14th – 23rd Feb 2011

Report from Chris Orsman:
After the final repeat transect visits at Brenu on 9th, it was time to head back to Accra for a “mid-term” rest, and a quick once-over for the project vehicle. There were thankfully no issues to be addressed on the car, so we had it back the following day. A weekend in Accra followed, for all to take a well-earned break (and to catch up on paperwork and blog-writing!).

Whilst in Accra, we supplied the UK HQ’s with all the GPS coordinates for recent migrant sightings here in Ghana. The wizards back at base used some clever GIS mapping to find other parts of Ghana with potentially suitable habitats for these birds. They were able to produce a map of “hotspots” of potential areas to explore for each species which we used as a guide to plan our next couple of weeks in the field.


A refreshed squad re-convened early on Monday 14th, and headed inland and north-east into the Volta Region, bordering Togo, and home to Ghana’s highest peak and a scattered ridge of hills along its length northwards. The “hot-spot” map indicated the possibility of suitable habitats here, but aside from this, Volta Region had not previously been explored by the team. Arriving late afternoon we found ourselves a place to camp in the grounds of a mountain lodge, pitching our tents in the ample shade of mature mango trees. A view from the hilltop overlooked some good looking forest habitat for our first forays the next morning.

Above: The hills of the Volta region

15th Feb An awful but mercifully brief “inconvenience” meant that I wasn’t able to help the team with surveys on our first morning in the Avatime Hills. Apparently the culprit was my lunch yesterday. All I will say is that okra stew is not recommended: I hear (somewhat belatedly!) that even Ghanaians can have problems with it. Leave well alone!!

Mark, Tina and Nat covered some 5 or more kilometres along the hill road to the south, and returned near mid-day having had little luck on the migrant front, save for 3 Willow Warblers after the survey proper had finished, all in Albizia trees. Later in the day Mark explored the road to the north and returned having seen a Spotted Flycatcher.

16th Feb Back to full (?) strength, I set out north this morning with Tina, as Mark and Nat explored the wooded hillsides still further south. We came across 3 Spotted Flycatchers, and a Pied Flycatcher was glimpsed deep in the shadows of a cashew plantation up the hillside to our left. African Harrier Hawk and a Long-tailed Hawk were overhead highlights as we finished off the last hour of the timed species count. No further migrants, though, and sadly none from Mark and Nat.

In the afternoon we headed out even further north to discover whether any good looking habitat was to be found where the hot-spot map indicated. This was around a narrow and not-too-high ridge running north-south. With distinct possibilities evident on the eastern side, we selected our areas for work the next day.

17th Feb Mark and Tina covered an area at the foot of the ridge, where there was a fair amount of disturbance and hence tree-removal. Nat and I walked along the dirt road a little further south where it cut through a much more wooded area. There was still a lot of disturbance here though, but in the shape of mainly cocoa and banana plantations beneath the trees. We still had hopes for a few migrants. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be. After seeing plenty of Naked-faced Barbets, Green Hylias and Grey-headed Negrofinches, we met up again with Mark and Tina, who had had better luck, with Melodious Warbler, Willow Warbler and Spotted Flycatcher.  

Above: Mark and Tina return from fieldwork in the hills of the Volta region

A final afternoon’s look around a scramble of a path in the valley below the camp-site produced no further migrants, but at the head of the group, Mark was lucky enough to spot a White-crested Hornbill in the dense canopy. With the tents packed late afternoon we headed for a night in a guesthouse before trying another potential site just west of there in the morning.

18th Feb With a flask of hot water supplied by the guest-house, we set out to explore the aforementioned site, a low ridge with what looked like reasonable “green” patches, on the satellite images at least. Once there just after dawn, we supped a quick breakfast before fieldwork. Habitat-wise, here we had to “make do” with what appeared to be the best bet for migrant exploration, the least-disturbed portions of the higher parts of the ridge.  

Above: View east from the ridge

It was a largely modified arable landscape, with the promise of more wooded patches in the near distance. Tina and I had a few Tree Pipits, and three Nightingales in what few uncultivated corners we passed.
En route a Violet-backed Starling sang from a tall but solitary and leafless tree. On the way to the higher woods, though, we got rather stuck, hitting a veritable brick wall of dried grass and a tangle of weeds.

Above: Tina working in the dense, scrubby farmland

With no path to follow, we had to turn back, and hope that Mark and Nat had more luck in the other direction. They’d managed to get a little further than we, but it seems that every promised “purple patch” was in fact fairly heavily modified, and that the very best looking parts were totally inaccessible (probably on slopes too steep to farm). They still managed to locate several Willow Warblers, Tree Pipits, Melodious Warblers and a Nightingale. Bird of the morning, though, must have been a Purple-throated Cuckoo-shrike, seen by Mark and Nat.

Cutting our losses, we decided to head for our next target, to re-visit and further explore a part of the Mampongtin Range that we’d looked at last December.

Sadly we had to say goodbye to Nat, for the time-being at least, as he had other pressing business to attend to in Accra. We dropped him off at the tro-tro stop and continued on towards Koforidua. A quick lunch in a cafe, and a brief shop for food supplies, and then the heavens opened. We headed through the lashing rain to set up camp. Still raining, and with less than a warm welcome, the site was a sea of mud and looked like a building site. Learning that there were no facilities on site at all, we turned our tail and went back to town. Another (cheap!) guest house, and a view to revisiting a December site in the morning.

19th Feb What an interesting morning! Between us, Mark, Tina and I revisited the same patches of woodland/farm mosaic as in mid December, and amazingly the exact same migrants were present. A Spotted Flycatcher was in the same tree-felled clearing, Nightingales were in the same thickets and Melodious Warblers sang from the same cover. Were these the same birds as in December? This was all pretty heartening. Galvanized after this first success of the day, and lunch at the Linda Dor Rest Stop on the main Accra-Kumasu road, we called in at the Bunso Arboretum, as mentioned in the guide book, in the hope of setting camp. We were given a fine welcome, and guided to where we could stay, perhaps a little riskily in the shade of some very large monkey pot trees. It’s no palm, but these trees produce a very large seed husk, akin to a coconut in size. Thankfully, though, most had already dropped.
 

Above: Our camp in the Bunso Arboretum

Over dinner we planned our assault on the unsuspecting farmlands and forests over the next few days.

