Arabian Delights

Shortly after sunrise we were on the Aledeghe Plain and watching the first of 5 Arabian Bustards feeding quietly right out in this vast open wilderness, and with some careful positioning form our drivers we got ahead of one bird and it just kept walking towards us until only about 30 metres away! Probably the highlight was seeing one of these much-wanted bustards with a Northern Carmine Bee-eater riding on its back – an extraordinary sighting and my personal highlight of the whole tour. 

Arabian Bustard

We were able to drive the cars closer and had amazing views once again and were able to observe them for quite some time. Many Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Larks were also present, along with White Stork, a couple of distant Secretarybirds, plus Soemmering’s Gazelle and Beisa Oryx.

Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Lark

We then drove the short distance to the Bilen Plain and the first bird we found was a pair of Yellow-breasted Barbets perched on top of an acacia, followed by a Tawny Pipit. Further on we took a short walk but it was getting really hot, however we did find several Nile Valley Sunbirds including one male still in breeding plumage which was something of a surprise. There was also a Black-cheeked Waxbill, Brubru, Blue-naped Mousebird and plenty of other birds in the vicinity.

Yellow-breasted Barbet

We had a coffee at Bilen Lodge and saw yet more barbets, and a flock of Red-rumped Swallows on the wires here, but by now it was late morning and really hot. Returning to the hotel for lunch and a siesta we set out at 3.30pm for a drive in Awash NP but it was rather quiet. 

Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse

Although our first Red-fronted Warbler was overshadowed by 3 Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse seen just before the light faded. Driving out we had a brief view of more Bat-eared Foxes beside he track.

Awash National Park

Leaving Nazret early we reached the lava flow of the long dormant Fantale Crater volcano not too long after sunrise and it was still quite cool. Fortunately we managed to find the endemic Sombre Rock-Chat quite quickly and were treated to point-blank views of a pair perched on rocks right in front of us. 

Sombre Rock-Chat

In the same vicinity were several Shining Sunbirds, a breeding Ruppell’s Weaver, Ethiopian Swallow and our first Purple Heron and African Palm Swifts. Checking out another site nearby and having our field breakfast proved to be a good move as the first of several Striolated Buntings appeared, followed by a pair of Chestnut-headed Sparrow-Larks. Nearby, there were a few Pied and Isabelline Wheatears, Steppe Grey Shrike, a perched Gabar Goshawk, flocks of Red-billed Quelea, Abyssinian Roller, and best of all a stonking Yellow-breasted Barbet.  

Beisa Oryx at Awash National Park

  
Leaving here we drove to our hotel and enjoyed several hours siesta over the extreme heat of the midday period. Afterwards we drove through Awash National Park across the grassland seeing species such as Pygmy Falcon, Pallid Harrier, Somali Fiscals and other previously seen species. An Ashy Cisticola was new, as was Long-tailed Paradise-Whydah, flocks of Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Larks, Singing Bushlark, and an awesome Hartlaub’s Bustard patrolling the edge of the tall grass. Wow! 

A stunning Hartlaub's Bustard

Hartlaub's Bustard

Non avian interest was spiked by several stately Beisa Oryx walking across the savannah.

Star-spotted Nightjar

As it got dark we spent a very enjoyable hour spotlighting our was back across the park, and although initially we drew a blank we got our just rewards with a Greyish Eagle-Owl, Abyssinian Hare, another Common Genet and on the track right in front of us was a Star-spotted Nightjar that allowed an extraordinary close approach. What a bird! Then, as we drove back to the hotel a Bat-eared Fox was seen. What a day!    
 

Nightbirds in the Daytime....

A bit of a crazy day today as we left the impressive Bishangari Lodge after a 6.30am breakfast, during which an African Pygmy Kingfisher was seen. We drove out along the 20kms of bumpy track towards the main road and had a Wahlberg’s Eagle and a Peregrine flying overhead. Once on the main road it didn’t take long to reach Abiata-Shalla National Park, where a walk through the acacia woodland resulted in our first Red-fronted Barbet and Bearded Woodpecker of the tour, as well as Rufous Chatterer and a few other previously seen species. Girum also played a blinder with the finding of a day roosting Slender-tailed Nightjar in the shade of some dense bushes.

Slender-tailed Nightjar

From here we drove back down to the shores of Lake Langano where a Northern White-faced Scops-Owl was seen at another day roost, and we followed this with a Greyish Eagle-Owl in another lodge’s gardens! 

