Klepp Mållag 27.06.2013, Vinnarane av forteljingskonkurransen

Jærbladet 14.06.2013, Beste forteljarar i Klepp mållag sin forteljingskonkurranse

Ethiopian birds and animals by Kjetil Skrettingland, 2012

Visit to Ethiopia – Rift Valley - 22.06.2012-17.07.2012 - Kjetil Skrettingland

Ethiopian birds list: 22.06.2012-18.07.2012, Please open this link to see the list of the birds.

Ethiopian animals list: 22.06.2012-18.07.2012, Please open this link to see the list of the animals:

My family went on a vacation trip to Ethiopia the summer 2012. The purpose of the trip was:

• To visit the central and southern part of the country, mainly the Rift Valley.
• Visit the Siraro area and the family of my brother in law, Wako Roba.
• Visit National Parks to see Ethiopian wildlife.
• Bird watching.

Map of Ethiopia - Visited places marked in red.

Map of Ethiopia - Visited places marked in red.

Trip Summary:

• 22.06.12-25.06.12 Addis Abbeba
• 25.06.12 Langano Lake
• 26.06.12 Langano Lake, Shashamene and Siraro area (Sanbate village)
• 27.06.12-02.07.12 Siraro area (Sanbate village)
  • 27.06.12 Katta village
  • 28.06.12 Budamada Hayk
  • 29.06.12 Senkelle Sanctuary
  • 30.06. 12 Lokke village
  • 01.07.12 Katta village
• 02.07.12-05.07.12 Arba Minch
  • 04.07.12 Lake Chamo in Nechisar National Park
• 05.07.12-09.07.12 Awassa
• 09.07.12 Abijata-Shalla National Park
• 09.07.12-12.07.12 Langano Lake
• 12.07.12-13.07.12 Awash National Park – Southern part
• 13.07.12-15.07.12 Nazret (Adama)
• 15.07.12-17.07.12 Addis Abbeba

Pictures from Ethiopia:

1. Bird photo: Langano 1 – Langano Lodge
2. People: Siraro 1 – Sanbate and Katta
3. People: Siraro 2 – Sanbate – Goat gifts
4. People: Siraro 3 – Funeral at Budamada Hayk
5. People: Siraro 4 – Sanbate and Katta and Lokke
6. Bird photo: Siraro 5 – Senkelle Sanctuary
7. Bird photo: Arba Minch – Lake Chamo
8. Bird photo: Awassa
9. Bird photo: Abiata-Shalla National Park
10. Bird photo: Langano 2 – Sabana Beach Resort
11. Bird photo: Awash National Park

Farming in the northern part of the Rift Valley

Rift Valley at Langano Lake and Abijata-Shalla National Park.

• 25.06.12 Langano Lake

On our first visit at the Langano Lake we stayed at Langano Lodge, a lodge that was a premium place some years ago. Now the place is becoming older, but still OK for us that not were searching for luxury.

Birding:

Bird photo: Langano 1 – Langano Lodge

The Langano area is splendid for bird watching. There are not many birds on the lake itself, but the adjacent vegetation is very good for birding. There are a lot of birds, not least inside the lodge itself (Crested Francolin, Clapperton's Francolin, Four-banded Sandgrouse, Black-winged Lovebird, White-bellied Go-away-bird, White-browed Coucal, Northern White-faced Owl, Slender-tailed Nightjar, Black-billed Woodhoopoe, Von der Decken's Hornbill, Red-fronted Barbet, Little Rock-Thrush, Red-faced Crombec, Rattling Cisticola, Tawny-flanked Prinia, Black-headed Batis, Rufous Chatterer,  Red-cheeked Cordonbleu, Red-billed Firefinch, White-bellied Canary, Yellow-crowned Canary,  Beautiful-, and Mariqua Sunbird.

• 26.06.12 Langano Lake, Shashamene and Siraro area (Sanbate village)

When passing Shashamene we visited “Ethiopia Adventist College” where “Roba Utviklingsfond” (www.robautvikingsfond.no) are paying school fee and accommodation for approximately 30 students, and supporting them in several ways. Margaret and Wako brought laptops and clothes from Norway for the students.

Birding:

The “Ethiopia Adventist College” area was an interesting birding area with old tall trees (Silvery-cheeked Hornbill, Double-toothed Barbet, Bronze Mannikin and Variable Sunbird)

Image of Siraro area with red marks at relevant locations

• 27.06.12-02.07.12 Siraro area (Sanbate village)

• 27.06.12 Katta village

Photo: Siraro 1 – Sanbate and Katta

Photo: Siraro 2 – Sanbate – Goat gifts

Our accommodation when staying in the rural Siraro area was in the Sanbate village, see attached photos, in a nice house. We were privileged visitors that were able to meet Wako’s family, the nice local people of Siraro. Wako’s family mainly lives in the three villages; Sanbate, Katta and Lokke.

