Wet season visitors, Popenguine & co.

Every year during the wet season, the Sahel undergoes an impressive transformation, the landscape turning all lush green in the space of just a few weeks. Four visits to the northern Petite Côte area in just as many weeks were a nice opportunity to see this extremely rapid transition from ultra-dry to completely soaked terrain. And with it of course the associated changes in bird life.

On our first excursion to Popenguine mid-August, shortly after the onset of the first few rains, the reserve was still bone dry, only the baobabs being all green & leafy while grasses has only just begun to sprout.

 

Exactly one month later, this is what the same area looked like (the same baobab tree can be seen in both pictures):

 

Impressive, right? It never ceases to amaze me how fast everything grows here once the rains arrive!

For now, back to mid-August when all was dry, and when the highlights of our visit were a juvenile Great Spotted Cuckoo (locally hatched?)…

Great Spotted Cuckoo / Coucou-geai juv.

 

… a female Standard-winged Nightjar (on transit, looking for greener pastures? August is breeding season here for the species…)…

Standard-winged Nightjar / Engoulevent à balanciers f.

 

… and finally this juvenile Peregrine Falcon circling briefly above the cliffs before disappearing towards the village – an early record here, though perhaps not that surprising given that the species breeds early in the Mediterranean, even if the pair that winters in Dakar every year typically shows up around mid-October only.

 

Peregrine

Peregrine

Peregrine

 

Fast-forward ten days, after copious showers in the preceding days, and the lagoons of the region were now completely filled – in particular the Yene lagoon which I’ve never seen this high:

 

Few waterbirds were around but this will surely change in coming weeks; a Knob-billed Duck amongst the White-faced Whistling Ducks was the most notable species here (Canard à bosse, Dendrocygne veuf). Should be interesting to see how the birdlife evolves here in the next few months, and what species will show up this year (last year with the lack of rains the site was pretty disappointing, should be far more interesting this year!!).

A stroll on one of the hills above Toubab Dialaw produced several Savile’s Bustards and Singing Bush Larks, while Mottled Spinetails were flying above the small escarpment… Klaas’s and Diederik Cuckoos were heard near the village (Outarde de Savile, Alouette chanteuse, Martinet d’Ussher, Coucous de Klaas et didric).

The bustards were particularly vocal and obviously occur in good densities here, with at least 4-5 birds responding to one another. Recording here on xeno-canto; picture of habitat below. This rather sought-after Sahel special is clearly easy to find here, even if rather disturbed habitat, particularly during the rains but they may sing – albeit the shorter version of their song, and less regularly – throughout the dry season as well. They’re often difficult to spot and even a careful approach to a singing bird will usually result in just a brief glimpse, a bird flushed from low bushes, or no sighting at all… Senegal and to a lesser extent The Gambia currently remain pretty much the only easily accessible countries to find this species.

 

A male Sahel Paradise Whydah in full breeding plumage was encountered along the track leading to Diass:

Sahel Paradise Whydah / Veuve à collier d’or m. ad.

 

Back to Popenguine on Sept. 8th, this time round for a very enjoyable bike tour through the bush between the villages of Popenguine, Ndayene and Toubab Dialaw (with Teranga Bike Adventure, highly recommended!) which provided a different kind of birding experience. Again Savile’s Bustard and Singing Bush Larks which are both very vocal at the moment, a Black-headed Lapwing breeding record (adult with chick), a Green Sandpiper flushed from a small pool along one of the tracks, a few Gull-billed Terns feeding over moist grassland, a Broad-billed Roller, Yellow-billed Oxpecker feeding on a donkey, a Gosling’s Bunting, and so on (Outarde de Savile, Alouette chanteuse, Vanneau à tête noire, Chevalier culblanc, Sterne hansel, Rolle violet, Piqueboeuf, Bruant d’Alexander).

