The Mothman goes to Abyssinia...

I recently returned from a great trip to Ethiopia. I was there with some friends from Sarnia, Ontario and UK. This was my first trip to Africa and I was totally awestruck with just about everything I heard and saw. Indeed, I'm already planning my return! Anyway, one of my objectives for this trip was to photograph as much as possible with my recently acquired Canon 40D camera. I was pleased with some of the results and thought I'd share a few images with you lot out there - I hope you like them...

BTW, the striking bird above is d'Arnaud's Barbet - quite fantastic isn't it? We saw several in the acacia dominated savannah near the town of Yabelo in the south of the country. It is quite a large barbet, about the size of a starling, and is rather crinkly and spotty in appearance.


The beautiful Beisa Oryx, quite common in Awash national Park which is south-east of Addis Ababa.


Much of the south looks a bit like this, rather arid with sparse scrubby vegetation. Is a bit hot too!


The highlands are quite different, being somewhat cool and often shrouded in mist...


This was my personal favorite bird of the trip, and the one I was most anticipating - the lovely, and quite rare, Somali Wheatear. Trust a transplanted Brit to choose a wheatear as his best bird! Is very nice though isn't it...


The large and showy Arabian Bustard is another "top ten" bird. Generally scarce over its global range, Ethiopia seems to be the best country in with to see this terrestrial giant. We saw several north of Awash National Park.


A displaying African Black-headed Oriole. Quite nice, if you like yellow birds...


A nice view of the subtle Somali Bee-eater. Most members of this family are overly colorful, but I liked this one best.


A confiding Malachite Kingfisher - generally the commonest kingfisher in the wetlands of the Rift Valley. Stunning bird!


Another barbet, this time the endemic Banded Barbet. Rather scarce throughout the highlands.


Finally, yer typical African sunset.

I'll post more photos, hopefully with better descriptions next time, in the near future...