The attached photos shows

• Our accommodation in Sanbate
• Our cook and the typical Ethiopian food: Bodena (Amharic: Injerra) and Wot
• The Katta village (or rather a farm) and a nice old woman, Aguddo - the only remaining of Wako’s five mothers, and a visit to Horto. Horto served traditional Ethiopian coffee which means butter, salt and milk added to the coffee.
• Goat gifts to poor local people: One of the activities of “Roba Utviklingsfond” is to arrange for buying goats on the local marked and give them as a support to poor local families. We saw that with a relatively small amount of money a lot of poor people can get a valuable help.

Funeral at Budamada Hayk in the Siraro district.

• 27.06.12-02.07.12 Siraro area
• 28.06.12 Budamada Hayk

Photo: Siraro 3 – Funeral at Budamada Hayk

The Rift Valley is an area created from tectonic plate movement in the earth, stretching the crust of the earth. Both volcanic conical mountain peaks with crater lakes and crater lakes from gas or water eruptions are obvious in the Rift Valley. In the Siraro area there are at least three crater lakes located with a distance of approximately 5 km. Two of the crater lakes are probably created from gas or water eruptions; Budamada Hayk and Tido Hayk. The third crater Lake, Buda Ameda Hayk, with an island in the middle of the crater lake, could probably be a small volcano with lava eruption.

When visiting Budamada Hayk we were invited to a funeral for a relative to a remote friend of Wako.

The attached photos shows

• Budamada Hayk
• Local muslim funeral custom: A horizontal cave in the soil/sand approximately two meters below ground.

• 27.06.12-02.07.12 Siraro area

• 29.06.12 Senkelle Sanctuary

Birding:

Bird photo: Siraro 5 – Senkelle Sanctuary

Senkelle Sanctuary is a protected area established to protect the Korkay (Swayne’s Hartbeast), a highland grassland at an altitude of approximately 1950 meters above sea level in the middle of the Rift Valley. We had a very nice stay in the sanctuary in spite of the ticket officer at the Head Quarter that insisted on being the obligatory local scout himself instead of allowing an ordinary scout to get the job. The “scout” insisted on going back to the Head Quarter after a very short time. One of our drivers brought him back, and we continued the park visit on our own. The number of birds was not numerous, but the sanctuary is still worth a visit. At the HQ both male and female Gabar Goshawk was present. Augur Buzzard, Tawny Eagle and Eurasian Kestrel are other raptors present. Other birds to be special mentioned from the sanctuary are Black-bellied Bustard, Helmeted Guineafowl, Crowned Lapwing, Rock Martin, African- and Long-billed Pipit, Groundscraper Thrush, Dwarf Raven (Somali Crow) and Cape Rook (Cape Crow).

Animals:

The mammals Korkay Swayne's Hartbeast, Oribi and Common Warthog are abundant, and we were also lucky to see Common Jackal.

• 27.06.12-02.07.12 Siraro area (Sanbate village)
• 30.06. 12 Lokke village
• 01.07.12 Katta village

Photo: Siraro 4 – Sanbate and Katta and Lokke

The attached photos shows

• “Roba utviklingsfond” is supporting the Siraro secondary school in Lokke with funding, and we were invited guests at the end of semester celebration. Bodena and Wot in addition to popcorn and Ethiopian coffee was served to the guests.
• We also attended the service at the local Church at Katta on the Sunday. To honour to the far away guests priests and choir from the nearest town Aje (25 km) had been invited to participate in the service.
• There were one television in the Sanbate village at a local cafe, and for a small fee we could watch the soccer World Championship final with Spain and Italy until the electricity supply was stopped and it was time for the inhabitants of the village to go to sleep. The two last goals of the soccer match was during the last ten minutes of the match after the electricity was cut, but we all still were happy to having been able to watch the most important part of the match.
• The four last pictures show the result of a governmental education program for grown-up women, locally supported and funded by “Roba utviklingsfond”. Vegetable garden, enclosures for the kettles to collect the manure for fertilizing a vegetable garden, small toilet hut with water for hand washing and storage shelves inside the living hut.

• 02.07.12-05.07.12 Arba Minch
• 04.07.12 Lake Chamo in Nechisar National Park

Southwards towards Arba Minch the Rift Valley descends to an altitude below 1300 meters. Climate in the rain season is dryer and warmer than in the Siraro area. In Arba Minch we were allowed to stay in some old houses at Mekane Yesus Technical College. The houses was old but plenty good for us, a significant increase in standard from what we were used to; cold water available one hour a day, more reliable electricity supply and available shops for food supply. We did not enter the Nechisar National Park properly, but we joined a boat trip on Lake Chamo.     The tickets for the boat trip were sold at the park HQ, but the boat trip started at the lakeside further south.

