Birding/ Bird watching in Djibouti

Birding/ Bird watching in Djibouti


Djubouti bird watching map
Visit Djibouti Nature´s web page: https://djiboutinature.org/ for much information about birding in Djibouti


Saturday 8th of September 2018 and we leave the hotel at 5 o´clock bound for `As `Ela and we will drive through the desert looking for ostriches on the way. And we will Yet another Smiley on www.aladdin.st hopefully see some other wildlife on our way.

It will take us about 2 hours to reach Dikhil and from there it will be through the desert to `As `Ela in it will take an additional 1 hour or 2 hours depending on stops etc.

`As `Ela

`As `Ela, As Eyla or Diksa (Arabic: ايلى‎) is a town in Djibouti. Located in the Dikhil region, it has an estimated population of 684 people. It is located along the N6 highway. Tourist richness which the crater formed Lake Abbe, As' Eyla Province is located within the boundaries.

`As `Ela

Demographics
As of 2013, the population of As Eyla has been estimated to be 684. The town inhabitants belong to various mainly Afro-Asiatic-speaking ethnic groups, but the Issa and the Afar are predominant.

History
On Asa Ragid site, the material found consists of shell middens from oysters, basalt rhyolite peaks whose dating for older, is at 5000–5800 years BC Also circular stone structures and a microlithic industry red jasper and obsidian and pottery shards more or less decorated beads and ostrich egg shell.

As for the site of Asa Koma (Red Hill) near to As Eyla, he revealed a life towards the end of the third millennium with a population of fishermen who hunted jackal, raised cattle and made pottery decorated with prints and chiselled features of good quality and which shapes and colours are similar to ceramics found in Sudan.

It was discovered in 1989 a burial of an elderly adult and a young woman of 18. Many lithic obsidian and bone tools and beads of ostrich egg shells or shells of the Red Sea. Also animal bones, especially jackals, hippos rarely or gazelles, antelopes and domestic cattle and bones of fish (tilapia and catfish).

Spread throughout the country and in more recent times are the cairn housing Graves (hundreds in the north). In one of these mounds in Balho, we found a fragment of cranium from the early first millennium BC The diversity of these burials attests different periods to which they relate.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

We leave Djibouti behind in the dark and we drive along Djibouti National Highway 1 towards Dikhil and as the day light breaks we can see the truck wrecks along the road, all of them from Ethiopia.

If it is not truck wreck it is containers and other cargo the trucks have lost on the way to Ethiopia. And people are searching for stuff they can use. Like the first morning with the tanker laying across the road, people with buckets and drums collecting whatever diesel they could save.

Djibouti National Highway 1
Wrecks along Djibouti National Highway 1

Djibouti National Highway 1
Wrecks along Djibouti National Highway 1

Djibouti National Highway 1
Wrecks along Djibouti National Highway 1

Djibouti National Highway 1
Wrecks along Djibouti National Highway 1


National Highway 1 (Djibouti)

National Highway 1 is a major national highway of Djibouti. It connects the suburbs of Djibouti City to Yoboki and the Ethiopian border near Galafi, where it becomes Ethiopia's National Highway 18.

The highway begins at a roundabout in Djibouti City at 11°34′4″N 43°7′50″E, near Colege De Fukuzawa, where it connects with National Highway 2 and National Highway 3. National Highway 1 is 255 km in length and passes through the regions of Djibouti Region, Arta Region, Ali Sabieh Region and Dikhil Region.

The highway is heavily travelled by Ethiopian trucks.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Birding/ Bird watching in Djibouti
Early morning driving along Djibouti National Highway 1

Birding/ Bird watching in Djibouti
Early morning driving along Djibouti National Highway 1

Birding/ Bird watching in Djibouti
Early morning driving along Djibouti National Highway 1

Birding/ Bird watching in Djibouti
Early morning driving along Djibouti National Highway 1

Djibouti National Highway 1
Driving towards Dikhil on Djibouti National Highway 1

Djibouti National Highway 1
Driving through a beautiful landscape

Djibouti National Highway 1
Driving through a beautiful landscape

Djibouti National Highway 1
Driving through a beautiful landscape

Djibouti National Highway 1
Driving through a beautiful landscape

Djibouti National Highway 1
Driving towards Dikhil on Djibouti National Highway 1

Djibouti National Highway 1
Another wreck is coming up along Djibouti National Highway 1

Djibouti National Highway 1

Djibouti National Highway 1

Djibouti National Highway 1

Djibouti National Highway 1

Djibouti National Highway 1

Djibouti National Highway 1

Djibouti National Highway 1
We´re approaching Dikhil


Dikhil

Dikhil (Arabic: دخيل‎) is a town in the western Dikhil Region of Djibouti. Lying east of Lake Abbe, It is situated about 120 km (75 mi) southwest of Djibouti City and 12 km (7 mi) north of the border with Ethiopia. The town is home to a population of around 54,000 people.

