Wednesday, 9 February 2011
Northern Senegal and back to Tanji
Friday, 4 February 2011
Brief Senegal news & photos from week one
Here are a great selection of photos from week one courtesy of Osprey volunteer Lorna Burger.
Wednesday, 2 February 2011
Lynda's African Diary - Back to week 2...
We carried on to Kartong beach (Week 2 Video Diary Kartong Beach) and watched Ospreys fishing. We were really hoping to spot the Lake District juvenile, No.12, who fledged last summer and is satellite-tagged. Sadly, we didn’t catch up with him but I’m sure the photos that Tim will be sending to Pete Davies of that Project, illustrating where he is fishing regularly, will cheer them up, especially after the loss earlier this month of his sibling, No.11, in Northern Senegal. As Tim has mentioned, quite a few ringed Ospreys have been identified by our team; mainly German birds but also a French one and several Scottish ones. They must all be pleased to learn that their birds are alive, I know Roy Dennis has confirmed that some of the Scottish birds spotted were ringed by him, comforting news for him to receive.
On Monday we returned from Senegal on the Barra-Banjul ferry; I had read that these ferry crossings were not for the faint-hearted, they were not wrong. Once we were off the ferry we took an hour to look around Banjul market, busy, bustling and full of smiling faces as ever. As a keen cook, I asked JJ if he would show me the Fish Market. Whilst he was deciding which direction to take, we were approached by a lovely Gambian lady who offered to show around. The fish were amazing and it was interesting to see the Butter fish and Lady fish which we had been eating regularly. We also saw Needle fish which we hadn’t eaten, but on the last morning on Tanji Beach an Osprey caught one and flew right over our heads with it. We ate very well throughout the week and one memorable lunch after we had visited Colin was a national dish – Domoda – Gambian Ground Peanut Stew – definitely will be trying that at home. The lady who showed us around the market eventually led us back to her own stall. It actually turned out that she used to live in Hackney and had friends in Leicester – what a small world. She had a beautiful baby daughter just two weeks old and only weighing 1.5kg at birth. Whilst she was helping Paul to decide on a colourful shirt, I cradled the baby (family photo).
On day one we had seen 3 Ospreys from the bus on the short journey to The Paradise Inn. On arrival there, I immediately left my bags in my ‘hut’ and wandered a mere 30 yards to the creek. There, with Vikki and Liz, an Osprey carrying a fish, flew right over our heads. That was the beginning of a wonderful week – an abundance of Ospreys every day including our last morning. I made an interesting discovery on that last morning – I discovered how John manages to stay one step ahead of the rest of us to obtain the best photos (see above photo). We are all really looking forward to seeing his photos and to hear their tales of Northern Senegal. It was an amazing trip and I long to return.
Lynda Berry
Osprey Observer
Sunday, 30 January 2011
Memories of Week One
After two hours of the flight over to Banjul we had already cleared the Southern coast of Spain, the pilot even dipped his wing to give us a clear view of the Rock of Gibraltar. It struck me at this point just what a mammoth journey our young Ospreys have to undertake given we still had four more hours to travel and we saw nothing but sand for most of the remainder of the flight. Its little wonder that only a fraction of the birds that fledge make it back to the UK to breed.
This was my first travel experience outside of Europe and I have to admit I wasn’t really prepared for what would greet us in Gambia, the sights, the sounds and even the smells (particularly when driving past the fish gutting and smoking huts) were overwhelming. We got a taste of what the trip would be like however when within twenty minutes of leaving the airport on our journey to Tanji we had seen our first Osprey. The sky was full of Hooded Vultures and Black Kites and all around us we were beginning to see the real Africa. On reaching our accommodation again it was a shock to me driving down rough dirt roads through Tanji village to reach the Paradise Inn Lodge. On that drive though all the children were screaming and waving at us expecting nothing more in return than a wave back.
