Local stuff

In recent days I had no time for long-distance birding and stayed local. Saturday morning I checked the reservoirs and alfalfa fields of Tzor'a - Tal Shachar. That was OK, without highlights and very few migrants, but some local stuff was certainly on the move.

Black-winged Stilts flew through

European Bee-eaters congregate now post-breeding, before heading off on migration:

A flock of nine Ferruginous Ducks suddenly flew in and circled over the reservoir; some of them looking juvenile, locally produced

Tal Shachar eBird checklist here, and Tsor'a here.

Back to moffing... Something I haven't done for quite a while. All windows in our house are sealed off with mosquito nets, so few moths enter the house. However, today I was working from home, and my son well-spotted two moths inside the house:

Golden Twin-spot Moth

Vestal (thanks James)

In the late afternoon I got a surprising call that an Eagle owl was sat on a roof in my town and looks unwell. When I got there, the poor but stunning bird was indeed sat on a ledge about 7 m off the ground, being mobbed heavily by the local gang - crows and jays. It did look unwell, to my best judgement - it chose an unusual roost, it did not fly off when many people were standing right below it, one eye was shut, and it clutched its feet awkwardly. 

I decided to climb on top of the roof to catch it and take it into care, but a soon as I started climbing it took off and flew away strongly towards the fields. End of story.