Page 57 - Light Dragoons 2022 CREST

The Regimental Journal of The Light Dragoons
onto the ground to start seeing both Spotted and Chestnut Bellied Sandgrouse, multiple Egret variants, the striking, omnipresent Abyssinian Roller and both African Grey and Northern Red Billed Hornbill. Perhaps the highlight from the first half of the tour were the vast murmu- rations of Starlings outside of Ansongo near our leaguer which encircled our vehi- cles at dusk as we pushed up the CAT B towards the high ground over Monzonga.
The second half of the tour saw us encoun- tering several larger, more niche birds. There were sightings of Barn Owls in rocky kopjes, Hoopoes and Pied Kingfisher along the banks of the River Niger and also the dried wadi wanderers of Spotted Thick Knee and Arabian Bustard – the largest of both their families alike. Maybe the most exciting and bird type that all the soldiers got most into were the birds of prey. We saw Tawny Eagles, Wahlbergs Eagle and Long Legged Buzzard to name a few. The
MUAS PUMA system was even used to video Great Egrets in a wetland lake over the tri border region. A personal highlight was two Rose Ringed Parakeets that flew over a leaguer at first light one morning during stand to.
There weren’t just birds to report on and in fact many more animals than we ini- tially expected. 3 Tp occupied an obser- vation post in the caves to the south of Soudeheri forest looking towards ISGS bed down locations, only to hear howling Grey Wolves at night. We saw them the following morning, further confirming a sighting near Rte Crocodile on the east- ern side of the River earlier in the tour. There were plenty of Common Jackal and Pale Foxes whilst we also had fleeting glimpses of Dama Gazelle, Wild Cat and Desert Jerboa too. In addition, there were of course plenty of scorpions lingering around sandy ground – to the peril of the
Sqn fitters, though thankfully no snakes to really report.
In summary, the wildlife of Mali was a lot more fruitful than we ever could have pos- sibly imagined. I would hope there is now a new generation of budding Empire bird watchers who put their Wednesday sports afternoons to good use or even venture up to Scotland to get eyes on the elusive Golden Eagle. Furthermore, a challenge for future Light Cavalry Sqns on upcom- ing rotations to add to the list collated above, whilst answering a couple of RFIs below: are there really any Patas monkeys or Olive Baboons left in Mali? What is the true northern range of the Common Genet and African Civet? And lastly, can you ver- ify our Common Hippopotamus sighting, or was that simply Tpr Powderly swim- ming in the River Niger?
GC
An Abyssinian Roller
A murmuration of starlings outside Ansongo Camp
A baby owl in the caves by Soudeheri
A Scorpion. Bad news for the REME
A Spotted Thick Knee in a dried-up Wadi
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