Black-headed Lapwing / Vanneau à tête noire (Yene, Dec. 2017)

 

Last Sunday, Popenguine nature reserve again: the usual suspects such as Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin (the resident ssp. minor, “African Scrub Robin”), Stone Partridge, Helmeted Guineafowl, Senegal Batis, several Sahel Paradise Whydahs including males in display flight and a few females, one of which was clearly interested in a pair of Green-winged Pytilias which is the host species of this brood parasite (Agrobate roux, Poulette de roche, Pintade de Numidie, Pririt du Senegal, Veuve a collier d’or, Beaumarquet melba). Woodland Kingfisher and Klaas’s Cuckoo had joined the ranks of the intra-African migrants that move north with the rains and that occur in Popenguine (Martin-chasseur du Sénégal, Coucou de Klaas).

Sahel Paradise Whydah / Veuve à collier d’or f.

 

Several Gosling’s Buntings were singing at the top of the Cap de Naze cliffs, with one bird posing quite nicely at short range:

Gosling’s Bunting / Bruant d’Alexander

 

Migrant songbirds have now started to arrive from Europe: at least three Sand Martins were flying overhead, clearly heading south, when I arrived by the pond which by now is completely filled with water; I heard a Tree Pipit, saw 4-5 migrating Barn Swallows, while the acacias and bushes held a few Melodious Warblers, Willow Warblers, a Common Whitethroat, and even a fine Nightingale. (Hirondelles de rivage et rustique, Pipit des arbres, Hippolais polyglotte, Pouillot fitis, Fauvette grisette, Rossignol philomèle).

The Popenguine eBird checklists along with other recent records from the area – including a surprising African Crake seen by Miguel – can be found here.

Plenty more to come!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Popenguine Raptor Fest (3.11.18)

A visit to Popenguine nature reserve a couple of weeks ago quickly turned into a exciting few hours watching a good variety of raptors – something we’re not much used to in this part of Senegal, where there are few sites that are good for raptors, and most of the time anything else than a Yellow-billed Kite, Osprey or Hooded Vulture will qualify as a good record. Here’s a short overview, in order of appearance!

As always, several Ospreys were to be seen in the reserve; a few birds usually spend the night on the mighty baobabs that dot the Popenguine savanna, and all day long Ospreys can be seen flying around the cliffs or fishing out at sea. Later that same day at the lagoon just south of Toubab Dialaw, we had a good count of some 29 birds, all visible at the same time (Balbuzard). Popenguine of course also had a few Yellow-billed Kites patrolling the area (Milan à bec jaune).

As we were looking for a Common Rock Thrush we’d briefly spotted on a ridge ahead of the footpath, we noticed first an immature Peregrine Falcon flying around, then a European Hobby – the latter a scarce migrant through Senegal so always a good find. Hobby was already seen at Popenguine around the same time last year by Miguel. This time round it looked like it was an actively migrating individual, just like a Common Kestrel that briefly made an appearance shortly after (Faucons pèlerin, hobereau et crécerelle).

Miguel and Ross searching the skies for falcons

 

Next up was a Marsh Harrier circling in the distance, again probably a bird on its way to wintering grounds further south (Busard des roseaux). I’ve always thought that Popenguine would be a fairly strategic site to look for actively migrating raptors and other birds. Should be interesting to spend a few days here in October-November and February-March!

This Short-toed Eagle on the other hand was probably one of the 2-3 birds that typically spend the winter in the area around Popenguine and Guereo.

Short-toed Eagle / Circaète Jean-le-Blanc

 

Far less expected than the previous species was an African Hawk-Eagle, spotted by Gabriel as it arrived from the north-east and made its way towards the cliffs, at one point circling together with a couple of Ospreys. Initially we weren’t quite sure about its identity and tentatively id’d this bird as a Bonelli’s Eagle, wondering whether a juvenile African Hawk-Eagle could be ruled out, and were a bit puzzled by the very pale appearance of this eagle. Luckily I managed a few record shots, a bit distant and hazy but they should do the trick. The plumage seemed to still be within the variation of worn juvenile Bonelli’s Eagle, but moult should not start until the second year and this bird shows clear moult contrast on with fresh inner primaries growing. Simon was the first to point out, after this post was originally published, that it looked more like African Hawk-Eagle. I eventually sent out the picture for comments, and Dick Forsman kindly responded, confirming that it’s an African Hawk-Eagle: “It is overall lighter below, the juvenile remiges (primaries + secondaries) are too light and too poorly barred below for a juv. Bonelli’s and the replaced inner primary shows just a dark tip without any further barring. Note also the translucent primaries in the images with blue sky, another pro-spilogaster feature.” Thanks Dick! (post updated Dec. 27)

