Ethiopia 24th to 25th backdated
Wondo Genet to Lake Langano, 24th Feb backdatedWe started the day with a forest walk at Wondo Genet where we'd birded earlier in our trip. This time we saw Grey Cuckoo-Shrike and Red-shouldered Cuckoo Shrike as well as adding Yellow-fronted Parrot and Abyssinian Ground Thrush to our list. Sad to see even more of the huge forest trees had been cut down since we were last here. How long will this forested area remain? We drove back to Lake Langano and in the late afternoon headed out to the Lake Abjatta, and to more birds than we could ever have dreamt of. Sandwiched between an immense flat landscape and a huge limitless sky were, literally, millions of birds. A solid pink link of Greater and Lesser Flamingoes below, with hundreds of ant-like waders scurrying between their legs, while overhead thousand upon thousands of Barn Swallows whirled in the sky like a cloud of insects. In amongst the masses, keen eyes picked out 13 Pacific Golden Plover and several elegant Collared Pratincoles to boost our year list. We reluctantly tore ourselves away as light faded - what a fantastic spectacle! But the day hadn't quite finished as we squeezed out two more species: Slender-tailed and Freckled Nightjars back in the hotel grounds.
Last birding day in Ethiopia, 25th Feb backdatedOur last day started in great style tracking down a Verraux's Eagle Owl at dawn which we all feasted on as it sat perched in a cliff face hole. Having landed there with prey, the bird was being mobbed by a gang of Black Kites and a Tawny Eagle, all hoping to relieve him of its quarry. We also added Blue-spotted Wood Dove to our pre-breakfast list, and then started the drive back to Addis Ababa. We broke our journey at a productive, if smelly spot (Lake Cheleleka) overlooking an increasingly scarce patch of water in this very dry land. Perched shoulder to shoulder on a small mound in the middle of a rubbish dump, we scoped the lake enjoying a great range of species including Ferruginous Duck, Maccoa Duck and Fulvous Whistling Ducks. Just round the corner, a huge number of Common Cranes bugled and mingled at a roost, what a superb end to this trip! Sometimes tough, yet always turning up great birds and hugely entertaining in the company of Christian. Ethiopia has proved to be an amazing destination. Our many thanks once again to the entire group for their company, help and support, and to Christian Boix, Keith Barnes and Ken Behrens of Tropical Birding for all the great birds and laughs. It was a blast!
Bird species total on leaving Ethiopia: 1604 species