I ended my last post with the wish that my bird-observing momentum would continue. That didn’t quite happen, at least for now. In the neighboring country of Togo I did score some nice birds, but the task was definitely not as facile as it had been in Benin and I am at a loss as to explain why. Geographically, culturally, and in terms of apparent population density, the two countries are essentially twins. However, interesting birds were much harder to come by in Togo. For example, in Benin I often observed nice birds in the gardens surrounding hotels, while in Togo I almost never did. The only noticeable environmental difference I saw that may have been a factor was that every river and stream I passed in Togo contained water with a distinctly milky appearance, though I can’t say whether that was due to some peculiar geology in the area, or possibly different agricultural practices. Consequently, while I observed Kingfishers on several occasions in Benin, I never did in Togo. As a result, my count of new Life Birds in Togo ended up being less than half of what I tallied in Benin, even with a significantly longer stay. Perhaps if I had visited these countries in reverse order that circumstance would have been different, but I think that it would not have been substantially so. Of course, the new birds that I did see included some fine avian examples, and I definitely appreciated that.

In particular, Togo turned out to be a good place to see raptors. Including the commonly-seen Yellow-Billed Kite, I added six species, starting with Lizard Buzzard…

…and continuing with Hooded Vulture…

…Fox Kestrel…

…Brown Snake-Eagle…

…and Shikra, a very attractive small Accipiter.

Of course, not all West African birds are particularly spectacular, like Familiar Chat or Gosling’s Bunting, but still nice to see.

It was only when I arrived in the savannah-dominated northern part of the country that the best birds started to appear, such as Long-Tailed Glossy Starling.

This doesn’t count for Togo, because I had a poor observation of this species previously, in urban Cotonou, Benin, but I include Green Woodhoopoe here because it is such a great bird.

Perhaps the best species was one I have had on my bucket list for a long time, Senegal Parrot, though it was challenging to see well, because they stayed deep within the foliage.

One species saved the day after a fairly fruitless morning in an area with what looked like promising wooded habitat. Later, at dusk, among both the circling swallows and swifts, I noticed a few individuals that seemed similar, but did not belong to either of those groups. They turned out to be from a Family that I have long been frustrated by, never having seen, despite being in appropriate locations many times. It was Collared Pratincole!

In Togo, because of the country’s shape, and the continuing closure of the regional land borders, I needed to double-back and reprise the same route back to the capital, Lomé. In so doing, I saw only one new species, shortly after I reversed direction. However, it was one of the my favorites from recent months, both because it is a cool bird and because it cooperated nicely for this photograph, White Helmetshrike.

The remaining species seen, but not well photographed, in Togo were: Superb Sunbird, Little Swift, Fanti Drongo, Purple Starling, Tawny-Flanked Prinia, and Blue Quail. My intention for the next few weeks, assuming Red Tape doesn’t ruin those plans, is to double down on the amount of time spent in the best birding spots, once I make it to the next country. I hope that works out, because there are some spectacular possibilities to be seen there.