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Seawatching from Point des Almadies, Senegal: recent news GaryA. Allport Between 9-23 October 1994, I seawatched on five rocks just below the golftee. Unfortunately views of ocasionsoffPointdesAlmadies, Dakar. Thevery close-inbirdsarepoorfromheresincetheyareheading usefulnotesofBaillonandDubois1gavedetailsofthe out roundthe reefwhen theycome intoview. Terns, bestviewpoint but I foundthat access to the site has particularlyRoyal/LesserCrested’, tendtoflightalong changedsincetheirvisits. theshoreandareverydifficulttomonitorwhilstwatch- Thesite is a 30 minutetaxi ride fromDakartown ingotherpelagics. centre. Ask for the Hotel du President at Point des Attimes,phenomenalseabirdnumberspassPoint Almadiesandagreeapricebeforeyousetoff. desAlmadies. Birdstendtocome ingroupsandeven AnewboundaryfencefromtheHotelduPresident sample counts failed to cover the movements ad- down to the shore makes northward access from the equately- ateamofthree orfourwatchers wouldbe restaurantsontheseafront,assuggestedbyBaillonand needed.Thefiguresgiveninthetableareminima. Dubois1,verydifficult.Inautumnitisessentialtoreach Lightwasbetterinthemorningbutthepassagewas apointnorthoftheserestaurantsotherwisethereefwill slower,exceptforCory’sShearwatersand‘Marsh’Terns prevent you from seeing more than a fraction ofthe (whichpassedwelloffshore). Passagewasheaviestin birds (it may be different in spring2)- To reach the thelateafternoon.Theonshorewinds,strongestlatein watchpoint ask the driver to take you into the hotel the day, may have been the cause. The afternoon grounds.Walkdowntothecoast,gothroughthemain passagewasmostsparseon22Octoberwhenthewind hotelgates,crossthecarparktotheleft,goroundthe wasverylight.Theideaofwatchingfromhereonavery backofthehelipadsandbearrightoverthegolfcourse. windyday, particularlyduringasouth-westerlywhen You will emerge on the coast at the small building the wave troughs would be best aligned for sighting shownonBaillonandDubois’1 map. birdsastheyapproachfromthenorth,offersthepros- Inautumn, thegreatmajorityofbirdsareheading pectofaveryimpressivespectacle.® south but the line of passage taken by skuas and *Forscientificnamesseetable. shearwatersvariesconsiderably.Watchingfromaloca- tionabout300mnorthofthebuildingyouwillfindthe References closer birds hove into view earlier, are in sight for 1. Baillon, F. and Dubois, P. 1991- Seawatching from longer, and also fractionally closer. However, close Cape Verde, Senegal. Birding World4: 440-442 birdsare relativelyfewandthemain streamsarebest 2. Marr, T. andPorter, R. 1992. Springseabird passage scannedfromthearea immediatelybehindthebuild- off Senegal. Birding World 5: 391-394 ing.Ifoundthebestpositionwasontheslightlyhigher c/o BirdLife International, Wellbrook Court, Girton Road Cambridge, CB3 ONA, UK. Table1 Countsofseabirdspassing PointdesAlmadies, SenegalinOctober1994 Table 1 DenombrementsdesoiseauxmarinsvusduPointdesAlmadies, Senegal, octobre 1994 Date 15/10/94 15/10/94 16/10/94 16/10/94 22/10/94 Time 07.45-08.45 14.30-17.15 07.30-10.00 13.45-17.30 14.15-17.45 Totalhours 1.0 2.75 2.5 3.75 3.5 Wind NW1-2 NW1-3 NW0-2 NW1-3 NNW1-2 Bulwer'sPetrel Bulweriabulwerii 1 Cory'sShearwater Calonectrisdiomedea 227 7 422 128 3 SootyShearwater Puffinusgriseus 47 c.875 71 C.1,250 c.445 ManxShearwater P.puffinus 1 3 LittleShearwater P.assimilis 1 NorthernGannet Sulabassana 1 3 1 GreyPhalarope Phalaropusfulicarius 7 22 9 18 GreatSkua Catharactaskua 1 1 1 PomarineSkua Stercorariuspomarinus 42 C.1,150 C.275 c.1,400 C.700 ArcticSkua S.parasiticus 15 C.425 C.185 C.600 c.500 Pom./ArcticSkua S.pomarinus/parasiticus c.250 c.40 c.400 c.150 Long-tailedSkua S.longicaudus 32+ 3 c.70 5 LesserBlack-backedGull Larusfuscus 1 3 1 Sabine'sGull Lsabini 27 14 89 11 Royal/LesserCrestedTern Sternamaxima/bengalensis Cl50 c700 c235 c.1,000 C.870 Roseate/Common/ArcticTern S.dougalli/hirundo/paradisaea C275 C7500 c500 C7.000 C4000 SootyTern S.fuscata 1 'Marsh'Tern Chlidoniashybridus/niger/leucopterus c700 C2000 C5000 C2500 C2000 Short Notes BullABCVol2No 1-55