So I'm in Ethiopia now

Today marks exactly a month that I've been in Ethiopia, where I'm doing a summer internship for a development-related NGO. Needless to say, it's been quite a change of scenery from life in Washington DC- or the Philippines, or anywhere else I've been, really. My only previous experience in Africa was on my brief time studying in Morocco, which of course is a very different country than Ethiopia, both countries' excellent tea notwithstanding. 

In fact, Ethiopia is a very different country in general, something most foreigners don't appreciate, especially those who are aware of it only in the context of marathon runners and tasteless jokes about famines. Humans have been here since before they were homo sapiens (Lucy was found here!), and it has one of the longest written histories of any country in the world, developing its own system of writing sometime in the 9th century BC- a script that remains in use today, one of the oldest extant writing systems in the world. 

All three major Abrahamic religions have been present nearly since their inception: folk history has it that Judaism arrived in the 10th century BC along with Menelik I, the son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, who supposedly brought with him the Ark of the Covenant (the Ethiopian Orthodox Church claims to still be in possession of it, although not all historians agree). There remains a large population of Ethiopian Jews, although most of them now reside in Israel. It became the second country in the world (after Armenia) to adapt Christianity as the state religion in 324 AD, and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church remains the most popular denomination in the country today. The Prophet Muhammad himself sent missionaries to Ethiopia, and Islam is now practiced by about a third of the population. 

The kingdom of Aksum was one of the most powerful and important states in North Africa and the Middle East for around 800 years, while its successor the Ethiopian Empire lasted another 800 years, from 1270 until 1974 when Emperor Haile Selassie (also known as Ras Tefari, and considered the messiah of Rastafarianism, which is why Ethiopia and Jamaica share the same flag colors) was deposed by the military. It was one of only two African countries to avoid colonization (a fact that Ethiopians never fail to bring up in conversation) thanks to the clever politicking and military prowess of Emperor Menelik II, possibly one of the most capable and  interesting heads of state of the 19th century. Ethiopia's fortunes took a downturn in the 20th century, especially during the brutal reign of the communist Derg, who were responsible for decades of atrocities and economic mismanagement, which were responsible for the horrible famine in 1983-85, of Live Aid and We Are the World fame (and also a good lesson in how not to conduct humanitarian aid). Today, Ethiopia is one of the fastest-growing economies, though it's not without its fair share of inequality and social unrest. 

Ethiopia is a unique country in innumerable ways: the ancient Ge'ez abugida remains in use (though some other languages have adapted the Roman script), and over 80 linguistic groups are present in the country, including Amharic, the most widely spoken, which is a Semitic language related to Arabic and Hebrew. Eschewing the rest of the world's Gregorian calendar, it uses its own system of years, months, days, and time: as I'm writing this, the time and date according to my computer is 7PM on June 19th, 2019, while in Ethiopia it's 1PM on the 12th day of Säne, the 10th of 13 months in the year 2011, a system that makes cross-cultural communication lots of fun. Ethiopian cuisine is among the best I've had, an amazing mix of various grains and spices, and is reliably good and cheap no matter where you order it. Ethiopian music is unique and varied, with traditional music using its own scale system and even more modern music containing a very Ethiopian flavor.

The past month has been a whirlwind of new experiences and adventures, from the bad (having my wallet pickpocket on my first week with all my bank cards) to the very bad (the entire country's communications system being shut off last week because of high school examinations) to the very good (going to an amazing Ethio Jazz concert this week). In fact, I've been so occupied with work and exploring Addis Ababa that I've barely had time to go birding...

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...hahahahahahahahaha just kidding, can you imagine? I've actually been going birding nearly every day while I'm here, and have spent every weekend so far on various birding adventures. Bird-wise, Ethiopia is a fascinating mix of taxa I'm familiar with from the Philippines and elsewhere in Asia (white-eyes, pipits, mannikins, or thrushes, as well as the usual water birds) and birds that are uniquely African and unlike anything I've encountered anywhere else (waxbills, turacos, batises, weavers, and mousebirds). Even though it's a landlocked country, Ethiopia has its fair share of endemic birds, some of which confined to tiny areas of the country, and quite a few other birds found only in Ethiopia and other hard-to-access countries in the Horn of Africa like Eritrea and Somalia.

The birding in Ethiopia is fantastic as well- there's no culture of bird hunting at all, meaning that most birds are fairly tame and easy to approach and photograph. It's a welcome change from the challenges of birding in places where nearly every bird is a target of poachers, bird trappers, or small children with slingshots (looking at you, Philippines). It also means I've gotten some of the best bird photos I've ever taken, even though I continue to insist that I'm a birder, not a bird photographer.

I really wasn't intending to bird at the Bole Airport in Addis Ababa when I arrived in the country, as I had all my bags and was tired and frustrated after realizing my cards didn't work yet. However, the birds I saw when I exited the building were so I good I had to get out my camera and binoculars anyway. I got my first intro to common (but still exciting!) Ethiopian birds, including a very cool Speckled Mousebird, Baglafecht Weavers, Swainson's Sparrows (endemic to the Horn of Africa), Abyssinian Thrushes, Hooded Vultures, Abyssinian Slaty Flycatchers, and Brown-rumped Seedeaters (another Horn of Africa endemic). Less-common, I saw a Groundscraper Thrush and an accurately-named Superb Starling, both uncommon birds in Addis Ababa that are generally only seen at the airport.

