Early in the morning I revisited an Arava atlas box, on a mission to confirm breeding of Dunn's and Hoopoe Larks I found there on my previous visit.
The morning began well with an impressive wolf running along a wadi.
Wolf
Soon the air filled with lark song. First were several Bar-tailed Larks, but soon they were joined by a dawn chorus of Dunn's Larks. I was happy to find this newly-fledged juvenile on the deck, though it was pretty distant hence the crap images. I think this is one of the very few ever documented, in Israel for sure.
Dunn's Lark - juvenile
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKPu15hhaAR5PGee644M6v1VqF-wiJezEmVm0MSpOAaBnNw6cJ4dVyFPKEgvUkXIUqvUa9euSsenOfvbyrh3QEzJ6TUHlTdrCzGIFfjCqmDVny7P8pbnXXWOFrqEGqGHCfSo2QrtvQhwq0/s400/dunns_j_1.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoyYVmexppWV5nvH6kAomI62xtG8bgvRy-LVT2-2Cg_pMEU59vqz_q3X3p0cPWFiiYFAKPDOqi7De8szMuO1AIlzcqLPXINC9SEiKkdQaLRhPIWd5JsEYIF6dVQtEiwhYYNXD4ZcFQd88C/s400/dunns_j_2.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihF6PDVSK5xgQz7gH2ifzs4KPPwKgapnwaRCG2RJufpabAoTC-3SttfCQy3MoexDnUhK-sbdMyZLtGxLVz7wIDpX1KvRUq9QwnatZaAXPy43j_YjS7ogPPLVZWpjuDYIVydXAIaiwPZsA4/s400/dunns1.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtVeK_4QfXNOg0mdb9i6Wwqdmwunc9S9V1fO5Fo8xMLczW8bwy5qUkmkfCJCGJ9HCGnk2YrXsbvkfMmaASMGtyv2LAeYczixgJ2iRsAdkcSx-U4L5FptaE_0O7_LZ6qtvdZYg7Cj-fmd5Y/s400/dunns2.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYHDaNFkSlBkmGEKAVzuJv7l4jeIbu8LDPIFpuc8RjreRkndK4DD-pkiyQtaMKdspK-wU9Z9C6sbRcr4gvdOTlDCFzv2Px3wKmR-SMZOsVI8VlQ4UvRfgTk2SG7LAquWbnJMyT8XL1VCvh/s400/dunns_fly.jpg)
I saw no females. Could they be on eggs again? 3rd cycle?!?!
While watching the dunns, I heard the beautiful song of Hoopoe Lark not too far away, and soon I connected with a family - male, female and two juveniles. The male was singing and displaying intensively, but still had time to collect food for the babies:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFnQ830Ce67RKuQjEiH8buMkq6sm4MH4iC9cRZsZDqZ8zBztDrocw2-KKdTNH6OC3EEUDhQdp-w2KZBzJLF_MhIx2vaESCPmmLA4-QxEEzYF-UvK5ZiA8sUVOze1sRbaLEFybjyt2gJkuQ/s400/hoopoe1.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWJCxFfokvALeRT5JaI6w1geRirtMnMbiLR-a0oyEq3hCjLZ-lBvM1AzLE81oUmpS9c8J-nB3Z5YWwvkEtFE-99FHx8g4e9a2XLOAjDXdHzp2KETe7ExDmosUQEALzZyJkewidOD03kkVe/s400/hoopoe2.jpg)
This is one of the juveniles - so sweet:
Interestingly, one of the juveniles (a male?) constantly followed the father, and imitated his display, performing its' own short display flights. Here the juvenile can be seen observing the father:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifnz14FtVM1sS9eKwQ9ItmuD4jv9TDl3XlgXyacS3-bq2zd4PI5pDvbHT_G65w6C1ynJGkEWa1CG_y8rKOprn42DlvtG0jf0HWf3EsAMivA3KOf2ooO_zXZFIKcLE6R6jSum-wPAj_gYrH/s400/hoopoe_display2.jpg)
After my mission was accomplished, I drove down to Eilat for some birding. I began with a very easy twitch of the Red Phalarope that was found at the IBRCE on Friday. It took me exactly two seconds to locate the bird - it was by far the ugliest bird in the pond. But still a good rarity! It refused to get close and I was too lazy to get my feet wet, so these images are large crops:
Here it is with it's pretty sister - Red-necked Phalarope. There were about a dozen present.
