| Birding trip report Ghana 1-12 February 2014 - John van der Woude - www.jvanderw.nl |
| Photos of birds etc. - see also report |
 Long-tailed Glossy Starling at Sakumana lagoon. According to the field guide, this is out of range. Apparently, like other starlings, it is expanding its range. |
 The first of many colourful butterflies on this trip. Sakumana lagoon area. |
 Ethiopian Swallows at the border of Sakumana lagoon. |
 White-throated Bee-eater is common in Kakum NP and other forests. |
 A wish-list species: Rufous-sided Broadbill, in the border zone of Kakum NP. |
 Slender-billed Greenbul is one of those rather drab greenbuls. Gladly, we had seen most of them on previous trips so we did not have to go after all of them... |
 Black Bee-eater sat next to the track in the Kakum NP border zone, and again it was Kalu's sharp eyes who detected the bird first. |
 Village weavers have a large colony right next to the restaurant of our lodge near Kakum NP (Hans Cottage Botel). We observed a remarkable phenomenon here at lunch time: all weavers left the colony in one wave, in order to gather nest material at a clump of tall grass at c. 120 m distance. Nollie's explanation for this was that by going all at the same time no one would be able to steal nest material from the neighbours. Or even: they saw the most notorious thief flying out and happily followed him as their nests would be safe for those few minutes. |
 Marsh Tchagra in the coastal savanna near Kakum NP. |
 Senegal Thicknee and Egyptian Plover in the Northern Region. Wow! |
 Our first bird in Mole NP upon arrival in the early evening, the wish-list Standard-winged Nightjar. |
 Red-throated Bee-eater was another lifer, we had not seen that in The Gambia as we stayed there only in the coastal zone then. |
 Red-cheeked Cordon-Bleu at the Mole lodge. |
 Cinnamon-breasted Bunting at the Mole lodge. |
 Lavender Waxbill at the Mole lodge. |
 Malachite Kingfisher at a shaded old river course in Mole NP. The bird has white on the breast and probably belly, a deviation (described in Sinclair & Ryan Birds of Africa South of the Sahara) from the usual plumage, but the dark cap reaches the eye so in Ghana it cannot be White-bellied Kingfisher which moreover is a forest bird. |
 Pearl-spotted Owlet, attracted to its own call which we used now and then to attract mobbing small birds. |
 White-headed Vulture, female. Mole NP. |
 White-backed Vulture joined the above White-headed Vulture. |
 Sun Larks waiting for our car to pass. |
 Sun Lark at the same spot, not shy. |
 White-throated Francolin is not seen on every trip. |
 Cabanis Bunting, in a more open part of Mole NP. |
 Blackcap on our second visit to Abufoo forest N of Kumasi. A rare species for Ghana. In the Ghana field guide (Borrow & Demey 2010) only four records are mentioned. Also, the Handbook of the Birds of the Western Palearctic says it's a rare bird in Ghana, despite the fact that Ghana is in a broad overwintering zone for this species. |
 Bobiri forest reserve is well known for its butterflies.  |
 Blue-headed Bee-eater in the Atewa hill forest. |
 Levaillant's Cuckoo at the interesting open-country base of the Atewa hill forest. |
 Large Fairy Hairstreak Hypolycaena antifaunus. The 'paper snippets' are part of the butterfly! See also http://www.learnaboutbutterflies.com/Africa%20-%20Hypolycaena%20antifaunus.htm |
 A Calopteryx demoiselle I presume. |