African Hawk-Eagle is reasonable common it seems through the southern half of Senegal, and is a classic sighting e.g. in the Niokolo-Koba area. There are some records from the Saloum delta and even from the middle Senegal valley (as per Morel & Morel and Sauvage & Rodwell), but as far as I know this is the first from the Petite Côte.

I’m still hoping to see Bonelli’s Eagle one day in the Djoudj, Trois-Marigots or elsewhere in the Senegal valley, the only area with more or less regular records in winter (mainly by Frédéric, who year after year has documented the presence of a few birds around Saint Louis and who nicely summarised the current knowledge about this scarce species in West Africa, in this post on Ornithondar).

African Hawk Eagle / Aigle fascié

African Hawk Eagle / Aigle fascié

 

After we’d reached the top of the cliffs, next up was this Eurasian Griffon which appeared to be actively migrating along the coastline, just like a second bird we’d see a couple of hours later that same morning near Yène.

Eurasian Griffon / Vautour fauve

 

Barely a few minutes later, Gabriel strikes again with a young Lanner making a brief appearance, just as we were heading back towards the reserve entrance (Faucon lanier). That’s four species of falcons, not bad! In previous years we’ve also had Barbary Falcon near the cliffs, and surely Red-necked Falcon and Grey Kestrel must also occur at least occasionally, while in the wet season it may be possible to encounter African Hobby.

We thought we’d seen pretty much everything when at the last minute a Shikra was seen dashing over the pond (all but dry!), bringing our morning’s total to 11 birds of prey.

Besides all these hooked beaks, as always the nature reserve held quite a few other good bird, such as Gosling’s Bunting, Green-winged Pytillia, Sahel Paradise-Whydah, Blue Rock Thrush, and Northern Anteater Chat. In the end we saw two different Common (=Rufous-tailed) Rock Thrushes, a scarce migrant in Senegal, see this post on our first encounter with the species, in February 2016 at… Popenguine! Also a decent flock of Pallid Swifts and a few White-throated Bee-eaters, both pretty good bonus species, while two Pygmy Kingfishers including at least one dark-billed juvenile provided proof that the species is breeding here.

Complete eBird checklist available here.

The bird list for the Popenguine reserve now stands at some 198 species, at a minimum that is: I listed more than 20 other species as being most likely present, but which apparently remain to be confirmed. More on that over here.

Oh and then there were the butterflies – pure magic! Thousands and thousands of butterflies everywhere, especially along the track up the cliffs. With every footstep, small clouds of butterflies would explode, while a constant stream of butterflies was passing by the cliffs. Our visit clearly took place during peak migration season of Painted Lady which were the vast majority, and to a lesser extent some pieridae. And loads of dragonflies! Difficult to capture on camera but if you look carefully at the image below you’ll get a bit of a sense of what I’m trying to explain here.

 

Popenguine cliffs… & many butterflies

 

 

 

Senegal birding and the UK Birdfair 2017

Last summer I had the chance to be in the UK for the Birdfair 2017. This is the largest annual market in Europe for birdwatchers. There is some overlap with bird conservation and many Birdlife partners are there, but this is primarily a place for the buying and selling of everything that birdwatchers desire; books, optics, but especially birdwatching holidays, and this is big business! Bird tour companies from many South American and African countries had flown in staff to advertise their holidays.

At the fair, South African birder Micheal Mills launched The Birder’s Guide to Africa, which aims to tell birders what is most distinctive about each country’s list of birds and where to go in Africa to most easily see each of the continent’s species. Whilst I do not agree with everything in some of the book’s West African chapters, it is a good start for a discussion of bird tourism in Senegal – which for many reasons would deserve a more prominent place on the Africa birding map (one of the many down-sides of taking very much of a quantitative, purely list-based approach to defining birding destinations, as is done by Michael Mills, is that many countries do get the recognition they deserve).