20th – 23rd Feb Mixed fortunes with most migrant species. Hard to come by in the more forested hills, most were near cultivation, or the scrubbier parts of this. Tree Pipits on the plateau, with Nightingales and Melodious Warblers and a few Spotted Flycatchers here, with fewer seen at lower elevations nearer the camp. And just where are all those Garden Warblers?!  

Above: Surveying in the forested hills

Above: Highly degraded hillside habitat….

Above: …and habitat degradation in progress

After 9 days straight of fieldwork, some catch up time was in order, somewhere near the next target area. We bade a fond farewell to the guys at the arboretum, and left for one good site from last December and some exploration of some new spots both in the hills and the plains below.


It was a spectacular climb up a windy road from Nkawkaw, through it would seem some protected forest (there was the hint by way of a sign by the roadside!). No National Parks here, but as with the rest of Ghana there are numerous forest zones where timber extraction is limited and controlled. Perhaps this could be worth a visit? On our travels we spotted the Forestry Division’s regional offices, so we decided we should pay them a visit the next day in our search for advice about patches of good forest, and possible access to these.

In the evening we visited a hotel right next door to our guest-house - a night off from cooking for Abraham and a well earned rest for our most excellent chef and chauffeur! In the knowledge that Thursday would mean a “lie-in” (what’s one of those?!), there were tired smiles all round as we strolled back to our lodgings.

Ghana repeat transects (plus a little roving...) Jan 21 to Feb 9

Mark Hulme writes: After a week of bateleurs, bishops, buntings and bubale (hartebeast) in Burkina we headed back into Ghana, my passport heavier with the weight of a new stamp. Before starting the transects we paid a return visit to the area around Tono dam near the Burkina border. Some pleasant birding was, never-the-less, not exceptional for migrants, with a brace of Wryneck, a handful of Melodious Warblers and Willow Warblers, a couple of Booted Eagles, a few House Martins and a Common Whitethroat in some thorny scrub being seen over a morning of timed species counts. Leaving our lodgings in Navrongo we set up camp at our regular guest house in Damongo and started transects on the 22 February. Once again Willow Warblers, Melodious Warblers and Pied Flycatchers were pretty common in the woodland/farmland mosaic around the town, a few more Tree Pipits also being seen this time around. The area was dry considering the particularly wet rainy season that had just passed with much burning having already taken place, in short very similar to this time last year except for a few more leaves on the trees.

Above: Nat recording vegetation in Damongo

Our two transects in and around Mole National Park were fairly quiet bird-wise, surprisingly dry again, although our ever-helpful guard Zach calling in a Black Wood-hoopoe was a highlight, and a male elephant wandering around camp made for a bit of excitement, as did the unexpectedly prompt service when we ordered our lunch!

A dry-season bloom in Mole National Park

We decided to take the opportunity to re-visit the Daka floodplain and see if the Whinchat density was similar to our visit in the first half of December. There were still plenty of Whinchats, though we detected slightly fewer than last time, and I was impressed by my first visit to this area – a small group of Blue Quails was great to see, to add to the one I saw at Kogyae last year, a gigantic Denham’s Bustard flying in the distance and my first Beaudouin’s Snake Eagle, an excellent view of a female, made for a nice morning’s transect.
After some well-needed rest and office work in Tamale we stopped off at Buipe on the Volta river, the waters having receded a little since the floods last year, and did some timed species counts which produced particularly high numbers of Willow Warblers along the edge of the waterlogged woodland as well as some Wood and Green Sandpipers, a Ruff and a Painted Snipe. A pair of roosting nocturnal Bronze-winged Coursers were flushed by Chris Orsman and Tina, but not by Nat and myself, it’s alright for some, I’ve been looking for that bird for years! It could be an interesting site to keep an eye on in the future.

Educating the Buipe youngsters in birdwatching: Nat, Chris and Tina

Between the 28 January and 1 February Kogyae camp, Kogyae Strict Nature Reserve in central Ghana, welcomed us warmly, as ever, and the fruit bats decided to be a bit quieter this time around, enabling us to get a bit more sleep than usual, until the last night that is.... There had been less burning than at this time last year, perhaps due to the increased rains, and the grass was very tough to walk through, some of it up to two and a half times higher than Tina......Melodious Warblers were perhaps the most common migrant amongst a small number of Willow Warblers and Pied Flycatchers, fewer Whinchats were seen than last year. I detected a Great Reed Warbler close to some burnt grass in which I’d heard one at the same time last year, which was interesting, but overall rather disappointing from a migrant point of view. On the plus side I managed to ride out a rather ominous illness but the elements had their revenge by unleashing a tropical storm on the last night which, whilst it put out a nearby bush fire, uprooted our tents (OK, uprooted my tent, that will teach me not to guy it properly), left Nat and Abraham wondering what was going on when their tents collapsed on them (Aha! So I wasn’t the only one) and had us running around like headless francolins trying to ensure things stayed dry whilst having what seemed like several swimming-pools poured over us all at once. Thankfully no damage was done and we managed to reach Kumasi the next day in one collective piece, and even managed to dry the tents in the morning sun. Tropical sun has its uses.

Buying provisions in Techiman prior to Kogyae

Grass in Kogyae 2.5 times taller than a Tina

From Kumasi, Ghana’s second biggest city and old capital of the powerful Ashanti kingdoms, we decided to investigate some areas on the way to our next transect site, Kakum. Lake Bosomtwi, formed in an ancient meteorite impact crater, is surrounded by rather lush hills which looked promising but we managed only a Melodious Warbler in a short walk along the road so we carried on to Obuasi, the heart of Ghana’s gold-mining industry, not blessed with decent habitat itself but a base to explore nearby hills the following morning. Once again the odd Melodious Warbler and a few Barn Swallows were seen, and we got a refresher in forest birds in anticipation of Kakum, but otherwise not of much of interest to us.

February 4 to the 7 at Kakum was, as always, very interesting in terms of the forest habitat and the different variety of Afro-tropical species on offer. A pair of Tit-hylias were nesting above our tents in some hanging vegetation, and we caught a glimpse of some Mona Monkeys from the canopy walkway this time, indicating that the disturbance caused by it’s presence and the tourists using it wasn’t completely putting off the larger animals from using the area. We also bumped into Justus, who was doing some work on his project looking at stress in birds at the edge of forest fragments, who had re trapped some of the birds we had ringed earlier in the project, mostly Yellow-whiskered Greenbuls. As for migrants, Barn Swallows were fairly common but little else was detected so we headed for Brenu hoping that Nightingales and Garden Warblers were still present.

