Red-breasted Wheatear

Red-breasted Wheatear Oenanthe  bottae

Bale Mountain National Park, Ethiopia

14 January 2014

    I have been posting the birds of my Ethiopian odyssey in chronological sequence, but somehow I missed this one from the 14th January. The Red-breasted Wheatear is a bird of high altitude grasslands so it was clearly at home on the high plateau of the Bale Mountain National Park. In its restricted habitat we saw it quite commonly, but once we descended to lower altitudes sightings of this species ceased.

Checking left.

Checking right.

Green Sandpiper

Green Sandpiper Tringa ochropus

Bale Mountain National Park, Ethiopia

14 January 2014

    Green Sandpiper was infrequently observed during our trip to Ethiopia and never more than a single bird at any one time. On its breeding grounds in northern Europe this sandpiper has the curious habit of nesting in the disused nests of other birds such as thrushes, from which the young birds within a few hours of hatching, have to leap from the nest to the ground below, sometimes a drop of as much as ten metres.

Rouget's Rail

Rouget's Rail  Rougetius rougetii

Bale Mountain National Park, Ethiopia

13 January 2014

    In stark contrast to the secretive behaviour one expects from rails, Rouget's Rail is easy to see and often walks in open terrain without any attempt to hide itself. It prefers marshy areas in upland grasslands so the Bale Mountain National Park is one of its strongholds. It is found only in Ethiopia and neighbouring Eritrea.