The town develops gardens and fruit trees. The climate in the city is characterized by high to very high temperatures (average maximum daily temperatures by month, between 25-39 °C).

Dikhil

History
Since 1986, the survey work sites were performed by R. Joussaume and researchers ISERST. The engravings oldest discovered to date are from the fourth or third millennium BC In the pre-Islamic period, the most famous is the site of Handoga Dikhil near where the ruins of a village squares subcircular dry stone delivered different objects.

Including ceramic shards matching vases used brazier, or containers that can hold water, several choppers and microliths, blades, drills, trenchers basalt, rhyolite or obsidian. Also a pearl orange coralline, three glass paste, etc.. No trace of metal object. The place-name literally means "Water hole or a well" in the Afro-Asiatic Somali language.

The settlement may have evolved in the latter half of the 1800s as a settlement established near a water-stop used by nomadic stock-herders on the way to the town of Zeila or Tadjoura. When Wilfred Thesiger visited Dikhil in May 1934, he was struck by "a most impregnable fort here" recently constructed by the French colonial authorities. "The walls are twenty feet high, loop-holed, and topped with broken glass and a barbed-wire entanglement.

There are two large observation towers." He believed that garrison stationed there provided its only economic support, for had "the site any real value it would have been used before this by the natives. In December 1942, British invasion of French Somaliland about 1,000 British troops and Free French troops occupied the town.

Following the conclusion of the 1977-1978 Ogaden War, Dikhil, along with Ali Sabieh, accommodated three quarters of the 8,000 Issas who had fled from Ethiopia. In 1979, the first President of independent Djibouti Hassan Gouled Aptidon in Dikhil the party founded the People's Rally for Progress, which has since dominated the politics of Djibouti.

Overview
Dikhil is connected to other environs by National Highway 1. Public buses go from Djibouti City to Dikhil. It takes three hour to get to Dikhil. A contracted bus ride from Djibouti city to Dikhil can charge between 750 Djiboutian francs. This is a summer tourist destination for Djibouti thanks to its healthy climate and its location on the road to Lake Abbe.

Dikhil is located 12 kilometres from the Ethiopian border and approximately 100 kilometres beyond Djibouti city. It is a population center for the South west area, a frontier town with about 54,000 people.

Demographics
As of 2012, the population of Dikhil has been estimated to be 35,000. The town inhabitants belong to various mainly Afro-Asiatic-speaking ethnic groups, but the Issa and the Afar are predominant. By the late 1960s, the population had grown to between six hundred and to one thousand people.

Transport
As an inland area, Dikhil's transportation system is largely road-based. For air transportation, the city is served by the Dikhil Airport.

Economy
Dikhil is one of Djibouti's main agricultural areas, with the local economy largely centred on farming. The town serves as a commercial transit point for goods between Djibouti City and Ethiopia. The city was visited by more than 6,000 tourists over the years. Ethiopian trucks and traders frequently pass through the town.

Climate
Dikhil is a good location, beautiful scenery, and good air, located at an altitude of 507 meters above sea level in low-shrouded mountains and hills" and the surrounding mountains Dikhil climate is semi-desert hot during summer and cold during winter. Characterized by hot and dry summers, and mild to cool winters where most of the precipitation is concentrated (spring and autumn being pleasantly warm transitional seasons).

However, due to the town's altitude and inland location, its climate features are the humidity is very low, and temperatures usually fall on 28 °C at night, which makes summer particularly pleasant compared to coastal cities. The rainy season extends from July to October.

From November to February, the town experiences the cool winter season. It heats up from June to October, though the nights are pleasant. This elevation gives the settlement and the surrounding area a milder climate than the Djibouti city coastal area, where the weather is typically hot.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Take us almost 2 hours to reach Dikhil and we drive through the town. On the other side of the town we leave the paved road driving down what I think is the ditch and it is like a landfill.

