Ethiopian Endemics I 11th to 29th January 2014 & Lalibela Historical Extension th st 29 January to 1 February 2014 Trip report Abyssinian Roller by Markus Lilje Tour leaders: Wayne Jones & Andrew Stainthorpe. Trip report compiled by Wayne Jones RBT Ethiopian Endemics I Trip Report 2014 2 Top 10 birds as voted by participants: 1. Ruspoli’s Turaco 2. Abyssinian Roller 3. Half-collared Kingfisher 4. Fox Kestrel 5. Abyssinian Ground Thrush 6. Nile Valley Sunbird 7. Hartlaub’s Bustard 8. Quailfinch 9. Abyssinian Catbird 10. Abyssinian Woodpecker Tour Summary Our tour kicked off in the grounds of our hotel in Addis Ababa on what was, essentially, an arrival day. Despite its location in the middle of the bustling and chaotic capital city, the gardens yielded a good selection of birds including Wattled Ibis, African Harrier-Hawk, White-collared Pigeon, African Paradise Flycatcher, Brown Parisoma, Dusky Turtle Dove, Abyssinian Thrush, Montane White-eye, Abyssinian Slaty Flycatcher, Brown-rumped Seedeater and Ruppell’s Robin-Chat. Common Cranes by Adam Riley We set out early the following morning so as to arrive at Lake Chelekcheka just after dawn, when the hundreds of Common Cranes that roost there start becoming active amid a cacophony of guttural bugling. With waves of cranes passing over us on their way to forage in the fields, we found plenty of other waterbirds including Northern Shoveler, Spur-winged Goose, Northern Pintail, Eurasian Teal, Greater and Lesser Flamingos, Spur-winged Lapwing, Three-banded Plover, Black-tailed Godwit and Temminck’s Stint. Yellow Wagtails abounded and one of the area’s specials, the tiny and gorgeous Quailfinch, gave excellent views. Having worked up an appetite we made our way to a restaurant overlooking Lake Bishoftu for breakfast. While sipping some delicious Arabica brew we added Pink-backed Pelican, Red-billed Firefinch, Scarlet-chested Sunbird, Blue Rock Abyssinian Ground Hornbill Thrush, Mocking Cliff Chat, Banded Barbet, by Andrew Stainthorpe Black-winged Lovebird and Southern Pochard to our list. Our stomachs full, we moved on to Koka Dam, finding the charismatic Abyssinian Ground Hornbill along the way. At the dam itself we really struck it lucky as we had four Black Crowned Cranes quite close to the road and a Saddle-billed Stork that gave us even closer views when it glided low over the traffic. Senegal Thick-knee, Red-billed Oxpecker, Black-headed Gull, African Fish Eagle, Hamerkop, Goliath Heron and White-faced Duck were just some of the birds in the RBT Ethiopian Endemics I Trip Report 2014 3 vicinity. We also had our first taste of Ethiopia’s notoriously annoying and in-your-face children, so we quickly moved on to our next stop at Lake Ziway. After a delicious lunch of fresh fish and more coffee (this was going to be a caffeine-dominated trip!) we ventured closer to the lake and its nearby shallow wetland. Here we found a whole host of goodies including African Pygmy Goose, Little Ringed Plover, Common Snipe, Fulvous Whistling Duck, Knob-billed Duck, Malachite Kingfisher and Woodland Kingfisher. There were a number of Marabou Storks and Great White Pelicans hanging around some locals gutting fish, and they allowed close approach. We also found Black Heron, Northern Carmine Bee-eater, Grey Kestrel and Long-crested Eagle at another section of the lake before the last bit of travel to Awassa on this action-packed day. At Awassa we indulged in some more pre-breakfast birding with a stroll around the hotel grounds the next morning and along the Awassa Lake shore. We connected with all the main targets – African Spotted Creeper, Red-throated and Eurasian Wrynecks, Green-backed Honeybird, Tree Pipit, White-backed Duck, Little Weaver, White-browed Robin-Chat and more African Pygmy Geese and Malachite Kingfishers. Beautiful pied Guereza Colobuses performed for the cameras while the bus was packed. Shortly thereafter we entered the hustle and bustle of the Awassa Fish Market. With not much happening bird-wise, we departed on the long uphill journey to Goba. In the next town, amid the Guereza Colobus myriad unfinished buildings and wooden scaffolding, we saw the by Markus Lilje impressive Thick-billed Raven. The agricultural fields and grassy hills along the way, and streams in between, produced Abyssinian Longclaw, Groundscraper Thrush, Whinchat, Red-breasted Wheatear, Blue-winged Goose, Yellow-billed Duck, Booted Eagle, Green Sandpiper and Ethiopian Cisticola. Up in the highlands we made a stop for Cape Eagle-Owl, which some locals assisted in finding. At the headquarters of the Bale Mountain National Park at Dinsho we saw White-backed Black Tit and African Wood Owl, but sadly not Abyssinian Owl, which had not been sighted that day. We were quite worn out by the time we reached Goba, but satisfied nonetheless with some marvellous