The number of birders visiting Senegal
has increased in recent years, but this French-speaking country
cannot yet match the Gambia as the most popular birding destination
in West Africa. This is largely because of the lower travel
costs to the Gambia. However, amongst its many attractions,
Senegal offers excellent seawatching and much better pelagic
trip opportunities than its smaller neighbour. True seawatching
in Senegal is undoubtedly synonymous with Cap Vert. At N'Gor,
only about a mile northwest of central Dakar, there are two
excellent spots for land-based seawatching: Isle N'Gor and the
terrace of Club le Calao. In autumn, the numbers and mix of
seabird species passing probably makes these the best seawatching
sites on the entire eastern Atlantic
seaboard!
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| A great Catharacta Skua at sea on
26th October. Brown or South Polar? Photo: Martin
Oomen, 2007. |
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Permanent
birder in Dakar 2010
The british birder Paul Robinson will be based in Dakar for
about two years from now. Besides his work within two ornithological
projects he will provide monthly reports to this website.
If you intend to visit Senegal for birding it could be a good
idea to contact Paul. Here you'll find a short presentation
of Paul and his e-mail»
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Seawatching
in october 2009
Between 25-30 October 2009 the Swedish birders Arne Holgersson
and Daniel Melchert studied the seabird passage from the terrace
at Calao. View their seawatching
results here» |
An article
about seawatching at Cap Vert peninsula published in Ornithos
The article 'Cap Verde peninsula, Senegal, a seawatching site
of great interest' dealing much with When & Where to watch
the southbound seabird migration in the Dakar area. The paper
was published in September 2009 and is readable in French language
with a summary in English. View
or download the full article here» (PDF 619 KB) |
Black
Guillemot new to Senegal and West Africa!
On 11 and 12th October 2008 the French team observed a Black
Guillemot in winter plumage from Calao's terrace. A note about
the record has been published in Malimbus. |
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