Yellow-billed Kite, Ethiopia
Yellow-billed Kite, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
On my recent trip to Ethiopia I had the opportunity to spend quite a few hours birds in the grounds of the international school where my daughter was teaching. She lived on the campus and we were able to stay with her in her apartment. The school campus was quite large and included a football ground (soccer) and a small forest of eucalyptus trees.
By far the most obvious birds visiting the school were the Yellow-billed Kites. At first I thought that they were Black Kites as we have them in large numbers here in Australia. The Yellow-billed Kite (Milvus aegyptius) is regarded as a sub-species of the Black Kite which also occurs in Ethiopia. The one shown in the photo above does not appear to have a yellow beak, so it is almost certainly a juvenile bird.
The kites were in abundance every day both on the school football ground and soaring overhead. Sometimes I could see 20 – 30 soaring on high and just as many low over the oval or actually on the ground.
This was the first of many “lifers” I saw on my trip. (“Lifers” = bird species seen for the very first time and so eligible to go on one’s “life list“. )
Yellow-billed Kite, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Birding in Africa
I am currently in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia visiting our daughter who is teaching here. We are living with her on campus at Bingham Academy, a private school in the capital city.
The grounds of the school are extensive and well planted with native and exotic species. We are delighted to feel almost at home because we’ve found many Australian plants included.
I’ve also been doing quite a deal of birding on the campus. So far I’ve seen about 15 different species and all of them are “lifers”, meaning that it’s the first time I’ve seen each species in my life. Probably the most interesting is the Hooded Vulture which frequents the school oval.
I’ve managed to get some good photos of some of the birds, but I won’t be putting these up on this site until I return home. The internet connection here is rather slow to load photos and I’d rather be out and about birding than sitting here at my daughter’s computer waiting for them to load.
In the meantime, I have scheduled photos and articles to appear here over the next few weeks. The articles were prepared before I left.
Good birding.