Driving through a place full of garbage and suddenly we´re driving on a gravel landing strip for a few hundred meters and we´re in the desert. And we had not been driving for long when we spotted a few Dorcas Gazelles in the desert.

Dorcas Gazelle

Conservation status
Dorcas Gazelle
Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2008. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 18 August 2015.


The dorcas gazelle (Gazella dorcas), also known as the ariel gazelle, is a small and common gazelle. The dorcas gazelle stands about 55–65 cm at the shoulder, with a head and body length of 90–110 cm and a weight of 15–20 kg. The numerous subspecies survive on vegetation in grassland, steppe, wadis, mountain desert and in semidesert climates of Africa and Arabia. About 35,000 - 40,000 exist in the wild. The extinct Saudi gazelle from the Arabian Peninsula has been previously considered as a subspecies of the dorcas gazelle.

Dorcas Gazelle
Gazella dorcas range


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Djibouti National Highway 1
We throw ourselves off the paved road in to a new desert adventure

Djibouti National Highway 1
Garbage everywhere

Dorcas Gazelle
Dorcas Gazelle

Dorcas Gazelle
Dorcas Gazelle

Dorcas Gazelle
Dorcas Gazelle

Birding/ Bird watching in Djibouti
We continue out in the desert

The Dorcas Gazelle is not big, but it is a beautiful animal and we have seen it every day I have been in Djibouti. We´re also keeping our eyes out for ostriches and the Giraffe Gazelle that should be here in the desert as well. It is a beautiful landscape even if it only sand and some small bushes and trees and I enjoy every minute of our tour

And we´re soon stopping again. More Dorcas Gazelle and a Great Grey Shrike sitting in one of the bushes/ trees and we try to come close for pictures. The Great Grey Shrike was not very scared and it showed patience with us, but the final try and the bird took off and we gave up and we continued our trip through the desert keeping our eyes out for more excitements.

Dorcas Gazelle
Dorcas Gazelle - What a beauty!

Dorcas Gazelle
Dorcas Gazelle - What a beauty!

Dorcas Gazelle
Female Dorcas Gazelle - What a beauty!

Great Grey Shrike, Lanius excubitor, Varfågel

Great Grey Shrike, Lanius excubitor, Varfågel
Great Grey Shrike / Varfågel

We left again and we drove along some track in the desert and it was a real adventure and I was really happy that I had got the opportunity to stay here for 3 full days before joining the ship. For sure, nothing most of the people get to see, hell, most people are afraid to come to Horn of Africa. It s not exactly a tourist destination.

I enjoyed every second and I was soon screaming STOP STOP again. I spotted a Black-backed jackal not far away from the car and I was lucky to get a few pictures before the jackal disappeared. What a day!

Just a shame it is my last day in Djibouti, I could easily have killed a few more days here.

Black-backed jackal
Black-backed jackal

Black-backed jackal
Black-backed jackal

Black-backed jackal
The jackal is leaving
NOTE the ear! Listening to what we´re doing while walking away

Black-backed jackal
The jackal is leaving
NOTE the ear! Listening to what we´re doing while walking away

Black-backed jackal
Black-backed jackal

Black-backed jackal
Black-backed jackal


Black-backed jackal

Conservation status
Black-backed jackal
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.1. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 21 June 2012.


The black-backed jackal (Canis mesomelas) is a canid native to two areas of Africa, separated by roughly 900 km.

One region includes the southernmost tip of the continent, including South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe. The other area is along the eastern coastline, including Kenya, Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea, and Ethiopia. It is listed by the IUCN as least concern, due to its widespread range and adaptability, although it is still persecuted as a livestock predator and rabies vector.

Compared to other members of the genus Canis, the black-backed jackal is a very ancient species, and has changed little since the Pleistocene, being the most basal wolf-like canine, alongside the closely related side-striped jackal.

It is a fox-like animal with a reddish coat and a black saddle that extends from the shoulders to the base of the tail. It is a monogamous animal, whose young may remain with the family to help raise new generations of pups. The black-backed jackal is not a fussy eater, and feeds on small to medium-sized animals, as well as plant matter and human refuse.

Black-backed jackal
Black-backed jackal range
C. m. mesomelas in blue and
C. m. schmidti in red
By Mariosmassone - Own work, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=44924598


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Birding/ Bird watching in Djibouti desert
I enjoy every minute of it

Birding/ Bird watching in Djibouti desert
I enjoy every minute of it

We drive towards `As `Ela keeping our eys out for ostriches in the desert. We drive through a fantastic landscape when I suddenly scream STOP STOP!!!! I could not believe my luck, a group of Giraffe Gazelles next to the track.

