Yesterday Global Big Day team reunited to take part in
October 2019 GBD, organised by eBird. Jonathan, Re'a and I were joined by Piki. Rather than darting
across the country like we did in May, we decided to focus on the Bet She'an Valley. I had high
hopes for the day. The idea of spending a full day birding in this bird
rich valley, actually enjoying birding rather than driving around, was very
attractive. Things were off to a good start with Barn Owl before dawn. Our dawn
birding spot was the fantastic wetland below Kfar Ruppin, by the Jordan River.
The first 48 minutes were both productive and enjoyable, with 65 species and
quality that included Daurian Shrike, Pallid Harrier, Ferruginous Ducks,
Spotted Crake and many more (eBird checklist here). Moreover, the sky was just
full of thousands of birds flying in all directions, leaving their roosts to
feed in fields and ponds. This pic of Daurian Shrike in half-light is so bad
it's almost beautiful:
We also connected with some quality
species, including Oriental Skylark, Richard's Pipit, Red-crested Pochard and
such.
Red-crated Pochard
The day was saved by a proper rarity that showed up nearby. Galit
Moshe and Eran Banker expertly found a Paddyfield Warbler in Neve Ur, at the
edge of the valley. We headed over there in the early afternoon and enjoyed
surprisingly good and prolonged views of this skulker at an impossible habitat.
This is the 13th record for Israel but the first field record –
respect to Galit and Eran. Thanks aso to Barak who 'kept' it for us.
It was not very easy to photograph, though, especially with
the harsh light. Maybe not the best of my images, this is the most demonstrative image I managed, showing the
strong supercilium with darker upper border, dark smudge at tip of lower mandible,
short primary projection and well-patterned tertials.
The abandoned fishfarm, now overgrown with reeds and tamarix,
provides fantastic habitats for birds. Even in the heat of the day we managed
64 species there (eBird checklist here).
This concludes another Global Big Day. I assume that some
readers of this blog will sense it was actually a brilliant day, but our
personal feeling was different. But hey ho, that’s how big days go. And of
course, in a broader view, it was a full day of high-intensity birding, with
great birders who I am lucky to call my friends. Many thanks to Piki, Re'a and
Jonathan for their huge efforts and for the good fun and laughs. Hats off to eBird for organising another wonderful international event. And as always, my gratitude is to Swarovski Optik for allowing me to use the best optics in the world.
Here's to the next GBD!
Here's to the next GBD!
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