A very long day started off with our last morning at Ankasa. We walked the trails near the river just across from the lodge. It was pretty hard and slow going with an hour an 45 minutes spent trying to get a glimpse of a calling Rufous-winged Illadopsis which eventually gave some brief views! A flock of greenbuls included Red-tailed Geenbul, Icterine Greenbul, Yellow-bearded Greenbul and the Upper Guinea endemic Western Bearded Greenbul. A Brown-eared Woodpecker was new with Blue-billed Malimbe, Shining Drongo and White-crested Hornbill also being seen. On the river itself we located a pair of Cassin's Fycatchers after some searching. Back at the lodge over the lunch break we got some great views of Red-vented Malimbe plus 3 Swamp Bulbuls, Olive-bellied Sunbird and Black Bee-eater.
Then it was time to make our way back along the horrendous entrance track and back to the minibus and a comfortable drive eastwards. 2 Lanners by the road near Beahu livened up the journey before we pulled up at Brenu Akyinim, a site of coastal savannah scrub and sandy tracks. This proved to be a good antidote to forest birding with some birds that showed without too much trouble for a change! Sulphur-breasted Bush-shrike was the star bird but 2 Western Bluebills, Guinea Turaco, Piping Hornbill, Red-winged Warbler, African Grey Woodpecker, Red-faced Cisticola, Singing Cisticola, Yellow-crowned Gonolek, Brown-throated Wattle-eye, Black-crowned Tchagra, Bar-breasted Firefinch, Black-naped Weaver, Green-headed Sunbird and 3 Snowy-crowned Robin-chats were a fantastic supporting cast.
Dragging ourselves away we then made our way back to Kakum arriving just after dark for a go at some owls before a much delayed dinner at the Rainforest Lodge. This time we struck it lucky at long last with views of both Fraser's Eagle Owl and Akun Eagle Owl close to the road. The latter in particular gave prolonged and excellent views. Perseverance had finally paid off and top marks to Foster!
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