The second day saw us taking a boat trip to Bijoli Island, the boat was late and JJ, our brilliant guide, was not happy, eventually the boat turned up complete with a huge fishing net stored in the middle of it. The realisation then set in that we would be wading out to meet it, all part of the fun and charm of the place though. On the way over to the island I got talking to the boat owner and he was keen to turn the conversation to football, it turns out he was a huge Manchester United fan and the boat was named Michael Carrick, his previous one was called Wes Brown apparently, as a lifelong Liverpool fan I did consider swimming back to the shore but felt that was possibly a little over the top.
The island was a very special place, we saw at least two Ospreys catching fish and several others perched or flying past, it was here though that I got my first ever views of Caspian Terns, a real treat with their huge Orange bills. After a couple of hours we headed back, everywhere you go the locals will come and great you and take an interest in you, one of them however took more interest than the others. A local character, ironically called “Happy Happy”, turned out not to be too happy and entered into a heated discussion with JJ over our rights to visit the island.
The third day saw us visit Gunjur Beach in the morning, a beautiful spot, then onto Kartong for lunch and a boat trip through the Mangroves. During lunch at Kartong we got an idea what difference tourism makes to these villages when the manager explained to us how the place operated and how the profits were invested back into the local community. The boat trip was fantastic, Ospreys were everywhere and we got sight of a couple with coloured rings. A Goliath heron, numerous kingfishers, bee-eaters, a palm vulture and a fish eagle were among the numerous other species we saw.
Day four saw us head to Senegal, we got a real taste of Africa in seeing the operation of the Banjul to Barra ferry, heaven knows what would have happened if we hadn’t had JJ and Eladji to get us on the ferry, my abiding memory here was being stood on the top deck of the ferry with Tim waiting to depart when the doors opened in the terminal and what can only be described as a Tidal Wave of foot passengers boarded the ferry. We got to the other side and after a stop at the border we headed into Senegal. Having left the apprehension well behind and become accustomed to the Paradise Inn and the wonderful people who worked there it felt like we were almost being cheated of the African experience at the Keur Saloum hotel in Senegal as it is quite luxurious.
Day five was the highlight for me, a five hour boat trip into the mouth of the Sine Saloum delta, none of us knew what to expect but seeing 35+ Ospreys including at one time eleven perched within a 200m stretch of sand bar was incredible. We even found one with a coloured ring and Tim knee deep in water was able to read the ring number, it will be interesting when the guys get back from Senegal to find out exactly where all the colour ringed Ospreys found during the four weeks emanate from.
Day six saw us venture further into Senegal up to Kaolack, new species were added to the list and it was on the way back we had a real treat, having stopped at a small wetland area we were preparing to leave when Eladji, our driver for the week, heard an owl, JJ was on to it and before too long we were looking at a pair of Verreaux’s Eagle Owls perched high up in a large tree, what a treat! There’s even a video of a scruffy fella talking about it on our YouTube channel.
Day Seven dawned and we prepared to leave Senegal and head back to the Paradise Inn for our last night, it was dawning on me that our time in Gambia and Senegal was drawing to a close and that a week just isn’t long enough to do it justice. We got back to the Paradise Inn to be greeted like long lost relatives by the guys there, Mohammed, Yaro, Abdouli and Ibrahim were all there waiting for us.
The evening saw us venture out a short distance from the lodge to find another wetland area where we saw six ospreys perched, another ring was able to be read, we headed back as it was getting dark only to see a Crested Eagle on the way.
A trip to Tanji beach early on the last morning gave us a final chance to watch Ospreys fishing in the sea. Attached below is what is admittedly a very poor photo of an Osprey we observed catching the biggest fish I have seen an Osprey carry. A nice open air lunch under a Mango tree at the Paradise Inn was our final taste of Gambia, shortly after we headed off to the airport to catch our flight home.
The Ospreys will stick long in the memory but what will also stick are the warmth of the people we met, the smiles on the faces of the children we saw, not forgetting JJ, our fantastic guide who I cannot recommend highly enough. Just sitting with new friends during the heat of the day drinking Coke from glass bottles was a real treat as well. If you’ve never been to Africa and you get the chance then go, you won’t regret it; I for one cannot wait to go back next year.
