Tel Aviv casual

Yesterday I stayed in Tel Aviv for a short break. In the early morning I had to go birding to maintain my checklist streak, what can I do. I headed over to Yarkon river mouth, that was packed with thousands of joggers, cyclists and dog walkers, all looking very sporty, making me feel a bit awkward with my outdoor outfit, bins and camera. Hey ho, that's birding isn't it? In any case, it was a short and pretty nice session. I was surprised to see two Eurasian Curlews heading north deep at sea, not common here. Then I found a young Masked Shrike, that traditionally should have been in Africa now. It is interesting that in recent years, perhaps linked with climate change, more and more Masked Shrikes are spending the winter in Israel.

A lone Red-throated Pipit was looking very dapper, walking on the wet grass. First in the shade:

Then in the sun:

Small flocks of Spanish Sparrows graced the pistachio bushes. I like Spanish Sparrows, especially the streaky-breasted females.

As everywhere in Tel Aviv, the avifauna is dominated by invasive species. As an ecologist and conservationist I don't 'like' invasive species, and would rather not have them here. However, when seeing a Monk Parakeet from up close, one must admit it is a darn good-looking bird. Here it is feeding on an invasive plant, Camphorweed:

eBird checklist here.

The sunset was quite wonderful.

Blogging debts

With all the roller excitement, a few birding activities from recent days have been left out. Maybe not as exciting as a first for Israel, but birding has certainly been good. On Thursday, a few hours before news of the roller broke, I went birding with Meidad in Tel Aviv before our staff meeting at our headquarters. Early on we birded Hatzuk Beach coastal scrub, which was alright despite a noticeable departure of migrants. There were still plenty of shrikes, wheatears and warblers.

Typical Tel Aviv urban birding scene - Eastern Black-eared Wheatear, Northern Wheatear and Whinchat:

There were some young Honey Buzzards flying around - presumably birds that crossed over the Mediterranean. Much smaller numbers do this compared to the 500K that migrate further east overland, but still there are a few every morning there, often escorted out by the local Hooded Crows:

A few days ago I sold my big lens, ahead of a move to a modern system. More news on this to come. In the meanwhile, I am using my old 400mm f/5.6. I feel a bit crippled by the lack of focal length, and it is not as sharp as the big lens, but the advantages for shooting birds in flight are apparent.

Masked Shrike

Eastern Black-eared Wheatear

We did our best to relocate an Icterine Warbler that had been present for a few days (which I need for my yearlist), without success. eBird checklist for the morning here.

We had little time left for the Pacific Golden Plover that had returned for the third consecutive year to nearby Tel Barukh beach. By the time we got there, the beach was already super busy, so we found the bird roosting exactly at the same quiet spot where I had it last year, through the fence and into the sun.

Supporting cast was this adult male Rueppell's Warbler in nearby scrub. Uncommon in autumn (much scarcer than spring), but this is their time of year, and the coastal scrub patches north of Tel Aviv are certainly a good place for them.

eBird checklist here.

A couple of days earlier, before a meeting, I had a couple of hours to bird Ma'agan Michael with my boss (lucky me, how many people can do that?). The Red Knot was still present, I added Black Tern and Mediterranean Gull to my yearlist, and all in all had a good time. Ma'agan Michael (77 spp) and Ma'ayan Tzvi (57 spp) eBird checklists here and here respectively.

Med Gull with friends

Whiskered Tern

White-winged Tern

Black and white

My last proper birding session in Cyprus was back at Baths of Aphrodite. There's something special about the topography of this site, how it's wedged between the sea and the mountains, that concentrates active migration there. At first there were few hirundines on the move, but after a dramatic hail storm passed, suddenly the skies were flooded with swallows and martins, all heading northwest towards the tip of Akamas Peninsula and onward to Turkey.

On the ground there were quite a few migrants present, in somewhat smaller numbers compared to previous visits but still enjoyable. Sadly the huge migration wave of B&W flycatchers that Israel is experiencing was not pronounced is this part of Cyprus. However, even the handful of Collared Flycatchers present are sufficient to make any birder happy.

I spent a bit of time with one of the Cyprus Wheatear pairs. The male has become really tame and performed admirably - stunning bird. 

How morally bad is it that I removed the nasty twig behind his bill?

The female was not so well-behaved but I guess I can't complain.

