Birds
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Now is definitely the time for bird watchers to visit Mayumba and the Park. Little bird work has been done in the area, and as such, there are many discoveries waiting for bird enthusiasts. With a range of habitats from inland swamps, through freshwater, brackish, and salt water lagoons, to coastal flooded forests, savannas and dunes, there is ample opportunity to add considerably to life-lists, or discover a new record for the region or even the country. Exciting discoveries in 2005 included several rare migrant species. The European Turtle Dove (Streptopelia turtur) was confirmed as a new record for Gabon, and the African Wattled Lapwing (Vanellus senegallus) and the Greater Spotted Cuckoo (Clamator glandarius) had only been seen once or twice in the country prior to being identified on the Mayumba coastal strip. | |
African Wattled Lapwing |
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| Residents that animate any walk or drive through the park include large groups of Hadada Ibis (Bostrychia hagedash) and Woolly Necked Storks (Ciconia episcopus). Solitary Black-headed herons (Ardea melanocephala) lift lazily from the beach head and perch with Palmnut Vultures (Gypohierax angolensis) and a range of raptors in deadwood trees beyond the dunes. Kingfishers flash blue through the mangroves. Darters (Anhinga rufa) dry their wings in the sun, and an occasional osprey (Pandion haliaetus) can be seen swooping down on a luckless fish in the lagoon, or carrying its prize back toward shore from the ocean. |
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Wooly Necked Stork |
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Shorebirds include Common and Arctic terns on migration from Northern Europe and the Arctic, and the astonishing African Skimmer (Rhynchops flavirostris) flying low over the water with its lower mandible skimming beneath the surface until contact with a fish causes it to snap fast shut. Bird watchers, serious ornithologists and twitchers will love discovering Mayumba's birdlife. Come in October and see the hundreds of rosy bee-eaters (Merops malimbicus) excavating their nests in the sand of the coastal savanna, or hawking in the golden light of late afternoon.
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Black-headed Heron |
Palmnut Vulture |