Chris Ditchburn
Osprey Volunteer
Saturday, 29 January 2011
Northern Senegal
We eventually arrive at St Louis shortly before 7pm. We’re staying in Bango a small village on the shores of the Lampsar river with Frederic Bacuez, a French birdwatcher who has been living in the St Louis area for the past six years. Frederic knows the northern part of Senegal very well and even has a pair of ospreys that catch fish within sight of his house every day.
Having seen so many ospreys in Gambia and the Sine-Saloum delta we were not really sure what to expect of northern Senegal. Yes, ospreys winter in this region, but surely they wouldn’t be present in the same densities as further south? Our osprey tally for the first two weeks was well into three figures, but more significantly, we had managed to read twelve colour rings. How many more could we expect in the north? Well, if the first full day birdwatching is anything to go by, we aren’t going to struggle to see more.
Yesterday we spent an unforgettable day at Djoudj National Park. Djoudj is the most northerly national park in Senegal and extends over some 40,000 acres. The park was created in 1971 and designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site ten years later. It’s not hard to see why; the shallow water and marsh make it a Mecca for migrating birds. As many as three million palearctic migrants either pass through or winter here each year. Among them are, of course, Ospreys.
One of the real highlights of the trip thus far for me, has been seeing so many of the UK’s summer visitors in a very different context. It is one thing to see yellow wagtails feeding amongst dexter cattle at Rutland Water, but quite another to see them flitting past warthogs and crocodiles. That though, it exactly what we saw at Djoudj. And it wasn’t just crocodile and warthogs. Numerous jackels roam the park, white-faced whistling ducks congregate in their thousands and more than 5000 pairs of pelicans breed. Everywhere we looked we were met by a real spectacle, whether it be a huge flock of garganey or groups of white-winged black and whiskered terns following our boat. As the day progressed I began to run out of superlatives.
And amongst all of this lot, there were ospreys. Over the course of the day we saw between 15 and 20 different individuals. Nearly all were unringed, but we did manage to read two more German colour rings. One of them, an adult female, went a long way to disproving an observation I made in my last blog post. All through the trip we have seen adult ospreys stamping their authority on the latest influx of juveniles. Some established adults will have been returning to the same wintering site for a decade or more. As such they have little time for a juvenile who is looking to pinch their fish. I just presumed that most juveniles take the hint and move on elsewhere in search of a site they can call their winter home. At Djoudj however we saw quite the opposite. For more than an hour on Friday evening we watched a juvenile male chase and harry the German female. Whenever she landed, the youngster gave chase, pursuing her above the flocks of feeding spoobills and egrets as if he owned the place. I guess some juvenile’s are just more up for a fight than others.
We have another six days in northern Senegal. If they are as good as our first, we are in for a treat. Look out for my next blog update same time next week. Also, don't forget to check out video diaries from the trip on youtube. Just search for ‘Rutland Ospreys’ on http://www.youtube.com/. You might also like to have a look at Frederic's blog http://ornithondar.blogspot.com/
Tim Mackrill
Friday, 28 January 2011
One of the highlights of the second week was a visit to Tanji School, with 1200 pupils, 600 attending in the morning, and 600 in the afternoon. All education in Gambia is paid for privately, with the aid of their parents, these children are fortunate. Throughout our travels on the bus we were always greeted by lots of children running from the dusty areas in front of their village and town huts, they waved frantically at us calling ‘hello’ and were overjoyed by a return wave from us. We were not disappointed when our bus pulled into the dusty playground of the school. Most were dressed in the blue and white uniform and as they eagerly gathered around us it was a joy to see their smiling faces. We were introduced to some of the teachers and a group of children was selected to fill one of the classrooms to listen to what Tim had to say about Ospreys. To illustrate his talk he used his laptop and book ‘Birds of The Gambia and Senegal’, which he promptly presented to the Headteacher afterwards. Whilst Tim was speaking, John was drawing an Osprey on the blackboard – the children watched on in awe, as too did we. I would imagine that drawing is still on the blackboard. Other children were clamouring at the doorway next to me and also at the open brick windows, but as much as they pushed and pulled they were extremely polite to us. Once Tim had finished talking we started taking photos of the children and the excitement and wonderment of seeing themselves in the photos was a joy to see, they pointed at the photo and giggled with each other, such a simple pleasure. I know Tim will be working hard to establish that link between Tanji School and one of ours and things have already been set in motion to raise money for those happy smiling schoolchildren.
