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Day 15:
- Drive to Yabelo
We will leave Negele on the road that heads south from the Liben Plain very early this morning in order to reach a spot where the road crosses the Dawa River shortly after dawn. This spot is an excellent place to find White-winged Collared Dove (or African White-winged Dove), Juba (or Salvadori’s) Weaver, and Black-bellied Sunbird, and we will relax and enjoy birding here.
After our early stop at the Dawa River, we will continue driving toward Yabelo, where we will spend the night. On the way, we are likely to find Somali Courser, Vulturine Guineafowl, Red-and-yellow Barbet, Magpie Starling, and other species characteristic of the dry savannas that cover the region.
During the last portion of our drive, we will get our first views of the region’s star birds, the charismatic Stresemann’s Bushcrow and White-tailed Swallow. Both species are curiously range-restricted, occurring only in the savannas around Yabelo and Mega. However, they both are quite common within that limited range, and we can expect to have many opportunities to watch them during the next couple of days.
Night in Yabelo, Park Hotel or similar.
CANCELLED
Political trouble in the Bale Mountains area and they have closed the area. So we have to change our schedule.
Full Day Birding Around Negele, Liben Plain, and Filtu
Day 15: Birding around Negele
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 singing loudly 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 at Honey Land Hotel in Negele
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Sunday 3rd of November 2019 and I had not had much od sleep during the night. Of course, sick and I was sleeping yesterday evening, 15 minutes there and 20 minutes here. But it was very nice when the Guide and Driver came to pick me up. I told them that I wanted to stay very close. My Guide wanted to go to the Liben Plain to see if we could see the almost extinct Liben Lark.
We left the hotel and when we had left the town behind I spotted the very beautiful Yellow-necked Francolin along the road and I was lucky, I got both a recording and pictures before we continued to Liben Plain to look for larks.
Listen to the Yellow-necked Francolin
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Remarks from the Recordist
Recorded with my ZOOM H5 Handy Recorder. High Pass Filter applied with Audacity.
The bird are just next to the road outside of Negele when going to the Liben Plain. So I stop to try to get pictures.
Think it is a male due to spur on the legs
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Yellow-necked Spurfowl or Yellow-necked Francolin
Yellow-necked Spurfowl or Yellow-necked Francolin
Yellow-necked Spurfowl or Yellow-necked Francolin
Yellow-necked Spurfowl or Yellow-necked Francolin
Yellow-necked Spurfowl or Yellow-necked Francolin
Yellow-necked Spurfowl or Yellow-necked Francolin
Yellow-necked Spurfowl or Yellow-necked Francolin
We leave the Yellow-necked Francolin behind and we continue towards the Liben Plain. We leave the road and we drive out on Liben Plain on dirt tracks and my Guide see, well, it was the boy that spotted our car and he came running. My Guide knew him and he was keeping an eye out for the Liben Lark when my Guide is not there. He got in to the car and we went looking for the lark.
We were soon stopping to get out as they had spotted a Liben Lark. The walked after the lark but  I was not interested. Well, I was interested but I was feeling sick and I was soon leaning over our car throwing up.
I had not have had any proper to eat for a few days so it was no pleasure throwing up next to the car. And I really didn't had much energy. I could see one Temminck's Courser while my Guide and the boy was chasing the Liben Lark
I really wanted to have a picture of the Liben Lark! We can see on the map below that the bird is almost extinct, just a very small area remaining where you can see the bird. Bird Life have 2 articles that can be interested to read. Click links below to find out more:
• Can the Critically Endangered Liben Lark be saved? Our latest update - 26 October 2018
• BirdLife is working with local communities to safeguard the Liben Plain for people and larks
And dont forget to support Bird Life by clicking HERE!
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Liben Lark - BirdLife
Distribution and population
The species occupies mid-altitude grassland in Ethiopia and Somalia. However severe land-use change at its Somalian type locality means that it probably no longer occurs there (Spottiswoode et al. 2013). The species was for some time known only from two specimens collected at adjacent sites near Negele in the former Sidamo province (now Guji Zone), southern Ethiopia, in May 1968 and April 1974.
Since 1994 there have been subsequent sightings of small numbers (<10 on each occasion) in the Negele area. Analysis of these locations on satellite images and recent fieldwork suggests that the species is restricted to a very specific habitat (tall-grass prairie) in the calcareous plateau east and south of Negele (L. Borghesio in litt. 2005, Donald et al. 2010).