What is unique? Should more birders visit Senegal, and if so what should Senegalese bird guides do to encourage them? It should be said that I am talking about a certain type of birdwatching tourism – visiting places to make lists of unusual birds – which is the profitable market in which the Birdfair sells. From this perspective, the spectacles of Djoudj, the Sine Saloum and Kousmar are still important, but not enough if the birding guide cannot also find the country’s more unique species.

So, how visible was Senegal at the Birdfair? The short answer is almost invisible! Let’s avoid the historical and perhaps linguistic reasons why The Gambia features at the UK Birdfair, and look at all of West and North-West Africa. Geopolitics affects tourism and, correctly or not, many of the region’s countries are seen as more difficult places to organise tours. Unfortunately, these days large parts of Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and northern Nigeria and Cameroon are off-limits to foreign visitors due to ongoing conflict and security concerns. Currently the two most advertised North-West/West African destinations for bird tours are Morocco and Ghana, as destinations for European, North American and South African birders, who are the three main groups.

Let’s take the African Bird Club country lists, which taxonomically almost follow the IOC World Bird List, and query the list. Which species regularly occur in Senegal, but not in Morocco or Ghana and also do not occur widely elsewhere in Africa? This query give Senegal at least 28 “special” species, which it would be a good investment for bird guides to be able to find. Please add your comments to this linked list, which is accessible for editing. Several more could – and probably should – be added, and it’s good to keep in mind that the national list stands at about 680 species (we hope to publish an updated list some time soon on this blog). 

Most of the species on this list are birds of the Sahel and the drier, northern regions of the Sudan savanna. The USGS’ excellent recent resources on West African land use shows the western section of the Sahel bio-climatic region, which extends to northern Ethiopia.   

 

Little Grey (or Sahelian) Woodpecker is a classic example. Its patchy distribution, which does not go further east than western Sudan, includes northern Senegal where most recent West African observations have been made, though WaBDaB, which coordinates bird observations for Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad, has a few records.

Little grey Woodpecker / Pic gris, Gandiolais (BP)

For the average bird tour operator, Senegal is the easiest destination and there are places where it is often seen (Les Trois Marigots and near to Richard-Toll), but probably many to be discovered – for instance, it was reported just last week “well south of Louga” by a Swedish group. This and many of the Sahel specials are much more species of the Middle Valley described in Bram’s recent trip, than of the more famous Djoudj/St. Louis area and many are not on the Djoudj list.  

 

Other species in the 23 with similarly narrow ranges include Cricket Warbler (present in southern Western Sahara, but very localised it seems); River Prinia (header picture – cryptic species only present in the Senegal River delta, River Niger and Lake Chad, though probably overlooked elsewhere); Sennar Penduline Tit; Golden Nightjar (most recent records from Western Sahara where confirmed breeding, and from Chad); Quail-Plover (hard to find, but there are apparently a couple of reliable sites); and the commoner Black Scrub Robin, Sahel Paradise Whydah and African Collared Dove.

Sahel Paradise Whydah / Veuve a collier d’or, Lac Tanma (BP)

 

A second cluster of specials occur in and near the Dindefelo reserve, Senegal’s most recent addition to the country’s Important Bird Areas list. This is the only place outside Mali where the Mali Firefinch is reasonably reliably seen. Other species with strange and small global ranges including Dindefelo are Adamawa Turtle-Dove and Neumann’s Starling. The Kedougou area, and Dindefello in particular, probably has more surprises in store and is likely to yield additional Guinean species that just creep into Senegal. 

Finally, the sea off Dakar makes the list. Away from the Cape Verde, the Cape Verde Shearwater is only reliably seen elsewhere in Africa, in season, off Dakar and the Iles de la Madeleine trio of Red-billed Tropicbird, Bridled Tern and the recent arrival Brown Booby are common enough in other tropical waters, but with few reliable places in Africa. The Tropicbirds are pretty much guaranteed at any time of the year, whilst the boobies and especially the terns and shearwaters are only present in certain seasons. 

