Ethiopian Birding the Roof of Africa Tour, 2-25 Feb
As expected, internet access on the road was non-existent so this is our first chance to update the diary. With electricity and running water in short supply, especially in the south of Ethiopia, we weren't surprised. Many thanks to Sam Woods, Christian Boix and Keith Barnes for posting the interim highlights for us. The birds however were fantastic - how can we pick out the highlights with well over 400 species seen?! Bird of the trip has got to be Prince Ruspoli's Turaco (see the photo on our 'Birds' page and you'll understand why). Not only is it a great looking bird but it has an incredible range restricted range and fairy tale attached to it. It was once thought lost to science and has only relatively recently been rediscovered. We were very fortunate to enjoy several stunning close-up views of this gorgeous bird, accompanied by the inevitable gaggle of small grubby children who always materialised out of nowhere whenever we stopped. Perhaps surprisingly, one of the other highlights was the very familiar Barn Swallow. Not just one of course - nice, but hardly a highlight - but several millions, filling the entire sky, wheeling over and around us like a swarm of locusts, an unforgettable sight, made all the more spectacular as it was played out above a solid pink wall of flamingoes. The shores of Abjatta held immeasurable quantities of birds, not just swallows and flamingoes but vast flocks of waders and wildfowl too. Easily, the biggest concentration of birds that most of us has ever seen in our lifetime. A few other select highlights included Blue-winged Goose, Rouget's Rail, Spot-breasted Lapwing, Yellow-fronted Parrot, Sidamo Lark with its very limited distribution, White-tailed Swallow, Streseman's Bush-Crow, the bizarre-looking Thick-billed Raven, Salvadori's Serin and Ankober Serin, all great Ethiopian endemic ‘morsels’.