Above: A Yellow-whiskered Greenbul re trapped at Kakum from last year.

A Velvet-mantled Drongo seen from the canopy walkway, Kakum.

At Brenu, between February 7-9, we had a refresher course from Justus in blood-sampling and detected a small number of Nightingales and a Garden Warbler in the scrub. The degradation of this habitat was even more marked than on my last visit here with developments springing up all over the place. The grassland held a few Whinchats but no Spotted Flycatchers were seen, fitting in with observations from last year suggesting that most leave this area in mid-winter.
So, with the transects successfully repeated we headed back to Accra to re-group, refresh and study the spatial data on likely habitats for Nightingales and Wood Warblers in order to plan our next few week’s roving. We should be in for some exciting times!

2011 Fieldwork begins: 9-19th January

Chris Orsman writes:

09 Jan
Arrived in Accra late this evening with no delays. We headed for the taxi rank and discovered that the fares had gone up quite a lot since last time (only in December!), from 15 cedis to 20 to get to the city centre. The guy explained that fuel prices had gone up. It turned out to be the first of many price hikes as a direct result of a 30% rise in fuel prices nationwide. We arrived close to midnight at the hotel, where more fun was to be had waking the staff to let us in, and then trying keys in several doors until finally the chap found us rooms that weren’t already occupied! Luckily no-one was actually IN their room when we burst in!


10 Jan
Today was a day for sorting equipment, replenishing or just buying anything we felt was needed, and for Mark to get his visa for Burkina. With the Burkina embassy walking distance from the hotel this was amazingly straightforward. A form to fill in plus 145 cedis (for multiple entry 3 months this is cheaper than getting in the UK), a return later in the afternoon, and all done. Abraham came to pick us up from the hotel after the embassy, and headed to the GWS office and met up with Tina and Nat. The rest of the day was spent running around to get a “green card” for the car (to get it through the border with Burkina), but after being given the run-around, we ended up without one and having to head for Burkina card-less. Well, we survived the border crossing last time without it, so... Less time spent sorting through equipment but we ascertain that all is in order.

The plan for the team this first few weeks is to revisit all of the transects we covered last winter, starting with Nazinga in Burkina (the Oursi transects are being capably re-done once a month right through the winter by Aly and Oumar), and then back down to Ghana to Mole, Kogyae and Kakum/Brenu.

Photo Above: Nat, Tina and Mark surveying from Nasia Bridge

12 Jan
After our early morning departure from Accra yesterday, we got to Tamale last night and stopped at a new (but indifferent) guest house outside of town. Post-breakfast we headed north, stopping on the way at the same spot, over the river at Nasia, as with Juliet in October. The area is a whole lot drier now, and the less interesting for it, although one Willow Warbler was spotted in the bank-side shrubs. Ploughing on, we by-passed the last-time lunch spot at Paga, believing that we needed to head to the border sharpish in case of any delays. This time we had no problems, seeing as we already had our visas, and the lack of a green card for the car didn’t matter either. Thus we were heading into the Burkina Faso border town of Po soon after mid-day. A quick lunch stop here, and with a text from Aly, Oumar and Mohammed that they’d just departed Ouaga on the bus, we headed westwards towards Nazinga.

With no space in the car, we needed to get to the camp, drop off, then back to Po to get the other three, AND then back to camp before dark! No elephant encounters on the way in, then upon arrival our rooms allocated (only just though, after an apparently very tardy booking!), and soon Abraham and I headed the 50km back to Po. Needless to say it was later than we expected by the time we got there, but a quick shop for last minute provisions, and with Aly, Oumar and Mohammed on board, back to camp we went. A little after dark when we got in, but just in time to join Tina, Nat and Mark at the restaurant, and a reminder, to me at least, of the “special” Nazinga restaurant experience, i.e the usual “riz et poulet sauté”!

Whilst there, we heard from our friends and regular guides, Mama and Sakaro, with whom we hoped to set out on the first transects in the morning. Turns out their boss did not know we were coming, and also the Director of the ranch needs to be informed! A bit of a spanner in the works, but what we decided was simply to postpone transects until the 14th with no great loss of time. All felt that a day of familiarisation of the terrain and of the birds would be beneficial before work started anyway. This was all dependent on the director allowing us to go ahead!

13 Jan
This first morning at Nazinga we endeavoured to track down the Director of the camp. We arrived at his office at 0700, as instructed, but as he wasn’t there his deputy set out to find him. A short while later he drove up, and a brief meeting convened, during which the now properly informed man-in-charge gave authorisation for us to continue, happily including the assistance of Mama and Sakaro.

Above: The team at Nazinga Camp Observatory

Above: ...and the view from the Observatory!

 

Not surprisingly, the ranch was looking a little sorry for itself. Much had been recently burnt, later in the season than previously (as there had been more rain than usual, so grasses staying greener later). Still, this also meant that the lakes and “barrages” held more water than even in December of 2009, making birding pretty fruitful. As usual, lots of Bush Petronias were just about everywhere, and it seemed there were more Pygmy Sunbirds around than previously (almost as many as Scarlet Chested). Long-tailed Glossy, Purple Glossy and Lesser Blue-eared Starlings were noisily abundant near the water, and Orange-cheeked Waxbills, Red-billed Fire-finches and Yellow-fronted Canaries hopped busily on any open ground.

Above: The team looking for migrants from one of the barrages at Nazinga

Above: Black-headed Plover, Nazinga

Above: Aly taking notes at Nazinga

Pied Kingfishers piped overhead, as Squacco, Grey and Green-backed Herons lurked on the lake shore. Here too were several Swamp Flycatchers, sallying from shrubby overhangs. Larger trees held Bearded Barbet, Grey Woodpecker and Northern Puffback, with distant Fork-tailed Drongo and Northern Black Flycatcher providing a bit of a test of identification skills (the translated French name for the latter is, I believe, Drongo Flycatcher!). In the drier patches of wood, especially of Anogeissus, Pied Flycatchers were readily spotted and heard. It felt as if these trees were in fact greener than at the same time last winter, so would we see more Pied Flycatchers on the transects?

