This morning I did another atlas box deep in the desert south of Shivta together with Eli and Shachar. Not prime habitat but still some good stuff. First thing in the morning a lone wolf walked across a ridge - nice way to start the day.
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Quite a few raptors were roosting on the plains, including this Marsh Harrier. Later on we had some Honey Buzzards - first for me for this season.
Marsh Harrier
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The plains had the expected selection of coursers, sandgrouse and larks. Quality larks included one Temminck's and several Lesser Short-toed. One LSTL was mimicing Bar-tailed Lark, so they must have been around and missed by us. Rufous Bush Robins have arrived in good numbers and are breeding in the vegetated wadis.
Rufous Bush Robin
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We checked one scenic wadi that held breeding pairs of both Long-legged Buzzard and Raven - nice stuff. Raven has become a very rare bird in Israel.
Hi Yoav,
ReplyDeleteOnly just managed to catch up with your recent posts. Interesting as usual with good pics.