The Long Day to Negelle

We left Goba early and drove back across the Sanetti Plateau, seeing much the same as before but an Abyssinian Longclaw and Yellow-crowned Canary were a bonus. 

Abyssinian Longclaw

The morning was very cold with a blanket of sharp frost covering the vegetation, making photography of Chestnut-naped and Moorland Francolins and Rouget’s Rail all the more appealing.

Chestnut-naped Francolins in the early morning frost.

Great views of Moorland Francolin this morning.

Moorland Francolins showed well

Dropping down into the Harenna Forest, it proved to be rather quiet and all we had to show for our efforts were Black-and-white Mannikin, Yellow-bellied Waxbill and Grosbeak Weaver. We lost a lot of time this morning looking for woodpeckers and also searching for a missing walkie-talkie, so had to press on as it is a very long drive down to Negelle. Then we drove down into the ‘bush’ country and travelled for many miles in order to reach the area for Ruspoli’s Turaco. 


With a further delay for a flat tyre our arrival was much later than planned but we quickly found the turaco thanks to some local help – and pure relief all around as this is quite possibly the No 1 endemic to see here.

Red-and-yellow Barbet

Other birds seen on the drive included White-backed Vulture, Black-chested Snake-Eagle for some, Lesser Spotted Eagle, African Harrier-Hawk, Diederik Cuckoo, African Grey Hornbill, Red-and-yellow Barbet, Straw-tailed Whydah and others.

Mammal highlight were Eastern Black-and-White Colobus, Ethiopian Wolf, Gunther’s Dikdik, and Ethiopian Klipspringer.