Recent stuff

It's peak spring migration here in Israel now. With unstable weather, birds are blown in different directions and it is exciting just to be out there and witness migration. I have nothing too major to report, but over the last few days some decent stuff accumulated on my hard drive that is worth sharing here.

Last Wednesday (April 5th) I had time only for a quick early-morning birding session. So I opted for a circuit of Hulda Reservoir with Piki - our regular shared session few minutes away from home. Piki always complains that I start too early, I always complain that he's lazy, eventually we meet halfway. That morning I had time to listen out for active migrants and cook coffee by the time Piki arrived. Birding expectations weren't huge because water levels at the reservoir are very high currently, meaning there's little space for mud-loving waterbirds. We were pleasantly surprised when two minutes after we started walking a small passerine jumped up from the path in front of us, gave a thin 'tick' call and perched on the fence. We both exclaimed simultaneously (more or less 😉) - Little Bunting! We rattled off a few quick photos:

Then the petite bunting flew past us and landed to forage on the path again for a couple of minutes before being chased off by a badass territorial Eastern Olivaceous Warbler (you can hear it singing in the background of the video below). The poor bunting flew up and away and we lost it far in the distance to the south, never to be seen again. Sweet.

Nice to have Turtle Doves back, already in display flight over their territories:

Eventually it was quite a productive morning - eBird checklist here.

A weekend in Tel Aviv to celebrate my wife's birthday meant a couple of early-morning sessions in local Tel Aviv sites. Hatzuk beach was fairly quiet (eBird checklist here) but there's always interest in watching migrants on the edge of the big smoke. 

European Bee-eater cuteness and top-class wildlife narration, this morning in Tel Aviv. pic.twitter.com/wwrx1YEijh

— Yoav Perlman (@yoavperlman) April 8, 2023

Next day I checked Hayarkon Park that runs through the city center, including Rosh Tzipor and the adjacent Rock Park. Rosh Tzipor held a Little Crake and a Little Bittern:

Common Kingfisher is the most cliché bird in the world, yet it is irresistible when posed nicely:

Golden Jackals are a prominent feature of Hayarkon Park. They are abundant there, and very accustomed to humans and their dogs - a somewhat surreal coexistence in the middle of the city.

This one is called 'Sexy Ear'

Oh yes, oh yes, right there... Ooohhh so gooood...

On Monday I joined a large public event SPNI held up in the Golan Heights, promoting public action to halt disastrous plans that threaten the wild beauty of the Golan Heights. I picked up Nadav from his home in the Hula Valley. What can I do that the shortest way up to the Golan Heights drives through the fields north of the Agamon, where a Demoiselle Crane has been hanging around?

Almost there

The last days of summer (from bird migration perspective) are tough. Things just don't want to get going. First signs of autumn give hope for a flood of migrants soon to arrive, but the River of Birds in the Sky (yo Bill! Miss you bro) is still just an intermittent trickle.
Yesterday I went to Hulda Reservoir where things are building up nicely. Good array of shorebird, some ducks, a few migrant passerines - 72 species in total (eBird checklist here), not too shabby. Savi's Warblers, 12 Collared Pratincloes, Black-tailed Godwit were the highlights. It is not a good site for bird photography - scope job there and I hate digiscoping.
This morning I went to Tal Shahar - Tsor'a with hopes for more early migrants. Started off at Tal Shahar alfalfa and nearby riparian scrub. It was somewhat quiet, but still nice (eBird checklist here). No big highlights - 2 Indian Silverbills were the only birds of interest. I don't know what's their story exactly. They were absent all summer, and they seem regular in autumn. Last year I saw them a few times in my area. Let's see if they show some regularity this autumn too. I managed one horrid flight shot of one, making it look properly rare, like a quality vismig record:

This awful flight shot led to a series of just-as-bad flight shots of other common species:

Asian Black-winged Kite

Pied Kingfisher flying high towards a nest somewhere?

Squak

Syrian Pecker

Turtle Dove numbers were certainly on the increase, congregating post breeding/fledging before migration.

Woodchat Shrike (1cy) - I love this plumage

Large Salmon Arabs were abundant

Inquisitive Golden Jackal

Then I gave Pel'i Reservoir a thorough check, but came back with not so much.

Two more checklists today, day 214/365 of Checklist-a-day challenge, 223 days of checklist streak.

Reflections of my Life

At last, after a long time without being able to get out to the field (family business etc.) I went to Nizzana sewage ponds this morning to count sandgrouse coming in to drink. As they arrive rather late in the morning I had some time to photograph the many shorebirds present in the main lagoon there. I spent the first half an hour of sun lying on my belly in the mud. Most birds kept their distance away from me, and the only birds that approached reasonabely were of the commoner species, but in total it was quite good and I can't complain. The water was very still of course, creating nice reflections with a pretty background. That was quite good because the birds themselves were doing nothing interesting so at least the reflections gave an added value to the images.

Again I discovered how much I hate to lay on my belly in the mud. It is not fun. My back and neck hurt like hell. I promise not to do it ever again (until next time...).

Wood Sandpiper

Green Sandpiper

Common Sandpiper

Kentish Plover - 1cy (taken before sunrise)

Little Ringed Plover - 1cy

The Ubiquitous Spur-winged Lapwing (sorry for slicing the reflection)

One of many Black-winged Stilts

Not a shorebird - Eurasian Turtle Dove 1cy

The sandgrouse show was rather poor. Numbers were lower than I expected: 51 crowned, 33 black-bellied and only 27 spotted. Bad breeding season?

Spotted Sandgrouse

Crowned Sandgrouse

After the sandgrouse show was done I had a look around the ponds. Quite many ducks - 20 Gargeney and six Ferruginous Ducks. Scarcer shorebirds included Temminck's Stints and Marsh Sands. A few feldegg Yellow Wags flitting around in the vegetation.

Ferruginous Duck

Whiskered Tern - adult

Several Common Kingfishers feeding on god knows what:

Just as I was about to pack and leave this large cub Golden Jackal crossed my lens - too close for a complete shot:

And just to pay respect to the Marmalades:

Mammals in Nizzana

Yesterdsay I visited another Nizzana atlas box. Bird numbers dropped considerabely compared to March and early April - it is already very hot, and many breeders have already disappeared, God knows where. Has anyone got an idea where are all the Spectacled Warblers and Desert Wheatears that fledged just a couple of weeks ago disappeared to? They have evaporated completely, and are not anywhere to be found in Israel at the moment.
Still had some good birds, including a few MacQueen's Bustards, CCC's, two Lesser Short-toed Larks and several flyover Hill Sparrows.

In recent visits I have seen many mammals and reptiles. I suppose that the rising minimum temperatures results in better mammal activity. I had good observations of canines - Wolf, Golden Jackal and Red Fox - yesterday I found these three curious cubs outside of their den.

Dorcas Gazelles are seen in good numbers, and I had a few Wild Ass a few days ago. Cape Hares are pretty common too. Yesterday on the way back found a road-killed Desert Monitor of moderate size (about 70 cm long) - so sad to find such a rare and beautiful animal dead. I hope to get images of it soon.

In the evening I went to Neot Hakikar for nightjar monitoring. Driving down there was a dramatic weather change, with a cold front entering quickly. This knocked down many thousands of migrating Common Swifts, that on normal weather must migrate too high up for us mortals to notice. Along the road east of Dimona, thousands of birds were feeding low over the road, some stupid birds even getting themselves killed by passing vehicles. But the view was quite amazing.