We were to do two transects per morning, so they would be done in half the time, with Mark recording the birds for one “team”, me the other. Over the five days, Aly, Mohammed, Nat, Oumar and Tina sorted out all the habitat and vegetation recording across the two groups, with Mama and Sakaro providing the trusty security.

Above: The team at the picnic site at Nazinga, a site that held Pied Flycatchers

14 Jan
Breakfast was a head-torched gathering in the pre-dawn gloom, round at Tina’s, then all in the car for the short drive into the village zone outside the ranch. As expected all the crops were already harvested, with the usual scattering of low-intensity stubbles of millet, maize, sorghum, ground nut, sesame and cotton. Usual suspects ,too, on the bird front. Senegal Eremomelas twittering occasionally, a Brubru “wheezing” here and there, and seemingly plenty of wing-clapping Flappet Larks. Not always the usual migrants, however. A few Whinchats, 2 Woodchat Shrikes and a Northern Wheatear were not such a surprise, but the flushing of 3 Eurasian Wrynecks was, as we’d not seen any at Nazinga before.


15 Jan-18 Jan
Four further days of surveys this time sampling the mix of habitats to be found within the ranch. With the extent of the burning, I was most surprised at the lack of Hueglin’s Wheatears. Last season they appeared to enjoy the very worst-burnt zones. Maybe this year we were a little too early? Bush Petronias everywhere, of course, Pale Flycatchers and White-winged Black Tits seen now and then in the wooded savannah, the occasional Bateleur overhead, and on one transect along a river, a couple of Woolly-necked Storks took flight from a tree along with 3 Grey Herons, 2 Hadada Ibis, and a Hamerkop. Migrant-wise, however, a Black Stork was pretty good too, and also a few Green, Common and Wood Sandpipers were noted near water. The few migrant passerines noted over the 4 days included just 2 Pied Flycatchers, a Whinchat, a solitary, but singing, Willow Warbler, Yellow Wagtails and Barn Swallows.

 

Above: A male Bataleur soars above Transect 6

Although it seemed at first the field teams were a bit on the large side, with four or five at a time, it worked brilliantly and efficiently, and everyone gained from the shared experience and exchange of ideas.

19th Jan Our final morning at Nazinga, and a day to test and train those bird-ringing skills. Having prepared the site and set the nets last night, the full team (of 10!) arrived at about 06:30 to open up. This was the same site that Tim Walker, Aly and Mohammed (with Sakaro and Daniel) ringed at last year, on the very last day of the work programme in March. That day they were very busy with 130 birds, almost all in the first net-round (mostly sunbirds!). This time would be different, wouldn’t it? 6 nets opened, and another 2 put up on arrival. The team did amazingly with over 150 birds caught – 70 of them Scarlet-chested Sunbirds, with a few Beautiful and Pygmy Sunbirds too. Also caught were Red-billed, Bar-breasted and Black-faced Firefinches, Northern Red Bishops and Yellow-mantled Widowbirds, a few Brown Babblers, and the recapture of two Red-throated Bee-eaters from last year. The highlight perhaps was the sole migrant caught – Western Olivaceous Warbler. The first I had seen at Nazinga (at least, confirmed. I thought I saw one very late on during the March spell last year). An excellent morning of team-work – very well done to all. Thanks especially to non-ringers Abraham, Mama and Sakaro for the extra pairs of hands!

Above: Mohammed takes down the data during the Nazinga ringing session

Above: Olivaceous Warbler - the only migrant caught at Nazinga

With the sun getting too strong to continue, we packed up at 10:30 and made our may back to camp to prepare to leave Nazinga after lunch.

Before parting company, Aly and Oumar first handed over their data from Oursi so far (3 visits to 8 transects, and multiple ringing sessions). A sterling job by them, in particular in their modification of the ringing sites (so much water at Oursi meant 3 of last year’s 4 ringing sites were under water!), and in their determination to reach the most distant ringing site several kilometres over the dunes to the North. With a very few nets they have caught 561 birds to the end of December, including 118 migrants. These have been mostly Common Redstarts, Whitethroats and Chiffchaffs, Western Olivaceous, Western Bonelli’s, Melodious and Subalpine Warblers, and also a few Garden Warblers in early November. New birds to be caught have included Tree Pipit, Sedge Warbler and Blackcap. Also interestingly they have retrapped a few Whitethroats from last winter, all of them at the “Oursi North” site.

Above: One of the Oursi ringing sites - under water

Above: Oursi captures: Grey-headed Kingfisher...

Above: ... and female Blackcap

A check of the transect data sheets and everything looked immaculately presented. A few queries ironed out and the Oursi guys were all set to get the next round under way upon their return home. Some quick goodbyes in English, French and a mix of the two, and the three Burkinabes piled into the car, with Abraham chauffeuring them back to their Ouagadougou-bound bus at Po.


3 hours later Abraham returned, then more goodbyes to the ranch staff followed by our hasty escape, in an effort to get out and south across the border before its alledged closure at 1800hrs. We arrive at 17:30, and are through into Ghana at 18:00 exactly! We return to the CEDEC guesthouse at Navrongo, ready to revisit the Tono Dam area the following day.

26th November - mid December

After work in Bia NP on the morning of 26th November, the team moved north and set up camp in the zone where grassy savanna gives way to forest. It very quickly became apparent that this area of thickets and scattered trees within an agricultural landscape was excellent for Nightingales (about 40 located within 2km of the camp) and Melodious Warblers in particular, with reasonable numbers of Spotted Flycatchers and Whinchats too as well as some Pied Flycatchers and Willow Warblers. Only numbers of Garden Warblers were a little disappointing but we managed to tape lure two on our final morning of ringing here. We visited the site where a British-ringed Whinchat was recovered (with a catapult….) a few years ago, discovering a large maize field – with 2-3 Whinchats foraging within it!

Above: Tina (GWS) surveys migrants at the site where a British-ringed Whinchat was recently recovered.

