Tujereng and Tanji are two coastal villages south of Banjul that have some good birding sites that let you to see shorebirds and also a variety of birds that favour grassland and bushes. We were told that Tujereng in particular used to be one of the prime birding sites within the coastal area, but over the last few years there has been a marked increase in housing development that has had a detrimental impact on the wildlife, with far fewer birds being seen these days. Nevertheless, when we visited we did see a number of good birds and got some reasonable photos. During our time in The Gambia we made two visits to Tujereng, one in the afternoon of 6 February on the way back from Marakissa with Aladin, with the second on 10 February with Zac and Ebrima.
Our visit on 6 February was in the middle of the afternoon and the birds were relatively quiet and the light was poor and we only saw a few species, including Scarlet-chested Sunbird, Little Bee-eater, Black-headed Weaver and Northern Grey-headed Sparrow.
The second visit was in the early morning and was much more productive, with sightings of Lavender Waxbill, Senegal Parrot, Yellow Penduline Tit and Singing Cisticola. We also photographed two lifers, the White-fronted Black Chat and Chestnut-bellied Starling.
While at Tujereng a number of birds flew over that we were able to photograph, including a Shikra that made a number of passes and a Pink-backed Pelican.
In the late afternoon of 6 February after birding at Tujereng with Aladin, we moved a few miles north to Tanji fishing village to see the seabirds and then we drove a few miles further north to the open grassland and low bush habitat of the Tanji Bird Reserve. From the beach at the fishing village we saw Grey-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Royal Tern
By the time we got to Tanji Bird Reserve it was amost 6 PM and the light was very good for photography and the birds were active and feeding just before sunset. With the sun behind us we got good photos of Northern Red-billed Hornbill, African Grey Hornbill, Western Plaintain-eaters Vieillot’s Barbet and Striped Kingfisher.
