Ethiopia

What a gloomy, coldish Saturday morning....where did all the lovely sunshine go? Well, I must confess here that for this weekend I wish the weather to be like this, since I have so much work to do, that at least it would be easier to do that compared to having to work when the weather is beautiful outside, and the air has this perfect scent, and the birds are singing....plus it is a perfect day to make an update too, no? :)
And speaking of birds, here is one...

One of the surprise cards Sean sent me during his last-year's trip to Ethiopia.....and just for the record, Sean is in Ethiopia again *wink wink*
The card says to show endemic birds of Ethiopia, but due to my great knowledge of the Ethiopian alphabet, I cant really understand which bird is exactly in question. Well, after some googling, I came up with some results, and my best wild guess after comparing the images, is that this is "Prince Ruspoli's Turcao". What a name for a bird!
It is said that this bird was first introduced to science when Prince Ruspoli collected it in either 1892 or 1893. Since Prince Ruspoli, an Italian explorer, was killed in an "encounter with an elephant" in the Lake Abaya area and unfortunately did not leave any notes about his travels, the locality and date of collection of the first specimen of this turaco remain unknown. This turaco is considered to be an endangered species and is included in the "Red Book" of endangered animals of the world. However, some sightings in juniper forests and especially in dry water courses which include figs, the rubiaceous tree, Adina, and undergrowth of acacia and Teclea shrubs, suggest that the species may be more common than thought.

There are no breeding records nor any recorded observations on the nesting activities of Prince Ruspoli's Turaco, its nest and eggs are unknown. It has been reported to feed on fruits of Tecle and Aditicl. Its call has been described as a low "chirr-clia" and short "te".

the stamps come from a set of 23 definitives issued in 2000, representing animals.

Thank you so much again Sean!!! 

Gurage, Ethiopia

*Grin* 

Here is just one of the several gems that have arrived in my mailbox in the past few weeks. The credit for this diamond goes to Sean, who just recently came back from his trip to Ethiopia and was very kind and decided to surprise me with this card. Knowing what a hard-to-get country Ethiopia is, you can imagine my reaction when i saw it :D. If you want to, you can read more about Sean's trip here and here and the Fine Likeness is also worth to pay the visit.
The card says to portray the Gurage Landscape.
The Gurage are an ethnic group of people and they inhabit this semi-fertile, semi-mountainous region in southwest Ethiopia, around 240km southwest of Addis Ababa.
The Gurage culture is described as a combination of the Sidama culture to the south and the Amhara-Tigre culture to the north. The Gurage were independent for a hundred years or more but were conquered by the army of the Emperor Menilik II in the late 19th century, and have been part of the Ethiopian nation ever since. The religious affiliation of the Gurage is now evenly divided between the Orthodox Christians, Moslems and  the newer Catholic Mission.

two stamps from a set of 23 definitives issued in 2000, representing animals.

Thank you Sean once again!