Ghana 2nd-12th November 2011

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Ghana 2nd-12th November 2011

Posted on November 14, 2011 at 3:45 PM

Picathartes ! What a name, what a bird !

I was a kid when I saw a re-run of a David Attenborough black and white Zoo Quest wildlife documentary about an attempt to see a little-known species of bird with a fabulous name in Sierra Leone. I was looking for a last-minute break when I saw that Sunbird had a space on a trip to Ghana which had a very good chance of seeing Yellow-headed Picathartes (the one in Sierra Leone is White-headed). Now, it's dangerous to set off with one bird as the main objective but I'd done it in February with Spoon-billed Sandpiper so I thought why not! Also, there were a lot of good forest species on the menu so with luck it would be 10 bird-filled days in forests that have not been greatly visited by birders.

Wednesday 2nd November

I travelled with KLM to Accra via Amsterdam which made for a long day though the main leg of the flight was only 6 hours. I had the good fortune of bumping into fellow tour participant Hu Gallagher almost as soon as I arrived at Heathrow and we linked up with another of our group - Jeremy Rewse-Davies- as we got on the plane to Amsterdam. We had lunch together in Amsterdam and managed to find plenty in common to pass the time as we waited for the flight to Ghana.

Stepping out of the aircraft in Accra into a hot, sultry dark tropical night I was fairly quickly through passport control and into the chaos of the cramped, poorly-lit baggage reclaim area. Thankfully re-united with my baggage I soon met tour leader James Lidster and local tour guide and well-respected Ghanaian birder Robert Ntakor. Just after 22.00 we were out of the chaos of Accra and travelling east to Tema and the Hotel Alexis.

Thursday 3rd November

After a 05.00 breakfast we drove the short distance to Shai Hills Resource Reserve, a 50 kilometer square patch of coastal savannah with granite outcrops. We spent the next 5 hours birding slowly along a track into the reserve as the heat steadily increased. Highlights were Stone Partridge, Red-shouldered Cuckoo-Shrike, Snowy-crowned Robin Chat, White-shouldered Black Tit, Mosque Swallow, Piapiac, Quail Finch, Veillot's Barbet and Lesser Honeyguide. Both Lanner and Shikra showed well. Reminders of home included Honey Buzzard and Spotted and Pied Flycatcher.

Shai Hills

Shikra

Hooded Vulture

After lunch back at the hotel we boarded our bus for what turned out to be a long and tortuous journey west to Kakum National Park broken by brief stops at the Sukomona Lagoon just west of Accra and Winneba plains.

At the lagoon we soon assembled a long list of species just by scanning from the disused railway that ran alongside the main coastal highway. Scenic it wasn't! We saw Black Heron, Squacco, lots of egret, Glossy Ibis, Marsh Harrier, Grey Kestrel, B W Stilt, Collared Pratincole, African Wattled Plover, Spur-winged Plover, Wood Sand, Curlew Sand, Black Tern, Little Tern and Pied Kingfisher.

Sukomona Lagoon

Our stop on Winneba plains was also brief but produced Black-shouldered Kite, Red-winged Warbler, Sulphur-breasted Bush-Shrike, and Yellow-crowned Gonolek.

Winneba Plains

Black-shouldered Kite

Collecting Mark Williams, owner of Ashanti Tours (our ground-agents) we arrived at the Rainforest Lodge in darkness. Very comfortable rooms, en-suite with air-con and tv's at every turn, all showing English Premiership or Champions League football! Reasonable food, beer, lots of chat, a great evening passed quickly.

Friday 4th November

We spent the day in Kakum National Park, and most of our time was spent in the trees on the fantastic canopy walkway suspended a good few metres off the forest floor. You can't really watch from the walkway but instead we spent our time on the platforms built around giant trees from which the walkway is suspended. We got in early and had nearly 5 hours on the platforms before stopping for lunch and because the walkway was getting busy. Our morning highlights were many with a wide range of species seen including Yellow-billed Turaco, White-crested and Brown-cheeked Hornbills, Melancholy and Fire-bellied Woodpeckers, Sharpe's Apalis, Rufous-crowned Eremomela, Sabine's Puffback, Black Bee-eater, Cassin's Spinetail and Yellow-mantled, Maxwells' Black and Preus's Weavers.

Robert Ntakor

White-crested Hornbill

Forest Chestnut-winged Starling

Yellowbill

Black-winged Oriole

Harrier Hawk

Mona Monkey

Olive Colobus

After lunch and a break for the heat of the day we returned to Kakum and spent an hour or so birding the forest around the canopy walkway seeing Little Greenbul and Cameroon Sombre Greenbul. The car park area held some common birds like Pin-tailed Whydah which were quite approachable. Around 4.30 we returned to the canopy walkway and stayed until dark. It was wonderful and very atmospheric being up with the birds as dusk rolled in. The afternoon session was dominated by hornbills, especially Black-Casqued and we had a number of Blue-throated Rollers. After dark both Brown Nightjar and Fraser's Eagle Owl were heard but did not respond to taping.

African Pied Wagtail

Pin-tailed Whydah

Pied Crow

Brown-cheeked Hornbill

Saturday 5th November

After the now familiar 05.00 breakfast we were soon loaded on the bus and heading into another area of Kakum NP. We passed through much more denuded forest with clearings and plantations and stopped to watch the odd flock of mannikins and a large group of Black-winged Bishops.

Black-winged Bishop

Vieillot's Black Weaver

After half an hour we stopped at a village -Antwikwaa- and continued on foot birding scattered trees, forest edge and cocoa plantations. It was very good birding with a wide range of species and the action was virtually non-stop. Of the many highlights were Cassin's Hawk Eagle, Red-necked Buzzard, Black and Rosy Bee-eaters, Bristle-nosed, Naked-faced and Hairy-breasted Barbets, Golden Greenbul, Western Nicator, Rufous-crowned Eremomela, Forest Penduline Tit, Fraser's Forest Flycatcher, Ashy Fly, Buff-throated Sunbird (a stunning male), Johanna's Sunbird and Pygmy Kingfisher.