A short visit to North Beach was quite unproductive - it was late and hot and virtually birdless. The only birds of note were a Eurasian Curlew going north and this Reef Egret:
KM20 saltpans were quite birdy. The commonest shorebirds were Ruff and Wood Sandpiper with several hundreds each.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFnQ830Ce67RKuQjEiH8buMkq6sm4MH4iC9cRZsZDqZ8zBztDrocw2-KKdTNH6OC3EEUDhQdp-w2KZBzJLF_MhIx2vaESCPmmLA4-QxEEzYF-UvK5ZiA8sUVOze1sRbaLEFybjyt2gJkuQ/s400/hoopoe1.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWJCxFfokvALeRT5JaI6w1geRirtMnMbiLR-a0oyEq3hCjLZ-lBvM1AzLE81oUmpS9c8J-nB3Z5YWwvkEtFE-99FHx8g4e9a2XLOAjDXdHzp2KETe7ExDmosUQEALzZyJkewidOD03kkVe/s400/hoopoe2.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLu0qjQ-3B3aA-6gN8Eo57As6kbNII5YalgbXvUrOwi7oR_Rh1bGH6gnP1SV4gp8L-r-qL63rveMU9s2iZcmo9tLMeU6_5PhJFaiDxAJKDL3PyUF7xD0Y6Mu3pz_ibH7mzrtAhoHSGBglN/s400/hoopoe3.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmGQRyiqAGYfiqQ1sc18wsdxZASf3iFQXqius5xoxCPyI2u9-4EWkso3aNS5Nh76moh7bzXP5kBgD0u-3JQ-clrmNbQp8GfTudPbMFHuE5Z10kgwLQ3fZgBJQS3017o6e0JUUmpWKt04er/s400/hoopoe_j.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtOdYTIwX3xWcrgwKXgF8Hm24Z3gXFZqTFOUULKCa6NEUNg_yMfPfbynrDtuluyG90FqTbCHjB_R0jgBRLAxUSeJ2hyphenhyphenJrygddpotK9ipEAB-aLRL-W0DYYM_lX7-a241ySbAXKQKUbR2wX/s400/hoopoe_display1.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifnz14FtVM1sS9eKwQ9ItmuD4jv9TDl3XlgXyacS3-bq2zd4PI5pDvbHT_G65w6C1ynJGkEWa1CG_y8rKOprn42DlvtG0jf0HWf3EsAMivA3KOf2ooO_zXZFIKcLE6R6jSum-wPAj_gYrH/s400/hoopoe_display2.jpg)
After my mission was accomplished, I drove down to Eilat for some birding. I began with a very easy twitch of the Red Phalarope that was found at the IBRCE on Friday. It took me exactly two seconds to locate the bird - it was by far the ugliest bird in the pond. But still a good rarity! It refused to get close and I was too lazy to get my feet wet, so these images are large crops:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyQ5vz2sVJaqp-9sm4dA19vZUSCjOxJyY57c_urU0VRDRedl7KGFN9oswPiGmExzR5-_QTp0egvIMbk4mnTUQmStcBg8_zeuBjV1S2Xl36D7OlGkAO0TQbSj-pMHIgGjjSHmTcE5QqjfSj/s400/phalarope1.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT9kUnQrWX_NEFNMZfaaHIf4DzewzjjWVhqf0bR8r6qJ8N0wJYmUBq5MWuVGKXazWDS7bhyNcY9M8fwMYT9j2s1Bu-sHZ-OkhP84jkBJTuQLGw1lZrUTNEECP1eIlCZ6-xIqGdK-7pCl_c/s400/phalarope2.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA-rZO_XAxz-kZQahX8XuOtB583RNI74DJYniymxbX_UEdkI5dLdNt8PbYKuoRAwv1sL91ciDEh7MglMcrLc_eDMFQx2Hz4DfHb-PDbbSBsTeHMw_M2dYf7VXupgs52pzXUwCbw1CORVZZ/s400/reef1.jpg)
Wood Sandpiper
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