22 Nov 2019: Wondo Genet

Mekemen really came into his own at Wondo Genet. This was his home territory, and here he had home ground advantage. He knew every call and bird song that filtered through the trees. He knew the hiding places of the hard-to-find specials of the area. In the forested hills above Wondo Genet Mekemen became a birding superstar.

Abyssinian Woodpecker , Wondo Genet

Wondo Genet, south-east of Shashemene, is a hot spring resort situated in mid-altitude montane forest on the eastern edge of the Rift Valley. The land was originally used by the royal family as a recreation site and Emperor Haile Selassie bequeathed its name, meaning "Wondo Paradise". It is an area of beautiful panoramas with a rich endowment of forests, birds, wildlife and abundant water. We booked into the Wabi Shebele, a quaint, 1960s style hotel that boasted a restaurant reminiscent of a slightly dilapidated spaceship. Lunch on the veranda was again a constant battle with food-raiding monkeys.

Long-crested Eagle, Wondo Genet

Sadly, the natural forest above the hotel is heavily degraded and one needs to climb quite a distance before reaching good primary forest. While birding a forested valley above the hotel we ticked my first Abyssinian Black-headed Oriole, endemic to Ethiopia and Eritrea. This was soon followed by a chattering group of near-endemic White-rumped Babblers, Northern Puffback, African Thrush and a Long-crested Eagle hunting amongst the trees.

African Thrush, Wondo Genet

Climbing up a narrow forest path we found a pair of Green-backed Twinspots who disappeared into the undergrowth before I could aim my camera. The near-endemic White-cheeked Turaco (with a small range extension into SE Sudan) showed well in the canopy and Mekemen tracked down a group of Yellow-fronted Parrots – another Ethiopian endemic. A Lemon Dove exploded into flight as we returned down the path and the calls of African Hill Babblers and Silvery-cheeked Hornbills accompanied us back to the village below.

White-cheeked Turaco, Wondo Genet

Yellow-fronted Parrot, Wondo Genet

An afternoon rain shower curtailed some of our birding but we did, however, manage to bird the lower slopes of the northern valley (named Geriramo). Here the degraded forest comprised tall, widely spaced trees with rampant secondary undergrowth. I managed to tick three more year-list birds, namely Abyssinian Slaty Flycatcher (endemic to Ethiopia and Eritrea), the endemic Banded Barbet and the uncommon Abyssinian Woodpecker (also endemic to Ethiopia and Eritrea). We searched very hard to find the Abyssinian Ground Thrush and White-winged Cliff Chat, but these ticks would have to wait for another day. All in all, I had now ticked 21 new year-list birds in Ethiopia.

Nubian Woodpecker, Wondo Genet