Great birds in the bush!

We hit the bush country south of Yabello, played a blinder and enjoyed a thoroughly rewarding morning’s birding. Driving along the main road a quick stop for the localised endemic Stresemann’s Bushcrow was superb and we also saw D’Arnaud’s Barbet, a singing Spotted Palm Thrush, and a flock of Rufous Chatterers. 

D-Arnaud's Barbet

Spotted Palm Thrush

Stresemann's Bushcrow - only found in this area of Ethiopia...

Further on several Ruppell’s Vultures were feasting on some dead donkeys in a ditch beside the road….

I loved the early morning light on this Ruppell's Vulture

Upon arrival at ‘our spot’ well it doesn’t get much better than getting Pringle’s Puffback straight off the bat (although you had to be quick!), and then an excellent run of key birds included Northern Grosbeak Canary, White-bellied Canary, Somali Crombec, Red-naped Bush-Shrike, Gabar Goshawk, Black-capped Social Weaver, Foxy Lark and several Purple Grenadiers. 

Foxy Lark

Northern Grosbeak Canary

Probably the best bird was a Heuglin's Courser that scuttled out form a bush right in front of me and then walked across the trail and literally froze just 5 metres in front of us. Wow! 

Heuglin's Courser - just look at the intricate plumage

We also saw Red-faced Crombec, Banded Parisoma, Grey Wren-Warbler, Martial Eagle, more bushcrows, Bare-eyed Thrush, African Grey Flycatcher, Pygmy Batis, Acacia Tit, Mouse-coloured Penduline Tit, and a delightful pair of Brubru.

Brubru - one of my favourite birds

Our last stop of the morning was good for Pygmy Falcon, Pale Prinia and White-browed Scrub-Robin.

Pygmy Falcon

Following a siesta we set out at 3pm and returned to the Soda Plains where Great Spotted Cuckoo (for some), Short-tailed Lark, and best of all a pair of White-bellied Bustards were seen. 

Short-tailed Lark

White-bellied Bustard at dusk

Another Secretarybird walking between the acacias and right in front of small village was quite atmospheric, as was a few Somali Ostriches. 

Secretarybird was a popular find...

And so was this Somali Ostrich 

We waited until dusk and then took a back-track across the plain where we spotlighted 2 African Wild Cats. Driving back towards Yabello we made a couple of stops, the first of which only had a distant calling Northern White-faced Scops-Owl. The second one resulted in a Donaldson-Smith’s Nightjar. Wow! The drive back was eventful with a Genet spotlighted, adding to the Abyssinian Hare we had seen earlier.

I must admit the beer and even the spaghetti bolognese tasted so much better tonight – and that’s saying something!

The Long Drive to Yabello...

This has to be one of the great birding travel days, as we drove from Negelle to Yabello through excellent habitat all the way. We clocked up so many new trip birds today, and it is hard to sum up how things went. Anyway, spotlighting a Dusky (Sombre) Nightjar was a good start and to be followed by 2 Spotted Hyenas was also pretty decent. As it became light it was apparent that there were going to be lots of birds along the road so our first couple of stop notched up a few Violet-backed Starlings, followed by Shelley’s Starlings, Lesser Striped Swallow, Marico Sunbird, Striped Kingfisher and the fantastic Golden-breasted Starling.

The amazing Golden-breasted Starling, plus a few Shelley's Starlings

Golden-breasted Starling

The unpaved road was in pretty good condition and we could speed along at certain intervals but when we did pass something interesting it always resulted in good birds. So we followed on with African Grey Hornbill, Red-and-yellow Barbet perched on a termite mound and a Yellow-necked Spurfowl calling from on top of a tree of all places. 

Typical pose of a Red-and-yellow Barbet

Von der Decken's Hornbill

A posing Yellow-necked Spurfowl

Whilst our drivers prepared breakfast we came across a flock consisting of Black-throated Barbet, Mouse-coloured Penduline Tit, Violet-backed Sunbird, several Abyssinian Scimitarbills, Brown-tailed (Yellow-breasted) Apalis, and a little later our first Grey Wren-Warbler.

Black-throated Barbet

Continuing our journey, a Pygmy Falcon was nice, followed by Buff-crested Bustard, and best of all a White-winged Dove. Upon arrival at the Dawa River we were lucky and quickly found Juba Weaver as the temperature was soaring. A short walk along the river gave us Lesser Masked and Chestnut Weavers, Pygmy Batis and Hunter’s Sunbird.

The rare African White-winged Dove

Great views of Bateleur on our journey

Never get tired of seeing this majestic raptor...

