4 July 2019: High as a Kite

Klaus & Self, Kakum Canopy Walkway

Vagrant Twitcher, Kakum Walkway

Kakum Forest Canopy Walkway must rate amongst the ten best birding sites in Africa. A strong stomach and no fear of heights are highly recommended on the swinging canopy walkways as you cross the gaping chasms between the various viewpoints. We started birding just after sunrise, before the tourists and the schoolchildren arrived. Our guide, Illias, managed to conjure up numerous forest specials out of the forest canopy, and we soon added about thirty new birds to the list. A group of hard-to-find White-crested Hornbills graced us with a magnificent flypast and various species of sunbirds feasted on the canopy flowers. We also managed to find four of the fifteen species of greenbuls present in Ghana – a group of birds much easier identified by their calls than by sight in the deep shadows of the forest.

Piping Hornbill, Kakum Forest

Orange Weaver, Hans Cottage Botel

The afternoon was spent searching the interior of the forest for more forest specials and Green Hylia, Black-and-white Flycatcher, Simple Leavelove and the stunning Black Bee-eater were ticked. Back at Hans Cottage Botel we bemoaned the fact that supper was again chicken and fried rice and drowned our sorrows in a couple of beers.