Birding/ Bird watching in Ethiopia with Flamingos Tours Ethiopia - Classical Endemic Birding Tour Ethiopia



Day 11 and 12: 30 AND 31 Oct - Full Day to Explore the Sanetti Plateau and Balé Mountains National Park.

An early start this morning will help us to make the most of our limited time in Bale Mountains National Park. We will spend most of the day today birding the Sanetti Plateau, which in addition of offering excellent birding is the best place to find the beautiful, rare, and endemic Ethiopian Wolf.

On our way there, we will pass through forests dominated by juniper and Hagenia, which offer us an excellent opportunity to find Abyssinian Woodpecker, White-backed Black Tit, Abyssinian Catbird, Abyssinian Ground-Thrush, and a variety of other bird species. The Sanetti Plateau is covered by Afro-alpine moorland, a moist habitat characterized by low shrubs and grasses and by Ethiopia’s strange-looking endemic species of Giant Lobelia. This habitat supports large rodent populations (including that of the Big-headed African Mole-Rat, or Giant Mole-Rat, found only here), which support the aforementioned Ethiopian Wolf and also attract a myriad of raptors and the endemic Balé Monkey.

It also is the best place to see the endemic Blue-winged Goose, Rouget’s Rail (which is especially confiding here), and Spot-breasted Lapwing; although we likely will have seen those species already, we can expect to get our best look at them here. Other specialties we will search for here include Chestnut-naped Francolin, Moorland Francolin, Wattled Crane, and Moorland Chat. Interestingly, the Plateau supports breeding populations of three species not usually associated with tropical Africa: Ruddy Shelduck, Red-billed Chough, and Golden Eagle.

Second night in GOBA, Wabe Shebelle Hotel

CANCELLED

Political trouble in the Bale Mountains area and they have closed the area. So we have to change our schedule.
- Drive from Wondo Genet to Yabelo

Birding/ Bird watching in Ethiopia with Flamingos Tours Ethiopia - Classical Endemic Birding Tour Ethiopia
Day 11: Drive from Wondo Genet to Yabelo

We have a long drive ahead of us through the dessert on a pretty bad road so we will leave early morning. Afternoon birding in the Yabelo area.

Night at Yabelo Motel in Yabelo (Yabelo Motel was full and I had to stay one night at Park Hotel)




Wednesday 30th of October 2019 and I was really sick waking up with fever. So it seems not to be much bird watching today. We left Wendo Genet Wabe Shebelle Resort Hotel and I only had some bananas for breakfast. We drove south towards Yabelo and we have about 300 km to cover so it will take half the day to reach Yabelo.

We were originally booked at Yabelo Motel but as we had changed our dates due to the political troubles in the Balé Mountains. So Yabelo Motel was full and I had to spend the first night at Park Hotel. And I will move to Yabelo Motel tomorrow and I will spend the last night there.

Park Hotel, the room was nice and the hotel would easily have got 3 stars if they would have had cleaned the room and bed sheets. The shower, some electric heater sitting at the end of the water pipe, something I would never use as the wires was hanging lose and it looked very dangerous. But no worries, there was no water coming out so no shower.

Birding/ Bird watching in Ethiopia with Flamingos Tours Ethiopia, Park Hotel in Yabelo
My room at Park Hotel in Yabelo

Birding/ Bird watching in Ethiopia with Flamingos Tours Ethiopia, Park Hotel in Yabelo
My room at Park Hotel in Yabelo

Birding/ Bird watching in Ethiopia with Flamingos Tours Ethiopia, Park Hotel in Yabelo
My room at Park Hotel in Yabelo

Birding/ Bird watching in Ethiopia with Flamingos Tours Ethiopia, Park Hotel in Yabelo
Nice pillow

I was sick, but I wanted at least go to try to see some birds. We had a Guide that we had picked up when we arrived to Yabelo. We will stay close to the hotel and we drove to a cattle farm just a few minutes’ drive north of Yabelo.

We leave the paved road and we drive through the savanna looking for birds. The savanna is really beautiful and we spotted a lot of birds but I never went out to try to get pictures. I was really not feeling any good in the back seat. And I only wish I was home, for sure, I wa snot looking forward to come back to the hotel room. But we made a few stops and I could take some pictures from the car window.

Crowned Lapwing or Crowned Plover, Vanellus coronatus

Helmeted Guineafowl, Numida meleagris

Birding/ Bird watching in Ethiopia with Flamingos Tours Ethiopia - White-rumped Shrike, Eurocephalus ruppelli
White-rumped Shrike
Picture not good enough to make the bird to my lidt of observed birds in Africa

African Wattled Lapwing, Vanellus senegallus, Senegal Wattled Plover, Wattled Lapwing

African Wattled Lapwing, Vanellus senegallus, Senegal Wattled Plover, Wattled Lapwing
African Wattled Lapwing

African Wattled Lapwing, Vanellus senegallus, Senegal Wattled Plover, Wattled Lapwing
African Wattled Lapwing

African Wattled Lapwing, Vanellus senegallus, Senegal Wattled Plover, Wattled Lapwing
African Wattled Lapwing

I felt very bad and when we reached the cattle farm I had to force myself out of the car. I walked around, but very close to the car if I started to feel “realy bad” We spotted a Lilac-breasted Roller sitting on a pole when we got out of the car. Me and my Guide had a discussion, Lilac-breasted Roller or Abyssinian Roller. I thought Abyssinian due to the long tail. But looking in the book and I see that the Lilac-breasted Roller have a long tile as well.

