Non-stop birding

In recent weeks I have been trying to make the most of this wonderful time of year for bird migration in Israel. Because of climate change it's still horribly hot here, but late autumn and winter migrants are pouring in following their evolution-imprinted internal clocks. These past few weeks have been packed with birding, every day. Like a birding junkie, I need my daily dose of migration. Most days I bird close to home, sadly without Lola since October 18th. Sometimes I have opportunities to bird in other parts of the country. I have a few weeks of birding to cover in this blogpost; I will do so in chronological order.

Red-footed Falcons are typical October birds here. The region where I live, in central Israel, is quite good for flocks stopping over. They're so popular with photographers here (justly, they're wonderful birds), so I avoided several popular sites and flocks as long as I could. While birding near home on October 14th I bumped into a small group of these elegant little devils. 

They're so small that Jackdaws and even Mynas give them a hard time. I wish this pursuit between a Jackdaw and a female Red-foot happened a bit closer to me.

One young Red-foot was super obliging.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Yoav Perlman (@yoavperlman)

It's been a few good weeks for Willow Warblers

I have been so busy with work in recent weeks that I had to skip several twitches. These included a mega Verreaux's Eagle roaming the Eilat Mts., and a very showy Ring Ouzel in a small park in Mitzpe Ramon. I eventually made it down to Mitzpe Ramon (with Meidad) only after the ouzel had departed, on October 27th, but enjoyed close views of a gorgeous Olive-backed Pipit:

In Nafha farm, a Spotted Crake utilized the malfunctioning water treatment plant that created a wonderful, bird rich sewage wetland. Check all the bird calls in the background:

On October 30th I birded with my mate Frank in the Bet Shean Valley, that was full of birds as always. How miniature Black Storks look, dwarfed by the monster Great White Pelicans:

We spotted an odd raptor on an irrigation line, with white on its neck and belly. It took off, I fired off a few shots, and dismissed it as a funny Black Kite. A couple of days later, when I downloaded and edited the images, conspiratory thoughts infiltrated my mind - I was blown off course by the short, square tail, and the bill looked heavy. But after close inspection, Amir noticed that the tail is clipped. So it is a funny Black Kite eventually, with two off characters (the clipped tail and white regions).

On October 31st we held a big public event in Ma'agan Michael. I started off with a couple of hours of early morning vismigging for the soul. It was amazing, with huge numbers of Chaffinches and Skylarks (eBird checklist here). Wild easterlies squeezed everything towards the shore - migration was really dense. Because of the strong wind I couldn't hear much, but spotted a Bimaculated Lark and a Hawfinch flying by. Many skylarks migrated over the sea, low above the waves. Breathtaking.

On the way out I enjoyed this 1cy male Siberian Stonechat, that could be Armenian (ssp. variegatus), based on the limited white on the base of tail feathers. 

During a birding walk I guided, we appreciated this spectacular Citrine Wagtail, as bright as they get.

The continuing easterlies and hot weather created conditions that are rare on the coast, and resulted with fairly decent raptor migration, including this 1cy Bonelli's Eagle:

And a dark-morph Eleonora's Falcon:

Yesterday morning, birding near home, nothing too special, just a nice selection of migrants:

Hen Harrier, one of three

1cy female Siberian Stonechat

Stock Dove is a bit of a thing in Israel:

coutellii Water Pipit - catching a bug:

Phenomenal

On Monday (8 September 2025) morning I worked at our restored wetland in Kfar Ruppin, Amud Reservoir. I collected there data for a study we're doing with researchers from Ben Gurion University, looking at the biodiversity impact of our restoration work there, and linking it with environmental attributes of our site. It was a phenomenal morning, one to write home about. I arrived few minutes late, at first light. As soon as I stepped out of the car I witnessed thousands and thousands of birds already leaving their roosts in the reservoir, twirling in the air, flying at all directions - Little Egrets, Pygmy Cormorants, Glossy Ibis, Turtle Doves, Barn Swallows, and Western Yellow Wagtails. It was pretty chaotic. I worked especially hard to count them all - I really needed extra eyes and fingers but I was alone. I hope I did OK. I  had to use estimates for some species. Of course I had no time to document this terrific rush of birds.

