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



Day 14:
- Full Day Birding Around Negele, Liben Plain, and Filtu
Our primary goal today will be to find the critically endangered Sidamo Lark (also called the Liben Lark, and now believed to be conspecific with the even rarer Archer’s Lark of Somali), which survives only in a small patch of marginal habitat on the Liben Plain, just outside of Negele. The lark is most easily found in the early through mid-morning, when males can be heard and seen singingloudly while hovering above the plain; we will make a very early start in order to give ourselves the best possible chance of watching that display.

In addition to the Sidamo Lark, we can expect to see Kori Bustard, Black-winged Lapwing, Somali Short-toed Lark, Pectoral-patch Cisticola, and White-crowned Starling on the Liben Plain. Somali and Temminck’s Coursers are possible as well.

After the Liben Plain, we will explore the rest of the area around Negele, likely including the road between Negele and Filtu. We will do our best to find the endemic Salvadori’s Serin, and also are likely to find Lilac-breasted Roller, Red-and-yellow Barbet, Somali Crombec, Three-streaked Tchagra, Golden-breasted Starling, Shelley’s Starling, Somali Crow (also known as Dwarf Raven), Somali Bunting, and many other species.

Night in Negele, Turaco hotel.

CANCELLED

Political trouble in the Bale Mountains area and they have closed the area. So we have to change our schedule.

Drive to Negele

Birding/ Bird watching in Ethiopia with Flamingos Tours Ethiopia - Classical Endemic Birding Tour Ethiopia
Day 14: Drive from Yabelo to Negele

We will spend most of the day driving to Negele through the wilderness and looking for birds on the way.

Night at Honey Land Hotel in Negele



Saturday 2nd of November 2019 and I we have a long ride ahead of us today. We left Yabelo Motel at 7 thirty and we had about 80 to 100km of paved road and the last 150km is gravel road. The road was very hard to drive on in certain areas, but it was an interesting road and even though I was sick I enjoyed the beautiful landscape.

The paved road was very nice and it is heavily trafficked as it is the road to Kenya. And since the opened the train line between Djibouti and Addis Ababa there are less trucks on the road. But they are building a new shore port in Kenya where they will take the containers and cargo from Mombasa so the traffic on this road will soon be full of trucks.

Birding/ Bird watching in Ethiopia with Flamingos Tours Ethiopia - Yabelo Motel
Time to leave Yabelo Motel

Birding/ Bird watching in Ethiopia with Flamingos Tours Ethiopia - Yabelo Motel
Time to leave Yabelo Motel

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

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

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

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

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

We were hauling arse and we would soon have been in Negele if it would have been this good road all the way. But we were reaching a cross road in the middle of nowhere and we turned left leaving the paved road.

We drove along the dust road and suddenly we spotted a Kori Bustard along the road and we stopped to try to get some pictures.

Kori Bustard, Ardeotis kori

Kori Bustard, Ardeotis kori
Kori Bustard

Kori Bustard, Ardeotis kori
Kori Bustard

Kori Bustard, Ardeotis kori
Kori Bustard

Shelley's Sparrow, Passer shelleyi, also known as Shelley's Rufous Sparrow or the White Nile Rufous Sparrow

Shelley's Sparrow, Passer shelleyi, also known as Shelley's Rufous Sparrow or the White Nile Rufous Sparrow
Shelley's Sparrow

Birding/ Bird watching in Ethiopia with Flamingos Tours Ethiopia - Classical Endemic Birding Tour Ethiopia
We have left the paved road and stop to look at a Kuri Bustard

eBird

eBird Report

Yabello Sanctuary, Oromia, ET Nov 2, 2019 08:56
Protocol: Incidental
0 kilometer(s)
Comments: 20 Days Ethiopian birding tour. Birding with my Guide. Spotting a Bustard on the dust road on the way to Negele
3 species

Common Ostrich 4
Kori Bustard 1
Shelley's Rufous Sparrow 1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S61105606



Birding/ Bird watching in Ethiopia with Flamingos Tours Ethiopia - Classical Endemic Birding Tour Ethiopia
Stop to look at the Vulturine Guineafowl

Vulturine Guineafowl, Acryllium vulturinum

We continue towards East and Negele and we are spotting a group of Vulturine Guineafowls and we stop to try to get better pictures than I managed to get yesterday. To get out of the car is impossible as this would scare the bird away.

Well, the picture was better than nothing and we were soon continuing towards East. We will pass an area, one of the very few areas where we have the chance to see the bird. So the range is very restricted. We cross the River Dawa and we are lucky to see the bird.

White-winged Collared Dove is restricted to the vicinity of the Jubba and Shabeelle rivers, which flow from Ethiopia into Somalia, as well as the Dawa River (a tributary of the Jubba) along the border between north-east Kenya and Ethiopia. It appears to be common to abundant within this highly restricted range (del Hoyo et al. 1997).

Range map from www.oiseaux.net
Range map
BirdLife International (2019)

Tributary

A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage basin of its surface water and groundwater, leading the water out into an ocean.

A confluence, where two or more bodies of water meet together, usually refers to the joining of tributaries.

The opposite to a tributary is a distributary, a river or stream that branches off from and flows away from the main stream. Distributaries are most often found in river deltas.