Birding:

Bird photo: Arba Minch – Lake Chamo

The Technical college area was a rewarding area for bird watching: White-bellied Go-away-bird, numerous amounts of Slender-tailed Nightjars (family), Blue-naped Mousebird, Red-fronted Barbet, Hunter's Sunbird, Gray-headed Bushshrike, African Black-headed Oriole and Fork-tailed Drongo.

In the forest near the crocodile farm in the nearby of the lake:  Banded Snake-Eagle, Shikra, Broad-billed Roller, Silvery-cheeked Hornbill, African Gray Hornbill, Green-backed Eremomela, Northern Puffback and Red-headed Weaver.

From Lake Chamo I can mention Great White- and Pink-backed Pelican, African Darter, Long-tailed Cormorant, Little Grebe, Yellow-billed Stork, Marabou Stork and African Fish-Eagle.

Animals:

On the boat trip on Lake Chamo it was easy to get good view of Crocodiles and Hippopotamus

• 05.07.12-09.07.12 Awassa

When visiting Awassa we stayed at the lakeside of Lake Awassa next to the Fish Marked. We were allowed to stay at NLM’s resort place, a premium place and location.

Birding:

Bird photo: Awassa

The area around the Fish marked in Awassa was a splendid birding area. A lot of nice birds are present lakeside and in the nearby vegetation. Some of the 50 different species can be mentioned in addition to all the Pelicans, Egrets, Storks and Ibises: African Hawk-Eagle, Black Crake, Purple Swamphen, Common Moorhen, Red-knobbed Coot, African Jacana, Senegal Thick-knee, Gray-headed Gull, White-winged Tern, Blue-spotted Wood-Dove, Blue-headed Coucal, Pied-, Woodland- and Malachite Kingfisher, Black Sawwing (Blue Sawwing), Lesser Swamp-Warbler, Ethiopian Cisticola and  Spotted Creeper.

Animals:

Adjacent to people in daytime: Guereza Colobus, Grivet Monkey and Gambian Sun-Squirrel. At midnight at an area previously used for disposal of garbage we saw several Spotted Hyenas.

• 09.07.12 Abiata-Shalla National Park

The National Park consist of the shallow (14 m deep) salt and alkaline Lake Abiata (also named Lake Abijatta), the deep (266 m deep) crater lake containing salt alkaline water with high sulphur content; Lake Shalla (also names Lake Shala) and the surrounding area.

The armed scout that assisted us at the Abiata-Shalla National Park (see picture) was interested in his work. He was skilled, and he was a nice and pleasant company. I wish I had an extra birding book and a binocular I could have given him. With a book and a binocular he would become a good birding guide in the National Park. We visited the Head Quarter area, the Lake Shalla viewpoint and walked a couple of kilometers down to the northern shore of Lake Abiata to see the Lesser Flamingos.

Birding:

Bird photo: Abiata-Shalla National Park

The Abiata-Shalla National Park is a good birding location. In the summer season (rain season) the number of species observed at Abiata-Shalla National Park in a day is similar as at the Langano Lake, but some of the spices at the two locations is different. The number of shorebirds at the salt, alkaline and shallow Lake Abiata is far more numerous than in the vegetation in the steeper slope down to the adjacent fresh water containing Lake Langano (approximately 5-6 km east).

At the Park Head Quarter reintroduced Ostrich are easy to spot. I regard those as tame and do not really note those as observed wild birds.

From the trip towards the Lake Shalla viewpoint the following spotted birds can be mentioned: Dark Chanting-Goshawk, African Harrier-Hawk, White-bellied Canary, Temminck's Courser, Red-billed Hornbill, Slate-coloured Boubou, Wattled Starling and Helmeted Guineafowl.

At Lake Abiata small numbers of some of the migrating shore birds (and a couple of terns; Gull-billed- and White-winged Tern) that should have travelled north in the summer season was over-summering. Else I want to mention Chestnut Sparrow, Kittlitz's Plover, Crowned- and Spur-winged Lapwing in addition to the previously mentioned Lesser Flamingo from the birding at the northern area of Lake Abiata.

Animals:

At the Park HQ: Grant's Gazelle, Bohor Reedbuck and Common Warthog.

• 09.07.12-12.07.12 Langano Lake

At this visit to Lake Langano we stayed at the luxurious Sabana Beach Resort (see the map above from our first stay). The resort was nice and pleasant, and had good food.