After the big numbers had left the roost, there were still thousands of birds in the reservoir. At this time of year, as is natural in Mediterranean wetlands this time of year, water levels are very low, creating large mud expanses and shallow water, that attracted loads of shorebirds, ducks, storks, herons, spoonbills etc. The reedbeds were teaming with warblers. In the following videos (taken through Swarovski Optik ATX85), turn the volume on a listen to all the bird sound in the background:

An Osprey was munching on a large fish it had caught:

As soon as there was enough light, I became aware of a true spectacle. Hundreds of Honey Buzzards roosted inside the reservoir, and several hundreds more in trees along the adjacent Jordan River. Many of them flew out of the vegetation onto the mud, some just loafed around, others drank some water before taking off. 

When it heated up they start taking off, circling low over the reservoir, slowly picking up altitude in thermals as the air temperature rose. I stood there in the middle of their take-off, surrounded by Honey Buzzards of all colours and morphs,  in all directions, some below me inside the reservoir, some above me, some so close I could hear their wingbeats and they flapped by. It was a powerful, almost transcendental experience. 

I think that this male has some Oriental genes, with an orange eye, faint carpals, and broad terminal tail band:

There was one proper Oriental Honey-Buzzard among the 2800 Europeans that took off. It was too low and quick, and I was too slow, so I failed to get a photo of it. 

I left the reservoir with my head buzzing with sooooo many birds. Check my eBird checklist here. One of my best checklists ever. 117 species, 14561 individuals, and this was an underestimate - there was no way to accurately count the countless warblers in the vast reedbed. 

Funny warbler

Super day at Maagan Michael

I don't do these kind of things anymore, report on a single days' birding. However, today was really brilliant and report-worthy. Once a month I spend a morning monitoring birds at our restoration project in Ma'agan Michael. I start early, and do point counts for about two hours. Then I spend the rest of the morning counting birds in the general area of Ma'agan Michael fishponds and beach. Today, my first point count was interrupted by flocks of hundreds of Great White Pelicans cruise low over me:

It was evident that there were lots of birds around. Flocks of wagtails and pipits headed south. My second point count had so many birds I struggled to end it on time. It was nice to see this migrating flock of Flamingos at eye-level.

At my third point count I had two Striated Herons - hatched this year I think. They are becoming more regular in this area, but still scarce.

Towards the end of the point count I noticed a shrike on a fence, quite distant and in bad light conditions. A quick look through the bins and I said to myself - hey, this is an Isabelline Shrike. The shrike flew out of view. I went around a small pond to try and get better views. Then a Red-backed jumped up. Disappointed, I discounted my previous ID. Only when I got back home and checked the photos I noticed it was actually an Isabelline - nice one.

The fourth and final point count was uneventful though it had lots of migrants. Then I went down to the beach to check what's on there. I bumped into this fine adult male Desert Wheatear - pretty scarce in this region, and such a beautiful bird.

I spotted a large shorebird flying south high up - Bar-tailed Godwit! Another scarce bird. Sweet.

Later on Yuval found one a couple of kms north - is it the same bird that U-turned, or another bird? This one showed really well, feeding in a coastal lagoon.

In a large dried up fishponds there were over 100 Black Storks. I checked them for colour rings and found three. 718N is from Estonia, ringed in 2022, and seen since every winter in Ma'agan Michael.

I am awaiting information about the other two - U199 and 15U6.

By 10am it was getting hot and I had to leave. My total was pretty good - 116 species. eBird checklist here.

First Responder's dilemma

Today while getting some work done at home the familiar Rare Bird Alert went off - Long-billed Dowitcher at Ma'agan Michael! I was super keen to see this species in Israel after missing two during my years in the UK. To go or not to go? There was no 100% confirmation yet, but as a First Responder I had no time to hesitate. I hit the road almost instantly - it's just 1.5 hours up the road, and I have a list to keep! While driving up I talked to those who reported it and circulated a poor photo that didn't teach much. When I got there, the beach was actually surprisingly quiet with human activity, which was very welcome after my last visit. There were plenty of birds on the beach, but no dowitcher to be found. I walked up and down the beach checking all coastal lagoons, and all fishponds too, to no avail. I did my best to stay focused on dowitcher-searching but was distracted by an Eleonora's Falcon that zoomed past at great speed, two Bar-tailed Godwits, Heuglin's Gull, Citrine Wagtails and in general enjoyable birding (86 species; eBird checklist here).

Czech-ringed Black Stork in a lovely fishpond by the kibbutz