The long drive continued through several small villages and in one we saw our first Blue-naped Mousebird. 

Bare-eyed Thrush

More new birds followed, with flocks of Vulturine Guineafowl becoming increasingly common, Banded Parisoma, Chestnut Sparrow, White-browed Scrub-Robin, Bateleur, Alpine Swift, Bare-eyed Thrush, Straw-tailed Whydah and at the Soda Plains 7 Abdim’s Storks, and Somali Fiscal. Lots of Grant’s Gazelles and Gerenuks here also.

The Liben Plain

This was a really great day and could not have got off to a better start with a flock of 7 Abdim’s Storks roosting beside the road – well it was a good sighting for 2 out of our 3 Landcruisers as one of our vehicles had to return to the hotel to retrieve a wallet. Perfect timing or what!  Approaching the Liben Plains we stopped to scan a flock of hirundines perched on telegraph wires which turned out to be Ethiopian and the endemic White-tailed Swallows, and we had further flight views of both species over the next hour or so.

Sidamo Lark is one of the rarest endemics.

Then, within 10 minutes of searching we had found the rare Sidamo Lark on the huge Liben Plain! This scaly-backed lark can only be found here and we were treated to what can only be described as crippling views down to 5 metres – and I think David got even closer views at one stage. Shortly after, a little group of 3 Somali Short-toed Larks were found and it was good to be able to study them for a while. Around some grass huts a pair of Shelley’s Sparrows were new for the trip. 

Kori Bustard

Having already seen a pair of Kori Bustards on the drive here, a line of ten more birds in a crop field was pretty impressive and as we scoped them, noticed a lot of activity above them which turned out to be a flock of Amur Falcons. So we walked over and got a lot closer and spent a nice time watching their antics as they hawked for insects right in front of us. 

We were surprised to see a flock of Amur Falcons...

There was also a small flock of Lesser Kestrels to see here as well. Overhead there was a Montagu’s Harrier and we also had a very rare record of an Eastern Imperial Eagle.

Superb Starling

 Then we drove to an area of acacia trees and had our picnic breakfast, during which we saw Yellow-bellied Eremomela, Tree Pipit, many Superb Starlings & White-crowned Starlings, Red-billed Buffalo-Weavers, and a flock of Grey-capped Social Weavers.

Temminck's Courser

Driving on we hit a purple patch with a pair of Temminck’s Coursers beside the road, followed by a stately Secretarybird picking its way across a field of tall grass, a Grey Kestrel, Isabelline Shrike, Rufous-tailed Rock-Thrush and Somali Crow. Continuing on into the heat of the day we made our last stop along the road and came up trumps with an Abyssinian Oriole skulking in the shade of some large trees. Oh yes baby! There was also a flock of White-headed Buffalo-Weavers and Reichenow’s Seedeaters as well.

Abyssinian Oriole

So we turned around and headed back towards Negelle and our appointment with a very late lunch. Along the way we stopped at a seasonal lake where there were hundreds of Egyptian Geese, Egyptian Vulture, Marsh Sandpiper, White-winged Tern, African Sacred Ibis, but best of all was a superb Martial Eagle we watched soaring through the scopes and many Collared Pratincoles hawking for insects over the crop fields.

After lunch we checked out a small lake but there was nothing new, although a Hamerkop and 100’s of Yellow Wagtails were seen.

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.

Sanetti Plateau

Today we birded the highest road in Africa, under the second highest mountain in Africa and found the rarest ‘canid’ in the world – Ethiopian Wolf. 

Ethiopian Wolf

The scenery was stunning amidst fine Afro-alpine moorland habitat with giant lobelias dotted across the moorland plateau. 

Sanetti Plateau

We made a short walk at the treeline and quickly nailed the local race of Brown Parisoma before setting off across the plateau where we found our first  Spot-breasted Lapwings. 

Brown Parisoma

Augur Buzzard

The endemic Moorland Chat is very common

There was also Chestnut-naped Francolin, a small group of Moorland Francolins, lots of Rouget's Rails, Ruddy Shelduck, Lammergeier, Golden Eagle, Red-billed Chough, and some flyby Slender-billed Starlings.

The endemic Rouget's Rail is very common in the Bale Mountains

 We returned to the hotel for a late lunch and then drove on to Dinsho. As soon as we arrived at the Park HQ a local ranger met us and showed us a day roosting African Wood Owl – a good start. 

African Wood Owl

We then walked through the juniper forest and quickly found Abyssinian Catbird as well to make our visit here really worthwhile.