Birding:

Bird photo: Langano 2 – Sabana Beach Resort

The following birds from this visit to the splendid bird rich Langano lake can be mentioned: Dark Chanting-Goshawk, White-rumped Swift, Horus Swift, Rufous-crowned (Purple) Roller, Hemprich's Hornbill, Northern Ground-Hornbill, Rufous-necked Wryneck, Blackstart, Mocking Cliff-Chat, Green-backed Camaroptera and Pin-tailed Whydah.

Map of the southern part of the Awash National Park.

Southern Awash savanna

• 12.07.12-13.07.12 Awash National Park – Southern part

Birding:

Bird photo: Awash National Park

The Awash area is just north-east of the northern end of the Rift Valley, and at lower altitude (around 1000 meters above sea level). The climate is far warmer (30-35 deg C) and drier than the chilly (approx. 20 deg C) and humid Addis Abbeba and the mild (20-25 deg C) and humid Siraro area in the central part of the Rift Valley. Awash is located at the “border” between the rain season of the Ethiopian Highland in south and the dry and hot season of the northern lowland towards the Danakil depression. The armed scout that assisted us was in a hurry and wanted us to believe that we had to leave the park one hour earlier than the real closing time. We had reliable information of opening time, and faced to this information the scout stayed at his job until the end of the working day. The amount of birds in the southern part of Awash National park at this part of the year is not numerous (24 different spices). The first impression is silence and low bird activity, but bird watchers observe more than others, and I got some very memorable birding experiences, four different Bustards was maybe the best (Arabian-, Buff-crested, White-bellied and Hartlaub’s Bustard). African Hawk-Eagle was common, and I spotted two Yellow-necked Spurfowl. Namaqua Dove, Madagascar-, Northern Carmine- and White-throated Bee-eater, Northern Ground-Hornbill, Singing Bushlark, hestnut-headed Sparrow-Lark, Wattled Starling, Somali Fiscal, Rosy-patched Bushshrike and Fan-tailed Raven should also be mentioned.

Animals:

The Oryx are common in the park, and Soemmering's Gazelle can also be spotted easily. Else we observed Salt's Dikdik, Lesser Kudu (at dusk in low light), Olive Baboon, Bat-eared Fox, Crocodile (in Awash River at the new Lodge) and Turtle in addition to the tame Dromedaries of the nomad people.

• 13.07.12-15.07.12 Nazret (Adama)

Now the vacation slows down, and we just stayed in the sun at a swimming pool at a nice hotel in Nazret (Adama) before returning to the “cold” and humid Addis Abbeba.

Birding:

Not much birding to mention, maybe except for the Eastern Plantain-eater, Abdim's Stork, Somali Crow and Fan-tailed Raven at Sodere Hot Water Spring 20 km south east of the town.

• 15.07.12-17.07.12 Addis Abbeba

On our last day in Addis we made a trip to the summit of Entoto Hill at above 3000 m altitude. The Orthodox Church and the houses of the previous Emperor was worth visiting when having spare time.

Birding:

At Entoto we spotted among other species Streaky Seedeater and Little Weaver.

Trip participants:

Kjetil Skrettingland, wife and four children. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Wako Roba, wife and five children.

My sister

Literature references:

1. Where to watch birds in Ethiopia, 2010, Clarie Spottiswoode, Merid Nega Gabremichael and Julian Francis.
2. Birds of the Horn of Africa, 2009, Nigel Redman, Terry Stevenson and John Fanshawe.
3. Gylendals store fugleguide 2004, Lars Svensson, Peter J. Grant, Killian Mullarney and Dan Zetterstrøm
4. African Mammals, 2004, Jonathan Kingdon

Ethiopian birds list: 22.06.2012-18.07.2012, Please open this link to see the list of the birds.

Ethiopian animals list: 22.06.2012-18.07.2012, Please open this link to see the list of the animals:

 

2012 Etiopia 2 - Siraro 1 - Sanbate and Katta

2012 Etiopia 3 - Siraro 2 - Sanbate - Goat-gifts

2012 Etiopia 4 - Siraro 3 - Funural at Budamada & tidho Hayk

2012 Etiopia 5 - Siraro 4 - Sanbate

2012 Etiopia 6 - Siraro 5 - Senkelle Sanctuary

For å lese meir om Senkelle sancturay klikk her

2012 Etiopia 7 - Arba Minch - Lake Chamo

2012 Etiopia 8 Awassa

2012 Etiopia 9 - Abiata-Shalla National Park

For å lese meir om Abiata Shalla National park klikk her

2012 Etiopia 10 - Langano 2 - Sabana Resort

2012 Etiopia 11 - Awash National Park

For å lese meir om Awash National Park klikk her

Ethiopia- Harar Diredawa og Babile elefant safari 2012

For lese meir om Babile Elefant sanctuary klikk her

Next >