Our next stop, on 4th December in the hills north of Kumasi that form a relatively sharp boundary between the forest to the south and west and the savannas in their rain shadow to the north-east, was intended primarily as a search for sites where the likes of Garden Warbler were more apparent. Garden Warblers were certainly easier to find than to the west – they could often be found feeding around the flowers of the towering leafless Bombax trees, in the company of sunbirds and bulbuls. On one occasion, a single tree held a party of six.
Our next mission was a dash north to check out the Whinchat population of the Daka floodplain, close to the old merchant town of Salaga. This entailed a trip across the Volta in a ferry that had no timetable or guaranteed sailings, a frustrating state of affairs that lead to an overnight stay in the port of Yeji waiting for a chance to cross. When we did reach Salaga we found a slightly strange and run-down place with a cheery sign saying ‘Welcome to Salaga Slave Market!’ next to the baobab tree that slaves were once tied to before being sold on to coastal traders, and a guesthouse called ‘Prison’ – we, however, opted for the alternative ‘Home At Last’. At the floodplain we counted about 50 Whinchats from the road that crosses it. There were also good numbers of waders, especially Wood Sandpipers but also some Common Snipe, Greenshank and one Painted Snipe. We were mesmerised by the brilliant Carmine Bee-eaters that roamed in flocks and lined bushes, trees and overhead cables and enthralled by the diverse avifauna of the surrounding savanna woodlands that provided such treats as White-shouldered Black Tit, African Hobby, African Blue Flycatcher and African Darter.

Time, however, was running short and it was soon time to head south again, our plans to colour-ring Whinchats having been thwarted by a lack of bait for our spring traps. Despite arriving in what should have been plenty of time, we arrived at the port of Makanga on the north side of the Volta to see the ferry leaving the quay on its way back to Yeji! Horrified but wishing to be free of its erratic sailings, we turned straight round and began to the long drive round to Kumasi via Tamale and arrived at our next destination around the middle of the next day (12th December). Here we found an excellent mix of migrants by surveying both forest remnants amongst the farmland and more open habitats and recorded totals of 11 Nightingales, 8 Garden Warblers, 7 Willow Warblers, 5 Melodious Warblers, 5 Spotted Flycatchers, 4 Whinchats and1 Pied Flycatcher in a morning’s surveying.

Keen to make best use of our last four remaining days we then headed to the southern end of the Mampongtin Range to check out a relatively small area that had produced no less than 5 recoveries of BTO-ringed Garden Warblers over the years. The area had high human population density and correspondingly small amounts of semi-natural habitat remnants in the landscape so we were not surprised that the area proved a little disappointing over all but were amazed at the migrants that were sometimes crammed into the tiny patches that remained. The sight of 6 Willow Warblers that could be found throughout an entire morning in a single medium-sized flowering tree was quite enthralling, especially as the birds seemed to be having such a productive time there, hanging from flower clusters, clinging to the bark of the trunk and giving occasional bursts of song.

Moving west towards the forest zone we surveyed both the lowlands and the hill forests before heading to Winneba on the coast for our final morning of work before the Christmas break. A quick look at the lagoon, a RAMSAR site designated for its tern accumulations, in the evening produced good numbers of waders (especially Greenshanks) and terns, the highlight being a Terek Sandpiper – a very scarce visitor to Ghana and West Africa. The team headed back to Accra on 16th December after finding some Nightingales, Whinchats and Melodious Warblers in the scrub and grasslands behind the lagoon next morning and began preparations for our return home.

Above: The ‘Magic Tree’ that held six Willow Warblers and a Spotted Flycatcher.

Above: One of the Bombax trees that towered above the forest im places, covered in reddish flowers but without leaves. These attracted Garden Warblers and Willow Warblers amongst the sunbirds and bulbuls.

14th November - 26th November

The evening of 14th November saw my (Chris Hewson, BTO team co-leader) arrival from the UK for a month’s fieldwork before Christmas. This coincided precisely with the remnants of the existing team (Chris O, Tina and driver Abraham with Mohamed having returned north to Burkina) arriving back in Accra to regroup and have the car repaired before returning to the field. Unfortunately the latter turned into something of a saga – when we took the car to the Toyota dealership on Monday morning we were told that fixing the source of the leaking oil was not a simple task and that although work would begin later that day, the following day was a public holiday so we shouldn’t expect it to be finished until the end of Wednesday. A Thursday morning start didn’t seem too bad a proposition but Wednesday afternoon became Thursday and Thursday became Friday morning before we were told the car was ready for collection. Our patience was tested to the limit upon arriving at Toyota on the morning of Friday 19th to be told that in fact the car wasn’t ready and not only that, its completion required a part that the dealership didn’t have! To cut a long story short, we were promised the car would be ready if we came back after the weekend and Monday afternoon was agreed.


Taking pity on our plight, GWS kindly loaned the team a car for the weekend so we could at last get some fieldwork done and we headed down to Brenu Beach, west of Cape Coast, where we had arranged to meet Justus Deikumah, a PhD candidate from University of Cape Coast, so that he could train us in blood sampling techniques as part of a project looking at chronic stress in birds in forest fragments. Upon arrival the whole area appeared much greener than at even a month earlier the previous year. Despite being rained off on two of the three mornings we tried to ring here, we did catch an array of Afrotropical species as well as two migrants – a Garden Warbler and a Nightingale. A quick look around the hill immediately behind our accommodation produced 3 Nightingales calling, 3 Spotted Flycatchers and about 8 Yellow Wagtails. Other birds in the area included Slender-billed and Orange Weavers (two species restricted to the coastal zone in West Africa - an active colony of the latter with nests hanging from mangroves over a nearby lagoon providing pleasant distraction), Brown-headed Tchagra and a Snowy-crowned Robin-chat seen repeatedly chasing a Spotted Flycatcher from one particular woodland edge – the territorial behaviour of the intra-African migrant has previously been well documented but we were surprised to witness a Spot Fly rather than the expected Nightingale being on the receiving end!

Above: Tina (GWS) juggling yams on our way to Bia NP.

