Friday, 11th
of May
Location :
15°30’53 N, 32°27’50 E ; near the Al
Dabbaseen bridge still under construction
I went to
the Al Dabbaseen bridge, with Laurent. It was a very interesting place, quiet,
with few human disturbance. We parked near the bridge. A lot of swallows were
flying, among them ethiopian swallows, plain martins and a lot of
african palm swift as well.
Ethiopian Swallow
From the
bridge, we could see that the Nils was shallow and some tiny herbaceous islands
where great egrets, little egrets and grey herons were gathered. A
couple of african jacanas was flying and chased by spur-winged lapwings. A
couple of senegal thick-knee was walking along the shore. Some terns were also
flying and fishing : white-winged terns, whiskered terns and some
gull-billed terns.
We walked
along the Nile to the south, and saw 4 common squacco herons, some kittlitz
plovers and some egyptian plovers. We arrived on a nice place with a lot of
small herbaceous islands.
Herons and Egrets
Whiskered Tern
Islands in the Nile
We could
observe 7 glossy ibises and 4 white-faced whistling-duck, a lot of
long-tailed cormorants flying, great egrets and little egrets, grey
herons, black-winged stilts, kittlitz plovers and one common ringed plover.
Besides this, we could observe pied kingfisher, european bee-eater, and a
couple of blue-cheeked bee-eaters.
Glossy Ibises and White-faced Whistling Ducks
Little Egrets
Blue-cheeked Bee-eater
Far away,
we could see a big flock of birds, but too far to identify the ducks/birds.
Fortunately (or unfortunately) a car drove and scared the flock who flew in our
direction. Among them, about 15 fulvous whistling-duck, 15 little
egrets, 35 long-tailed cormorants and three hottentot teals which landed in
front of us which were my first ones in Sudan.
Fulvous Whistling Ducks
Hottentot Teals
List of
birds observed :
- cattle
egrets : 20
- great
egrets : 19
- little
egrets : 21
-
spur-winged lapwings : 20
- grey
herons : 16
- kittlitz
plovers : 9
-
gull-billed terns : 7
-
white-winged tern : 15
- whiskered
terns : 20
- senegal
thick-knee : 2
- african
jacana : 2
-
black-winged stilt : 3
- common
squacco herons : 4
-
long-tailed cormorants : 42
-
white-faced whistling duck : 7
- fulvous
whistling duck : 18
- glossy
ibises : 7
- egyptian
plover : 3
- common
ringed plover : 1
- Hottentot
teal : 3
- Pied kingfisher : 1
-
blue-cheeked bee-eaters : 2
- european
bee-eaters : 2
- ethiopian
swallows
- plain
martin
- palm
swifts
Thanks to your wonderful presentation on birds to the year one class last week, I have started to listen more carefully and look more carefully for different birds. For the last few weeks I have been blaming mice, rats and even monkeys for destroying the mangoes in our tree. Today I found out its a blue naped mousebird. While I still feel a bit hard done by (they scratch and consume only a little of each mango) they are very interesting to watch and are very acrobatic. Thanks for the eye opener.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome Sabine. It was a real pleasure to speak to your group of wonderful students last week. It would be great if one or two picked up an interest in birds. I also love mousebirds, as they have so much character.
ReplyDeleteTom