birds. Plus, we had an exciting day to follow – in the morning we’d be driving up the highest road in Africa! Our day started with a walk around the Juniper Forest on the slopes of the Bale Mountains, where we found the beautiful Abyssinian Ground Thrush, Tacazze Sunbird, Brown Woodland Warbler, Ethiopian Wolf by Wayne Jones Cinnamon Bracken Warbler, White-cheeked Turaco and, a bit higher up, Rouget’s Rail. Thankfully the weather up on the plateau was stunning, with clear blue skies. Thekla Lark, Moorland Chat, flocks of Ethiopian Siskin, Ruddy Shelduck, African Snipe and Red-billed Chough were all seen. Raptors were present, but not in huge numbers, although we did see Lanner Falcon, Augur Buzzard, Steppe, Golden and Tawny Eagles and the majestic Bearded Vulture. Probably the main attraction of the plateau is the rare Ethiopian Wolf, of which we saw seven, and its primary food source, the bizarre Giant Root Rat. We then popped down the other side of the plateau to have lunch in Harenna Forest, the largest piece of extant forest RBT Ethiopian Endemics I Trip Report 2014 4 in the country. The forest was relatively quiet at midday, but we did find a pair of Abyssinian Woodpecker at their nest. The following day we visited a wetland near Goba and found good numbers of the beautiful endemic Spot-breasted Lapwing, along with Garganey, Red-billed Teal and Purple Heron. We then opted to attempt the road to Sof Omar, which we’d heard was untraversable. Apart from a small section where we all hopped out and played Ethiopian road workers, fixing the problem in under three minutes, this proved not to be true. The going was slow, however, and we reached Sof Omar shortly before midday. We still found some excellent birds – Narina Trogon, African Hawk-Eagle, Shikra, Northern Red-billed and Von der Decken’s Hornbill’s, Red- fronted Tinkerbird, Lesser Honeyguide, White-crested Helmetshrike, Grey-headed Batis, Acacia Tit, Northern Crombec, Bristle-crowned Starling, Brown-tailed Rock Chat, Mountain Wagtail and Crested Francolin. We departed in the early afternoon, but a mishap at the bad section of the road resulted in our bus getting stuck. Once again we played Ethiopian road crew while most locals stood and watched. We did eventually solve the problem and I’m sure we all slept very soundly that night! On Day 6 we departed for Negele, climbing back over the Sanetti Plateau and through Harenna Forest to the dry Acacia woodland Narina Trogon beyond. The long drive through some of Ethiopia’s wildest and least by Glen Valentine populated areas produced sightings of Eastern Chanting Goshawk, Bateleur, African Wattled Lapwing, Klaas’s Cuckoo, Somali Dwarf Mongoose Red-and-yellow and Double-toothed Barbets, Black-billed Wood Hoopoe, Grey-headed Bush-shrike, Striped Ground Squirrel, Isabelline Shrike, Boran Cisticola, Marico Sunbird, Red-headed Weaver and the endemic Ruspoli’s Turaco, the major target for the day, of which we saw several. Our big mark for the next day was the severely globally threatened and range-restricted Sidamo Lark. We managed to find two on the Liben Plains as well as Pectoral-patch Cisticola, Somali Short-toed Lark, White-crowned Starling, Shelley’s Sparrow, Black-winged Lapwing and Short-toed Snake Eagle. We had a delicious breakfast in the field and then continued east towards the Somali border – still about 300km away, mind you – along the road to Bogol Manyo. The reason for this linear route was to search for arid-country species on the western edge of their range in Ethiopia. We did well, finding Hunter’s Sunbird, White-browed Scrub Robin, Pale Prinia, Yellow-bellied Eremomela, Somali Crombec, Ethiopian Swallow, Black- throated Barbet, Somali Bunting, Egyptian Vulture and wonderfully close views of five Somali Ostriches. Hunter’s Sunbird by Keith Valentine We had a bit of a rest that afternoon in anticipation of our long drive the next day. We were on the road and in true wilderness when the sun rose, bathing the beautiful unspoilt scenery in golden tones. We picked up Golden-breasted and Magpie Starlings, Chestnut Weaver and White-winged Collared Dove before arriving at the Dawa River. It was a bit quiet there, but we still came upon RBT Ethiopian Endemics I Trip Report 2014 5 African Pied Wagtail, Rufous Chatterer, Eastern Yellow-billed Hornbill, Yellow-spotted Petronia, Pringle’s Puffback and Pygmy Batis. Moving further southwest until we reached Yabello, the landscape dotted with red termite mounds, we found Vulturine Guineafowl, Bare-eyed Thrush, Purple Grenadier, Black-cheeked Waxbill, Grey-capped and Black-capped Social Weavers, Rosy-patched Bushshrike, Pygmy Falcon and Pearl-spotted Owlet. It had been a good mammal day too – our pre-dawn start resulted in views of White-tailed Mongoose and Spotted Hyena close to Negele, and Grant’s Gazelle and Gerenuk nearer Yabello.