Birder’s Paradise*

We have just come back from a three-week trip to the UK, to the great delight in particular of Nala the dog, who was clearly feeling neglected. One of the things we immediately noticed on our return, in this spring season, is the presence of birdsong, something that we missed in England, partly of course because windows and doors tended to be shut in the colder weather , but also because of the prevalence of man-made sound. On top of that, we have heard that there is a negative feedback between noise pollution and birdsong in the industrial world: birds can’t hear each other sing, which reduces their mating opportunities, which reduces their number, which reduces birdsong…

I believe I may have mentioned that, here too, the Ethiopian church does make a substantial contribution to the acoustic ambience, but nevertheless our garden in Bahir Dar is at present a sounding chamber of twitters, tweets, hoots, squawks, coos, croaks, chirrups and cheeps. The one big tree we have is currently home to weaver birds (in full construction mode), speckled mouse birds, sunbirds and bee eaters, with the odd visit perhaps from a paradise flycatcher. From overhead, we hear the cry of the kites and the keening of fish eagles. A pair of wire-tailed swallows is nesting in the eaves of the house.

One of the lesser-known facts about Ethiopia, except perhaps for dedicated twitchers, is that it is host to some 700 species of birds and home to perhaps 70 endemic species (i.e. species only found here or in the Horn of Africa). Now we are not dedicated twitchers and, until we came here, took what might be called a dilettante’s interest. However, we have been lucky, both in Mekelle and Bahir Dar, to live in houses with gardens and trees, with the result that we have been able to satisfy much of our burgeoning interest in the feathered community from the comfort of a recliner, without having to put down our G&T for longer than required to take a photograph. Nevertheless, you will have gathered that we have done a certain amount of travelling around the country, thereby extending our avian experience beyond the comfort of our backyards. Now unless you are an ornithologist, the most obviously striking thing about birds is their appearance, which means that I will try to keep my tendency to verbosity to a minimum and let you enjoy the photographs, with just a little bit of background. I’m afraid we tend to overlook the LBJs** in favour of the bigger, brighter and easier to identity.

First, the garden birds, here at home in Bahir Dar:

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Bahir Dar stands on the edge of Ethiopia’s biggest lake, Lake Tana, close to 100 km long. The edges of the lake stretch into wetlands and water meadows, which attract birds as they do everywhere in the world. One of our favourite trips is to take a boat on the lake, at dawn or dusk, then cruise into the opening of the Blue Nile (yes, one half of the great Nile starts here at Lake Tana, joining the White Nile in Sudan) to visit the hippos, and then nose gently into the narrow waterways where the birds nest and go about their business.
The first time we came to Bahir Dar, two years ago, we were lucky enough to meet Hailu, a boatman who knows all the birds of the lake (and their English names, though we were initially puzzled by the “Super Winged Goose” until we found Plectropterus gambensis – the “Spur-Winged Goose” – in the bird book. Hailu has become a friend we always call on to take us out. On Barbara’s birthday this year, she elected for a 5am start, meeting him before dawn (now that is commitment – on birthdays, we tend to see sunrise from the other end) for a boat/birding trip, and we were rewarded by sightings of three different kinds of kingfisher, including a first for us, the giant kingfisher. Lucky Ant and Liz (hello Toulouse!) were with us for that venture, where we also saw a monitor lizard (about 4 feet long) sunning itself in the early morning warmth.

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A week later, at Timkat (see previous blog) Hailu invited us to his home for lunch. He told us about his friendship with an English ornithologist, a frequent visitor to Bahir Dar, and his trip to the UK at the latter’s invitation. As an African, he joked, he had to go to England to see his first lion (at Longleat).

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Of course, you don’t have to go out on the lake to see the birds. They are everywhere around it. Among the pleasures in Bahir Dar is to sit at a lakeshore restaurant or cafe and watch the pelicans, spot pied kingfishers and feel the cool breeze that flows off the lake.
Apart from Hailu, we have encountered another local with a deep interest in the birdlife. At a Lodge by a crater lake south-east of Addis, we came across a wonderful book called Birds of Lake Tana Area. On our return, Barbara contacted the author Shimelis, who happens to live in Bahir Dar and lecture at the university here. She met him and now we have our own signed copy. Photos around Bahir Dar next:

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Wherever you go in Ethiopia, whether in places famed for their wildlife and landscape like the Simien Mountains, Awash National Park or the crater lakes of Debre Zeit, or simply out in the countryside where Barbara’s work has taken her, the natural world and its birdlife are ever present.

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*Since, as stated above, we are but dilettantes of the ornithological world, some of our identifications may be inaccurate, and we welcome any comments or corrections.
** LBJs: nothing to do with a former US president: little brown jobbies, i.e. nondescript birds.

Posted by ethioepic on 02/04/2014

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