The team returned to Accra and finally collected the car late on the afternoon of Monday 22nd. With tyre changing / balancing / wheel alignment still to come, as well as packing our equipment and doing our food shopping, it wasn’t until Tuesday late-morning that we left Accra behind and were off on the next phase of our field mission. We made good progress along the coast but wouldn’t make our destination that day. However, after refuelling and resting overnight in Takoradi, on Wednesday morning the team headed on to the Bia NP with only one thing on their minds: Phylloscopus sibilitrix.
Given that the Wood Warbler has declined by 61% on the last 13 years alone in Britain and by 26% in 17 years in Europe, it was with hope rather than expectation of finding this species that the team set up camp at New Debiso, at the northern end of Bia NP. The winter habits of this species are not well-known and although they had been reported as fairly common at this site 5-6 years ago, they had not been found by the same team last winter. Our first morning excursion in the forest on 25th reminded us why we knew we would do well to find any, even if they were around: birds of any species are not easy to spot, let alone identify, in the forest canopy. Armed with the knowledge that we were most likely to find Wood Warblers around flowering trees (where like other species they feed on insects attracted to the flowers) we set off looking for clearings from which we could view the canopy. We didn’t find any sign of Wood Warblers at all but did record a good selection of forest-zone birds including Usher’s Flycatcher, Blue Cuckoo-shrike, African Emerald Cuckoo and African Goshawk. Whether Wood Warblers were present and we failed to find them, whether we were too early in the winter or whether they don’t occur in Bia in significant any numbers any more we just didn’t know….

6th - 14th November 2010 - roving fieldwork continues. From Wechiau to Bui

6th November - Chris Orsman writes: After 24 hrs more rest than was planned at the Catholic Guesthouse in Wa (one team member a little under the weather, i.e me), at mid-day we headed off towards Wechiau Hippo Sanctuary in our continuing hunt for migrants. The town of Wechiau is itself just over 40 km from Wa, and here is where one finds the information centre for the sanctuary. Upon arrival, the place looked decidedly closed, but a man soon came bounding along to open up to tell us all about the reservation, and the fees to stay. After explaining the purpose of our visit (and of our hopes to get a discount) he called in the manager. A few minutes later he arrived, agreed on a small reduction in the price, and arranged for a guide to accompany us to the accommodation. By the time we were back in the car, our guide had sailed past on his bicycle, pedalling his way the 18km further to reach the sanctuary boundary.
The sanctuary lodgings were just on the fringes of a scattered array of buildings, making up Talawna, the last settlement before the reserve, and set in very open but largely un-grazed short grassland. With the tents set up, Abraham and Tina cooked and we all ate with the lodge caretaker, Yusuf, and our guide, Joshua.
The sanctuary is a community based project, protecting about 40km of the Black Volta along Ghana’s western border with Burkina Faso. Although there are about 50 hippos here, we didn’t have our hopes up of seeing any. Water levels were so high after exceptional rains, so the hippos had plenty of places to hide out. Besides, we were there for the birds!

Wechiau grasslands

7th November - Chris Orsman writes: For our first timed species count, Joshua took us from the lodge, down to the river, and aiming for a walk along the riverside, assuming any riparian forest, like Gbele, would perhaps have the best habitat for migrants. On the walk to the start we had Tree Pipit, a couple of Sun Larks, and some other typical Northern savannah sp, such as Vinaceous Doves, Black-billed Wood Doves, Pale Flycatcher and Bush Petronia (all very familiar to me from working in Burkina Faso’s Nazinga Ranch last winter). 20 minutes later we reached the boundary of the “protected” zone, a 1km buffer along the riverbank, within which no human activity, save fishing, takes place. We decided to start the count here. The walk through this open wooded savannah produced just 1 Willow Warbler and a Pied Flycatcher on the migrant front, but amongst the local residents, we spotted a colour-ringed Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu. No metal ring, but yellow left leg, green right, should anyone be missing one from their caged collection!! A half hour later, and we were into the riparian woodland. Heading south with the river, amongst the Violet Turacos, African Thrushes, Grey-backed Camaropteras and single Red-shouldered Cuckoo-shrike, we came across a further 10 Pied Flycatchers, 4 Willow Warblers, and a single Melodious Warbler in song. Joshua then led us through the dense grass away from the river, to find a footpath and a shortcut back to the camp.
At lunch we were entertained by a Zitting Cisticola, which was clearly holding territory in the grass next to the camp. Every few minutes it was up and overhead, quite high but also so small that you could barely see it against the bright blue mid-day sky. A short rest later, and Tina, Mohammed and I set off to check on other possible areas for survey the next day. Following a track through otherwise un-promising grassland, we encountered 3 Whinchats all within 100m or so of each other. Information on a board within the sanctuary does mention that it is an important area for them. This, combined with our eventual discovery of a wooded stream (maybe good for Willow and Melodious Warblers?), led us to conclude that this route would be worth pursuing the following day.

River Volta at Wechiau

Where a Melodious Warbler was singing at Wechiau

8th November - Chris Orsman writes: No Whinchats! Maybe we were just a little too early to find them in the same grassland as yesterday, as there was a slight mist which left everything cool and damp. This did eventually burn off but by then we were heading into slightly more wooded savannah areas. Here the grass was home to Northern Red Bishops, Yellow-mantled Widowbirds, Orange-cheeked Waxbills and Bronze Mannikins. We did hear in the distance a Willow Warbler singing, and a further 3 were seen before arriving at the stream. Full of hope we diverted off the track to follow the stream. It’s sparse ribbon of short trees and shrubs yielded but 1 Pied Flycatcher. Perhaps not surprisingly another 3 were seen in the last half hour of the survey, by which time the stream had arrived at the main river, and the associated open forest habitat was more suitable.
That evening we went in search of yet more options for surveying. Joshua took us some 7 km further along the morning’s track, south along the reserve boundary, to the next but one village. Although Joshua didn’t know the area well himself, he told us that another of the guides (sadly absent on a computing course in Accra) was a real local bird expert, and that he would take groups to this area for birding. I volunteered to drive, as Abraham was busy preparing the evening meal. My first bit of “off-roading” in Ghana! The drive along the tram-lined track was fine to begin with, but in places it was a pretty rough and overgrown, so much so that I barely noticed when we began to cut through someone’s maize field! Assured by the farmer (who came to give us directions) that we were still on the track, we continued on, with further occasional stops for confirmation from passers-by that we were on the right road. It came to an end where a group of folk were sat under a large baobab. After exchanging pleasantries, our mission was explained, and the local chief was summoned (for a change! Normally we’d be summoned to him!). It turned out he was the sanctuary ranger for that stretch of the river, and wanted to guide us along the path to it. So off we went, on a short hike that took us through a few crops and eventually the 1km buffer to the river’s edge. Some of what we saw habitat-wise looked promising, and we thought it would be worth going straight in to this section of the river with a point count transect, perhaps after point counts at the first river section (visited yesterday). A walk back in the half light to the baobab (tip-toing at speed along a 15m stretch of path covered in small but very bitey ants), our thanks were given to the ranger, and of course hi-fives to the local kids, then headed back (in the near-dark on that same track!) for a another delicious meal from Abraham, this time boiled yam and a fish & tomato sauce.