As far as the birds are concerned, I’m going to leave that to the experts, who will be reporting on their return, unless they can get wifi whilst on their travels. I will say, however, that there seemed to be a certain element of lighthearted competition between Week 1 and Week 2 as to who could see the most species. Well, let’s just say that as a volunteer from Week 2 my smile is as broad as any that I witnessed from the lovely people of The Gambia! I shall not mention any numbers but Paul carried his notebook everywhere and studiously recorded them all. These figures and names were handed to Liz Jameson, Project Information Officer, who will be typing them up for us all – it was almost like the Olympic Flame being handed over.
One more thing before I sign off. Three of the volunteers visited Isle des Oiseaux (Island of the Birds) with the rest of the team. Sadly the rest of the volunteers decided not to come along because of the journey itself. It was a long journey; breakfasting at 5.30am, travelling by bus in darkness to Missira, in the Sine Saloum delta to get in a fishing boat to take us out to the island. It was a distance of 16km but avoiding the mud flats more like 20km – 1hr 45mins. The sea was quite choppy and some of us got soaked. We waded from the boat to shore on arrival at the island. We were the first people to set foot on the island since Simon King’s visit last year and we felt very very privileged. Words are going to be totally inadequate to describe what awaited us. The first week Tim said he could see 11 birds on the tapering sandbar at the end of the island but George and I counted 14 this week. I could see 6 Ospreys in my binoculars without moving! We were very close as they fished right in front of us, taking their catch back to the sandbar. This was really what I had come to see; Ospreys in their wintering quarters and nothing could have prepared me for the spectacle unfolding so closely.
More updates next week.
Lynda Berry
Osprey Volunteer
Friday, 21 January 2011
West Africa - Week 2
Aside from the sheer number of Ospreys, it has been a real privilege and extremely interesting to watch the birds’ behaviour on their wintering grounds. Something that has really surprised me, is that the adults birds are generally very tolerant of each other. The best example of this was at the Sine-Saloum Delta in Senegal last week when we saw 11 different Ospreys perched within a couple of hundred metres of each other. Thinking about it though, maybe I shouldn’t be surprised at all – remember, these birds will all know each other. Satellite tracking and other studies have shown that Ospreys return to the same wintering site every year; sometimes for more than twenty years. So if the same birds are returning to the same site each year, they must recognise each other. As long as there is plenty of fish, there is no need to waste energy chasing off a bird that you have seen every winter for the past ten or so years. Having said that, things are very different if an unknown juvenile appears. While one adult bird will let another pass directly over head without flinching, it is a totally different story if the bird flying over is a juvenile. In this case the adult bird will usually give a ‘chip’ call to warn off the juvenile, and if it doesn’t get the message, it will give chase. We have seen this behaviour over and over again in the past week and so there is clearly a hierarchy at all wintering sites. If you’re an established bird, then no problem. If, on the other hand, you are a juvenile who has arrived in West Africa for the first time then, good luck. This of course explains why the juvenile birds wander so widely during their first six months in Africa; they are looking for somewhere rich in food, but also where they will be accepted by the locals!
