Gnikpeyo: Red winged warbler
Réservoir de la Kozah: Black Crake, northern red bishop
Tchadè (on pathway down to the reservoir) : Juvenile didric cuckoo, African moustached warbler, village weavers, scarlet-chested sunbird
- Got excited seeing my first Pied Crow, until I realised how common they are down south
- Long-tailed wydah at Grand Popo.
- Variable sunbirds are very common on SIL Lome centre. Never seen this variety up north.
- Also greenheaded and blacknecked sunbirds
- Several tree-loads of village weavers chattering noisily at the Hilacondji border.
Piers Brendon: The Decline and Fall of the British Empire
In the section about Ghandi: “Nothing complicates life more than the quest for simplicity”. ha ha
Now that the rains have begun, there are lots more birds around…
GNIKPEYO
- Double spurred francolin perched on a tree stump in the valley behind the general’s house.
- Western grey plantain eater making its way back across the valley to its nest in the copse beside my place.
- Two red cheeked cordon bleus in field in front of my house.
- Daily sightings of several black kites circling my house.
KARA CENTRE
- Yellow-billed shrike. Seem tamer than other birds
- Male splendid sunbird in glossy green, blue and red flitting from one mosquito screen to another. Long curved beak.
- Juvenile piapiac with distinctive pink beak (adult has black beak)
- Senegal coucal looking at me with beady red eyes.
- Snowy crowned robin chat. Orange breast, white crown on head. Rich, melodious, sustained, varied song.
- two sightings of a small common Kestrel perched in the trees.
- Tough being a female red-cheeked cordon bleu. Only the male has red cheeks.
BARRAGE DE LA KOZAH
We went on an excursion to the local reservoir during the tone workshop and saw:
- Female African Darter standing on the rocks, then flew low over the water and perched on the high branches of a tree on the opposite shore
- Male African Jacana among the reeds by the shoreline
- Many mottled spinetails (a kind of swift) playing over the water. Distinctive white stripe across the upper part of its tail.
- Tawny eagle, flying too high to be really clear, but identifiable by its squareness of its outstretched wingspan.
MONASTERE DU KOKOUBOU
- Frequently saw several hornbills flying across the sky together, but no close-up views.
- Six white helmet shrikes. Distinctive white crest and yellow eyes. They hung around long enough to really get a good view.
- Bronze mannikins, splendid sunbirds, African thrush…
A red-billed firefinch feeding in the grass.
Four tawny eagles circling in the sky above the house.
And a mystery: over the past few days a flock of birds has arrived in the field in front of my house that I’m having difficulty identifying. Small and chubby, black head, white breast, brownish grey wings with one dark green stripe, black tail, dappled underside, short grey beak. Sit on bushes, feed on the ground, and perch on millet stalks, often several at once. Easily disturbed. Always about 15-20 of them, take off, fly and land together. Seem to be some kind of finch or bunting. The nearest thing I can find is black-and-white mannikins, but the white part is in the wrong place, and the map does not show them as appearing this far north.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Half of a Yellow Sun
Georgina Howell: Daughter of the Desert – the remarkable life of Gertrude Bell
Birds of prey are notoriously difficult to distinguish from each other. But around here, black kites are easy to spot, because they’re the only ones with bright yellow bills.
Fifteen jet-black Piacpiacs rummaging on the ground outside the kitchen. As I got closer, they flew up and sat in a row on the branch of the palm tree to observe me from a safe distance.
Tough being a plain old Garden Warbler. The book unkindly writes them off with a dismissive “lack of any distinctive features”.
Three Cattle Egrets swooping low in graceful white slow motion over the terraced rockscape.
Saw two Abyssinian Rollers this month. One of the most striking birds around here. Bright blue, with a very looooooooooooong tail that tapers off into a graceful fork.