9th & 10th November - Chris Orsman writes: Having already spent 2 mornings at Wechiau, we were fairly confident that we were unlikely to encounter any other migrant species, and that we weren’t missing any skulkers that could be found by setting up nets for a morning’s ringing. We might have been wrong of course, but the next 2 days of point count transects further confirmed that the area was being used by Willow Warblers, Melodious Warblers and Pied Flycatchers (plus the Whinchats of course) and probably not much else on the migrant front – at least not at this time of year. Also, there was no obvious place to put the nets within the buffer zone without the need for a lot of vegetation clearance, likely to be a big no-no. On the plus side, on the point counts, including the “new” section we explored on the 8th, were new species - for me at least - such as Oriole Warbler, Yellow-breasted Apalis and Sulphur-breasted Bush-shrike.
With one eye on the time that was left before having to return to Accra, we packed up camp on the 10th, and after our goodbyes to Joshua and Yusuf, we headed back to Wechiau town itself in order to pay our bill at the visitor centre. An unusally quick exchange of cash and receipt, and we were back on board the 4x4 and heading for Wa. The journey, as always, took longer than expected.
The latest tip from the ever-helpful Augustus for somewhere to check for migrants was the shrublands on the banks of Lake Volta in the vicinity of Buipe, on the border of Northern and Brong-Ahafo regions. We didn’t expect to get quite that far, and as it was we could only manage to get as far as Damongo. We stopped at the same guest house as last year’s team, when they were in the area for a week each month for transects and ringing. After some difficulty finding a place to eat (to give Abraham a night off the catering duties!) we settled on Palace View restaurant - perfectly reasonable – and then back to what by now, under fluorescent lights, were our bug-infested lodgings.

11th November - Chris Orsman writes: This morning I tried in vain to get my own computer working. It is what I’ve been mostly using for data entry and email, and Tina has been using the other. However, for some reason my own blew a fuse with the car charger, and now I can’t even charge by the mains. Need to get this sorted in Accra. Having established it’s un-useable, I gave Juliet a quick call for an update on everything else, and spoke to Chris H just ahead of his arrival in Accra on the 14th. So it was after mid-day by the time we set off towards Buipe. Upon arrival, we set about investigating the suitability of the habitat on the lake shore for our work, but when crossing the bridge south from Buipe to take a look, we soon realised that the water levels were extremely high. Many of the lakeside buildings had been completely swamped, with just the rooftops visible. Uncertain as to whether it would be practical to survey the flooded scrublands, we next paid a visit to the District Coordinator’s office, where we had been told we could find out what permission was needed to work on the lake shore. Speaking to the coordinator’s deputy, it transpired that there is a dispute between local chiefs as to the ownership of land, and after a phone-call to the DC himself, he suggested that in his absence we best forego any work until such time as he could be around to fix things for us.
Thus with time marching on, we decided to cut our losses and instead make for Bui National Park, which meant a trip south from Buipe to find a place to overnight en route. Kintampo looked like a sensible spot, and we reached it just before dusk, in time to have a quick look round for a cheap hotel (and spot my first African Pied Wagtail!), a quick bite, and an early bed with a view to setting off early the following day.

Buipe floods...

12th November - Chris Orsman writes: Set off this morning from the Life Hotel in Kintampo at 5am. For a full morning’s fieldwork an earlier start might have been in order, but we realised that we still had to get permission to do any work from the Wildlife Office at the park itself. Driving what appeared on the map to be poor roads, we were pleased to find that the journey took just under 2 hours. The second half of the road as far as Bui town itself was very good, and we guessed this was new due to a new dam being built at the southern end of the park. I did in fact wonder whether we’d be allowed to do any research here at all, as although protected, the park is clearly not protected enough if a dam can be built which will swamp all of the riparian forest. Would our research be treated with suspicion? I was gearing up to underplay our significance (not easy!!) when explaining our work to the Wildlife Office. I needn’t have worried.
Beyond Bui town we rolled up to the community which surrounds the park admin centre, a small collection of large wooden huts, some homes, some noisy classrooms, and some offices, stopping at the latter to find someone to ask for permission for our work. We first met a young woman, who wasn’t quite sure what to suggest. Then a young chap rode by on his bike and thought he knew who to ask, so we jumped back in the car and followed him a short distance to the other side of the “camp”, where an elderly gentleman greeted us and seemed happy to see us. He then vanished, and returned with a young chap dressed in park ranger gear. He too welcomed us, but it still wasn’t clear how we were to get permission. Eventually, we were taken to the home of the park manager, who agreed quite cheerily to meet us back at the first office to discuss our plans. At our meeting, Paul, the said manager, was absolutely delighted that we had come, in particular to study birds. It turns out that he spent some time birdwatching during his training and absolutely loved the experience, only wishing that he could do more. So we were staying! Next, Paul called upon Peter, who had a pretty good knowledge of local birds, to be our guide. We ventured on in the 4WD to reach the edge of the park (another 2km or so on some pretty rough track) with a view to trying at least part of a survey that morning. What we weren’t expecting was to find the track passed right through a last small community at the park boundary. Following another friendly greeting from a few of the locals, I wondered whether in this idyllic setting it would be possible to pitch our tents, and save the rather rocky road back and forth to the camp. Yet again we were surprised when we were guided through the heart of the village, and invited to set up camp right in the middle of someone’s front yard! Delighted with this location, but hesitant because of the apparent imposition, we politely accepted, adn in order to make the most of the rest of the morning, we left Abraham to set the tents whilst Peter took us into the park.
The route from the village took us once again through wooded grasslands, but on the whole with more trees and shrubs than was evident at Wechiau. Crossing into the park immediately you were in denser savannah woodland, and denser still as we dropped down towards the Black Volta. As we walked we had to duck frequently to avoid spider webs which were invariably at face height, and home to some particularly ferocious looking beasts! En route were a few new species, including Blue-spotted Wood Dove, Green-headed Sunbird and Green Turaco. Also we disturbed a Pearl Spotted Owlet, the first that I’d seen, even though I heard them almost daily during our visits to Nazinga last year. Despite the late start, we still encountered a Willow Warbler and a total of 5 Pied Flycatchers.
Returning to camp we found the tents set and our lunch ready, and looking on were the some of the village children, wondering who we were and what we were up to. Tina soon had the children entranced, with her story-telling, singing and games, but was quite firm when it was time for us to eat, and the kids obligingly vanished. After our early start, and in the heat of the afternoon, some rest was in order, before a walk late afternoon to look for another route for the next day. On this stroll a White-breasted Cuckoo-shrike was a new find.
Later that evening even more children turned up to be entertained (by Tina), and remained until well past the team’s bedtime! Once again they had to be sent packing. It was a Friday night so they were in no hurry to get to bed with no school the next day. We chatted for a while with one of the community leaders, Maxwell, Peter’s brother. He is a lonely voice in the community (and even in the group of communities) that will be displaced when the Bui Dam is constructed and the valley flooded. In spite of the impending displacement, Maxwell’s deepest concerns are for the hippo population in the Volta, and he fears that the flooding will render useless the habitat for the hippos, and feels he hasn’t had sufficient reassurances that they will be relocated to safe and suitable ares downstream Without this, he believes they will either perish locally, or become bush meat as they wander in search of better habitat up-river in Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso.