Another very interesting aspect of wintering behaviour that we have witnessed during the first ten days, is the differing ability of adult and juvenile birds to catch fish. In places where fish are abundant, such as the Sine-Saloum delta, and the coastline of Gambia south of Banjul, adult birds have very little difficulty when out hunting – most catch a meal within minutes. For juveniles though, it is a very different story. On Wednesday afternoon this week we visited Bajoli Island, situated about two miles off the Gambian coast at Tanji. This small sandy island is home to a huge colony of nesting Caspian Terns and Grey-headed Gulls and numerous wintering Ospreys. During a two hour visit we saw somewhere in the region of 10-15 different Ospreys, several of them juveniles. If the amount of fish brought back to Tanji every day by the local fishermen is anything to go by, the sea here is teeming with fish, thereby providing rich pickings for a hungry Osprey. You wouldn’t have known it though if you just watched the young Ospreys. Time after time, they hit the water but failed to come up with a fish. One particular bird must have crashed into the water on more than a dozen occasions before it finally came up with a fish. And by the time it eventually dragged a fish out of the water, it was so exhausted that it didn’t have the energy to eat it; instead it just flopped down onto the beach and sat there, exhausted. The sad reality is that this clearly demonstrates that surviving their first migration does not guarantee that a young Ospreys will survive to adulthood. It takes time for the birds to refine their fishing technique – and those that do not do this quick enough, probably don’t make it. A very clear example of natural selection in action.
Before our boat trip to Bijoli Island on Wednesday, we visited a primary school in Tanji, a fishing town of some 15,000 people a few kilometres south of Banjul. As I said in the blog last week, one of the main aims of our trip is to establish links with people in West Africa, and it seemed that a school was a good place to start. More than 1200 children aged 5-14 attend Tanji school. Significantly, all live within a couple of miles of a coast where numerous Ospreys catch fish every day during the winter. During our visit I gave a talk to 30 or so pupils about our work at Rutland Water in an effort to try and emphasise how special these birds really are. The kids all seemed genuinely interested. I’m not sure how many of them knew what an Osprey was before the visit, but they certainly do now! We now plan to link Tanji school with a primary school in Rutland to allow the children to write and keep in touch with each other, with Ospreys as the link cementing their relationship.
Among the numerous Ospreys we’ve seen since my last update, several have been colour ringed. Of these, we managed to read five of them. Four of the birds were German and one, French. It will be really interesting to find out a bit more about each bird and specifically to see how many winters they have spent in West Africa. I will of course report any news on the blog. Roy Dennis got back to me last week to say that the Scottish juvenile we saw at Sine-Saloum was ringed at a nest in central Scotland. I wonder if the neighbouring adult birds will allow it to make the mouth of the River Saloum its regular winter home?
Finally I must mention our guide, JJ. JJ has been leading bird tours in the Gambia and Senegal for many years, but I don’t think he’s ever lead two groups quite like us. Of course he knew about Ospreys before, but he certainly knows a lot more now! If you are planning a trip to the Gambia or Senegal then I would urge you to get in touch with JJ; he is extremely knowledgeable, enthusiastic and good fun to be with. He also now knows a fair bit about wintering Ospreys. Check out his website www.gambiabirdguide.com. Your trip to the Gambia wouldn’t be complete without him.
I’ll post another blog next week, but in the meantime we’ll add some more photos over the next couple of days. Make sure you also watch out for some video diaries on the project’s youtube channel too.
Tim Mackrill
Sunday, 16 January 2011
West Africa week 1
When you spend all summer watching Ospreys every day, the prospect of seeing them on their wintering grounds in tropical
Our week started with two days in southern
On Saturday morning we were up well before dawn in order to get to the
Of course we have also seen a selection of the vast array of other birds
Tomorrow we’re heading back to
Watch out for another blog update same time next week.
Thursday, 15 April 2010
Website back online
Monday, 12 April 2010
Calm again in Manton Bay
More good news is that we are hoping to have the website back up and running by Wednesday afternoon.
Don't forget you can get great views of the Manton Bay nest by visiting the Lyndon reserve - signposted off the minor road between Manton and Edith Weston on the south shore of Rutland Water.
Saturday, 10 April 2010
The Battle of Manton Bay
Just before 2pm yesterday afternoon 5N - who bred at the nest in 2007 and 2008 before moving to Site N last year - appeared over the nest and dive bombed 5R and the female, forcing them both to take to the air. For the next half hour 5N continued to bombard her brother and his mate. Each time either bird landed on the nest they were dive-bombed by 5N. Following 08's return on 31st March, she has appeared very settled at Site N, but the sight of a female on her old nest was obviously too much for her to take.
