Ethiopia - Day 5 (11/03/20) - Ankober, Melka Ghebdu and Doho Lodge

From Debre Birhan, which took the gravel road that climbs slowly uphill through alpine moorlands to Ankober at an elevation of 2465 metres. The road is currently been upgraded to provide a link between Debre Birhan and Awash resulting in slow progress through the sections where roadworks were taking place. Ankober is the location where Ankober Serin was first observed by ornithologists in 1979 but, despite stopping three times in suitable areas of habitat, we again drew a blank. However, we did see: White-winged Cliff-chat, five Thekla Lark, ten Streaky Seedeater, two Brown-rumped Seedeater, three Abyssinian Black Wheatear, seven Moorland Chat and a Stout Cisticola. 

Beyond Ankober, the road falls away steeply over the Ankober escarpment into a hot lowland acacia-wooded valley and Melka Ghebdu, a well-known site for the endemic (and predictably drab) Yellow-throated Seedeater. We stopped a couple of times and had brief views of one at the first stop and more prolonged views of two in the crown of an acacia by a dripping pipe at the second. Other birds seen in the acacia woodland along the rocky streambed at the site included: African Pygmy Kingfisher, Black-billed Barbet, two Eastern Plantain-eaters, Grey-headed Kingfisher, two Hoopoes, Little Bee-eater, two Northern Crombecs, Purple Roller and Red-fronted Tinkerbird.

Soon afterwards, the metalled road turned to dirt and entered the arid Afar country where we encountered more birds including two Abyssinian Roller, Bateleur, two Blackstart, Dark Chanting Goshawk and Red-billed Hornbill. The sight of many Afar tribesmen armed with AK47s was a little unnerving but of a rather more immediate concern was a deranged man in the middle of the road armed with a large rock which he was threatening to put through our windscreen! Fortunately, Abel was able to placate him with a handful of Ethiopian Birr and we were soon on our way again, stopping for a packed lunch in a dried up streambed where were saw Bearded Woodpecker and Yellow-breasted Barbet. Nearby, the wires running alongside the railway parallel to our gravel road held a party of six very smart White-throated Bee-eater and good numbers of Northern Carmine Bee-eater, surely the most stunning of all the bee-eaters. Eventually we hit the main Addis to Djibouti highway before turning off about 20km northwest of Awash to Doho Lodge. Once we had settled in at the lodge, we were asked if we wanted to see an owl which turned out to be a roosting Northern White-faced Owl and also a roosting Slender-tailed Nightjar.

A dip in the hot springs accompanied by a Giant Kingfisher and three Hippo on the adjacent lake left us just enough time to leave the camp and see several parties of Chestnut-breasted Sandgrouse (total 19) flying over on their way to a drinking pool, a pair of Senegal Thick-knee and three Slender-tailed Nightjar. 

Yellow-throated Seedeater (endemic), Melka Ghebdu, Ethiopia

Yellow-breasted Barbet, near Doho Lodge, Ethiopia

Slender-tailed Nightjar, Doho Lodge, Ethiopia