Bui parkOne of the Bui spiders!....

The local youth at Bui

13th November - Chris Orsman writes: A full morning search in the Bui forest yielded Blue-bellied Roller, Splendid Sunbird and Tropical Boubou in a list of just 29 species, and disappointing numbers of migrants – just 4 Pied Flycatchers. Piping Hornbill was new. Our final afternoon in the field before heading to Accra was spent catching up on all our notes for the previous few days. A rather sad handover from Mohammed of the bits of equipment he’d been using preceded his departure for Burkina the next day.

14th November - Chris Orsman writes: Following a quick breakfast and to the cheery waves of what appeared to be the whole village, we left Bui on the Sunday morning, and made for Terchiman and the bus station for Mohammed’s return north. A large, loud and rude man barked nonsense at us about how long the bus would take, so I wasn’t that confident in the service we were paying for, but fortuneately French-speaking Mohammed found another Burkinabe to sit with for the journey, and he promised that he’d get to Ouagadougou!! Waving farewll once more, Tina, Abraham and I hit the road to Accra. We dropped Tina at bus station on the outskirts so she could get home west of Accra, whilst Abraham and I went on to the GWS office to unload, and prepare the car for its service the next day. Returned to the Pink Hostel and Abraham headed home, and later Augustus kindly dropped me at the airport to meet up with Chris Hewson. Chris appeared through arrivals at 22:20, and both a little wiped out we retired, agreeing to wait til the next day to discuss the next phase!

The Gbele Resource Reserve, Ghana 29th October to 3rd November 2010

Tina Mensah-Pebi writes: The Gbele Resource Reserve is located at Walembele in the Sisala district of the Upper East region of Ghana. It is under the protection of the Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission and has two base camps, one in the north and a second in the south. The research team settled at the Wahabu Rangers’ camp.

River and riparian forest at Gbele

The early morning of Saturday, 30th October looked promising for Gbele reserve to accommodate large numbers of migrants, with the team recording about 10 Willow Warblers and 4 Pied Flycatchers. The Kawlpaw River that runs through the reserve served as an important place for diverse birds in the reserve. Taking a walk in the afternoon across the bridge in the reserve revealed splendid numbers of Willow Warblers and Pied Flycatchers happily moving from one plant to another - we even saw the amazing sight of five Willow Warblers on one small shrub in the middle of the river and two Pied Flycatchers moving-to-and-fro on a fruiting tree on the bank of the river close to the bridge.

Five Willow Warblers in one bush!

A second day’s search for Palaearctic migrants in the reserve still proved promising for both Willow Warblers and Pied Flycatchers, with a count of 16 and 11 respectively during one timed species count.

Mohammed and Tina habitat recording at Gbele

The team carried out point count transcets at Gbele on 1st November 2010. Out of the ten points counted, 7 Willow Warblers and 5 Pied Flycatchers were recorded.

Another point count transect was undertaken the following day (five minutes of counting every 200 metres). This recorded 4 Willow Warblers and 12 Pied Flycatchers on the points, with a further 5 Willow Warblers and 7 Pied Flycatchers between points.

Ringing followed early morning of Wednesday 3rd November 2010 and the first and only (for this site) Pied Flycatcher was caught on the first round of net inspection after opening at 6:00 prompt. A total of 63 birds were ringed, with a total of 10 Willow Warblers amongst a good number of Afro-tropical species, including the Snowy-crowned Robin Chat, Northern Puff-back, African Thrush, African Pygmy Kingfisher, Malachite Kingfisher, Black-necked Weaver, Village Weaver, Common Wattle-eye, Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu, Red-billed Firefinch, Bar-breasted Firefinch, Yellow White-eye, Northern Grey-headed Sparrow, Blackcap Babbler, Orange-cheeked Waxbill and Black-winged (red) Bishop.

African Pygmy Kingfisher (above) and Common Wattle-eye (below)

We can thoroughly recommend the Gbele reserve to birders who visit Ghana - you will see an incredible diversity of species here, such as violet turaco, western grey plantain-eater, African golden oriole, giant kingfisher, pied kingfisher, lead coloured flycatcher, northern black flycatcher, yellow fronted tinkerbird, Senegal eremomela, African paradise flycatcher, wire-tailed swallow, vieillot’s barbet, brown babbler, red throated bee-eater, pin-tailed whydah, exclamatory paradise whydah, pygmy and scarlet-chested sunbirds, grey wood pecker, red shouldered cuckoo-shrike, lavender waxbill, common sandpiper, white-headed lapwing, green-backed heron, many egret species, Senegal coucal, Senegal parrot, Abyssinian roller, rose-ringed parakeet, bruce’s green pigeon, yellow-crowned gonolek, laughing, vinaceous and red-eyed doves, black-billed wood doves, black-headed tchagra, common bulbul, red-billed and African-grey horn bills, long-tailed, greater blue-eared and purple glossy starlings, cinnamon-rock bunting, bush petronia, red-winged pytilia, grey-backed camaroptera, Bataleur, village indigo bird, bronze manikin, northern red bishop, klaas’s cuckoo, double-spurred francolin, yellow-billed shrike, fork-tailed drongo,, and many more.