Ghana, Day 3, 26 November 2023 - Kakum NP area

Still in the Kakum area today but concentrating on some different areas.

The morning session was spent on the edge of the national park in an area of farm scrub and forest edge at Antwikwaa which is to the north of where we were the previous day. 

En-route a roadside stop in the village of Abrafo had us getting to grips with the id of Ethiopian Swallow and Preuss's Cliff Swallow both of which were on telegraph wires in the village.

 

At Antwikwaa our first scheduled stop was for some trackside birding which gave us some really memorable sightings. Initially there were Red-rumped Tinkerbird, Hairy-breasted Barbet, Naked-faced Barbet, Melancholy Woodpecker, Orange-cheeked Waxbill, Chestnut-and-black Weaver and our first Red-faced Cisticolas. Then we dived into a copse where we enjoyed mega views of Puvel's Illadopsis and Red-cheeked Wattle-eye before craning our heads through a gap in the canopy to gawp at a White-crested Hornbill. Even better was to come with some wonderful views of White-spotted Flufftail after much staring into the bushes! Swamp Greenbul and Lesser Striped Swallow were also clocked up before we moved on.

 

A few km further on we stopped for an extended period walking a track along the forest edge until it became too hot. The star birds here were Blue-headed Coucal, 2 Klass's Cuckoos, Grey Longbill, Whistling Cisticola, Green Crombec, Piping Hornbill, 3 Yellow-throated Tinkerbirds, 2 Black-and-white Mannikins and White-breasted Nigrita.

 

Following lunch and an afternoon sietsa we ventured ou again - this time to the forest on the west side of the road opposite the NP. Along the wide logging track here we had 2 Yellow-billed Barbets that kept flying over us in response to playback, Black-winged Oriole,Western Black-headed Oriole, Green Hylia, Red-headed Malimbe, West African Wattle-eye, Sabine's Puffback, Western Bearded Greenbul, Rosy Bee-eater and 3 Blue-throated Rollers in the gathering gloom. We then had to make haste back to the vehicle as potential owling was scuppered by a monumental downpour!