First ever Caspian plover in the Gambia

This 2013 video is about a Caspian plover in Israel.

Now, another first time a bird species was seen in the Gambia.

Graham Gordon and I found the first Caspian Plover for THe Gambia yesterday at the dried out lagoons at Tujareng. Can anyone inform any birders in Gambia? pic.twitter.com/iMQksGIeFZ

— kris webb (@scillywebb) January 18, 2020

Crocodile pool in the Gambia

This 5 January 2020 video is about a visit by Kenyan Dr Mumbi to a crocodile pool in the Gambia.

I was at that pool in 2012, and saw not only crocodiles, but also kingfishers.

Hungry vultures in Gambia, video

This 2018 video says about itself:

In this report we see that the body of a herbivore is used by griffon vultures, hooded vultures, white-backed vultures, Rüppell’s vultures, lappet-faced vultures and white-headed vultures, to relieve their hunger in the Occipitalis Station (Gambia).

I saw a big group of vultures of various species eating a dead herbivorous mammal in the Gambia as well. In my case, it was a donkey. In the video, it is a goat.

Great white pelican on video

This is a great white pelican video.

I saw these birds in the Gambia.

Common sandpiper video

This is a common sandpiper video.

I have seen these fine birds in, eg, the Gambia.

Western swamphen video

This is a western swamphen video.

I was privileged to see these beautiful birds in the Gambia.

Hooded vultures in Gambia

This video, recorded in Gambia, says about itself:

31 August 2017

Hooded Vulture is listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN red list. It is the only member of the genus Necrosyrtes and is native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is a scruffy-looking, small vulture with dark brown plumage, a long thin bill, bare crown, face and fore-neck, and a downy nape and hind-neck. It typically scavenges on carcasses. Although this is a common species, numbers of these birds are decreasing rapidly.

The video shows a cattle egret as well.

I was privileged to see both species while in Gambia.

Slender-billed gull video

This is a slender-billed gull video. They nest in southern Europe and Asia. They winter in, eg, the Gambia, where I saw them.

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Gambian national team goalkeeper drowns off Libya

I was in the Gambia. I saw there how much Gambian people love football. There was a match on TV. Not of the Gambian competition, but English Premier League. Still, much interest and enthusiasm.

Now, terrible news.

This video says about itself:

25 July 2017

The Red Scorpions, a female Gambian football team met the Gambia’s champions, the Mamaland from Sukuta.

In honour of Fatim Jawara, dead in the Mediteranean sea. R.I.P.

From Bleacher Report:

Gambia Goalkeeper Fatim Jawara Dies Crossing the Mediterranean Sea

By Rory Marsden, Featured Columnist

Nov 3, 2016

Gambia women’s national team goalkeeper Fatim Jawara died last month on a boat in the Mediterranean Sea while she was travelling from Libya to Europe “in the hope of starting a new life.”

She wanted to become a professional player, not possible in the Gambia.

According to AFP (via the Guardian), Jawara, believed to have been 19 years old, left Gambia for Libya in September to attempt to then get to Europe by sea and subsequently died when the boat she was on “ran into trouble in the Mediterranean.”

Per the report, the treacherous crossing has claimed the lives of over 3,300 migrants in 2016, according to the International Organisation for Migration.

Jawara’s death was confirmed to the Gambia Football Federation (GFF) by the agent she had paid to help her leave Libya, per John Atuke of Nigerian outlet Vanguard.

Lamin Kaba Bajo, president of the GFF, remarked upon the tragic nature of Jawara’s death, per Atuke:

“I received the news today and it has really shocked me. The young girl is a talent and on the move for greener pastures but the way she died is just shocking … . We at the GFF are very sad about the development and on behalf of the Football Federation, I want to send our condolences to the family of the girl and her former club Red Scorpions.”

Atuke added that she was part of the Gambia squad that were at the Under-17 World Cup in Azerbaijan in 2012 and played for club side Red Scorpions.

Per AFP, her senior debut for the Gambia national team came against a team from Glasgow [in Scotland] a year ago, while the report relayed remarks from Chorro Mbenga, assistant coach of the under-17 side, in which Jawara first emerged: “Her death is untimely, but we will remember her for her great performances on the pitch.”

Ms Jawara managed to stop a penalty kick by the Scottish side.

This 4 November 2016 video commemorates Fatim Jawara.

She will never ever stop penalty kicks again.

Like Somali Olympic athlete Samia Yusuf Omar will never ever run a 200 meter race again. A refugee from her warn-torn country, Ms Omar drowned off the coast of Libya as well.

‘Thank you’, European Union bosses with your ‘Fortress Europe’ policies. You, who are egging on human rights violations against refugees from Italy to Greece to Libya.

‘Thank you’, politicians like Sarkozy in France and Cameron in Britain; who with their ‘humanitarian’ war made Libya a hell for its inhabitants and refugees, and a paradise for violent racists, violent jihadists, torturers and people-smuggling crooks, profiting from the despair of the victims of yet more ‘humanitarian’ wars.

The NATO war opened up in Libya ‘golden’ opportunities for men with racist ideas against people from the Gambia or other African countries. At least, Fatim Jawara survived that. I, and millions of people all over the world, cry that she did not survive the next bloody obstacle to her sportwoman’s dream.

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Gambia bans female genital mutilation

This is a video about Ousmane Sembène‘s film Mooladé, against female genital mutilation. Ousmane Sembène is from Senegal.

Good news now from a country bordering on Senegal.

Translated from NOS TV in the Netherlands:

Gambia bans female circumcision

Today, 13:06

In Gambia female genital mutilation has been banned. President Jammeh said in a speech that it is banned with immediate effect.

Opponents of female circumcision are reluctant because the ban has not yet been legally defined. “President Jammeh’s statement sends a strong signal to the world, but a law is a stronger signal,” said anti-FGM activist Jaha Dukureh. “A law can save countless lives in Gambia.”

Dukureh has long campaigned for this ban in Gambia. …

Earlier this year, Nigeria also introduced a ban. In countries such as Sierra Leone, Liberia and Mali it is still allowed.

Eradicating Female Genital Mutilation: A UK Perspective, by Hilary Burrage: here.

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