My first visit to Greece

Greece is so close to Israel, and such a beautiful country, yet I have never visited it, until last week. I spent the week of Passover with my family in different parts of the country. As it always happens in my family holidays, birding was limited normally to early morning sessions before the rest of the family woke up, and whatever birds I could find during outdoor activities. It was a wonderful trip - I enjoyed the time off and being with my family, Athens was exciting and delicious, the mountains were spectacular, Meteora was unreal. 

In Athens, my focus was not quite on birding. The city is wonderful, offering spectacular views of the Acropolis and other world-class landmarks. The food is excellent, too. This is the panoramic view of Acropolis and the Ancient Roman Agora from a rooftop bar near Monastiraki:

I spent three early mornings birding in Athens. The most easily accessible site was Athens National Garden. I was somewhat underwhelmed by birding there. I am used to birding in Israel, where every small garden hosts large numbers of migrants. In Athens I found very few signs of migration whatsoever. The gardens were almost devoid of any migrants. Yet, birding there was sufficient for my checklist streak keeping and enjoyable enough. One morning I climbed up Philopappos Hill which was a bit better. A few Tree Pipits, a Collared Flycatcher, a singing Nightingale made me happy. I heard an unfamiliar song distantly from inside the closed Acropolis gardens - it turned out to be a House Finch (exotic, introduced). I was unaware of the healthy population there - surely they will become a Category C soon?

From Athens we headed north into the mountains. We stayed in Optasia, a nice place near the town of Karpenissi. Nestled under the mighty Tymfristos mountains, along a nice river, walking around our accommodation was fun. Lots of bird song made my birding enjoyable, especially very early in the morning. 

Female Cirl Bunting near the accommodation

One day we hiked up the mountains, around Velouchi Snow Center. It was very pretty up there, I enjoy high altitude birding. 

Carpets of Crocus scepusiensis (I think)

In fact birding felt very similar to the higher elevations of Mt. Hermon, with plenty of vocal Northern Wheatears, Black Redstarts (with grey rather than orange bellies), Wood Larks and Tawny Pipits. 

We also hiked up the trail leading to Black Cave. It was very pretty, lots of water, lush vegetation, and fascinating rock formations. 

I was surprised to find a small scorpion (30-35 mm) hiding under a piece of bark. I know nothing about Greek scorpions, I think it belongs to the genus Euscorpius but there are several very similar species so any expert advice is welcome.

We made a day-trip to Meteora. This is a spectacular region, totally unreal. 

The main road of Meteora was full of tourists. I deserted my family there and went off birding in quieter sections, especially the nice ridge along the road to Vlachava. 

Birding was quite good there, with lots of bird song and a few nice species - lots of singing Eastern Subalpine Warblers and Cirl Buntings, soaring up in the air were Egyptian Vulture, Black Stork and my first Eurasian Hobby in 2025. I had my lifer Rock Partridge there - I flushed three birds while walking down a trail, no photos sadly.

Eastern Subalpine Warbler

Cirl Bunting singing away

Horseshoe Bee Orchid

On my final morning up in the mountains, before heading back to Athens and home, I wanted to climb up again to Velouchi. Thick cloud that covered the mountain top prevented me from doing so. I birded the slopes above Karpenissi, in mixed forest, which was enjoyable and productive, in pretty habitat. 

Bird song dominated the experience, which is always fun. Coal Tits, Firecrests, Mistle Thrushes and lots more filled the soundscape with spring atmosphere. 

Mr. Coal Tit - The Boss

I didn't remove the wire obstructing the Eastern Subalpine Warbler's face as an expression of Wabi-sabi

Firecrest

Firecrest soundbombed by Chaffinch

Eventually the cloud lifted and I climbed up above the tree line, enjoying more bird song.

Wood Lark singing softly

Male European Stonechats breeding there seemed a bit dark IMO, with large white rumps - maybe some eastern influence?

This stunning Rufous-tailed Rock thrush sang from the top of a tall antenna, and performed amazing song flights; first time for me to witness this.

The second phrase in this recording develops into a buzzing song flight, as he swooped low over me

And then it was back to Athens and home. I managed to see a sweet total of 100 species during the trip - check my eBird trip report here.

Spring bliss

This morning was one of those mornings that demonstrate best (to me at least) why I am a birder and how rewarding being a birder can be. I visited Mt. Amasa, at the southern tip of the Judean Mts. This is one of my favourite birding sites in March - the habitat is beautiful, the landscape is stunning, and birding is magnificent. The open, rocky slopes, now covered with flowers, attract juicy migrants, and support healthy populations of quality breeding species. For me, a mid-March visit to Mt. Amasa is really one of the highlights of my birding year in Israel. I know the sites there very well, and I could predict almost precisely what and where I would see. It made no difference - it was a beautiful morning, albeit a bit short (family stuff...).

I met up early with Barak (in the photo above), Avi & Ron. At first we checked around the ruins of Tel Krayot, then descended to the adjacent Wadi Tov. It was a bit cold early on but soon the sweet warm sun lit up some beautiful birds for us. Check out this handsome 2cy male Woodchat Shrike, likely a migrant (not quite in breeding habitat), glowing in the soft early morning light:

There were really nice numbers of Cretzschmar's Buntings, several flocks moving through and quite many hopping on the rocks. They do breed here but despite some males bursting into their sweet 'Si-si-seee' song, I think they were mostly migrants.