Eventually 5R did manage to return to the nest. However the battle between his mate and 5N showed no sign of relenting. By now the unringed female had turned the tables, and was attempting to drive 5N away from the nest and displaying above her. It is unusual to see a female displaying, so this demonstrated that the female now considers Manton Bay to be her own territory.
5N was not giving up without a fight though. Both birds were now gaining height, the unringed female attempting to shepherd 5N away from the bay. At one point the two birds must have been more than 3000 feet up; just tiny dots in a bright blue sky.
Eventually they dropped down again and the chasing and 'chipping' began once again. 5N was not giving up.
By 4:30pm the two females had gained height again and now they drifted south, leaving 5R alone in the bay. Another hour and a half passed before they returned, by which time 5R had headed off east from the nest in search of fish. The two females completed several circuits of the bay and then disappeared again. Ten minutes later 5R was back with a trout, oblivious to the fact that the two females had made a brief return. By 8:15pm it was dark and there was still no sign of the female. 5R though had only eaten half of the fish - keeping the remainder for the female for when she returned. But the question was, would she return?
We checked the nest at 7am this morning and sure enough, the female was back! She had just finished the fish that 5R must have given her when she returned, and was cleaning her bill in the nest. Buoyed by her return 5R was making frequent trips to collect nesting material. Several successful copulations followed, and more significantly, there was no sign of 5N. Hopefully there will be no repeat of yesterday's amazing scenes.
With the female back in Manton Bay, Shallow Water and Waderscrape hides are well worth a visit. You can access the Lyndon reserve from the minor road between Manton and Edith Weston.
Photos to follow soon.
Thursday, 8 April 2010
Spring in Manton Bay
The unringed female has again spent all day with 5R in Manton Bay, providing fantastic views for several hundred visitors to the Lyndon reserve. 5R returned with a fish just after 10am and after tucking into the head, he took the remainder to the female fifteen minutes later. Since then, the birds have been seen copulating throughout the afternoon.
Still no sign of 32 on Lagoon 4 though.
Wednesday, 7 April 2010
Female returns to Site B
5R and his female
5R attracts a female
Unfortunately we have still not resolved the problems with the website - but hope to have it up and running again by the end of the week. We do however have much better news from Manton Bay.
The unringed female who spent much of last summer with 32(05) at the Lagoon 4 nest, returned on Monday evening. With 32 still absent from Lagoon 4, the female has spent most of her time with 5R in Manton Bay. Yesterday evening, after several unsuccessful fishing trips, 5R returned to the nest with a hefty trout just before 7pm. He wasted little time in presenting it to the female who took it to the nearby t perch to tuck into her meal. The fish was so large that the female still had some remaining at 8am this morning. Since then 5R has brought numerous clumps of turf to line the nest, and we've observed several successful copulations.
The really interesting thing now will be to see what happens when 32 realises that the female is back. Will he return to Lagoon 4? If he does, will the female follow? We'll be updating the blog on a daily basis until the website is back online, so watch this space. Even better, why not visit Lyndon for yourself. You can get great views of the nest from Waderscrape and Shallow Water hides on the Lyndon reserve which can be accessed from the minor road between Manton and Edith Weston on the south shore of Rutland Water.
Monday, 5 April 2010
Website problems and latest news
5R has been present at the Manton Bay nest throughout the Easter weekend, providing fantastic views for hundreds of visitors to the Lyndon reserve. He has caught several fish within sight of the hides at Lyndon, so the reserve is well worth a visit at the moment!
Elsewhere, last year's breeding female returned to the Site B nest (on private land) on Sunday morning. She is already looking very settled with 03(97) and the female who was present for several days last week has, rather predictably, moved on. 32(05) has again remained absent from the Lagoon 4 nest, meaning the Lyndon reserve is still the best place to see Ospreys if you are planning a trip to Rutland Water in the next few days. The reserve is signposted off the minor road between Manton and Edith Weston on the south shore of Rutland Water.
More news and photos to follow during the week.