Yesterday Amir Ben Don and Ehud Dovrat found a Pacific Golden Plover at Yavne 4 ponds north of Ashdod. I had a couple of free hours in the morning, so gave it a try. The weather was OK - no rain and sunny, but very windy which made photography a bit shaky.
The ponds were shorebirdless, just a few Temminck's Stints. I had a quick look at the gull flock nearby. One of the first birds I saw was this colour-ringed Baltic Gull. I was very happy to see this bird as I had ringed and released it in September. It was rehabilitated at the NPA wildlife hospital after being found exhausted.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivLBgZtxfUsxdLsMIpCnK42dSdoF79Sjac-rl_6e-S_nRYxHXnEl-ikDRjeO5nw0slL3-262hu00XQixbvM0ZjPEn3l2aTTuvyJzjWO4s9G0dkSREtTKdkTn3s9W6prDwh9EGTqjTbkJlw/s400/U7BJ.jpg)
There were fewer Baltic Gulls compared to what Amir had yesterday. There were only 10 or so adult baltics. But nevertheless they are such beautiful birds, and I can never resist getting more images of them in good light:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisXKA7HFUIykGnoE3BjtbKVogqMScA-FCVMyd5WK3US6akZfnFUNUcnM_ZCCK6qjJO7tTfb0GNPoDEeg9CzWTvE2VOpFyCwr0QKsb9zTDh-5ebCFIC8jkMzthyphenhyphenGWcCes0DKSw4TFwJ0kf3/s400/Baltic+Gull.jpg)
Numbers of Caspian Gulls are starting to build up:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHi2ULISx-tDU3VAuCy-PN0R9mlFAe645vscLe1HFWKvg6guiMOeheO4H5rKsdckmsTfFep8j-OjKmtlSvreLyk4o9WywWMJoQGn7WDOi-1j6dbxtDoUJpmi0pGQjxjc__NoPpDWk3UqJE/s400/caspian+gull.jpg)
There were about 20 adult Siberian Gulls. Look at this impressive male:
Note the big mirror on P10:
After I had enough with the gulls, I drove down to the beach. I started to scan through the hundreds of roosting shorebirds on the beach, and quite quickly relocated yesterday's Pacific Golden Plover. At first I had crap distant views, but later the bird moved in quite close. I got decent images, though I didn't manage to get the wanted underwing shot. At one moment a late Hobby made all the shorebirds take off, but I missed the photo-opp. Oz Horine got a great flight shot - see here: http://www.israbirding.com/israelbirdsforum/forum_entry.php?id=1173.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSsoB1cAJxLxtnfcXhszcHKdlCFVjcsLnZ-MMtJzOLBXWnz1ehaRjK2pGM8yL0Z7HS7scenvXNg6vDNha-gUs-g-ZR97sPcQgEn930Wkv-kS_zLlVFh6QN2GlOjCUTKwb_pJzLnji8p8I9/s400/PGP1.jpg)
I really enjoyed watching this elegant plover for a long time. I have seen quite a few in Israel, but it is always a cool bird to see. It was especially interesting to compare it to Israel's first American Golden Plover I saw last November at Ma'agan Michael. Note especially the short primary projection of this bird - not even three primaries exposed beyond the tertials.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX7Dx050uRTK1EcPweRuutg6yQPEnJatmFo4L2WGWMWT7ZCWLxPK-FmBE3bh0oCvuYBFqqvD_Bjra00w7j3E6G0ut1J9OFUYFk3qyvbmjkj4guNO8DW3zeFaqy470bNwIiCXLna4iZVqAc/s400/Siberian+Gull+male.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivqdG9VOxHJ5IM9Bra74J3PMxO5zUFTVgx-RIIzmOfqhvRubnEetMU6WLEmrNzqtC9cR5yL9SjnxUNMNQHP1V_zdGZRkKsog9SaQzAAdPKmzwkglxf8OZ-qBOFDl8jb9huAm5RHmUQiO0E/s400/Siberian+Gull+male+spread.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSsoB1cAJxLxtnfcXhszcHKdlCFVjcsLnZ-MMtJzOLBXWnz1ehaRjK2pGM8yL0Z7HS7scenvXNg6vDNha-gUs-g-ZR97sPcQgEn930Wkv-kS_zLlVFh6QN2GlOjCUTKwb_pJzLnji8p8I9/s400/PGP1.jpg)
I really enjoyed watching this elegant plover for a long time. I have seen quite a few in Israel, but it is always a cool bird to see. It was especially interesting to compare it to Israel's first American Golden Plover I saw last November at Ma'agan Michael. Note especially the short primary projection of this bird - not even three primaries exposed beyond the tertials.
It was nice to see so many shorebirds on the pretty beach and not in a stinking fishpond or sewage pond.
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