Red-billed Tropicbird / Phaéton à bec rouge, Iles de la Madeleine (BP)

And the message from this? Any Senegalese bird guide who gets to know when and where to find these species should have a profitable business and most of the species are far from the hotspots of Djoudj and the Sine Saloum! And to potential visitors – come over and explore, with or without a local guide: you won’t be disappointed.

 

(post by Paul, with contributions from BP)

 

 

 

La réserve naturelle de Popenguine

On a déjà parlé à plusieurs reprises de cette réserve si particulière, notamment pour vous faire part d’observations de Monticoles ou des Bruants d’Alexander, deux espèces emblématiques du site. J’ai eu la chance d’y faire une visite matinale il y a une quinzaine de jours, avec comme toujours des observations intéressantes à rapporter; d’autres ornithos ont également pu y faire des obs remarquables ces dernières semaines. C’est donc l’occasion de faire un rapide tour d’horizon de ce qu’on peut voir comme oiseaux à Popenguine, cette ancienne mission catholique qui de nos jours tient tout autant de la tranquille station balnéaire, du village sénégalais endormi et poussiéreux, que du lieu de pèlerinage et de culte.

Si cet espace naturel est protégé depuis longtemps (1936!), c’est à Charles Rouchouse (de l’ORSTOM, l’IRD de l’époque) qu’on doit la création de la réserve naturelle, en 1986, suite à quoi une meilleure protection est mise en place; vous pouvez en lire un peu plus sur l’histoire du site ici. Le milieu – principalement une savane arborée soudano-sahélienne – s’est bien rétabli depuis la création de la RNP, et les 1’009 ha que compte la réserve valent la peine d’être explorées à toute saison. Actuellement les quelques visiteurs se limitent généralement aux falaises, mais il y a sans doute de quoi parcourir à l’intérieur du périmètre. Je devrais vraiment y aller plus souvent, et prendre du temps pour explorer cette partie moins bien connue! Peut-être l’occasion de tomber sur une des espèces de mammifères qui auraient refait apparition depuis la création de la réserve, dont la présence de certains serait plutôt étonnante (en même temps, les bêtes à poils je ne m’y connais pas trop!) : sont mentionnés le Guib harnaché et même le Céphalophe de Grimm, la Hyène tachetée, Civette, Genette, Loup africain, et Porc-épic. Et il y a bien sûr les deux espèces de singes (Patas et Cercopithèque, le “singe vert”), Ecureuils fouisseurs et Lièvres du Cap qu’on aura plus de chance à voir que les autres espèces citées, bien plus farouches ou nocturnes.

Vue vers le nord depuis le sentier de la falaise, un matin brumeux de novembre… Au fond, le village de Popenguine

 

Mais revenons-en aux oiseaux, à commencer par les “grives des rochers”: je me contenterai de partager ces quelques clichés lointains des Monticoles bleus, et de dire que l’espèce était déjà présente le 15 octobre cette année. Et que lors de ma dernière visite il y avait 2-3 oiseaux (un mâle, un type femelle) sur les falaises, plus un oiseau bien moins attendu car posé sur des bâtiments en limite du village, sur la partie haute non loin de la réserve. En fait c’est en quittant la chambre d’hôtes où nous étions logés, tôt le matin du 13/11, que j’ai pu voir un oiseau sur la villa même! Plus tard en milieu de matinée, rebelotte mais cette fois sur une maison voisine en construction (comme 90% des maisons sénégalaises!) d’où il a chanté un peu. Pas vu de Monticole de roche cette fois, donc pour l’instant j’en reste à notre seule et unique obs de février 2016 pour cette espèce, qui à en croire les quelques données historiques pourrait bien être régulière dans le secteur.

