Lagos, Nigeria
29 September 2006

The entrance to the Lagos Botanic Gardens…

A very interesting morning spent with ex-pat Jo Sievers in the (rather odd, it has to be said) Lagos Botanic Gardens - a ramshackle, vanity project hacked out of the bush some 100km east of Lagos in memory of Murtala Muhammed and now slowly and inevitably returning to the savannah and palms it was created from…(and if that sounds harsh, that’s my personal opinion and you really need to go there before disagreeing with me).

Dotted with decaying buildings and trees that simply aren’t suited to the sandy soils of coastal Nigeria, the Gardens are completely unlike ‘Botanic Gardens’ in most large cities and are really not that safe (fortunately Jo has good experience in dealing with the hucksters looking for hand-outs that pass for staff here). Poorly laid-out and almost completely without information, signs, or any of the usual help that the average visitor might expect to find in a ‘Botanic Gardens’, this is very much a typically Lagoatian project - seemingly dumped randomly in the middle of nowhere by an overly rich ‘benefactor’ with little idea of how their money was spent, or what their pet project would need in the way of resources to keep it going…

Having said that, though, because of the lack of ‘care’ the place is superb for birds. In effect the Botanic Gardens are virtually no different to the surounding bush (only more accessible), and in fact I saw three ‘lifers’ within a hundred yards of the ‘entrance gate’ (see the photo above) - and all feeding in the same group of trees: Viellot’s Black Weaver (the chestnut-backed castanoefuscus race), the really beautiful Buff-throated Sunbird, and the rather plain-looking but fairly distinct Speckled Tinkerbird (one of those birds I’d never heard of before, but that somehow don’t make me feel that I’ve missed out on very much when I do get to see one).

Speckled Tinkerbird Pogoniulus scolopaceus

Vieillot’s Black Weaver Ploceus nigerrimus castanoefuscus

Other ‘lifers’ and scarce birds (for me anyway) followed, including Ethiopian Swallow (really only identifiable by its buffish throat), White-fronted Black Chat (much more interesting in life than an all-black bird with a white forehead ought to be), Grey-fronted Negro-finch (a nesting pair), both African Pied and Piping Hornbills, and small groups of the noisy and highly mobile Swamp Palm Bulbul - and on the way home, the beautiful little White-throated Blue Swallow typically hawking over a wide river.

African Pied Hornbill Tockus fasciatus

White-fronted Black Chat Myrmecocichla albifrons

Had I not succumbed to a really vicious bout of heatstroke/traffic sickness (never heard of ‘traffic sickness’? You tried the roads in Lagos lately?) we’d have added a whole pile more in the afternoon as we’d planned to head to other sites (particularly some good shorebird sites) once the heat went out of the day, but as it was this was a surprising and very welcome introduction to the birds and the beautiful scenery that still exists once you get out of the chaos and trash of Lagos itself: if like me your image of Nigeria is based on Lagos or Abuja it’s quite amazing just how much there is of beauty away from the cities - though for how much longer it will be there is hugely debateable as there is a rampant land-grab going on and conservation doesn’t appear to be even on the far horizon of the Government’s agenda…

Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis 100+; African Openbill Anastomus lamelligerus 1; Yellow-billed Kite Milvus aegyptius10-12; Hooded Vulture Necrosyrtes monachus c)10; African Harrier-hawk Polyboroides typus 2; Lizard Buzzard Kaupifalco monogrammicus 4-5; Tawny Eagle Aquila rapax 1; Common Sandpiper Tringa hypoleucos 2; Red-eyed Dove Streptopelia semitorquata c)10; Blue-spotted Wood-dove Turtur afer 10+; African Green Pigeon Treron calvus 2; Western Grey Plantain-eater Crinifer piscator 3-4; Klaas’ Cuckoo Chrysococcyx klaas 1; Senegal Coucal Centropus senegalensis 3-4; Little Swift Apus affinis 50+; Horus Swift Apus horus 3(+); African Pygmy Kingfisher Ispidina picta 1; Grey-headed Kingfisher Halcyon leucocephala 3-4; Little Bee-eater Merops pusillus 20+; Green Woodhoopoe Phoeniculus purpureus 10+; African Pied Hornbill Tockus fasciatus 5-6; Piping Hornbill Ceratogymna fistulator 3; Speckled Tinkerbird Pogoniulus scolopaceus 3; Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica 1 or 2; Ethiopian Swallow Hirundo aethiopica 5-6; White-throated Blue Swallow Hirundo nigrita 2; Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava ssp 3; Plain-backed Pipit Anthus leucophrys 4-5; Common Bulbul Pycnonotus barbatus 20+; Swamp Palm Bulbul Thescelocichla leucopleura 10+; African Thrush Turdus pelios 1; Spotted Flycatcher Muscicapa striata 1; White-fronted Black Chat Myrmecocichla albifrons 1; Brown-throated Wattle-eye Platysteira cyanea 1; Collared Sunbird Anthreptes collaris 4-5; Buff-throated Sunbird Nectarinia adelberti 3-4; Olive-bellied Sunbird Nectarinia chloropygia 4-5; Pied Crow Corvus albus 20+; Northern Grey-headed Sparrow Passer griseus 10+; Vieillot’s Black Weaver Ploceus nigerrimus c)20; Blue-billed Malimbe Malimbus nitens 3; Grey-headed Nigrita Nigrita canicapilla 2; Bronze Mannikin Lonchura cucullata 30+; Black-and-white Mannikin Lonchura bicolor 1; Pin-tailed Whydah Vidua macroura 1