My Guide had told me about the Giraffe Gazelles and I had just thought “Yeah yeah, blah blah” But here they were and it was for real. WHAT A BEAUTIFUL ANIMAL!!!

But this beautiful gazelle was very scared and I never got any pictures as the gazelle was running away from us. We tried to get out in the desert but the further out we got from the track the further away the gazelle ran. So my pictures was nothing I was happy about. But I was VERY HAPPY TO HAVE SEEN the Giraffe Gazelle!

Giraffe gazelle
Giraffe gazelle

Giraffe gazelle
Giraffe gazelle

Giraffe gazelle
Giraffe gazelle

Giraffe gazelle
Giraffe gazelle

Giraffe gazelle
Giraffe gazelle

Giraffe gazelle
Giraffe gazelle

Giraffe gazelle

Conservation status
Giraffe gazelle
Near Threatened (IUCN 3.1)
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.1. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 21 June 2012.


The gerenuk (/ˈɡɛrɪnʊk, ɡəˈrɛnək/; Somali: garanuug; Litocranius walleri), also known as the giraffe gazelle, is a long-necked antelope found in the Horn of Africa and the drier parts of East Africa. The sole member of the genus Litocranius, the gerenuk was first described by the naturalist Victor Brooke in 1878.

It is characterised by its long, slender neck and limbs. The antelope is 80–105 centimetres tall, and weighs between 28 and 52 kilograms. Two types of colouration are clearly visible on the smooth coat: the reddish brown back or the "saddle", and the lighter flanks, fawn to buff.

The horns, present only on males, are lyre-shaped. Curving backward then slightly forward, these measure 25–44 centimetres

Dorcas Gazelle
Gerenuk range


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Birding/ Bird watching in Djibouti desert
We continue towards `As `Ela

Birding/ Bird watching in Djibouti desert
We´re not alone in the desert

Birding/ Bird watching in Djibouti desert
We´re not alone in the desert

Birding/ Bird watching in Djibouti desert
Driving towards `As `Ela on National Highway #6

Birding/ Bird watching in Djibouti desert
Driving towards `As `Ela on National Highway #6

Birding/ Bird watching in Djibouti desert
Driving towards `As `Ela on National Highway #6

Birding/ Bird watching in Djibouti desert
Driving towards `As `Ela on National Highway #6

Birding/ Bird watching in Djibouti desert
Unidentified bird

Birding/ Bird watching in Djibouti desert
We reach `As `Ela

We continue towards `As `Ela and we´re soon on the National Highway # 6, a gravel road through the desert to `As `Ela. We make some stops for small birds, but nothing that ends up on picture. No more wildlife but it was a very interesting trip.

`As `Ela, well, I would not call it a town. A small village maybe, with concrete boxes as dwellings. And nothing else, absolutely nothing but dust in the area and I was happy not to live there.

National Highway # 6, a gravel road goes through the village and I really don´t know if it was a village road or the highway, dust as dust, no difference.

Birding/ Bird watching in `As `Ela, Djibouti
Driving through the town `As `Ela

Birding/ Bird watching in `As `Ela, Djibouti
Driving through the town `As `Ela

Birding/ Bird watching in `As `Ela, Djibouti
Driving through the town `As `Ela

Birding/ Bird watching in `As `Ela, Djibouti
Driving through the town `As `Ela

Birding/ Bird watching in `As `Ela, Djibouti
Driving through the town `As `Ela

Birding/ Bird watching in `As `Ela, Djibouti
Driving through the town `As `Ela

Birding/ Bird watching in `As `Ela, Djibouti
Driving through the town `As `Ela

Birding/ Bird watching in `As `Ela, Djibouti
Driving through the town `As `Ela

Birding/ Bird watching in `As `Ela, Djibouti
Driving through the town `As `Ela

Birding/ Bird watching in `As `Ela, Djibouti
Driving through the town `As `Ela

Birding/ Bird watching in `As `Ela, Djibouti
Driving through the town `As `Ela

Birding/ Bird watching in `As `Ela, Djibouti
Driving through the town `As `Ela

Birding/ Bird watching in `As `Ela, Djibouti
Driving through the town `As `Ela

Birding/ Bird watching in `As `Ela, Djibouti
Driving through the town `As `Ela

Birding/ Bird watching in `As `Ela, Djibouti
Driving through the town `As `Ela

Birding/ Bird watching in `As `Ela, Djibouti
Leaving the town `As `Ela behind

We´re almost through the town/ village when we turn left driving past a court, soccer or some other sport and we drive past the court and things are starting to get green. We stop as I see a lot of birds in the bushes. There is an old well, only sign of buildings and it didn´t look to have been in use for many years.

