Field Guide to Wildlife of The Gambia

Posted on April 15, 2009 by Matt Smith

First of all, thanks to David Penney for sending us a copy of his new book Field Guide to Wildlife of The Gambia. We’re obviously huge advocates of the wildlife in The Gambia – to us, along with the weather and the people, it’s one of the main reasons for going. The Gambia does genuinely teem with life and there is a good deal more than just the (admittedly spectacular) bird life. Aside from the excellent bird guides, such as Clive Barlow and Tim Wacher’s Birds of the Gambia, up until now, however, there has been very little official written about the flora and fauna of The Gambia – step forward Dr David Penney, renowned zoologist and visiting research fellow at the University of Manchester.

The book is thorough without being exhaustive – and in reality a definitive guide to the areas flora and fauna would be such a monumental project as to escape the bounds of a handy sized book such as this. What the book does though is ably introduce the reader to the various species of flowers and animals you might see on a stay in The Gambia. And what the book does very well is to appeal to all kinds of reader – from the prospective tourist with a passing interest in the country to those who might be interested in a more rigorous examination of what they might see picking through the lush tropical landscape of The Gambia.

A Plumeria, Kotu The Gambia. Photo by {link:http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattisj/}mattisj{/link}

So what do you get from the book in practical terms? Well, there is an introduction which covers why The Gambia is a such a biodiverse region – including a detailed look at the various eco-zones and habitats you’ll find within the country. The body of the book is a series of plates, showing a cross section of the various species you might see whilst in the country. This ranges from flowering plants to fungi via reptiles and amphibians to some of the country’s astonishing butterflies to mantids, earwigs, spinners and beyond! Some of the pictures may not be for the faint-hearted but the book is never less than engaging and ultimately a vary intriguing offering. The book concludes with short sections on biodiversity and conservation issues and additional resources for those wanting to seek further information.

A monarch butterfly, The Gambia. Photo by {link:http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattisj/}mattisj{/link}

Overall, I think David Penney’s book is an invaluable new resource for anyone interested in The Gambia. And like all great guides and wildlife handbooks, it makes you want to return to the source – to hunt out all that fierce burning life and see it for yourself once more.

You can buy Dr Penney’s book direct from the publishers: Siri Scientific Press

Gambian HeroRATS

Posted on April 2, 2009 by Matt Smith

A Gambian heroRAT

This fine fellow is a Gambian pouch rat, and he might look like an ordinary rodent, but in fact he is a bally hero… There is an argument to say that he isn’t a rat at all, being part of the muroid family, a relative of the rat family – but whatever his provenance he is currently performing sterling work for mankind.

Due to their poor eyesight, the pouch rat has an immensely well-developed sense of smell and because of their renowned intelligence they are easily trained and are currently learning to sniff out land mines, and even human TB. Not for nothing are they currently known as heroRATS.

A pouch rat in training

You can find out all about our heroRATS at herorat.org – here you’ll find out exactly how and why the rats were chosen for the tasks, and what indeed they’re currently up to (see this page for a bunch of cool videos). You can also adopt a rat if you so wish.

Apopo, a Belgian organisation set this project up initially – you can find out more by visiting the Apopo website.

Wildlife in The Gambia

Posted on March 6, 2009 by Matt Smith

Palpopleura portia. Photo by {link:http://www.flickr.com/photos/billsboy/3265697307/}Bathshawk{/link}

Palpopleura portia. Photo by {link:http://www.flickr.com/photos/billsboy/3265697307/}Bathawks{/link}

Despite there being plenty written about The Gambia’s rich birdlife (avifauna, if you will) there is surprisingly little in print about the country’s generally rich and diverse wildlife – all the myriad species that support such biodiversity – the things that generally go unseen or are upstaged by the glamour and dazzle of the bird population. Sure, you wont find big game in The Gambia but there’s so much other stuff to see. And best of all? It’s so damn accessible.

The basic science of it is this: The Gambia lies at the heart of a patchwork of different zones and habitats – from, ahem the forest-savanna of the moister Guinean zone to the drier majesty of the Sudanian woodlands. Add to this the fecundity of the river estuary and of course the drama of the celebrated coastline and you have a platform for one of the most biodiverse regions anywhere in the world. I’ve said it before, but the place positively hums with life (but don’t worry, not in your hotel room!).

