Ghana April 2023 Part 5: Mole National Park

 

Forbes's Plover

We arrived at Mole Motel in Mole National Park in the northern savanna belt of Ghana late in the afternoon of Day 13 of our tour of the country for a four-night stay. Our rooms overlooked the surrounding savanna and a large waterhole. The first bird I saw from my room was an Abyssinian Ground Hornbill near the waterhole. Our first full day at Mole saw us in the morning along the Brugbani Road in sparse woodland that had not long been burned.

Mole Motel

View from the room

On the way we encountered a party of Patas Monkeys, a Striped Ground-Squirrel and a sole bull African Elephant feeding.

 

Strriped Ground-Squirrel

One of the star birds of trip was encountered in the woodlands early in the day in the form of a group of 4 Forbes’s Plovers (below).

A few other sometimes difficult specialties followed soon after. Rufous-rumped Lark(below) is an unpredictable migrant but a single bird showed well. Sun Larks were seen soon after.

A few White-fronted Black Chats perched atop stunted trees. Gambaga Flycatcher and Denham’s Bustard were welcome additions to the list.

Denham's Bustard

White-fronted Black Chat

We returned to the lodge for the heat of the day to find a family group of African Elephants in the pool below the motel. They spent several hours in the water, the younger animals clearly enjoying themselves. The elephants were back in the water the next day.

White-faced Whistling Ducks were abundant around this and other pools in the park. We were surprised to find a pair of Pied-winged Swallows feeding below the rooms with Wire-tailed Swallows.

Whire-faced Whistling-Duck

In the afternoon we visited pools and woodland below Zina Lodge. Here we had good looks at a pair of Stone Partridges. Senegal and Spotted Thick-knees were in close proximity to each other. Bruce’s Green Pigeon was common. As dusk fell, African Scops-Owl was tracked down and Red-necked (which should be way out of range here) and Long-tailed Nightjars both showed. 

Stone Partridge

A Spotted Hyena silently watched us distantly from the road; we encountered this species on two other occasions in the park. On the way back we saw the first of many Greyish Eagle-Owls to be encountered in the park.

Spotted Hyaena

Throughout our stay, raptors were much in evidence and included Bataleur, African White-backed and White-headed Vultures, Wahlberg’s and African Hawk Eagle, Gabar Goshawk and Grasshopper Buzzard.

Bataleur

Other birds seen during this and following days included Rose-throated and Swallow-tailed Bee-eaters, Beautiful and Western Violet-backed Sunbirds, Greater Honeyguide, African Grey Woodpecker, Abyssinian Roller, African Blue Flycatcher, Lesser Honeyguide, Senegal Batis, Northern Black Flycatcher, Violet Turaco, Red-chested Cuckoo, Blackcap Babbler, Little Weaver and Yellow-crowned Gonolek (we had seen the gonolek several times during the trip but it showed particularly well here). Black-faced and Black-bellied Firefinches were among the seedeaters seen but these were relatively sparse due to an abundance of water in the park from recent rains.

Abyssinian Roller

Beautiful Sunbird

African Grey Woodpecker

Little Weaver

Red-chested Cuckoo

Rose-throated Bee-eater

Senegal Batis

Yellow-crowned Gonolek

The morning of our second day in Mole had us in scrub by the Magnori River in the morning. Western Square-tailed Drongo was a key target here and the bird obliged. An eclipse plumage paradise-wydah was likely an Exclamatory Paradise-Wydah but birds in this plumage can not be distinguished from Togo Paradise-Wydah. Other more common dry country birds included Sulphur-breasted Bush-shrike, Pearl-spotted Owlet, Brubru and Yellow-breasted Apalis. We heard Thick-billed Cuckoo.

Birding the savanna in Mole

Pearl-spotted Owlet

He had good looks at a roosting Long-tailed Nightjar and less satisfactory views of a flushed Plain Nightjar.

Long-tailed Nightjar

In the late afternoon we scoured the grasslands near the airstrip where we tracked down a sometimes tricky cisticola pair: Rufous Cisticola and Dorst’s Cisticola. A pair of White-throated Francolins were unusually visible as sunset approached.

White-throated Francolin

With the fall of darkness came the finding of a superb male Standard-winged Nightjar in full plumage on the now disused airstrip that once serviced the park. A female Standard-winged Nightjar was found road-killed nearby.

Standard-winged Nightjar

Our third day in Mole National Park took us to the Samole Loop and fine looks at a family of two adult and two well-fledged Four-banded Sandgrouse, another much-wanted target. Late in the afternoon we were back below Zina Lodge, where Rock-loving Cisticola and Violet-backed Starling were among the birds that showed nicely.

Four-banded Sandgrouse

Other mammals in the park included Olive Baboon, Patas and Green Monkeys, Kintampo Rope Squirrel, Common Warthog, Oribi, Central Bushbuck, Buffon’s (Western) Kob and Western Hartebeest.

Central Bushbuck

Western Kob

Western Obiri

Olive Baboon

Common Warthog

Yellow-winged Bats and and smaller bats, probably Gambian Slit-faced Bat, were roosting in creekside thickets.

Probably Gambian Slit-faced Bat