Range map from www.oiseaux.net
Map of the Jubba/Shebelle drainage basin - Click HERE for bigger picture
By Kmusser - Own work, Elevation data from SRTM, drainage basin from GTOPO, all other features from Vector Map., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10519328


The Shebelle River (Somali: Webi Shabeelle, Arabic: نهر الشبيل‎, Amharic: እደላ, Italian: Uebi Scebeli) begins in the highlands of Ethiopia, and then flows southeast into Somalia towards Mogadishu. Near Mogadishu, it turns sharply southwest, where it follows the coast. Below Mogadishu, the river becomes seasonal. During most years, the river dries up near the mouth of the Jubba River, while in seasons of heavy rainfall, the river actually reaches the Jubba and thus the Somali Sea.

The Jubba River (Somali: Wabiga Jubbada, Italian: Giuba) is a river in southern Somalia. It begins at the border with Ethiopia, where the Dawa and Ganale Dorya rivers meet, and flows directly south to the Somali Sea, where it empties at the Goobweyn juncture.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


White-winged Collared Dove, Streptopelia reichenowi

Listen to the White-winged Collared Dove

Remarks from the Recordist

Recorded with my ZOOM H5 Handy Recorder. High Pass Filter applied with Audacity

20 Days Ethiopian birding tour with Flamingos Tours Ethiopia. After having Dawa River we spot a White-winged Collared Dove in a tree next to the dust road on the way to Negele. We stop and I am lucky to get pictures and a sound recording


www.xeno-canto.org

We only spotted one White-winged Collared Dove but that was enough, sound and picture and I was happy when we left even though I felt like sh#t. We continued towards the east and we were soon over taken by the other bird watching team that had left Yabelo Motel just after us this morning. They are following about the same itinerary we have, or at least part of our itinerary is the same.

And when I saw them I was really happy that I had booked the tour and paid extra to go alone. And of course, this was an excellent move and I could spend the whole days in my room if I wanted. Imagine sitting in a packed car being sick and you would have to go along as it would not be popular to request to go back to the hotel.

And I was alone in my car, the other jeeps had 4 or 5 people in them. So after a while in the dirt tracks you would really wish that you would have been alone.

Birding/ Bird watching in Ethiopia with Flamingos Tours Ethiopia - Classical Endemic Birding Tour Ethiopia
We are not alone on the dust road

Birding/ Bird watching in Ethiopia with Flamingos Tours Ethiopia - Classical Endemic Birding Tour Ethiopia
Long and dusty road ahead of us

Birding/ Bird watching in Ethiopia with Flamingos Tours Ethiopia - Classical Endemic Birding Tour Ethiopia
The other birding team approaching from behind

Birding/ Bird watching in Ethiopia with Flamingos Tours Ethiopia - Classical Endemic Birding Tour Ethiopia
The other birding team approaching from behind

Birding/ Bird watching in Ethiopia with Flamingos Tours Ethiopia - Classical Endemic Birding Tour Ethiopia
The other birding team approaching from behind

Birding/ Bird watching in Ethiopia with Flamingos Tours Ethiopia - Classical Endemic Birding Tour Ethiopia
We are passing through villages on the way

Birding/ Bird watching in Ethiopia with Flamingos Tours Ethiopia - Classical Endemic Birding Tour Ethiopia
We are passing through villages on the way

Birding/ Bird watching in Ethiopia with Flamingos Tours Ethiopia - Classical Endemic Birding Tour Ethiopia
We are passing through villages on the way

Birding/ Bird watching in Ethiopia with Flamingos Tours Ethiopia - Classical Endemic Birding Tour Ethiopia
We are passing through villages on the way

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


Arriving around 3 in the afternoon and the hotel we were supposed to stay at was full. Yes, our original booking was cancelled because our changed schedule. So we had to check in to the Honey Land Hotel in Negele. Looked to be a brand new hotel, but it was soon turning out to be a shit hole hotel. I checked-in to one room, but there was no electricity or water. We moved up to the Yet another Smiley on www.aladdin.st2nd floor. Now I will be able to have a shower.

I was soon down on the bottom floor again to check-in to their “best” room. Well, I told them that there was no water and they told me that they would turn it on. I had to call again and they would have the water running in 2 minutes.

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

Birding/ Bird watching in Ethiopia with Flamingos Tours Ethiopia - Classical Endemic Birding Tour Ethiopia
Honey Land Hotel in Negele

Birding/ Bird watching in Ethiopia with Flamingos Tours Ethiopia - Classical Endemic Birding Tour Ethiopia
My room at Honey Land Hotel

Birding/ Bird watching in Ethiopia with Flamingos Tours Ethiopia - Classical Endemic Birding Tour Ethiopia
My room at Honey Land Hotel

Birding/ Bird watching in Ethiopia with Flamingos Tours Ethiopia - Classical Endemic Birding Tour Ethiopia
My room at Honey Land Hotel

Birding/ Bird watching in Ethiopia with Flamingos Tours Ethiopia - Classical Endemic Birding Tour Ethiopia
My room at Honey Land Hotel

Birding/ Bird watching in Ethiopia with Flamingos Tours Ethiopia - Classical Endemic Birding Tour Ethiopia
No water in the bathroom

Birding/ Bird watching in Ethiopia with Flamingos Tours Ethiopia - Classical Endemic Birding Tour Ethiopia
No water in the bathroom

The hotel was, well, I was not looking forward to stay 2 nights here. I spent the rest of the day in bed and I hope to feel better tomorrow so I can finally get out to do some real bird watching. I had some apples and banans, and of course, a chocolate bar or two. But I really didn't eat much.

It will be a full day birding in the Negele area but I will ask them to stay close to the hotel in case I need to go to bed. Anyway, click HERE to find out if I come out of bed 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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