Tag Archives: Hara Langano

Black-winged Lovebird (Agapornis taranta)

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The Black-winged Lovebird (Agapornis taranta) also known as Abyssinian Lovebird is the largest of the lovebird genus, a group of small parrots. The adult male is easily identified by its red forehead, and the adult female by its all green head.

They are only found in Ethiopia and Eritrea.  Good places to look for them are Hara Langano Lodge, Menagesha Forest & even the city of Addis Ababa in flowering trees.

LEARN MORE ABOUT BLACK-WINGED LOVEBIRDS

Wikipedia

World Parrot Trust

Birdlife

VIDEOS

I couldn’t find much on wild birds on Youtube but if you search “Abyssinian Lovebirds” there are lots of pet birds.

Bird Walk With Hakim At Hara Langano

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For serious birders hoping to see as many species as possible, you really need to book Hara Langano’s resident bird guide, Hakim.  He is an expert on the the local birds and knows all the calls and can ID all the birds.  He helped me fill out my bird list, unfortunately my photos didn’t come out as well as I hoped.

We started quite early and headed out past a small village.  The weather was drizzly and gloomy and we were wearing rain ponchos.  We did attract a lot of attention and some kids kept following us around.

My husband, Ina meeting locals.

Hakim (red jacket), Ina and some locals.  We did cop some rain and were wearing ponchos to protect the cameras.

The tiny endemic Black-winged Lovebird came fairly close, just couldn’t get them in good light due to the weather.

Some of these photos are so dark I can’t identify the birds.  If you go, I hope you get better pics!

White-cheeked Turaco

Bare-faced Go-away Bird

Red-shouldered Cuckooshrike

Grey-headed Kingfisher

Von der Decken’s Hornbill

The next morning we had some time before we had to get the transport to the main road and hung out near the gate.  The weather was better and I was able to get some better pics, especially of the gorgeous little Black-cheeked Lovebirds!  Indulge me while I post some (finally) good pics!

Hakim had been booked by others in the lodge for a village walk but he came and sat with us while waiting for them to finish breakfast.  We set out on a short walk in the same direction as the day before.  Hakim soon caught up with his group in tow and was happy to point out some birds to all of us.

Bruce’s Green Pigeon

Not sure about this little guy

Hoopoe

Blue-breasted Bee-eater

Silvery-cheeked Hornbill

Violet-backed Starling

 

I saw a LOT more birds than I got photos of, my full list is on eBird.  I do highly recommend Hakim as a guide, I wouldn’t have seen half those birds without him!

Bare-faced Go-away-bird (Corythaixoides personatus)

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The Bare-faced (or Brown-faced) Go-away-bird (Corythaixoides personatus) is a species of bird in the family Musophagidae which is native to the eastern Afrotropics. It is named for its distinctive and uniquely bare, black face. Although the genus is named for the g’way call of its near relation, the grey go-away-bird; this bird seemed friendlier and didn’t tell us to “go’way”!

They are endemic to a small area of Ethiopia so I considered myself very lucky to see them near the Hara Langano Lodge.

LEARN MORE ABOUT BARE-FACED GO-AWAY BIRDS

Wikipedia

Birdlife

Turacos.org

VIDEOS

Hardly anything on Youtube for these guys!

The call

Soundless clip of foraging.

At least you can learn to draw one!

Birds, Hippos & Monkeys At Hara Langano Lodge

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You don’t have to go far to start seeing birds and even the elegant Colobus Monkey, a walk around the Hara Langano Lodge grounds or even just sitting by the lake will do!

Weaverbird nests are everywhere!

Those are flamingoes beyond the horses.

Egyptian Geese are common.

This Bare-faced Go-away Bird didn’t tell us to go away, the slacker!

These hippos stayed in the lake but they are known to come into the lodge grounds.

The beautiful Colobus Monkeys stayed in the trees, they don’t try to steal food like other monkeys I have seen around the world.

White-cheeked Turaco (Tauraco leucotis)

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The White-cheeked Turaco (Tauraco leucotis) is a species of bird in the family Musophagidae.  I saw a couple of them at Hara Langano Lodge in Ethiopia but I didn’t get very good photos of them.  There are better images in the links below.

They have a large range throughout Ethiopia and Eritrea but logisitically speaking, the Lake Langano area is the easiest place to see them.

LEARN MORE ABOUT WHITE-CHEEKED TURACOS

Wikipedia

Birdlife

Turacos.org

VIDEOS

There wasn’t much available on wild birds so I have to use some videos of captive birds to show them in action.  The first one shows some cute chicks!

 

 

Lodge Review: Hara Langano Lodge, Ethiopia

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I really have Trip Advisor to thank for finding this beautiful lodge.  We were originally going to stay at another place which had been the main birders lodge in this area but sadly burned down in the Oct 2016 riots.  So I went looking for somewhere else to stay in the area and the Hara Langano Lodge came highly recommended.

We arrived on time at Addis Ababa airport and quickly passed the formalities.  When we exited, there was no guide with a sign waiting so another hotel rep used his phone to call our driver.  The driver was on his way and we found him at the car park.  We had an interesting 3 hour drive to the lodge passing through the Ethiopian countryside and some small villages and markets.  They charged us $50 each for this transfer which was in a minibus and would have been shared with anyone else headed to the lodge that day but we were the only ones.

Leaving the main road, there is about 20 km drive to the lodge.

Bungalows like this one are scattered around the property with enough distance to feel private.

Entrance to the reception area which shares the building with the restaurant.

Fair warning!  Hippos do come into the property although they didn’t when we were there.

Our bungalow was near the reception and surrounded by trees – good for birders!  You can also request one closer to the lake if you prefer but they cost more.

The bungalows are tastefully furnished in a nice Ethiopian style.

Sitting on the porch we can still see the lake.

The restaurant – all meals are included.

That steak ala bismark was really good!

Desserts were really good too!

There are several places you can sit by the lake and watch birds or just relax. 

The resident birding guide is Hakim and he is absolutely brilliant!  He knows all the local bird calls and where to find most species.  He worked really hard to find my target birds.  The Black-winged Lovebirds coooperated and came pretty close.  The Yellow-fronted Parrots were only heard the last day in distant trees in the farmlands.  But the birding reports are yet to come so stay tuned for pics and more!

Hara Langano Lodge is a wonderful place and any birder would love it!  You can book with them on their website.  They can only accept cash at the lodge in either USD or Birr so plan ahead.