All of which is to say we’ve been alerted by Dr. David Penney of a newly published book – The Field Guide to the Wildlife of The Gambia, which is really the first of its kind. So if you’re at all interested in such matters then the book is readily available to order from the Siri Scientific Press. The book looks well worth a read.

Birds at Mandina

Posted on February 24, 2009 by Matt Smith

There is a quiet magic at Mandina, a magic born of the simple pleasure of being amongst abundant nature. It positively teems with life – the very land buzzing with a kind of thrumming undercurrent of existence. It gets into your pores. Any stay there is about seeking new ways of absorbing all that life around you: laying still in a hammock letting the humid air, thick with scents and calls, lay heavily on your body; walking through the ringing forest, feeling the liquid heat rising out of the ground, seeing flashes of colour, the glare of baboons. But it’s out on the water that the information comes through clearest – umoored for a moment, free from the pull of the land…

The River Gambia - Image by {link:http://www.flickr.com/photos/ankehuber/}Anke Huber{/link}

The tide was very low by now and the mangrove roots with their shellfish passengers were almost totally exposed. You could see through the knotty mass to the great mudflats beyond, and hear the odd sucking and slapping of the shifting surface as the land exhaled in great warm sighs. Due to the low tide we had go out in a shallow bottomed boat which we picked up from the deck of the last floating lodge. The sun was already making its steady downturn and our pilot urged us on, saying that the birds were already beginning their journey home. As we made our way along the ever-widening tributary we could make out the high piping call of kingfishers and turn to see the afterglow of blue as one shot into the undergrowth, and we also spotted a sedate sea-eagle perched nonchalantly in the top branches of a mangrove cluster, eyeing up the river for food, or simply resting for the night. After a time we came to a part of the river were two tributaries met and we sat in a great sweep of river with the engine silenced.

A trio of bee eaters in The Gambia

Great massed ranks of white egrets and herons flew across the horizon in front of the glowing disc of the sun, wave after wave, sometimes as many as thirty birds in a flock, the silence broken only by the almost imperceptible beat of wings and the occasional muted croak. This procession continued for what seemed like ages, and the total count must have been well into the thousands – where they went is still a relative secret, but it is rumoured that there is an island somewhere out in the mangroves that sags under the weight of close to five thousand birds. In time this will surely be sought out and become a spectacular attraction but for now the very thought of it in all its spattered feathered glory is a joy to behold. Mangroves have shallow root systems and join together to share nutrients, small islands have been known to become dislodged and float out into the ocean, washing up on foreign shores many thousands of miles away. If one day the birds clasped their talons in unison and took to the skies might they not create a vast forested, flying island? Now there would be a spectacle…

Sunset, The River Gambia

After a time we were jolted from our reveries by our pilot who was exclaiming loudly ‘Goliath Heron! Goliath Heron!’ This massive stilted bird is one of The Gambia’s largest and a rare find. Unlike the other herons we had seen in their regiments and squadrons, this bird was solitary and elusive, preferring to stay deep in the mangroves. The heron, a beautiful mix of velvety purples and greys, was balanced in the top of a mangrove cluster blending almost perfectly into the greying sun-devoid sky; as we approached we again killed the engine and trained the camera on it. As if reading some avian script it rose gracefully from the tree and slowly flapping its massive wings flew low across the water to the opposite bank, where it once more sat atop a bound reef of mangroves. The pilot was laughing to himself, and he told us it was good luck to see a Goliath Heron. He asked did we want to continue on to see more of the river but the sky was darkening and to be frank we were full up, engorged by all this effortless beauty. Instead we turned for home, leaving Goliath in peace.

Sunset, The River Gambia Photo by {link:http://www.flickr.com/photos/helen61/}helen.2006{/link}

Later, as we turned to leave the encampment, the moon was full again but lower now and we could pick it out through the dense branches of the mango trees. Maybe it was just the fatigue but somehow, just beneath the surface of things, it was possible to sense the minute tremors as the insistent tug of gravity returned the massive body of water to the parched mangrove beds.

If you’re interested in bird watching in The Gambia you can find out more on our birding pages on the Gambia website. Alternatively, you can download this PDF which features a checklist of all bird species in The Gambia – 569 of them!