Ghana 14th March 2016 Part 1

Today was our first full day in Mole National Park. We had a brief Greyish Eagle Owl right beside the lodges the previous evening after settling in. We awoke early as usual in the morning for breakfast but it had started raining very heavily, the first substantial rain of the trip. The rainy season wasn't supposed to kick in for another two months so it was a bit of a surprise. After two hours of wasted daylight it thankfully stopped. After a slow start today proved to be one of the best days of the trip personally speaking. There were a several highlights during the course of the day which included good views of White-throated Francolin & Stone Partridge, White-headed Vulture, several Bateleurs (cracking looking birds in flight), a male Denham's Bustard displaying and mating with a female, Forbe's Plover, Four-banded Sandgrouse,  Northern White-faced Owl, Standard-winged Nightjar, White-breasted Cuckooshrike, African Moustached Warbler and of course African Elephant! I'll throw up another post shortly featuring the passerines (plus near-passerines) and mammals.

Black-crowned Night Heron

Squacco Heron

Black-headed and Grey Heron

Cattle Egret

Hammerkop

White-faced Whistling Ducks

Hooded Vulture

White-headed Vulture

White-headed Vulture

Male Bateleur

Male Denham's Bustard displaying to female.

Male and female Denham's Bustard

Copulation

Copulation

Dust flying after the deed.

Female Denham's Bustard

Stone Partridge

White-throated Francolin

White-throated Francolin, almost Corncrake like!

Senegal Thick-knees

Senegal Thick-knee

Ghana 13th March 2016

Another post from the Ghana trip. We spent most of the day heading further north from Kumasi, eventually ending up in the impressive Mole National Park. We were now leaving the more humid zone of Guinea Rainforest and into the savannah zone of the northern section of Ghana. We had one stop in the morning to Offinso Woods. This area of woodland seemed to display a few of the major problems that this habitat faces e.g. permitted tree lodging, hunting and recent fires were all visible.
One shocking sight a short distance from Mole was a gathering of 200 - 300 locals who had descended on a small village. They were all shipped in on cattle trucks. Apparently this is a regular occurrence where an area is swamped by large numbers of hunters who clear out anything that moves. Unsurprisingly we had seen absolutely no large mammals on the trip so far. The only time we did was within the national park which has a huge staff of rangers who protect the area. I should have a lot more bird shots in the next few posts as the photography opportunities were much better in the park in which we spent the next few days. It was also a relief not to be on the road so much.

Tambourine Dove

Narina's Trogon, a very bad photo of a very good bird.

Dark-chanting Goshawk

Pearl-spotted Owlet

Pearl-spotted Owlet

Bush meat hunting in Offinso Woods.

Rhinoceros Viper, road casualty, apparently a highly venous snake.

Rhinoceros Viper

Logging in Offinso Woods.

Birding in Offinso Woods.

No comment!

Typical roadside rubbish.

Thatched roofs with freshly cut reeds.

Hand made mud bricks.

Cattle herd coming in to drink after a day out in bush country.

Large scale hunting with tool of the trade fixed to the outside of the truck.

Two Warthogs sleeping during the night at the door of one the lodge rooms.

Ghana 11th & 12th March 2016

Another two days from Ghana. The first half of the 11th was spent at Ankasa with the drive back to the Kakum area after lunch. It was a quite enough day but we did manage to finally see a Forest Robin after hearing a few on the trip so far. A Fraser's Eagle Owl was accidently flushed by a handful of participant's at the head to the trail but was gone in seconds. We had small numbers of Orange Weavers in amongst colony of Viellot's Black Weaver on the journey later on also.

Striated Heron

Cassin's Flycatcher on nest.

Rosy Bee-eater

Rosy Bee-eater

Rosy Bee-eater

Female Violet-backed Starling

Melancholy Woodpecker

The main target for the 12th was the White-necked Picathartes. There are only two species in the Picathartes family both of which are found in low numbers and are restricted to West Africa. This particular species is probably the main reason why most birders visit Ghana. They certainly lived to expectations and were probably the highlight for most of us on the trip. They are a truly unique bird. They are reasonably big bird that relies on good quality rainforest with rocky outcrops on which they make their mud nests. Their heads are bald and are somewhat reminiscent of a small dinosaur. We had excellent views of several birds in the area of the cliff face. The nearest village relies heavily on the income provided by visiting birders. As a result the locals can see a clear benefit in keeping the forest intact as without it the Picathartes would be lost. After a memorable time with the Picathartes it was onto Kumasi where we would spend the night before heading up the north and onto Mole National Park. There was an amazing thunderstorm on the journey to Kumasi with lighting flashing every 15 seconds, I've never seen anything like it. This continued for at least two hours and added to a highly memorable bus journey which I won't forget in a hurry...

White-necked Picathartes mud nest.

White-necked Picathartes

White-necked Picathartes

White-necked Picathartes

White-necked Picathartes