Speckled Mousebird

Abyssinian Thrush

Baglafecht Weaver

Abyssinian Slaty Flycatcher

Brown-rumped Seedeater

Groundscraper Thrush

Superb Starling

Good birding, it turns out, is found throughout Addis Ababa, despite it being a massive, bustling city the size of Manila. The bird diversity is much higher than what I'm used to in the Philippines (or even the US), and even the very urban neighborhood of my first AirBnb had some very good birds, including Tacazze Sunbirds (the most common sunbird in Addis), Red-billed Firefinch, Pied Crow, White-backed Vulture, Variable Sunbird, and the weird and endemic Wattled Ibis. The best find of my first neighborhood, which I've since left, were the calling Montane Nightjars roosting somewhere on a nearby rooftop, supposedly a very difficult bird throughout the country.

The most popular birding place in Addis is the Ghion Hotel, situated downtown with an extensive set of gardens. I visited this only once (last week) and ended up rather underwhelmed, with no new birds for my Addis list. This is partly because birding at my office is, as it turns out, fantastic: it's located on the campus of the International Livestock Research Institute, an extensive collection of international NGOs interspersed with gardens and experimental farms. I've accumulated a list of over 50 species so far this year, a good total for a dozen or so visits in a huge city in the middle of a migrant-free summer.

My first day birding at the campus made me realize just how good even "trash birds" in Ethiopia are: there were some less exciting birds (sorry guys) like Ethiopian Cisticola, Streaky Seedeater, Bronze Mannikin, Red-eyed Dove, Dusky Turtle Dove, Montane White-eye, the very cute African Dusky Flycatcher, Hadada Ibis, and African Citril. On the other hand, some birds were more exciting, like African Grey Woodpecker, an amazing male African Paradise Flycatcher, and the beautiful endemic Rüppell's Robin-chat. Another cool moment was seeing a fledgling Northern Fiscal begging for food from its harried parent.

Baglafecht Weaver

Bronze Mannikin

African Grey Woodpecker

Rüppell's Robin-chat

African Paradise Flycatcher

Hadada Ibis

Juvenile Northern Fiscal

The next day, my morning walk held little new except for new decent views of Pied Crows, so I went for a post-lunch walk in the open fields behind my office. This proved to be excellent, with good birds even in the middle of the day (a common occurrence in Ethiopia!), including good looks at Streaky Seedeaters, Swainson's Sparrows, Speckled Mousebirds, and a surprising (and very cute) African Silverbill. Soaring overhead were Hooded Vultures and Rock Martins, while in the fields themselves was a good selection of new butterflies and dragonflies, my favorite of which was a beautiful Blue Argus butterfly.

Baglafecht Weaver

Pied Crows

Swainson's Sparrow

Northern Fiscal

Speckled Mousebirds

Streaky Seedeater

Tawny-flanked Prinia

Red-eyed Dove

African Silverbill

Hooded Vulture

Rock Martin

 

Natal Babul Blue

Dark Grass Blue (Zizeeria knysna)

The alliterative Bright Babul Blue 

Some kind of open-winged skipper (Celaenorhinini sp.)

Some kind of frog

Epaulet Skimmer

Blue Argus

Eurema sp.

Common Hottentot Skipper

Some other kind of grass skipper

Rüppell's Robin-chat

Red-rumped Swallow

Abyssinian Thrush

Rüppell's Robin-chat

The next day didn't have much new, with the exception of a surprising (and rare!) African Harrier Hawk flying floppily over the campus just as I arrived. I also had much better looks at African Citril, Tacazze Sunbird, Abyssinian Slaty Flycatcher, and a tiny and adorable African Grey Flycatcher.

African Harrier Hawk

African Citril

Abyssinian Slaty Flycatcher

Tacazze Sunbird

African Grey Flycatcher

African Honeybee I assume

The next week, after a very successful weekend outside of Addis (to be reported in my next blog!), I spent a little less time out with my camera and more time being productive for work. Nonetheless, I still got some great looks at great birds, including Ethiopian Cisticola, Northern Fiscal, the incredibly boring Common Bulbul, and a Tacazze Sunbird enthusiastically dismembering a moth of some kind. The best find was a small group of Ethiopian-endemic Black-winged Lovebirds on campus- certainly among the best of my office birds.

Ethiopian Cisticola

Baglafecht Weaver

Common Bulbul

Successful Tacazze Sunbird

Black-winged Lovebird

Bath White

Spilostethus pandurus, an impressive Soldier Bug

Abyssinian Lady

African Hummingbird Moth

Some kind of local rodent

Blue Pansy

As I mentioned before, one bonus of birding in Ethiopia is how incredibly tame much of the wildlife is. This is nowhere truer than on my office campus, where many of the local birds spend much of their time skulking around eating areas begging for food, even hopping on tables while people are eating. The worst (best?) offenders so far are Baglafecht Weaver, Abyssinian Thrush, Rüppell's Robin-chat, and Abyssinian Slaty Flycatcher, which has allowed me to get some great portraits of the culprits.

Baglafecht Weaver

Rüppell's Robin-chat

Abyssinian Slaty Flycatcher

Office birding in my third week tailed off a bit, partly because I was busier with work, and partly because I was running out of new birds to see. The most exciting bird of the third week was my lifer Black Sparrowhawk, perched imposingly in a tree, as well as good looks at a resident Augur Buzzard, essentially the Red-tailed Hawk of Ethiopia, in terms of appearance, behavior, and commonness.

Black Sparrowhawk

Augur Buzzard being mobbed by angry Northern Fiscals

Baglafecht Weaver amidst a party of Swainson's Sparrows

Brown-rumped Seedeater

I've had many other adventures in Ethiopia, as I've spent every weekend in the country so far on trips outside of Addis seeing some amazing and unusual wildlife. Those, however, will have to wait for my next blog entries!