There was a lot of beautiful birds but it was impossible to get any pictures, well, I managed to get half a Woodpecker behind a trunk, but that was it.

Walking around and I stepped on a thorn, well, I didn´t know. I got pain in my foot and I could not walk properly but I could never imagine that a thorn would be able to go through my thick sole in my trekking shoes. But when we came to the gate to the garden/ plantation I removed my shoes, and yes, a thorn had gone through the sole.

So the wood is hard like an iron nail, good to go and I kept an eye where I put my feet as I really don´t want to experience the thorn through my shoes again.

Birding/ Bird watching in `As `Ela, Djibouti
It is getting greener

Birding/ Bird watching in `As `Ela, Djibouti
A Woodpecker

Birding/ Bird watching in `As `Ela, Djibouti
Gate to the garden/ plantation

Birding/ Bird watching in `As `Ela, Djibouti
Like walking on nails

My Guide is walking around trying to find a way to get in without passing the gate as the gate was locked. I was at the gate fiddling around with my shoe and the thorn when a man came to open the gate for me. Well, he was pushing the fence and I squeezed myself in to the garden.

My Guide came and he explained that we were here to look for birds. The man pointed down the garden to a bird of prey sitting in the top of a tree. I took off to try to get a picture of the bird. The staff was busy irrigating the plantation and I was sneaking around the water. Approaching the Eastern Chanting-goshawk and the bird took off.

I was soon finding the bird again and now it was sitting in another tree. I got a picture, but the bird took off when I approached. I was not very happy with the picture and I continued down to the other end of the garden to see if I could find the bird again.

Birding/ Bird watching in `As `Ela, Djibouti - Juvenile Eastern Chanting-goshawk

Birding/ Bird watching in `As `Ela, Djibouti - Juvenile Eastern Chanting-goshawk
Juvenile Eastern Chanting-goshawk


Thanks to tconzemi at Birdforum I could identify this bird.

Forum thread HERE


Birdforum


Birding/ Bird watching in `As `Ela, Djibouti - Juvenile Eastern Chanting-goshawk
I walk after the Eastern Chanting-goshawk

Birding/ Bird watching in `As `Ela, Djibouti - Juvenile Eastern Chanting-goshawk
I walk after the Eastern Chanting-goshawk

Birding/ Bird watching in `As `Ela, Djibouti - Juvenile Eastern Chanting-goshawk
I see the Eastern Chanting-goshawk hiding in a tree

I found the Eastern Chanting-goshawk again, the bird was hiding in a palm tree and I sneaked up on the bird. The bird was calling and I made a recording that I played for the bird and I managed to come pretty close to the Eastern Chanting-goshawk

Listen to the Eastern Chanting-goshawk

Remarks from the Recordist

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

I really tried hard to get a picture but the bird took off all the time. I managed to get a recording and I played the sound back to the bird and I could come close for a picture.

Thanks to tconzemi at www.birdforum.com for the help to identify this bird


www.xeno-canto.org


Eastern (pale) Chanting Goshawk or Somali Chanting Goshawk, Melierax poliopterus
Juvenile Eastern Chanting Goshawk / Somali Chanting Goshawk

Eastern (pale) Chanting Goshawk or Somali Chanting Goshawk, Melierax poliopterus
Juvenile Eastern Chanting Goshawk / Somali Chanting Goshawk

Eastern (pale) Chanting Goshawk or Somali Chanting Goshawk, Melierax poliopterus
Juvenile Eastern Chanting Goshawk / Somali Chanting Goshawk

Eastern (pale) Chanting Goshawk or Somali Chanting Goshawk, Melierax poliopterus
Juvenile Eastern Chanting Goshawk / Somali Chanting Goshawk

I was very happy with the Eastern Chanting Goshawk / Somali Chanting Goshawk and I went back to my guide that was waiting under a tree. We went to check out an irrigation pool, but there was no birds and we started to walk back towards the car.

