2007 Tour Narrative
After arriving in Addis and stopping to regroup at a nearby hotel, we set off down the Rift Valley. Our first real stop was Lake Zwiay which we found to be holding a lot of water, flooding much of the rich lakeside vegetation and the causeway. However, there were still a few waders there and we had our first Northern Carmine Bee-eaters skimming over the bushes, ‘scoped a distant Heuglin’s Gull, and encountered palearctic migrants such as Sedge and Eastern Olivaceous Warblers in the reeds.
Reaching Langano the players along the cliff face stage performed well and included a fine Bearded Woodpecker, Black-billed Woodhoopoe, stunning Red-throated Wrynecks, Red-fronted Barbets, Mocking Cliff Chats, Abyssinian Wheatears, Little Rock Thrush, singing Nightingale, Black-winged Lovebirds and African Pygmy Kingfishers.
Lake Abiata was as dry as ever and remarkably unproductive with a pink haze of distant flamingos and little in the way of waders. However the Temminck’s Coursers showed extremely well and we had plenty of time to witness their strange convulsive foraging actions and we also had good views of Black Scimitarbill. Awassa was more productive with the Spotted Creepers performing really well, as did the Blue-headed Coucals, the other specialty of the lake shore. The hotel grounds held lots of other birds including hulking Silvery-cheeked Hornbills, equally huge Thick-billed Ravens, Brown-throated Wattle-eye, and Eurasian Wryneck, while the lake shore gave us our first African Pygmy Geese, Hottentot Teal and comical Black Crakes.
At Yabello the birding was as rich as ever with Stresemann’s Bush Crow and White-tailed Swallow showing beautifully. The Red-naped Bush Shrike was in its usual spot and elsewhere, amidst the extensive acacia scrub, we found Vulturine Guineafowl, displaying Buff-crested Bustards, Golden-breasted Starlings, D’arnaud’s, Black-throated and Red and Yellow Barbets, Golden Pipit, Scaly Chatterer, Pygmy Batis, Foxy Lark, Pale Prinia, Tiny Cisticola, Somali Golden-breasted Buntings, Banded Parisoma, lots of Marico Sunbirds, some nicely plumaged Straw-tailed Whydahs, and, after dark, a very brief Donaldson Smith’s Nightjar, and a pair of endearing Somali Galagos.
Getting to Goba took longer than usual, mainly due to the massive road building project taking place, although the weather did not help. Still we had great views of Moorland Francolin as we neared Dinsho and for the second year running, we saw a Serval Cat hunting the grass slopes below the forest as we watched the Blue-winged geese and Rouget’s rails around the Dinsho Pools.
Our day on the Sanetti Plateau was swathed in mists and low cloud but these cleared from time to time magically revealing Wattled Cranes, Spot-breasted Plovers, Ruddy Shelducks, Yellow-billed Ducks, Chestnut-naped Francolins, flocks of Black-headed Siskins, goofy Giant Root Rats, and of course Simien Wolves, with one howling in classic pose from a hill top. Working our way down through the remnant juniper forest and tree hypericums we found, after much searching, Abyssinian Woodpecker, White-backed Tit, Abyssinian Ground Thrush, White-cheeked Turaco, and a very obliging Cinnamon Bracken Warbler.
The journey down was no quicker than the one up, although we did manage to get some really close views of Mountain Nyala at Dinsho, and we reached Wondo too late to do any birding. We were out early the following morning birding around the hot springs where we were entertained by dainty Mountain Wagtails, had some perched Yellow-fronted Parrots in the ‘scope, saw lots of White-cheeked Turacos and Abyssinian Black-headed Orioles, and found a pair of Scaly Francolins skulking around a field. The local forest was alive with some stunning butterflies and although the birding was a little quiet here, we did get to see Narina’s Trogon flycatching in the canopy, more Abyssinian Black-headed Orioles than you could shake a stick at, and some fleeting Tambourine Doves.
Back on the Rift Valley road, this time heading north, we spent some some birding in the grounds of a lodge on the shores of Lake Langano, where we watched a Greyish Eagle Owl watching us and saw some Slender-tailed Nightjars leaving their roost. A successful morning at the Mathara lava flow followed with Sombre Rock-Chats, Blackstarts, and House Buntings showing well.
Birding at Bilen was great with some really good sightings of Arabian Bustards out in the bush while just around the lodge we had huge numbers of Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse coming in to drink, and Lichenstein’s Sandgrouse, Yellow-breasted Barbets and Shining Sunbirds right by the restaurant. Elsewhere there were flocks of Northern Carmine bee-eaters decorating the acacia trees, Chestnut-headed and Chestnut-backed Sparrowlarks, and a nice selection of palearctic migrants including some smart eastern Black-eared Wheatears, Siberian Stonechats, and a gaggle of Barred Warblers which, with a single Ménétries Warbler, spent some time mobbing a Black Bush Robin. We also tried too get excited by some African Collared Doves and when not looking at birds there were Gerenuks and Greater Kudus to distract us. Nearby Bilen Plains gave us our only Ostriches and a rather fine immature Saker and then it was onto Awash Park. Kori Bustards were much in evidence as soon as entered the grasslands, as were lots of Harlequin Quails and a small group of Short-toed Eagles were also seen. Our camp amidst the trees along the Awash River was a real bit of Africa, complete with camp fire and a visiting Crocodile.
Out early the following day to make the most of the cool early morning, we soon found two of our target birds in the form of a singing Gillet’s Lark and a tail-wagging Red-fronted Warbler. There were a lot of shrikes in the park, with many Southern Grey, Isabelline, Woodchat and a few Masked joining the Somali Fiscals sitting prominently on bushtops. A high-flying Swallow-tailed Kite was the first we had seen there for many years and a Pearl-spotted Owlet put on a fine show by the river.
The journey back to Addis was broken with a stop at Lake Cheleleke where we found White-backed and Maccoa Ducks among lots of other wildfowl and enjoyed big flocks of bugling Common Cranes coming into roost – and had a close pair of Black-crowned Cranes to complete the crane set for the trip. A short flight to Bahar Dar the next day and we were soon birding along the Blue Nile where Wattled Plover, Vinaceous Doves, Black-winged Red Bishop, Bush Petronia, and Striped and Grey-headed Kingfishers were just a few of the attractions.
The walk to the Falls gave us another endemic in the form of White-throated Seedeater but the distant Erkel’s Francolin, Bruce’s Green Pigeons, Banded Barbet and Lesser Blue-eared Starlings were perhaps more interesting to look at and an early morning visit to the summer palace next morning was worth it for the Plum-coloured Starlings, and Yellow-mantled Widowbirds we managed to catch up with. Our final day was spent birding out along the road to Debre Libanos. We had four endemics waiting for us and as we reached the impressive gorge Rüppell’s Black Chat, White-winged Cliff Chat and White-billed Starlings all showed well. The raptors that attended our lunch included a fine Verreaux’s Eagle, Steppe and Tawny Eagles, lots of Rüppell’s Vultures but sadly not the hoped for Lammergeier, which luckily we had seen well earlier in the trip. The Gelada Baboons showed well and a Blanford’s Lark on the way back to Addis was our last endemic of the tour, and our last birding stop was for some smart Ortolan Buntings and Red-throated Pipits. We fought our way through the Addis traffic, had a quick wash and change and then, as ever, ended the tour with a meal at a fine restaurant before a dash to the airport and the flight home.
Steve Rooke
Updated: December 2007