motodraconis: (Monster)
[personal profile] motodraconis
Our local guide in the Simien Mountains had come to this conclusion based on the many tourists he had guided over the years...

"The Americans and British just want to see the birds, the Italians just want a discount, and the Japanese just want to take a quick snap and jump straight back on the bus."

Arf! Never a truer word spoken, but many people do come to Africa specifically for the wildlife, and while I had come to Ethiopia for the architecture (and food) many in our party were looking forward to the Simien Mountains and a spot of twitching,...

Hooded Vulture in Debark (1)
Hooded Vulture

And indeed, the land was very rich in birdlife. In fact, literally within minutes of arriving at out first hotel in Gondar I spotted an interesting specimen...and whipped out my camera to snap it...


Toilet Duck - Gondar

Stunning, you will agree. (2) Below... this little tike (3) was loitering near where we were eating our dinner in the hotel...

Hotel Bird

Lizard lurking in the Royal Enclosure of Gondar. (4)

Lizard, Royal Enclosure - Gondar

Some variety of pigeon, posing near Empress Mentewab's Palace. (5)

Pigeons - Royal Enclosure Gondar

Flowers on a tree in the Royal Enclosure Gondar. (6)

Royal Enclosure Gondar

At Fasilides Bath - Gondar. (7)

Fasilides' Bath - Gondar

In the town of Gondar. (8)

Bird of Prey - Gondar

Flowers in the Simien Mountains, high altitude. (9)

Simien Mountains

Thick-billed ravens (10) Simien Mountains. They'll loot your packed lunch in seconds if you drop your guard. One guy (not in our group) had left his lunch tied in a bag hanging outside his tent. The ravens tore it to shreds and made off with the booty inside. It all happened so quickly we were powerless to defend his grub (that and we were pissing ourselves laughing so much.)

Thick-Billed Raven

Thick-Billed Raven

Mountain rose - Simien Mountains - looks not unlike something you'd find in the English countryside. (11)

Simien Mountains National Park

Thrush? Simien Mountains (12)

Simien Mountains - Thrush?

As if being covered in vicious thorns over both stalks and leaves was not enough, this (according to our local guide) member of the tomato family is incredibly poisonous - fruit and entire plant. Overkill surely? To no avail though, the locals pick and dry the fruits, grinding them up to use the powder for washing clothes and sheets. I suspect the desired properties of this plant are less soaping-and-dirt-removing, and more disinfecting-and-killing bugs.

Poisonous tomato - used for washing and disinfecting clothes.

Gelada baboons (13)

Geladas - Simien Mountains

Walia Ibex with fauns. (14)

Walia Ibex - Simien Mountains

One of the guys in the group found this (15) and was convinced it was black magic. My (rather less interesting) theory is that an unfortunate Ibex or Nyala got its feet tangled in some discarded rubbish and thus incapacitated, was found by the local wolves or possibly jackels and made short work of. Unfortunate for the Ibex, but hardly sinister.

Feet

Outside Axum Museum. (15)

Stuffed cat - Axum

Vivid bird by the Axum Stelae. (16)

Axum bird

Soaring... (17)

Bird

Hunkered down on a niche in Woldiya Rock Church. (18)

Woldiya Rock Church

Attacking his own reflection in the hotel at Mekele. (19)

Mekele hotel girl

In the splendid garden of the Seven Olives Hotel in Lalibela, gorging on hotel left-overs. Mmmmmmm! Yummy firfir! (20)

Birds at Lalibela

Drinking laundry water at the Seven Olives. (21)

Birds at Lalibela

Egrets? (22) At a village near the Blue Nile Falls, Bahir Dar.

Blue Nile Falls

Bahir Dar hotel bird. (23)

Bird - Bahir Dar

And another bird hoping for a bit of my dinner at Bahir Dar. (24)

Bird - Bahir Dar

Pelicans on Lake Tana. (25)

Lake Tana - Bahir Dar


Lake Tana - Bahir Dar

Larger fowl spotted on Lake Tana. (26)

Lake Tana - Bahir Dar

Coffee plant growing in the gardens of the Bahir Dar hotel. (27)

Bahir Dar - Coffee plant

The Lion of Judah! (28)

Addis Ababa museum

The Lion of.... (29)

Bahir Dar

Cheeky red bird in Addis Ababa. (30)

Addis Bird



Each photo has been given a number, as I can only identify (or mis-identify) a few of the creatures photographed, the numbers are there if anyone wants to identify the culprits. The first person to correctly identify all of them, (and I will check using the power of google,) or names more than anyone else, will be sent a souvenir brought back from Ethiopia! (Don't get your hopes up.)

Date: 2014-01-19 01:08 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] crazycrone.livejournal.com
These are brill. Wonder what that sober toucan-like thing is. (7)

Date: 2014-01-19 11:12 pm (UTC)
glittertigger: (Default)
From: [personal profile] glittertigger
Love the baboon picture. And all the brightly coloured birds. Looks like a fabulous trip.

Date: 2014-01-20 09:20 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] zengineer.livejournal.com
I remember the pelicans on lake Tana well. There is always faffing when you are waiting for a boat and bird watching is what you do. 16 and 30 both look like finches to me. My memory of the birds is that Ethiopian species look like normal birds but in false colour. Just change your photos to black and white to identify. I am also pretty sure that 20 is a photo of starlings. These were my introduction bird to Ethiopian weirdness. When our guide said starlings I was a little surprised but it turned out he had at one stage run the national parks service, had a foreign degree and really knew his stuff bird wise

Date: 2014-01-20 01:32 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] motodraconis.livejournal.com
A very sober bird! I got another shot of it...

Image (http://www.flickr.com/photos/motodraconis/11912747136/)

Date: 2014-01-20 01:45 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] motodraconis.livejournal.com
We were told they are Superb Starlings, though google has superb starlings as having orange chests. Perhaps the "superb" part was intended as more descriptive than naming!
Then again... they might be <a href="Splendid Starlings... or... one of the 5 glossy starling varieties. AAAGH! A starling. Definitely. And pelicans.

Date: 2014-01-20 01:47 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] motodraconis.livejournal.com
The geladas were fairly nonchalant about humans, you could get quite close to them

Date: 2014-01-20 03:20 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] zengineer.livejournal.com
They do look more like Splendid Starlings than Superb Starlings. They are however both splendid and superb and that is enough for me.

Date: 2014-01-20 07:24 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] crazycrone.livejournal.com
It as a certain Eeyore-ish charm.

Date: 2014-02-03 11:53 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rufusfrog.livejournal.com
Definitely a hornbill. Hemprich's I'd guess.

Date: 2014-02-03 12:05 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rufusfrog.livejournal.com
16 & 30: red-cheeked cordon-bleu & red-billed firefinch respectively.

Date: 2014-02-03 05:40 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] motodraconis.livejournal.com
Oooooh! I think the prize (such as it is - don't get your hopes up) will be winging it's way to you at some point. :)

Date: 2014-02-03 05:41 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] motodraconis.livejournal.com
I didn't know you had the birdish know how!

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