African Pied Hornbill

Forest Penduline Tit

Honey Buzzard

Red-necked Buzzard

Around 10.30 we left Antwikwa and drove back to Rainforest Lodge via a river crossing at Twifo Praso where in the heat of the day we eventually enjoyed good scope views of both Rock Pratincole and White-throated Blue Swallow. The swallows appeared to be nesting under the bridge - I only saw 2 birds- and the river was running so high that the Rock Pratincoles were resting on the concrete bridge supports.

Twifo Praso

Rock Pratincole

Cattle Egret

The afternoon session was spent again in Kakum National Park, at a spot called Abrafo. There was good forest here and we birded from a wide track though at the start all you could hear was the buzz of chainsaws! Eventually we left that behind and a different buzzing heralded fantastic scope views of a displaying male Rufous-sided Broadbill. Chocolate-backed Kingfisher was seen well and Blue Cuckoo-shrike. After dark we eventually connected with Black-shouldered and Long-tailed Nightjar's that we scoped with the aid of spotlights.

We returned to the Rainforest Lodge to a now familiar meal of chicken,rice,fish and beans with plenty of beer.

Chocolate-backed Kingfisher

Sunday 6th November

We returned to Abrafo first thing and spent until late morning birding patches of forest and plantation edges. It was challenging but quite rewarding and I saw Grey Longbill, Green Crombec, Puvel's Illadopsis, Sooty Boubou, Red-faced Cisticola, Paradise Flycatcher and a superb flock of 14 Rosy Bee-eaters.

White-throated Bee-eater

Soon after 10 am we were back on the bus and heading west to Takoradi, a busy seaside town, for lunch. We stopped at a large modern hotel for a good meal in the company of rather a lot of what appeared to be American missionaries.

Takoradi

Back on the bus we drove for another couple of hours in increasingly torrential rain to the small seaside town of Half-Assini where we located our hotel -the Gracia - dropped our bags and swapped over to 2 four-wheel drive vehicles for our hour long trip to Ankassa Protected Area. Once there we found the reason we had the 4x4's was to get a few miles into the park along a track which had a number of deeply rutted and muddy sections. By the time we stopped it was close to 17.00 and we had a bit of a route-march to check a series of forest ponds for several hoped-for birds; Finfoot, Hartlaub's Duck, Spot-breasted Ibis and kingfishers. Despite our efforts we drew a blank and so walked back as darkness fell and the strange sound of Nkulengu Rail came from the depths of the forest. As we approached the vehicles a Nkulegu Rail was calling not too far into the forest and Robert walked off the path and disappeared to take a look. Just a few moments later he gave a shout and we all literally dived into the forest and I quickly found myself getting good looks at a slightly stunned looking and floodlit Nkulengu Rail ! Amazing, and very rarely seen. What a finish.

Owls proved less co-operative and so we headed back to Half-Assini and the Hotel Gracia. Arriving at about 2100 we were hungry and so went to eat straight away. It was a rather dingy, badly lit and cramped dining room but hot food - rice, chicken etc usual simple fair- was OK and beers duly arrived to toast our success. Then it was off to get a few hours sleep and do it all again.

Ankassa

Monday 7th November

Ankassa all day; breakfast at 04.30 and then straight to the forest by four-wheel drive starting at the exact same spot as yesterday.

We went straight to the line of pylons cutting through the forest and spent a good while watching birds on the forest edge and those crossing from one side to another. As unsightly as they are these man-made breaks in the forest often afford good looks at birds that otherwise might prove quite difficult to see and so I've birded along many a pipeline trail / pylon line. We had a long list of birds here, the highlights were Western Bronze-naped Pigeon, Grey Parrot, Great Blue Turaco, Square-tailed Saw-wing, Red-billed Helmet Shrike and Crested & red-vented Malimbe.

Then as it was still early we walked briskly down to look at the 3 ponds we'd checked last night. Once again no Finfoot, Hartlaubs Duck or Ibis but we struck lucky with kingfishers seeing White-bellied and Blue-breasted within a few minutes of arriving at the first pond. The morning passed quite slowly as the pace slackened and we staked out the waterholes. Soon after mid-day we walked back to the vehicles, which had moved to where there were a few park buildings, and had lunch and a break.

Chestnut-breasted Negrofinch

White-bellied Kingfisher

Blue-breasted Kingfisher

Woodland Kingfisher

We intended to re-start around 3pm but that got moved back a bit by rain and the threat of a really heavy downpour which never materialised. The rest of the afternoon just got better and better. Right after lunch we got good looks at Black Cuckoo, Red-thighed Sparrowhawk and Red-billed Dwarf Hornbills. Cassin's Honeyguide , Slender-billed Greenbul and Honeyguide Greenbul were also seen before we started out on our third stroll to the ponds. This time pond 3 came up trumps. As we arrived a couple of us saw a female Finfoot but it swam into cover quite quickly. James got a glimpse of a Hartlaubs duck. We stayed and watched quietly. James lured out a White-spotted Flufftail on the other side of the path then it was back to watching the pond. As it was getting late and we'd glimpsed Black Crake and a Jacana a female Hartlaub's Duck swam into view at the back with 6 ducklings! Fantastic. Some of the group even had Spot-breasted Ibis fly over as they left the pond. A great finish.

Back at the hotel we found no electricity or water but at least they cooked some food so we went to bed dirty and tired but not hungry.

Tuesday 8th November