Male

Female

Using the ruins and boulders as breeding sites, there were good numbers of Rock Sparrow, Blue Rock-Thrush and Eastern Black-eared Wheatear, all seen in advanced breeding activity. Wait for it and turn your volume up:

Down by the wadi there were more Sylvia warblers in the scattered bushes, including Rueppell's, Eastern Orphean and Eastern Subalpine. I have seen brighter subalps before - still a very neat bird.

There were many redstarts about - lots of wintering Western Blacks still here, one cracking male Eastern Black (likely semirufa), and several Commons, including three male Ehrenberg's. Barak talking in the background:

Twas also fun watching several Wrynecks rockhopping. Always fascinating birds.

There were many common migrants around. I enjoyed that immensely. A few scarcities weren't seen this morning (Cinereous Bunting, Rufous-tailed Rock-Thrush) - next time hopefully. More images and videos in the eBird checklist here.

Unlockdown birding

While the entire country is in near-complete lockdown, I still do fieldwork. Paradoxically, while so many people in Israel and worldwide and out of work, I work even harder now, trying to get as much fieldwork done, to compensate for missing seasonal field technicians, before lockdown regulations tighten even further. I get to work in solitude, in wonderful habitats, during this lovely time of year - lucky me. I worked in Tzafit Hills NR, not far from home. Beautiful landscape, home to Mountain Gazelles

Many orchids, dominated by Long-lipped Serapias

And lots of migrants and good breeding birds, such as Cretzchmar's Buntings, looking pretty in early morning sun

Down south I worked in some remote desert sites, finding breeding evidence for several important species. It was fun to see this lone Squacco Heron flying solo over the desert, then landed in a small patch of suitable habitat - roadside barrier:

I enjoyed birding in Mitzpe Ramon park, normally very busy with people, now deserted and packed with birds, including two Syrian Serins

This morning I ringed at the Jerusalem Bird Observatory, that is experiencing a great migration season; sadly ringing activity is limited now by the capacity of permanent staff like myself. JBO is looking good now, with trees packed with birds. Most dominant this morning were Siskin and Hawfinch - huge numbers of both. Check this soundscape, of a flock of 180 Siskin chattering to each other:

Subalpine Warbler is always a treat:

As was my first-of-year Collared Flycatcher:

Fantastic orchids in flower there now:

Galilee Orchid

Three-toothed Orchid

Yellow Bee-orchid

Champions of the Flyway starts soon - will do my best tomorrow!

Decade summary #5 - Best of 2014

In 2014 I relocated with my family to the UK, but before leaving in September I had a busy time indeed. In March the first Champions of the Flyway bird race took place in Eilat, and around it there was some great birding down south:

Eastern Subalpine Warbler

Monitoring projects took me to some of the remotest corners of the country, where I saw fantastic birds, such as this stunning White-throated Robin on Mt. Hermon:

2014 offered some serious rarities, including Hudsonian Whimbrel (1st national record of this taxon), and Pied Bushchat (9th).

In May I traveled to USA for my first spring visit, where I participated in the World Series of Birding with my team mates Tom, Jonathan and Dan (and returned with the Cape May Island trophy). Also, my/our long-term collaboration with Cornell Lab of Ornithology and eBird started then. Spring warblers were quite something. B&W, Canada, Chestnut-sided and Maggy Warblers were just few of the many species I saw:

Over to the UK, I hit the ground running and started birding en force, disregarding all of my family and PhD duties, trying to make the most of my time in the UK. I joined a fine community of Norwich birders, who took me birding, twitching, dipping and drinking. Some good birds I had before the year ended were Radde's Warbler and Blyth's Pipit.

Full summary of 2014 here.

Eilat day 3 - Holland and Canada

Today I continued with my demanding task to assist teams in their scouting efforts, which actually meant birding in cool spots. Isn't it appropriate that on pre-race date I visited two sites that could be identified with our Dutch team - Team VCF, and Canadian team - The Canucks. First thing in the morning I birded Holland Park together with Mark and Anat. At our hotel doorstep we had a flock of 53 Baltic Gulls fly over on their looooooong migration between Lake Victoria and Finland - the stuff Eilat legend is made of:

Birding Holland Park started somewhat quiet; the Black Bush Robin showed very well close to the entrance but wouldn't play ball.

A gorgeous male Northern Wheatear posed against a dramatic backdrop of Eilat Mts.:

Pretty good numbers of Balkan Warblers:

Sand Partridge - male

Real action was in the Sylvia camp, especially around the Magic Bush - a huge flowering Capparis decidua that attracted many tens of warblers. Most prominent were Rueppell's Warblers - around 10 in that one bush. They are real bullies, constantly harassing all other warblers and each other:

But the real star was Eastern Subalpine Warbler. Two males were in that bush, one of them was a real performer - feeding at extremely close range. What a fantastic bird. I have many more images - a dedicated blogpost will follow.

Eastern Subalpine Warbler - 2cy male

While heading out a flock of five Penduline Tits flew in - so cool to see them away from reedbeds, in a desert wadi. They were very mobile so managed only these record shots.

eBird checklist here.

After lunch I had a quick look in Canada Gardens, where a Semicollared Flycatcher continued to show extremely well. Another top-quality bird. Sadly light was harsh - the promises for Armageddon weather down here never materialised. 

eBird checklist here.

In the afternoon we had a final briefing and swap meet for COTF teams at IBRCE. After the meeting we spent another fantastic hour vis-migging from the dyke - very cool stuff including Little Swifts, Dead Sea Sparrows and many more (but still no oriental cigar).

Two hours till COTF - time to get a bit of sleep...