Between 1973 and 2002 the area of tall-grass prairie decreased by about 30%, and in 2003 much of it was being rapidly encroached by agriculture and shrubs (Acacia drepanolobiumand others) that are probably favoured by excessive grazing pressure and the suppression of seasonal fires (L. Borghesio in litt. 2005).
Remaining grassland is being heavily degraded by overgrazing (Spottiswoode et al. 2009). By 2007-2008 it appeared to be restricted to a single grassland patch 30-36 km2 in area, and the global population was estimated at just 90-256 mature individuals, with the effective population size perhaps even smaller owing to a potentially skewed sex ratio caused by predation of females on the nest (Spottiswoode et al. 2009).
Results of survey work to date indicate that the species has fewer than 100 territories (the number of pairs is unknown: females seem to be much scarcer than males, so many territories may be held by bachelors) (Donald et al. 2010, N. Collar in litt. 2011).
Compared with a survey in June 2007, fieldwork in May 2009 recorded a decline of 40% in the number of birds present along repeated transects and a contraction of 38% in the area of the Liben Plain occupied by the species (Donald et al. 2010), with a further decrease to c.25% km2 in 2011, a 44% reduction on that recorded in 2007 (Abdu 2012).
Subspecies H. a. archeri was historically known from a very restricted area, the Wajale plain, from Jifa Medir to Ban Wujaleh, west of Hargeisa in north-west Somalia, along the Ethiopian frontier (Spottiswoode et al. 2013). Between 1970 and 2008 fifteen visits to the Somalian type locality or areas adjacent to it failed to find the species.
In 2010, a search for the species in the Wajale Plains and surrounding area in Somalia was unsuccessful and the habitat there was found to have changed dramatically due to grazing and mechanised agriculture, with no natural grassland thought to remain (A. Jama in litt. 2010, Spottiswoode et al. 2013, Mills et al. 2015).
Predictive modelling based on the characteristics of the Liben Plain suggested that apart from a smaller and highly politically unstable area c.500 km to the north-east near the Somalian border there is no other suitable habitat for the species within the Horn of Africa (Donald et al. 2010). In 2011 a survey in grassland east of Jijiga in north-east Ethiopia (close to the area that the predictive model suggested [Donald et al, 2010]) found more than 10 individuals in heavily degraded grassland (Spottiswoode et al. 2013).
The area of suitable grassland at Jijiga is apparently very limited (maximum estimated extent of 20 x 12 km), with >80% grass cover under 5 cm in height (Spottiswoode et al. 2013). Niche modelling suggests that apart from a few small scattered sites in central Ethiopia, the Liben Plain and Jijiga are the only occupied sites for the species (Spottiswoode et al. 2013).
BirdLife International (2019) Species factsheet: Heteromirafra archeri. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 12/12/2019
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 Liben Plain
Liben Plain
Liben Plain
We are parked on Liben Plain
Temminck's Courser
Picture not good enough for the bird to make it to my list of observed birds
I was not in any good condition and it looked like it would start to rain any second. So we drove back to my hotel leaving the Liben Plain behind. Of course, I was very disappointed not to have seen the Liben Lark. And I really would have to get some pictures.
Today's track at Liben Plain
eBird Report
Liben Plain, Oromia, ET Nov 3, 2019 08:50 - 09:45
Protocol: Traveling
3,88 kilometer(s)
Comments: 20 Days Ethiopian birding tour with Flamingos Tours Ethiopia. I was sick and not much birding during the day
3 species
Temminck's Courser 8
Isabelline Wheatear 1
Plain-backed Pipit 2
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S61140074
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We stopped to buy some chocolate bars so I had some chocolate if I would get hungry. Then back to the hotel and I spent the rest of the day in the bed. My Guide came by in the afternoon to see if we should go birding. But I stayed in bed.
We have a long drive on a gravel / dust road tomorrow. It is about 300km on a terrible road, but this is the last dust road stretch before we are back in Addis Ababa. We will drive through the Balé Mountains National Park across the Sanetti Plateau to our hotel in Goba, the Goba Wabe Shebelle Hotel. So we might see birds, click HERE to find out.
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