Records from Gambela, western Ethiopia: 2

Baro River
The sought-after Egyptian Plover Pluvianus aegyptius appears easy to find here, although this may change with rising water levels during the wet season, when they are known to be nomadic [8]. Indeed, one ringed at Gambela has been recovered as far afield as Khartoum [4]. Three were regularly seen feeding in the small, polluted stream that runs through Gambela town into the Baro, oblivious to the throngs of bathing villagers. A trio was also seen roosting on a rock in the Baro, a few hundred meters upstream of the bridge.
A single Eurasian Bittern Botaurus stellaris was seen at dusk over the river and adjacent floodplain, at the eastern extreme of the town. This species has not been recorded from southern Sudan [4], and is considered rare in Ethiopia [7]. Other notable species associated with the Baro, all previously reported by Nikolaus [4], were Red-necked Falcon Falco chicquera, Red-throated Bee-eater Merops bulocki, Snowy-crowned Robin-chat Cossypha niveicapilla, Moustached Grass-Warbler Melocichla mentalis and Bar-breasted Firefinch Lagonosticta rufopicta. A party of the latter included two recently fledged young.

Shoebill Balaeniceps rex (J Verbauck)

Limited by lack of a vehicle, we were unfortunately unable to explore the reputedly extensive swamps to the west, between Gambela and Jikao on the Sudanese border. Ethiopia's only records of Shoebill Balaeniceps rex come from this area [2,6], and it is thus surely worthy of investigation by visitors with their own transport. A truck departs daily for Itang, halfway between Gambela and Jikao, but we were informed that the swamps lie further west still.
In stark contrast to Duckworth [l], we saw no large mammals whatsoever in the Gambela area. An annotated list of birds recorded is available from the authors.

Acknowledgements
We thank Louis A. Hansen and Marc Herremans for their very helpful comments on a previous draft of this note, and Duan Biggs for his company in the field at Gambela.

References

1. Duckworth, F. 1974. Gambella 1973-a wildlife report. Walia 5: 9-11.
2. Duckworth, F. 1974. The Whale-headed Stork in Ethiopia. Bull. Br. Omithol. Cl. 94: 3-4.
3. Erickson, W. 1982. Bird and mammal observations from southwestern and western Ethiopia. Walia 8: 37-41.
4. Nikolaus, G.I987. Distribution atlas of Sudan's birds with notes on habitat and status. Bonn. Zool. Monogr. 25: 1-322.
5. Tilahun, S., Edwards, S. and Wgziabher, T.B.G.1996. Important Bird Areas of Ethiopia: a first inventory. Addis Ababa: Ethiopian Wildlife and Natural History Society .
6. Urban, E. K.I967. Possible occurrence of the Whale-headed stork in Ethiopia.]. East Afr. Nat. Hist. Soc. 26:87-88.
7. Urban, E.K. and Brown, L.H.1971.A Checklist of the Birds of Ethiopia. Addis Ababa: Addis Ababa University Press.
8. Urban, E.K., Fry, C.H. and Keith, S. (eds.) 1986. The Birds of Africa. Vo1 2. London, UK: Academic Press.

c/o Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa. E-mail: claire@birding-africa.com or michaelmills@webmail.coza.