Blue Rock Thrush / Monticole bleu, Nov. 2017

Blue Rock Thrush / Monticole bleu, Nov. 2017

 

Autre spécialité du site, les Bruants d’Alexander, anciennement connu comme Bruant cannelle mais dont la sous-espèce ouest-africaine a été splittée. Les bruants sont généralement faciles à trouver le long du sentier arpentant les falaises du Cap de Naze. L’an dernier on a eu un beau mâle peu farouche (photo d’en-tête), cette fois 2-3 oiseaux dont cet individu que j’ai identifié comme un juvénile au plumage frais:

Gosling’s Bunting / Bruant d’Alexander juv., Nov. 2017

 

Pas vu d’Hirondelle des rochers par contre, mais cet hivernant du bassin méditerrannéen est visiblement toujours hivernant ici car on vient de me signaler la présence d’au moins un individu samedi dernier (25/11; Carlos et trois ornithos danois de passage; addendum février 2018: on a pu en voir au moins 12-15 fin décembre et début janvier). Ci-dessous une ancienne photo faite sur place par Paul, avec des précisions quant au statut dans la sous-région de cet oiseau d’observation très rare hors des falaises de la RNP ici:

Crag Martin / Hirondelle de rochers, Feb. 2012 (Paul Robinson)

 

La Pintade de Numidie et la Poulette de roche sont relativement communes dans la réserve, et je suppose qu’il en soit de même pour le Francolin à double éperons. Outarde à ventre noir, Caille des blés et Turnix d’Andalousie ont tous été observés en mai ’86.

Dans le registre des rapaces, citons les Balbuzards et Circaètes Jean-le-Blanc dont plusieurs individus hivernent dans le secteur, mais aussi le Circaète brun, le Busard des roseaux, l’Epervier shikra, le Faucon crécerelle ou encore ce Faucon de Barbarie vu en novembre 2016, et il est probable que les Faucons lanier et pèlerin se montrent aussi au moins de temps en temps car ces deux espèces affectionnent particulièrement les sites rupestres (elles sont d’ailleurs incluses dans l’inventaire de Rouchouse). Et puis il y a ce Faucon hobereau et cette Bondrée apivore vus le 15 octobre dernier par Miguel: deux espèces rarement notées par ici. Je soupçonne d’ailleurs qu’aussi bien en automne qu’au printemps il doit être possible d’observer la migration active de certains rapaces longeant la côte: le Cap de Naze pourrait bien se révéler un site d’observation intéressant pour le suivi de la migration des rapaces.

Short-toed Eagle / Circaète Jean-le-Blanc, Nov. 2017

 

Les falaises attirent, logiquement, bon nombre de martinets, chassant au raz des sommets – souvent très venteux! – ou au-dessus de la mare. En saison d’hivernage, les Martinets cafres sont à rechercher parmi les nombreux Martinets des maisons. Les Martinets noirs et pâles sont probablement réguliers lors des deux passages. A toute saison il doit être possible de voir le Martinet d’Ussher. tout comme le Martinet des palmes. Et lors de ma dernière visite, j’ai eu la surprise de voir deux Martinets à ventre blanc ici. Ma première obs au Sénégal, et apparemment une bien rare donnée pour le pays: avant 1995, seulement quatre observations étaient connues (une de Richard-Toll, trois du Niokolo-Koba), auxquelles il faut ajouter au moins une observation à Popenguine même, par C. Rouchouse, en avril 1986, que ni Morel ni Sauvage & Rodwell n’ont mentionnée. Je n’ai trouvé que quelques mentions récentes, notamment de ce dernier lieu mais aussi d’un oiseau ayant percuté l’hôtel du Djoudj en mars 2012. Ce martinet doit pourtant être plus régulier que cela au Sénégal, mais comme l’ont montré les chercheurs de la Station Ornithologique Suisse à l’aide de leur radar en Mauritanie, les Martinets à ventre blanc migrent souvent trop haut pour être détectés par les observateurs!

