All Photographs and text are under international copyright laws. No re-use without the written permission of Lesley Lababidi 2023.
Continued from: Beaches and Birds
It is Harmattan season! Harmattan is a trade wind blowing northeasterly strengthened by low pressure in the Gulf of Guinea from November to March. It picks up dust over the western Sahara and carries it along West Africa. The hazy, dusty days block the sunlight that dries and cools the air. For all the negative warnings, the Harmattan dust is good for the environment bringing nutrients and minerals that is necessary for plant life. (Read The Secret Life of Dust from Cosmos to Kitchen Counter, the Big Consequences of Little Things by Hannah Holmes.) Definitely, the dusty atmosphere alters photograph clarity as seen in many of the photographs below.
Bird Watching with Lekki Bird Club and Nigerian Field Society at LUFASI, Ekki Forest Reserve. Here are a few birds sighted on our three-hour trek through the bush. (Slide cursor over picture for description.)
Below is a list of birds sighted on this trip to LUFASI (Ekki Forest Reserve) on January 14, 2014. Compiled by Steve Turnipseed of Nigerian Field Society.
Woolly-necked Stork (Ciconia episcopus) 1
Long-tailed Cormorant (Phalacrocorax africanus) 1
Striated Heron (Butorides striata) 1
Hooded Vulture (Necrosyrtes monachus) 12
Lizard Buzzard (Kaupifalco monogrammicus) 1
Black Kite (Yellow-billed) (Milvus migrans aegyptius/parasitus) 6
Spur-winged Plover (Vanellus spinosus) 1
Red-eyed Dove (Streptopelia semitorquata) 4
Laughing Dove (Streptopelia senegalensis) 4
African Green-Pigeon (Treron calvus) 1
Gray-headed Kingfisher (Halcyon leucocephala) 2
Woodland Kingfisher (Halcyon senegalensis) 2
Pied Kingfisher (Ceryle rudis) 1
Little Bee-eater (Merops pusillus) 3
African Pied Hornbill (Tockus fasciatus) 2
Piping Hornbill (Ceratogymna fistulator) 1
Speckled Tinkerbird (Pogoniulus scolopaceus) 2
Pied Crow (Corvus albus) 2
Swamp Greenbul (Thescelocichla leucopleura) 1 by sound
Common Bulbul (Pycnonotus barbatus) 2
Splendid Glossy-Starling (Lamprotornis splendidus) 4
Collared Sunbird (Hedydipna collaris) 2
Olive-bellied Sunbird (Cinnyris chloropygius) 1
Bronze Mannikin (Spermestes cucullatus) 2
Black-and-white Mannikin (Spermestes bicolor) 3
Read article in Bird Life International about Lekki Bird Club, click here:
nomad4now 
WOW! Gorgeous birds. Somehow, the first bird to the right looks like a cousins to the Dodo bird; Although the third picture to the left of the same bird, bears more resemblance to the extinct bird.
Lovely photos. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Wow! This is fantastic. You are very thorough at classifying all the birds you saw and having a bird count – a skill I have yet to master! 🙂
I am eagerly awaiting your blog of our ARCE trip to Tanzania. We all had such an amazing experience. L.