While birding in the Peruvian Amazon in 2014, trying to get to one thousand world birds for the year, I started thinking of goals for 2015. I was already thinking of heading to West Africa at the end of the year to ensure I make my world one thousand and this led to the idea of trying to ID one thousand AFRICAN birds in 2015. Being in West Africa over the New Year period would be a great kick-start. By the start of Dec 2014 I had trips lined up to Ghana, Senegal and Gambia, Tunisia, Uganda and Rwanda and additional plans for Tanzania, Cameroon and Ethiopia.
In the first four days of 2015 I saw 178 birds in Ghana and after a few other South African weekend trips I was already on an incredible 447 birds by the end of January. Unfortunately our currency exchange rate plummeted against the US dollar, losing about 25% from Dec 2014 to Feb 2015 and with all my trips priced in dollars, this became a serious problem. Eventually I decided to drop the Tanzania trip and instead visit Malawi over a long weekend with Nicola, hoping to add many of the miombo specials.
Ghana was hot and humid as expected. In Senegal and Gambia I endured some of the hottest birding conditions I've ever had (40°C+), while Tunisia had cool, even cold temperatures. Uganda and Rwanda's highlands probably provided the most pleasant climate despite lots of rain and also produced some of the best birding (high endemicity) for the entire year. By the end of May I stood on a whopping 828 birds. Nicola joined me for the long weekend in Malawi in June and a few weeks later we took a week to do some atlassing in the Northern Cape and a pelagic trip out of Simon's Town.
Birding Cameroon in September was hard work as the rainy season severely diminished bird activity and some frustrating car troubles also threw a spanner in the works. From October to early December, birding in South Africa escalated with the arrival of summer migrants. This year has seen the development of one of the strongest El Nino effects ever recorded and unfortunately this has resulted in a severe drought throughout the north eastern birding hotspots of South Africa. Despite this, trips to Dullstroom, Kruger National Park, Wakkerstroom, St Lucia and the Mpumalanga escarpment kept adding birds and by the end of November, I had ticked 989 birds.
Leaving the best for last, I departed for Ethiopia in mid-December just 7 birds short of my target. I reached one thousand species recorded on the continent on my very first morning, still in the hotel gardens in Addis Ababa. Birding in Ethiopia was fantastic and I recorded 422 birds for the trip (420 in 2015) finishing 2015 with a final tally of 1171. Below's a link to the final list of birds and a graph showing my progress throughout the year.
Final bird list
Over the past year I've met many new people and hooked up with some old friends. I'd like to specifically thank all the guides who have gone to extensive lengths to organize these trips for me and who have put up with my endless requests and drive for a personal but completely arbitrary goal: Kwame Prince (Ghana), Ansumana Jawara (Senegal and Gambia), Tarek Nefzi (Tunisia), Joseph Mugerwa (Uganda and Rwanda), Katengu Jimu (Malawi), Benjamin Jomi (Cameroon), Measho Legesse and Girum Tewelde (Ethiopia) and my local South African guides, Dr Paul Martin (Port Elizabeth), David Letsoalo (Magoebaskloof), Trevor Hardaker and John Graham (Simon's Town pelagic), Lucky Ngwenya (Wakkerstroom) and Niall Perrins (Durban pelagic). Lastly I must say thank you to Nicola for allowing me to follow my dreams and sorry for leaving her at home so many times this year.
Below is a summary of my trips this year with links to each trip's blog post, a map of locations I visited, species list and the top ten birds of the trip. There are no links for the South Africa section as this comprised many trips throughout the year - rather refer to our main blog for individual entries.
In the first four days of 2015 I saw 178 birds in Ghana and after a few other South African weekend trips I was already on an incredible 447 birds by the end of January. Unfortunately our currency exchange rate plummeted against the US dollar, losing about 25% from Dec 2014 to Feb 2015 and with all my trips priced in dollars, this became a serious problem. Eventually I decided to drop the Tanzania trip and instead visit Malawi over a long weekend with Nicola, hoping to add many of the miombo specials.
Ghana was hot and humid as expected. In Senegal and Gambia I endured some of the hottest birding conditions I've ever had (40°C+), while Tunisia had cool, even cold temperatures. Uganda and Rwanda's highlands probably provided the most pleasant climate despite lots of rain and also produced some of the best birding (high endemicity) for the entire year. By the end of May I stood on a whopping 828 birds. Nicola joined me for the long weekend in Malawi in June and a few weeks later we took a week to do some atlassing in the Northern Cape and a pelagic trip out of Simon's Town.
