Following a reasonably
comfortable 8 hour overnight flight we touched down in Addis Ababa (2640m) at
6.40am and then undertook the tedious immigration and customs procedures before
meeting up with our local guide and driver. We drove straight out of the city
and headed up to the Sululta Plain stopping for breakfast at a roadside hotel.
There was a small garden here and we were very surprised to notch up a number
of species here with such goodies as African
Citril, Mountain Thrush, Tacazze Sunbird, Brown-rumped and Streaky
Seedeaters, Greater Blue-eared
Glossy Starling and many Swainson’s
Sparrows. Overhead there was a constant stream of Yellow-billed Kites, Hooded
Vultures, a few Ruppell’s and White-backed
Vultures, plus the first of 5 Lammergeiers
to be seen today.
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| Ruppell's Griffon Vulture |
Just as we were about to get back into the landcruiser, a Moorland Chat
flew up onto the telegraph wire right next to us.
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| Moorland Chat - a common highland endemic |
Once out on the plain and we
made our first stop when a little group of endemic Wattled Ibis were spotted beside a small pool. After a nice look at
them through the scope we also saw a couple commoner endemics with White-collared Pigeon and Blue-winged Goose showing well, plus Egyptian Goose, Tawny Eagle, Plain Martin and flocks of Yellow Wagtails as well. Our next stop
produced yet another endemic, this time a pair of Erlanger’s Larks, followed by Yellow
Bishop, male Pin-tailed Whydah, Pied and Isabelline Wheatears.
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| Isabelline Wheatear |
A few
kilometres further on and we stopped rather abruptly when a bunch of vultures
were seen feeding on a carcass close to the road. Pride of place was a hulking Lappet-faced Vulture that literally
towered over the squabbling Ruppell’s,
White-backed and a single tiny Hooded Vulture here.
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| Lappet-faced Vulture and a Ruppell's Griffon Vulture |
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| Lappet-faced Vulture towers over the White-backed and Ruppell's Vultures |
A Red-breasted Wheatear was then picked
up nearby, along with more Erlanger’s and a Thekla Lark as well.
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| Erlanger's Lark - another endemic |
We eventually reached our
destination at lunchtime of the Ethio-German Park Hotel which is literally
placed right on the edge of a huge escarpment where Fan-tailed Ravens and various raptors come in for great views. Once
we had dropped our luggage into our rooms we had a little look around the trees
and scrubby bushes in the garden and picked up Stout Cisticola, Ethiopia Boubou, Variable Sunbird, Ruppell’s
Robin-chat, a fine Yellow-bellied Waxbill, and a trio of new
endemics: White-winged Cliff-chat, Ruppell’s Black Chat and White-billed Starling.
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| The view from our lodge at Debre Libanos |
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| Debre Libanos |
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| Stout Cisticola |
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| Yellow-bellied Waxbill |
In the late afternoon we
drove the short distance to Debre Libanos Monastery, stopping along the way to
view our first Gelada Baboons and a
spanking Red-collared Widowbird. The woodland here was pretty good and pride
of place went to several White-cheeked Turacos present, although an endemic
trio of Banded Barbet, Abyssinian Slaty Flycatcher and Black-winged Lovebird weren’t too
shabby either!
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| White-cheeked Turaco |
We also had Brown
Woodland Warbler, Red-billed
Firefinch, Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu,
Village Indigobird, Mountain Wagtail and Northern Puffback. Back at the lodge we
had better views of White-winged
Cliff-chat near the Portuguese Bridge, along with Erckel’s Francolin, Wahlberg’s
Eagle, Mocking Cliff-chat and a huge flock of Nyanza Swifts. Lee was on fire today and to cap off all of his
great finds today he also spotted a Golden
Jackal to end a great day’s birding.
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| Gelada Baboon - non bird of the day |
Internet is a rare thing over here so there may well be a few day's gap before I can continue the story.......
