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| Malachite kingfisher |
It’s tough being a pied kingfisher in Ghana. These striking
black and white birds were the first sighting on our morning bird walk. But the
ten or so perched proudly on a wooden frame were quickly usurped by a showier
relative. A burst of brilliant blue, with a flash of bright orange from its
beak: a malachite kingfisher, darting across the water, quickly drew the focus
of cameras and binoculars.
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| Sorting the morning catch |
Samuel and David, our guides from Birdlife International and the Ghana Wildlife Society respectively, had arranged permission to explore the
private grounds of Pambros salt ponds, in Accra’s western suburbs. Security was
still tight, though, leading to the unusual sight of a birdwatching group having
an armed guard.
Even this failed to perturb the women who were sorting and
gutting fish caught in the salt ponds. They smiled as we walked past, with the
familiar Ghanaian expression of amusement at what these foreigners think passes
for fun at 7.00am on a Saturday.
As we headed slowly along the path, discussions typical of a
birdwatching group took place. A debate on the different Dutch and English
names for the whimbrel; a bit of lens-envy at some of the impressive camera equipment
on show; a discussion of whether that hornbill was actually a cormorant.
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| Fishing on the delta |
The salt ponds have undoubtedly changed the landscape here,
with vast areas of the wetland bordered off and cleared of vegetation. But this
has apparently had little impact on the populations or diversity of birds. Behind
the salt ponds lies the Densu Delta, which enters the sea near Bojo Beach, and
this provides a rich source of food and shelter.
The day’s tick-list filled quickly as we neared the end of
the path. Reef herons sat in the delta bushes, while cormorants dried their
wings in the sun. Black-winged stilts waded gracefully through the shallow
water, fishing alongside sandpipers and redshanks. And on the sandbank just
before us, the pied kingfishers dived back and forth, hoping to finally get
their moment of glory. |
| Pambros salt ponds |
I can assure you that the conversation at the back of the group was not about international variation in whimbrel naming, more about convincing the unconvinced little-uns that looking through a telescope good, picking up bird poo bad...i did get the lens-envy though :-)
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