The inaugural trip of Ladybirders.org has been and gone and what a fabulous experience. I would like to thank my guinea pigs, Lis Collison, Janet Atkinson and Dawn Davies for being so generous and enthusiastic in their praise. The trip was a success despite me having the flu and bronchitis, and included a visit to a local clinic which added to the authentic African experience (when I collapsed). Janet saw her target bird - grey kestrel, Dawn took over 500 photos, Lis was bowled over by pygmy kingfishers, and I added 8 more species to my Gambia list, including Verreux's eagle owl, African golden oriole and violet-backed starling - outstanding! 150 species for the week.
I am no working on the website ready for future trips which will start Nov 2014, so watch this space. The ladies only offer stands for now as it obviously fills an important specialist niche in The Gambia, but if you gents really want to go, then let me know.
The Gambia really is a special place - its wildlife, people and places. so good, I even picked myself up a husband (Saidou) while I was there. He's pretty special too.
Caroline de Carle-Lowe