I was lucky on the way and I got the see the very beautiful Namaqua Dove. I have seen plenty of this beautiful dove, but darn! Are they scared or what?

But this one was sitting still so I managed to get one picture, not very good, but good enough. I spotted a female in a bush and she was nice enough to let me have a picture.

Walking back to the well trying my luck, but I have no luck with the pictures. I only get a picture of a Yellow-breasted Barbet.

Birding/ Bird watching in `As `Ela, Djibouti
Looking for birds at an irrigation pool

Namaqua Dove
Male Namaqua DoveNamaqua Dove

Namaqua Dove
Female Namaqua Dove

Namaqua Dove
Female Namaqua Dove

Yellow-breasted Barbet, Trachyphonus margaritatus

Birding/ Bird watching in `As `Ela, Djibouti - Yellow-billed Kite
I see the Yellow-billed Kite

We leave the garden behind and we bring one guy with us that had asked for a lift to the “town” We drop him and we start to go back to Dikhil. We are soon stopping, I had spotted a bird of prey and it landed in the middle of the village. I went out of the car to go look for the bird.

I was immediately surrounded by 20 children screaming and following me. Not good if I want to sneak up on a bird of prey. And old man came running with a long stick and he started to smack the children (Playfully) and the children were laughing.

They were screaming something holding their hands out and when I was back in the car my Guide explained that they wanted some cookie that the French always had brought.

Thanks to tconzemi at Birdforum I could identify this bird.

Forum thread HERE


Birdforum



Yellow-billed Kite, Milvus aegyptius

Yellow-billed Kite, Milvus aegyptius
Juvenile Yellow-billed Kite

Birding/ Bird watching in `As `Ela, Djibouti
We see a Gazelle in the desert

Birding/ Bird watching in Dikhil, Djibouti
Back in Dikhil we stop to buy bread

Birding/ Bird watching in Dikhil, Djibouti
Back in Dikhil we stop to buy bread

Birding/ Bird watching at Ferme Agro Pastorale De Dikhil, Djibouti
We walk to the garden

Birding/ Bird watching at Ferme Agro Pastorale De Dikhil, Djibouti
We walk to the garden

Birding/ Bird watching at Ferme Agro Pastorale De Dikhil, Djibouti
We walk to the garden

Birding/ Bird watching at Ferme Agro Pastorale De Dikhil, Djibouti
Ferme Agro Pastorale De Dikhil

Birding/ Bird watching at Ferme Agro Pastorale De Dikhil, Djibouti - Rüppell's weaver, Ploceus galbula
Rüppell's weaver

Birding/ Bird watching at Ferme Agro Pastorale De Dikhil, Djibouti
Ferme Agro Pastorale De Dikhil

Birding/ Bird watching at Ferme Agro Pastorale De Dikhil, Djibouti
Unidentified bird

Birding/ Bird watching at Ferme Agro Pastorale De Dikhil, Djibouti
Unidentified bird

Third day in Djibouti and third day that I forget the picnic lunch. Se we stop to buy bread when we come to Dikhil. Bread and water, oh! This was good as I was very hungry now.

We will make one stop in a park here in Dikhil to look for birds before going back to Djibouti. We find the park, well, it is more like a garden or planting school. Ferme Agro Pastorale De Dikhil

We parked the car and we walked up the road and we saw the sign saying “Ferme Agro Pastorale De Dikhil” We crossed a stream where someone was washing their clothes and we walked up a few steps and we knocked on a gate.

AgroPastoral

Definition of agropastoral: of or relating to a practice of agriculture that includes both the growing of crops and the raising of livestock

From www.merriam-webster.com


We walked along the dust paths and there were a lot of Rüppell's weavers in the garden, but not any other birds. But the weavers were busy building nests, and they were everywhere busy weaving. And they made a lot of noise so I got a chance to make a recording.

Listen to the Rüppell's weaver


Remarks from the Recordist

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

september and there were Rüppell's weaver all over Djibouti busy building nest making this noise. I don´t know if it is a call, but it was hear everywhere there were some greenery

Ferme Agro-Pastorale de Dikhil is a small park, agriculture school or something in Dikhil and just ask if you can enter to go have a look for birds


www.xeno-canto.org


Rüppell's weaver, Ploceus galbula
Male Rüppell's weaver building nest

Rüppell's weaver, Ploceus galbula
Male Rüppell's weaver building nest

Rüppell's weaver, Ploceus galbula
Male Rüppell's weaver building nest

Rüppell's weaver, Ploceus galbula
Male Rüppell's weaver building nest

Rüppell's weaver, Ploceus galbula
Male Rüppell's weaver building nest

We spent an hour or so in the garden and we walked back to the car and we were soon on our way back to Djibouti and I will do a little bird watching around Acacias Hotel before spending the night in my room. They will come to pick me up tomorrow for transportation to m/t Ribe Mærsk.