And my Guide is an excellent birders and I have been very impressed by him, so Lilac-breasted Roller it is.

My Guide is soon spotting yet another new bird for me, the beautiful D'Arnaud's Barbet. I took plenty pictures of the birds, but it is darn hard to get sharp pictures. We walked around the area and there were plenty birds, abd flies! I did not have much of energy to walk around chasing the birds, but I was happy with the afternoon.
Birding/ Bird watching in Ethiopia with Flamingos Tours Ethiopia - Lilac-breasted Roller, Coracias caudatus

D'Arnaud's Barbet, Trachyphonus darnaudii

D'Arnaud's Barbet, Trachyphonus darnaudii
D'Arnaud's Barbet

Birding/ Bird watching in Ethiopia with Flamingos Tours Ethiopia - Classical Endemic Birding Tour Ethiopia
Walking around the beautiful area

Birding/ Bird watching in Ethiopia with Flamingos Tours Ethiopia - Classical Endemic Birding Tour Ethiopia
Walking around the beautiful area

Birding/ Bird watching in Ethiopia with Flamingos Tours Ethiopia - Classical Endemic Birding Tour Ethiopia
Walking around the beautiful area

Birding/ Bird watching in Ethiopia with Flamingos Tours Ethiopia - Classical Endemic Birding Tour Ethiopia
Driving back to the paved road

Bird watching/ birding in Ethiopia with Flamingos Tours Ethiopia
Today´s track around the cattle farm

eBird

eBird Report

Cattle Farm north of Yabelo, Oromia, ET Oct 30, 2019 15:41 - 17:04
Protocol: Traveling
6,51 kilometer(s)
Comments: 20 Days Ethiopian birding tour. Birding with my Guide. I had been sick for 2 days so it was a very short birding session
16 species

Helmeted Guineafowl 3
White-bellied Go-away-bird 1
Crowned Lapwing 2
Wattled Lapwing X Many bird in the area
Hadada Ibis 4
Northern Red-billed Hornbill 2
Lilac-breasted Roller 2
D'Arnaud's Barbet X
Peregrine Falcon 1
Rosy-patched Bushshrike 1
White-rumped Shrike 1
Stresemann's Bush-Crow 1
Superb Starling X
White-crowned Starling 4
Greater Blue-eared Starling X
White-browed Sparrow-Weaver X

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S61041377



Bird watching/ birding in Ethiopia with Flamingos Tours Ethiopia - Park Hotel in Yabelo
Not feeling too good in my bed at Park Hotel in Yabelo

We drove in to the town to find a drug store before we returned to the hotel. We also stopped so I could buy a few chocolate bars that I can have in my room. The restaurant, well, there is no restaurant at the hotel. Back at the hotel and I went straight to bed. I will move to Yabelo Motel tomorrow and I hope I can get a shower.

Park Hotel, well, again, I don’t understand why they don't make sure the rooms are clean and in good condition. Anyway, click HERE to find out how things work out tomorrow.



       
                  
OK, it has come to my knowledge that we have senior citizens visiting my web page. How hard can it be? So it's not very easy for them to see the blue coloured links to the next page.
Jiffy (also jiff)

noun [in SING.] informal a moment: we'll be back in a jiffy.

ORIGIN late 18th cent.: of unknown origin.

So as you understand, in a jiff pretty much depends on your internet.
So I put a “Next” button here and I hope that there isn't any problem to understand how to use that one. So just CLICK the “Next” button on your left hand side and you will be on the next page in a jiff!

Marunong ka mag-tagalog? Walang problema! Magpunta sa kabilang pahina pindutin ang “NEXT” button sa itaas

Faites vous parlez le français? Pas de problème! Pour arriver à la page suivante faites s'il vous plaît un déclic le bouton “Next” ci-dessus!

Haga usted dice el español? No hay problema! Ver la siguiente página sólo hacer clic el botón “Next” encima!

Farla parla l'italiano? Non problemi! Per vedere la prossima pagina lo scatto per favore giusto Il bottone “Next” sopra

Sprechen sie Deutsch! Kein problem! Wenn Sie die folgende Seite sehen wollen gerade klicken der Knopf “Next” oben!

คุณพูดภาษาไทยได้ไหม ไม่มีปัญหา ถ้าคุณต้องการไปหน้าถัดไป ให้กดปุ่ม “Next” ข้างบนนี้

Вы говорите по-русски? Просто нажмите синюю кнопку "Next" с левой стороны и Вы моментально переместитесь на следующую страницу!

E ni Svenskar och inte förstår Engelska så ska ni skämmas. J och Björn, med det menar jag inte att alla mina stavfel ska ältas varje gång vi träffas.

Flag of Skåne / Skånska flaggan Well, the flag of Skåne, just a BONUS flag.


                                       

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