Birding Cameroon in September was hard work as the rainy season severely diminished bird activity and some frustrating car troubles also threw a spanner in the works. From October to early December, birding in South Africa escalated with the arrival of summer migrants. This year has seen the development of one of the strongest El Nino effects ever recorded and unfortunately this has resulted in a severe drought throughout the north eastern birding hotspots of South Africa. Despite this, trips to Dullstroom, Kruger National Park, Wakkerstroom, St Lucia and the Mpumalanga escarpment kept adding birds and by the end of November, I had ticked 989 birds.
Leaving the best for last, I departed for Ethiopia in mid-December just 7 birds short of my target. I reached one thousand species recorded on the continent on my very first morning, still in the hotel gardens in Addis Ababa. Birding in Ethiopia was fantastic and I recorded 422 birds for the trip (420 in 2015) finishing 2015 with a final tally of 1171. Below's a link to the final list of birds and a graph showing my progress throughout the year.
Final bird list
 |
| Progress of new daily birds and cumulative count throughout the year |
Over the past year I've met many new people and hooked up with some old friends. I'd like to specifically thank all the guides who have gone to extensive lengths to organize these trips for me and who have put up with my endless requests and drive for a personal but completely arbitrary goal: Kwame Prince (Ghana), Ansumana Jawara (Senegal and Gambia), Tarek Nefzi (Tunisia), Joseph Mugerwa (Uganda and Rwanda), Katengu Jimu (Malawi), Benjamin Jomi (Cameroon), Measho Legesse and Girum Tewelde (Ethiopia) and my local South African guides, Dr Paul Martin (Port Elizabeth), David Letsoalo (Magoebaskloof), Trevor Hardaker and John Graham (Simon's Town pelagic), Lucky Ngwenya (Wakkerstroom) and Niall Perrins (Durban pelagic). Lastly I must say thank you to Nicola for allowing me to follow my dreams and sorry for leaving her at home so many times this year.
Below is a summary of my trips this year with links to each trip's blog post, a map of locations I visited, species list and the top ten birds of the trip. There are no links for the South Africa section as this comprised many trips throughout the year - rather refer to our main blog for individual entries.
| Maps and info | Top ten birds |
|---|---|
GhanaSpecies: 178List of birds  | Yellow-billed barbet Black bee-eater Rufous-sided broadbill Blue-headed wood-dove Chestnut-capped flycatcher Blue-headed crested flycatcher Finsch's flycatcher-thrush White-necked picathartes Blue-throated brown sunbird Forest wood-hoopoe |
Senegal and GambiaSpecies: 258List of birds  | Blackcap babbler Beaudouin's snake-eagle Yellow-crowned gonolek Swallow-tailed kite Standard-winged nightjar Bruce's green pigeon Blue-bellied roller Black scrub-robin Pygmy sunbird Lavender waxbill |
TunisiaSpecies: 92List of birds  | Fulvous chatterer Short-toed eagle Bar-tailed lark Little owl Barbary partridge Kentish plover Spotted redshank Moussier's redstart Black wheatear Eurasian wryneck |
Uganda and RwandaSpecies: 271List of birds  | Red-throated alethe Ruwenzori apalis Red-collared mountain babbler Luehder's bush-shrike Dusky crimsonwing Yellow-eyed black flycatcher African piculet Archer's robin-chat Neumann's warbler Bar-tailed trogon |
MalawiSpecies: 107List of birds  | Spotted creeper Bohm's flycatcher Stierling's woodpecker Pale-billed hornbill Rufous-bellied tit Lesser seedcracker Yellow-bellied hyliota Anchieta's sunbird Miombo rock-thrush Souza's shrike |
CameroonSpecies: 148List of birds  | Dybowski's twinspot Banded wattle-eye Grey-headed oliveback Bangwa warbler Yellow-breasted boubou Black-collared apalis Oriole finch Marsh widowbird Red-headed quelea Reichenbach's sunbird |
EthiopiaSpecies: 420List of birds  | Streseman's bush-crow Ankober serin Prince Ruspoli's turaco Spot-breasted lapwing Rouget's rail Abyssinian owl Blue-winged goose Liben lark Vulturine guineafowl Rosy-patched bush-shrike |
South AfricaSpecies: 515List of birds 
| Cape parrot Agulhas long-billed kark Black-headed canary Karoo eremomela Antarctic prion Snowy egret Bar-tailed godwit Terek sandpiper Collared pratincole Rudd's lark |
No comments:
Post a Comment