I have had 3 gorgeous days here in Djibouti so I will be happy when I´m coming on board and this three days will give me pleasure for many days just to think about them while on board.

We drove the National Highway #1 back to Djibouti and we didn´t see much, well, a few monkeys along the road. And I managed to get a picture, of course not good on turning wheels, but we can see that there is nothing remaining of the tyres. So I understand all the wrecks we see along the roads here in Djibouti.

Well, price is more important than safety. But I guess a set of tyre will turn out to be cheaper than a wrecked truck and cargo. And the Driver, well, no one gives a sh#t about the driver, plenty more drivers that will come to work where he came from.

National Highway #1 back to Djibouti
National Highway #1 back to Djibouti

National Highway #1 back to Djibouti
National Highway #1 back to Djibouti

National Highway #1 back to Djibouti
Monkeys along the road

National Highway #1 back to Djibouti
Nothing remains of the tyres

They dropped me at the hotel, late afternoon so I had to hurry up if I want to see the Red-billed Firefinch I had seen yesterday, the pictures was not any good so I want to go have a look for the bird again and I will Yet another Smiley on www.aladdin.st hopefully get a good picture today.

I said good bye to the guide and if you ever come to Djibouti I can recommend this guy.

Akram Tour Guide - guideakram89(at)gmail.com

There is no web page but I told him to make one so who knows? But he is quick to answer e-mails and he showed me around for three beautiful days and if I come back I will use his service again.

I waved good bye and I started to walk to my “Red-billed Firefinch spot” but there was no birds today. I came up with the idea to come here before breakfast tomorrow. I don´t know when they will come to pick me up, around 10 o´clock or so. So I have some time to look for birds tomorrow morning, an hour before breakfast should be enough.

And I had not brought my flash, would have come in very handy with the Red-billed Firefinch. I went to check out the area behind the hotel and I ran in to a Sunbird, a very beautiful sunbird. As usually, just boring black but when the sun hit the bird it was like an explosion in different colours. WOW! And the bird just sat there in the barbed wire and I could come quite close, if it would not have been for the hotel staff screaming in the back.

Later on I identified the bird as a Shining Sunbird.

Shining Sunbird, Cinnyris habessinicus

Shining Sunbird, Cinnyris habessinicus
Shining Sunbird

Shining Sunbird, Cinnyris habessinicus
Shining Sunbird

Rose-ringed Parakeet, Psittacula krameri, Ring-necked Parakeet

Rose-ringed Parakeet, Psittacula krameri, Ring-necked Parakeet
Male Rose-ringed Parakeet / Ring-necked Parakeet

Rose-ringed Parakeet, Psittacula krameri, Ring-necked Parakeet
Female Rose-ringed Parakeet / Ring-necked Parakeet

Shining Sunbird, Cinnyris habessinicus
Female Shining Sunbird

Bird watching in Djibouti
Unidentified bird behind my hotel

There were also Rose-ringed Parakeets behind the hotel. And a lot of other small birds, but by now the light wasn´t any good. I saw one yellow bird but I have not been able to find this bird but I´m working on it and this page will be updated as soon as I know the identification.

Or when I think I know the identity of the bird.

I gave up any more birds, it become dark and II need a crazy ISO speed to take the pictures so the last few pictures I took is kind of grainy. I went back to my room to pack my bags so I will be ready to leave tomorrow morning.

Bird watching in Djibouti
Unidentified yellow bird behind my hotel
Juvenile male Nile Valley Sunbird

Thanks to andyb39 at Birdforum I could identify this bird.

Forum thread HERE


Birdforum



Rose-ringed Parakeet, Psittacula krameri, Ring-necked Parakeet
Female Rose-ringed Parakeet / Ring-necked Parakeet

Well, my stay here in Djibouti have come to an end, well, a little early morning bird watching around the hotel tomorrow morning. But I will be leaving for Ribe Maersk leaving the adventure behind. And to find out if I find any birds tomorrow morning you just need to click HERE




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Birding/ Bird watching in Djibouti

       
                  
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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