Thursday, June 17, 2010

Great Spotted Cuckoo

This morning I checked some reservoirs in the Judean lowlands, near my house. A few days ago I saw three Whiskered Terns in one of the reservoirs showing some suspicious behaviour - two birds kept feeding each other while the third sat on the ground for the whole hour I was there. So I returned today with a mission to document the first breeding of Whiskered Terns in Israel, but of course they were gone... While searching for them, this recently-fledged juvenile Great Spotted Cuckoo flew in and perched on a fence right in front of me. It was too close for such a big and long-tailed beast, and it decided to perch right next to an ugly fence pole, hence the tight crops. But anyway it gave a very amusing performance for a couple of minutes in soft morning light before it took off.






Nearby, Hulda reservoir held 26 Ferruginous Ducks (!) including two large ducklings. I hope to see more families there soon.

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