Seawatching from Point des Almadies, Senegal: recent news

1 Pages·1995·0.42 MB·

by  Gary A Allport

Seawatching from Point des Almadies, Senegal: recent news
GaryA. Allport
Between 9-23 October 1994, I seawatched on five rocks just below the golftee. Unfortunately views of
ocasionsoffPointdesAlmadies, Dakar. Thevery close-inbirdsarepoorfromheresincetheyareheading
usefulnotesofBaillonandDubois1gavedetailsofthe out roundthe reefwhen theycome intoview. Terns,
bestviewpoint but I foundthat access to the site has particularlyRoyal/LesserCrested’, tendtoflightalong
changedsincetheirvisits. theshoreandareverydifficulttomonitorwhilstwatch-
Thesite is a 30 minutetaxi ride fromDakartown ingotherpelagics.
centre. Ask for the Hotel du President at Point des Attimes,phenomenalseabirdnumberspassPoint
Almadiesandagreeapricebeforeyousetoff. desAlmadies. Birdstendtocome ingroupsandeven
AnewboundaryfencefromtheHotelduPresident sample counts failed to cover the movements ad-
down to the shore makes northward access from the equately- ateamofthree orfourwatchers wouldbe
restaurantsontheseafront,assuggestedbyBaillonand needed.Thefiguresgiveninthetableareminima.
Dubois1,verydifficult.Inautumnitisessentialtoreach Lightwasbetterinthemorningbutthepassagewas
apointnorthoftheserestaurantsotherwisethereefwill slower,exceptforCory’sShearwatersand‘Marsh’Terns
prevent you from seeing more than a fraction ofthe (whichpassedwelloffshore). Passagewasheaviestin
birds (it may be different in spring2)- To reach the thelateafternoon.Theonshorewinds,strongestlatein
watchpoint ask the driver to take you into the hotel the day, may have been the cause. The afternoon
grounds.Walkdowntothecoast,gothroughthemain passagewasmostsparseon22Octoberwhenthewind
hotelgates,crossthecarparktotheleft,goroundthe wasverylight.Theideaofwatchingfromhereonavery
backofthehelipadsandbearrightoverthegolfcourse. windyday, particularlyduringasouth-westerlywhen
You will emerge on the coast at the small building the wave troughs would be best aligned for sighting
shownonBaillonandDubois’1 map. birdsastheyapproachfromthenorth,offersthepros-
Inautumn, thegreatmajorityofbirdsareheading pectofaveryimpressivespectacle.®
south but the line of passage taken by skuas and *Forscientificnamesseetable.
shearwatersvariesconsiderably.Watchingfromaloca-
tionabout300mnorthofthebuildingyouwillfindthe References
closer birds hove into view earlier, are in sight for 1. Baillon, F. and Dubois, P. 1991- Seawatching from
longer, and also fractionally closer. However, close Cape Verde, Senegal. Birding World4: 440-442
birdsare relativelyfewandthemain streamsarebest 2. Marr, T. andPorter, R. 1992. Springseabird passage
scannedfromthearea immediatelybehindthebuild- off Senegal. Birding World 5: 391-394
ing.Ifoundthebestpositionwasontheslightlyhigher c/o BirdLife International, Wellbrook Court, Girton
Road Cambridge, CB3 ONA, UK.
Table1 Countsofseabirdspassing PointdesAlmadies, SenegalinOctober1994
Table 1 DenombrementsdesoiseauxmarinsvusduPointdesAlmadies, Senegal, octobre 1994
Date 15/10/94 15/10/94 16/10/94 16/10/94 22/10/94
Time 07.45-08.45 14.30-17.15 07.30-10.00 13.45-17.30 14.15-17.45
Totalhours 1.0 2.75 2.5 3.75 3.5
Wind NW1-2 NW1-3 NW0-2 NW1-3 NNW1-2
Bulwer'sPetrel Bulweriabulwerii 1
Cory'sShearwater Calonectrisdiomedea 227 7 422 128 3
SootyShearwater Puffinusgriseus 47 c.875 71 C.1,250 c.445
ManxShearwater P.puffinus 1 3
LittleShearwater P.assimilis 1
NorthernGannet Sulabassana 1 3 1
GreyPhalarope Phalaropusfulicarius 7 22 9 18
GreatSkua Catharactaskua 1 1 1
PomarineSkua Stercorariuspomarinus 42 C.1,150 C.275 c.1,400 C.700
ArcticSkua S.parasiticus 15 C.425 C.185 C.600 c.500
Pom./ArcticSkua S.pomarinus/parasiticus c.250 c.40 c.400 c.150
Long-tailedSkua S.longicaudus 32+ 3 c.70 5
LesserBlack-backedGull Larusfuscus 1 3 1
Sabine'sGull Lsabini 27 14 89 11
Royal/LesserCrestedTern Sternamaxima/bengalensis Cl50 c700 c235 c.1,000 C.870
Roseate/Common/ArcticTern S.dougalli/hirundo/paradisaea C275 C7500 c500 C7.000 C4000
SootyTern S.fuscata 1
'Marsh'Tern Chlidoniashybridus/niger/leucopterus c700 C2000 C5000 C2500 C2000
Short Notes BullABCVol2No 1-55