articles/Nature/ashtonsgambia-page7

Ashton's Gambia - part 7 of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

by Jonathan Ashton Published 01/02/2011

The next day we went to Marakissa lodge and adjacent fields - a beautiful location but in truth better suited to watching than photographing birds - nevertheless we got some beautiful shots of Senegal coucal and whitefaced whistling ducks as well as broad-billed roller, manikins, red-bellied firefinches and red-cheeked cordon bleus. I also got some very sweet shots of dragonflies.

The following day we again went to Steam Corner followed by Tanji beach where we got images of the local fishermen and numerous shots of caspian terns, pied crows and pelicans, we even got a few shots of an osprey fishing.

The day after was rewarded by more images of the Sengal thick knee - but this time with chicks - something that has been rarely photographed. Black kites and vultures were also in abundance.

In summary

The trip to The Gambia was great fun, having time to photograph the wildlife at leisure in plenty of light is a rare pleasure for people based in the United Kingdom. The strong light in Africa does, however, have its own problems, creating strong shadows and high contrast. I would recommend a trip for anyone interested primarily in bird photography, you will be pretty well guaranteed good weather and plenty of subject matter. The holiday is relatively inexpensive and transport/hiring a driver is also cheap provided there are two or three sharing the vehicle. The local people are friendly but can be rather persistent in tourist areas, always asking you to 'come and see' or to buy something or to 'make me an offer'.

Depending upon your mood, this can prove to be very amusing and two of us spent an hour or so in the local market bartering for small presents for the family upon our return. The only thing I didn't like was the seven hour wait at the airport at Banjul for the delayed return flight - there was no air conditioning, and the seating was rather cramped in the plane - a Boeing 757.

We arrived at Birmingham airport where there was minimal delay waiting for the bags, we left the airport in temperatures of -4°C; I never felt the cold, in fact I enjoyed feeling cool! The following day the return journey home from Birmingham was even colder, the Shropshire countryside was covered in frost and snow, it was absolutely picturesque, buzzards and kestrels were perched on roadside trees looking for road-kill. I have never been so close to them before...if only my camera and lens had not been packed away!

• Ashton's Gambia page 1
  
• Ashton's Gambia page 2
  
• Ashton's Gambia page 3
  
• Ashton's Gambia page 4
  
• Ashton's Gambia page 5
  
• Ashton's Gambia page 6
  
• Ashton's Gambia page 7
  

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