Le réservoir de Poilão (Cap-Vert), le « lac aux hérons rares »

The Cape Verde Islands are situated in the extreme southwest of the Western Palearctic, south of the Tropic of Cancer and only around five hundred kilometres west of Senegal. The bird fauna of the Cape Verdes is not very diverse (178 species recorded), but it holds a number of interesting, endemic species (4) and subspecies (9). In this sense, the islands are absolutely worth a visit. Unfortunately, the populations of a number of the endemic breeding bird are declining rapidly, and some are on the brink of extinction.
A dam has recently (2006) been opened on Santiago island. It has been created to contribute to the development of agricultural and tourism projects, and to combat desertification of the area. It is more and more attractive for birds, and several tropical herons that are almost impossible to see elsewhere else in the Western Palearctic have already been watched : Intermediate Egret (Egretta intermedia), Black-headed Heron (Ardea melanocephala) and Black Heron (Egretta ardesiaca). It is also a very good spot to watch the Bourne’s Heron (Ardea bournei), an endemic to the archipelago.
Kris De Rouck and Dirk Colin went for a short trip to the Cape Verde to look for the Herons at the Barragem : they stayed there on the 15th April 2011 from 9 AM to 7.30 PM. Kris sent us some photos.