Mottled Spinetail / Martinet d’Ussher, Nov. 2016 (A. Barbalat)

 

La savane arborée et les buissons autour de la mare sont particulièrement attrayants pour toute une série de passereaux migrateurs – en gros les usual suspects tels que Rougequeue à front blanc, Hypolais polyglotte, divers pouillots, Fauvettes grisette et passerinette; Gobemouches noir et gris; la Pie-grièche à tête rousse. Aux Hirondelles de Guinée et des mosquées se mélangent des cousines nordiques comme ces quelques Hirondelles de rivage vues lors de ma dernière visite. Pipits des arbres et rousseline, Traquets motteux etc. sont à rechercher dans les zones plus ouvertes.

Charles Rouchouse avait d’ailleurs bien mis en évidence la migration active des hirondelles et martinets, dans son rapport du début des années 1980. Intitulé Mission ornithologique au Cap de Naze (Petite Côte, Sénégal) : le Cap de Naze, nouvelle réserve naturelle au Sénégal, ce pavé reste la seule référence de l’avifaune de la RNP. Peut-être qu’un jour on mettra à jour la liste, surtout si on arrive à visiter un peu plus souvent. Il faudra dans ce cas faire un peu le tri entre les données anciennes qu’on considèrerait aujourd’hui comme “douteuses”, car la liste comporte visiblement des erreurs et des données suffisamment extraordinaires qu’il aurait fallu mieux documenter, comme le Traquet deuil, le Traquet à front blanc, les Bruants fou et striolé.

Les Agrobates roux et podobé se côtoient à Popenguine: une bonne opportunité pour comparer leurs chants assez semblables, mais qu’une oreille aiguisée pourra différencier. Des petites bandes de Traquets bruns sont à rechercher dans les pentes érodées, notamment dans le vallon derrière le Cap de Naze. Le Merle africain a été vu près de la petite lagune, tandis que le Pririt du Sénégal et l’Erémomèle à dos vert peuvent se croiser tout au long du sentier longeant la falaise. D’autres passereaux africains incluent le Sporopipe quadrillé (vu en décembre 2017), les Euplectes franciscain et monseigneur, le Beaumarquet melba et son parasite la Veuve du Sahel, ou encore le Serin du Mozambique. Il y en a sans doute d’autres, comme potentiellement le Mahali à calotte marron qui est inclus dans l’inventaire sans autre précisions.

Les Coucous de Levaillant et didric sont observés – et surtout entendus – en saison des pluies, tout comme les Martin-chasseurs du Sénégal et à tête grise, le Martin-pêcheur huppé, et même le Martin-pêcheur pygmée dont un individu est vu le 13/11 dernier. Le Martin-chasseur strié et le Coucou-geai sont mentionnés par Rouchouse.

La mare regorge souvent d’aigrettes et de hérons (pas moins de 63 Hérons cendrés récemment), et est également fréquentée par quelques limicoles: chevaliers surtout, mais aussi la Rhynchée peinte et même un Bécasseau tacheté vu en mars 2013 par Simon Cavaillès. D’autres oiseaux d’eau qu’on peut y voir sont notamment le Grèbe castagneux et parfois le Goéland d’Audouin. Cote mer, il y a possibilité de voir diverses sternes et laridés, Fou de Bassan et labbes en saison, Pélicans gris, et avec un peu de chance un Fou brun (vu en janvier 2018).

 

La visite de la réserve de Popenguine en vaut vraiment la peine, ne serait-ce que pour apprécier le paysage et pour faire une peu de marche en relief. Il ne vous en coûtera que 1’000 CFA pour le droit d’entrée, à payer aux bureaux de l’équipe de la Direction des Parcs Nationaux, juste avant l’entrée de la réserve, avec possibilité d’engager un guide pour vous accompagner pendant la visite, a 5’000 CFA (au moins un des gardes semble bien connaître les oiseaux!). Popenguine se trouve à moins d’une heure de Dakar, et maintenant que le nouvel aéroport devrait être opérationnel d’ici une semaine, Popenguine deviendra sans doute un lieu de passage plus courant pour les visiteurs, que ce soit à l’arrivée ou avant le départ, ce qui amènera peut-être un peu plus d’orni-touristes à visiter la RNP.