Northern White-faced Owl

Greyish Eagle-Owl

Easy birding! We had a poor lunch here but could scope some flyby Baltic Gulls, as well as Great White and Pink-backed Pelicans and other waterbirds. Other goodies seen this morning included Little Rock Thrush, Mocking Cliff-Chat, Fan-tailed Raven, Black-billed Barbet, Double-toothed Barbet, Eastern Olivaceous Warbler, Striped and Malachite Kingfishers, White-backed Vulture, Shikra, Namaqua Dove, and Helmeted Guineafowl.

Striped Kingfisher

At Lake Abiata the strong wind and poor light made our visit a little problematical, but as well as being amazed at the huge numbers of Greater and Lesser Flamingos at the lakes edge, we also found a small group of Cape Teal and some close Kittlitz’s Plovers here as well. Big flocks of Ruff, some Common Redshanks and a Ringed Plover were more familiar fayre to us, but there was also a distant Wattled Crane amongst the Common Cranes, African Sacred Ibis and others. We left here and drove to the large town of Nazret for the night.

Bishangari Lodge

A very enjoyable day was spent birding the forested trails of Bishangari Eco-Lodge. I was lucky to get a view of a singing Red-capped Robin-Chat as I left my bungalow in the grounds to meet the rest of the group for our dawn meet-up. Once we had all assembled, and right on time the first of several Yellow-fronted Parrots flew into the trees at the edge of the lake and looked superb in the scope. Out on the lake our first Gull-billed Tern was nice, but a flyby from what looked like a Baltic Gull was pretty good too.

Following a decent breakfast with the best porridge so far we walked the trails and our route this morning gave us Tambourine Dove, Blue-spotted Wood Dove, excellent views of Abyssinian Ground-Thrush, Double-toothed and Banded Barbets, Green-backed Honeybird, and a couple of African Olive Pigeons as well. 

Silvery-cheeked Hornbill

We had a particularly fine close view of a Silvery-cheeked Hornbill at its nesting hole, with Hadada Ibis perched high up in the trees as well. We walked out across a field, where Northern Carmine Bee-eaters were perched on several prominent posts, to reach the larger forest which was rather quiet. 

Northern Carmine Bee-eater glowing in the sunshine

That was until a roving canopy flock appeared in a huge tree right in front of us and we saw a female Red-shouldered Cuckoo-shrike, Mountain Thrush, more barbets, and a couple of Narina Trogons. Cool!

Narina Trogon

So we finished by 11.30am and walked back to the open restaurant and had a nice lunch, before settling into the comfy chairs and watching the surrounding acacias and bird baths. A couple of Lemon Doves gave point-blank views and were much too close to photograph. Then a flock of Red-cheeked Cordon-bleus and Red-billed Firefinches appeared, and that seemed to prompt more birds into the area. A pair of Black-headed Batis were next, followed by a gang of White-rumped Babblers, Little Weaver, Common Redstart, Blackcap, Lesser Whitethroat, a couple of Red-faced Crombecs, then a blaze of black and white in a longish tail flew right past us and landed nearby. This proved to be a stunning Scaly-throated Honeyguide which promptly flew down onto a bare bush right above one of the bird baths and lingered just long enough for me to fire off a couple of shots. Stunning! 

Scaly-throated Honeyguide

Right after this bird had flown off, a superb Orange-breasted Bush-Shrike appeared in the acacia right next to us as well. And all of this had taken place whilst we sipped excellent coffee from our comfy chairs at the edge of the dining area. Decadent or what! During lunchtime some of the group also saw a Scaly Francolin as well. I must make note of the numerous Olive Baboons present here, some of the males being particularly large and impressive specimens….

Orange-breasted Bush-Shrike

We had to drag ourselves away to walk the trails again, but our afternoon session was a little quieter so we watched the Northern Carmine Bee-eaters again, found a Rattling Cisticola, had close-ups of Crested Francolin, Beautiful Sunbird, Black-winged Lovebird, flocks of Ruppell’s, Greater Blue-eared and Red-winged Starlings, and a male Red-shouldered Cuckooshrike before entering the large forest. 

Crested Francolin

We found more trogons, a flyover Ruppell’s Vulture and many of the same birds as this morning but couldn’t locate any Green Twinspots, although I’m sure I heard one calling from a boggy area. So we walked back to the lodge, getting a close flyover form a couple of Pink-backed Pelicans before we enjoyed some cool beers and watched the sunset.