woodland than in Damongo. Two spotted flycatchers were seen foraging in the farmland and whinchats were numerous in certain areas of open farmland, both stubble fields and burnt areas, which presumably still maintain some prey for them. Although the cohort of migrant species is similar to further north early indications suggest that there seem to be some interesting latitudinal differences in numbers of birds and the habitats they use. The ringing sites were quiet and produced two melodious warblers and a spotted flycatcher in the challenging woodland habitat.

Tina next to a tree that hosted two willow warblers in farmland near Kogyae



Mark and Tina after battling through some particularly burnt scrub



and the scrub in question...



Kogyae is a beautiful place and the reserve guards are very helpful and knowledgeable but the sun was unyielding and we were all quite relieved to see the lush vegetation and a few clouds in the sky as we approached Brenu Beach to work the coastal scrub for three days. It was amazing to see the the 500 year old colonial castles silhoueted against the Atlantic Ocean and the scale of this project becomes aparent when you think of the work being conducted all the way from here to the sahel in Burkina Faso. My first transect here displayed the difficulties of surveying for cryptic species in thick vegetation with two singing nightingales detected in the scrub between points to add to the handful of whinchats, three greenshank and one ringed plover seen along the coastal lagoon. The importance of the ringing activity was thus confirmed when the first day threw up four garden warblers, all part-way though their winter moult. It is at times like this, as I write this blog on a tropical beach with nightingales and garden warblers 50 metres away, that battling through the various challenges we have faced to collect this data all seems worth it! So one more day at Brenu Beach and onwards and upwards to Kakum and the completion of the third round of site visits. I’m not so keen to talk about the football this time…Ghana so nearly won the Africa Cup of Nations – Egypt just scraped past them in the final.

A garden warbler caught at Brenu Beach



Paul rings a laughing dove, Brenu Beach



Nat ringing a pied flycatcher in Damongo



Daniel collecting habitat data on a point count in Damongo