This website is the outcome of my love for birds and the passion of sharing what I enjoy with others. Though I grew up as a city boy in Addis Ababa, Capital of Ethiopia, my love for birds was instinctive. Nature has been my awe since my earliest years as a child. It was rather -weird being young and not finding a friend with a feeling to share my keen interest in birds. Being an African didn’t make things easier as I was expected to be interested in other "manly" things. It made me feel that I had different eyes and ears because to my surprise no one listened or even took notice of these beautiful creatures around them. I always awoke in the wee hours of the day to the songs of sunbirds, thrushes, robin chats, sparrows and canaries in the neighbourhood. I still recollect a wooded stream below our house where I taught my self a lot about birds. Here I used to watch imposing eagles and awestruck by the buoyant flight of Black Kites and Augur Buzzards. Addis Ababa is not as it used to be nowadays for birds but one can still see and discover a lot about birds in Ethiopia.

 

Birds in particular captivated me and I have always had that inspiration within me that positively pointed out that one day they would end up as my calling.  With a background in wildlife management and experience as a Park Warden of Ethiopian protected areas for a major part of my life, I have traveled and worked in several parts of Ethiopia. After completing a graduate degree in Conservation Biology in the UK in 1993, I felt that I needed to work with environmental NGOs and also as a possibility work on my own to fulfil my calling. I have since worked with local and international NGOs and even worked as an environmental consultant for some years. The first time I worked with a birding group was in the early 80's when I was approached by a tour agent in Addis to lead a Naturetrek group from the UK. Since then I have had a growing experience with leading bird watchers to various sites in my country.