Other birding highlights were a Great Reed Warbler, 2 Masked Shrikes (continuing the B&W theme) and both cuckoos. eBird checklist here.

I'm back home in Israel now. Cyprus was great and birding was good, though at least during my visit and where I checked migration was OK, not more. I missed some crazy days of birding in Israel while I was away, hope to catch up with some action in the next few days. Stay tuned.

Ay up!

After IBOC was over mark and Amity came to stay over with us. Mark and I did quite a bit of birding in recent days. Mark joined me for a morning of monitoring with INPA at a proposed nature reserve along the Med coast north of Ashdod on Wednesday. The coastal scrub habitats were good for migrants (eBird checklist here). Good numbers of common species were seen and heard, as well as a Subalpine Warbler.

Masked Shrike

A migrating flock of Bee-eaters was nice to see - first-for-year are always fun:

The sandy coastal strip held several large groups of shorebirds and few gulls (eBird checklist here):

Yellow-legged and Armenian Gulls

A cute Red Fox was chilling out on a pillow washed on the shore. Sadly this section of coast is extremely dirty with garbage mainly from Gaza, Egypt and further west, and unattended by Israeli authorities.

Back at my patch, migration is evident with good numbers of common migrants as well as some enjoyable species such as Wryneck, Little Crake and Great reed Warblers. While walking there with Mark one morning we approached some large trees in a park adjacent to the creek. I told Mark that this is where I want to find today my first-for-patch Collared Flycatcher. A minute later, a black-and-white flash dashes through the trees. Boom! Image by Mark - thanks mate.

Yesterday we went birding in Hatzuk Beach north of Tel Aviv. Mark needed Cyprus Wheatear, and I was hoping for some good general migration. We were not disappointed. Meeting up with Stefan, we were soon alerted by Ori (a local young birder) that he had found/relocated a female Cyprus Wheatear. It was super mobile and restless. My photos are quite poor, but it's a right bird for sure. 

Further quality came in a similar form to my patch collared fly story. I walked with Stefan towards a large Sycamore Fig tree. Each time I walk there I feel that it's a perfect tree for Hume's Warbler. I shared this thought with Stefan, and sure enough few moments later we heard one calling! We failed to get any views of it - luckily it was relocated by others later on. My third in about a week... Other quality species included Citrine Wagtail, Woodlark and Siskin. Nice eBird checklist (here).

Woodchat Shrike

Spring is on! Stay tuned for more migration action.

Migration days

These are very busy days of migration over Israel. Every time I lift my head up there is something up in the air - Honey Buzzards, Pelicans, White and Black Storks, Bee-eaters, Alpine Swifts, Red-rumped Swallows - such a treat. I missed the massive stream of Honey Buzzards that passed further east of me, but still casually had nice numbers, mixed with Black Kites, Marsh Harriers and first Lesser Spotted Eagle and Levant Sparrowhawks.

This morning I went ringing at the Jerusalem Bird Observatory. Typically for September, numbers weren't huge, but species richness was great. Walking around I had both Thrush and Common Nightingales, nice concentration of Masked and Red-backed Shrikes, Barred Warbler etc. A Nightjar was flushed out of its roost (accidentally) but wasn't relocated. many of the above ended up at the ringing table. My eBird checklist is here, while the ringing totals are below.

Eastern Orphean Warbler (adult male)

Masked Shrike

Spotted Flycatcher

Towards the end of the morning a member of the public brought to us a crash-landed Corncrake she picked up from her street, just before the cats did... It was very exhausted but luckily unscathed. After a quick examination it was sent of to a wildlife hospital - hopefully it will make it and get released soon so it can migrate on.

Nizzana

This morning I continued the atlas work in the Nizzana region. I worked a box deep in the desert SE of Ezuz. Last week's rain added more life to the ecosystem, and all the plants and birds seem very happy.
Desert Lark is one of the most dominant species in the region. This bird was gave an injured bird performance to drive me away of its nest:

Other interesting breeding species were one MacQueen's Bustard, a pair of Bar-tailed Larks, 3 CCCoursers, three species of sandgrouse, and a few Desert Wheatears. Bird of the day for me was a singing male Pale Rock Sparrow (too distant for photography). Still many Spectacled Warblers around, in families:

Apart for an abundance of Short-toed Larks, migrants were rather few. This bright Masked Shrike was nice though:

Still many Tawny Pipits around: