Eilat workshop and a bonus

On Monday I joined an international workshop taking place now in Eilat, Guradians of the Flyway. Expertly organised by Noam and his team from Eilat Birding center, and Alen, with the support of Eilat municipality, funded by The Ministry of Regional Cooperation, this workshop includes almost 20 conservationists from different countries along the East Mediterranean - Central Asian flyway. Any international visitor in Israel nowadays is not taken lightly, so such an excellent team that assembled here to promote regional collaboration for birds and people is a real celebration. My contribution to the workshop was minimal, I gave a couple of talks, but mostly it was exciting to meet new and old friends from the region.

Early morning birding at IBRCE

The group - photo courtesy of Eilat Municipality

Noam with a Rüppell's Warbler

I always look for good excuses to head down to Eilat. This workshop was perfectly timed in regard to migration. Already on the way down I saw lots of cool birds, including Arabian Warbler near Hazeva and fantastic raptor migration. North Beach wasn't bouncing with birds but two Brown Boobies were cool, albeit distant. My photo is rubbish, but it's still a Brown Booby. The second bird was even farther away.

I am not sure which Brown Boobies make it to Eilat. Logically it should be the Pacific/Indian Oceans form plotus (Forster's Brown Booby). However, at least one of the two birds that have been hanging around Eilat for the last few months could be leucogaster (Atlantic Brown booby), based on the darker head and chest, and a dark spot in front of the eye. Check the series of stunning photos by Zvi Schwarzfuks. I am no expert on sexing and ageing Brown Boobies, and subspecific identification, so any insights would be very welcome.

Just before I had to head back north, Moshe Neeman, a young star birder who's a high school student in Eilat, found a Menetries's Warbler on the edge of the city, not far from his school. It would have been rude not to say hello to it before leaving. Menetries's Warbler is a good rarity in Israel with only a handful of records annually. It showed very well, and was vocal - lovely bird. Thanks Moshe! This is a 2cy male (hatched 2024) - note the obvious moult contrast best visible in the third photo (the retained feathers are browner, while the moulted feathers are grey). 

Check those diffuse tertial fringes, and that magnificent black tail

Enjoying the tasty fruit of Ochradenus baccatus

Sorry for the background noise - it was by a busy road:

I headed north along the Arava road. South of Tsofar, about 120km north of Eilat, I spotted a huge flock of White Storks at very high altitude. I pulled over and snapped a few photos. In the field I estimated 1500. It wasn't an accurate estimate because they were thermaling and constantly moving in different directions, blown by strong winds. 

It is always challenging to count birds in the field like that. Back home, I asked ChatGPT to count the birds in this image. ChatGPT came up with an estimate of 1633. I estimated that the photo I took included about 90% of the birds. So eventually, I think that in that flock there were around 1800 birds.

Uvda Valley

Nice morning yesterday in Uvda Valley. The habitat looks promising - earlier rains produced a fresh, lush carpet of annuals. Surely this area will attract many migrants soon and support good breeding populations. 

There were lots of mammals on the plains when I arrived in the half-dark. Dozens of Asian Will Ass and a few Dorcas Gazelle were enjoying the tasty grass. This is the start of the rutting season now, and the gazelles were active. These two males were playing around:

Then everything went quiet - a majestic Arabian Wolf trotted across the plains. It was a beautiful female, in thick winter coat. Breathtaking.

I was after the Pied Wheatear that had been found by Avner a few days ago. Pied Wheatear is a good rarity in Israel during migration - it's just about annual. Spring 2012 will always be remembered for the huge extended arrival of Pied and Cyprus Wheatears in southern Israel - they were everywhere! Luckily, the late and still sorely missed Martin Garner was here to enjoy the exceptional birding - check this old blogpost for example. In any case, I am not aware of any previous winter records of Pied Wheatear in Israel - they should be much farther south now, in South East Africa. I was very keen to study this plumage that I am not very familiar with. The bird was showing very well, certainly enjoying the early arthropod productivity developing now. It kept picking up insects all the time I was watching it, foraging very actively. What an interesting, subtle bird. Warmer-toned than I had expected it to be. Still showing a solid dark mantle and faint mottling on breast.

Avner also found nearby another Menetries's Warbler - it seems to be a good winter for them. How many more are lurking out in the desert undetected? Compared to the performing Nahal Ketura bird, this one is a real nightmare. During the time I watched it I had only a couple of brief views. It was also pretty quiet, hardly called at all. My poor photos demonstrate that.

There were lots of birds moving around - big numbers of Spotted Sandgrouse filled the air with their flight calls, some Temminck's and Bar-tailed Larks busy feeding and getting prepared for breeding, Desert Wheatear, Tawny Pipits, stonking male Pallid Harrier cruised over the plains - good fun and an excellent morning overall. eBird checklists with pied and menetries's here and here.

Pacific Diver-Loon!

Wow what a whirlwind of a day. Getting towards the end of the year, it's money time... I decided to go for one last push before the year ends and add a few species to my non-Big-Year list (check my special annual review tomorrow). Several quality birds accumulated near Eilat, waiting for me. With the news of a diver/loon found yesterday, the temptation was too powerful. It was a go. I teamed up with Rony and Arad. We left just after midnight. First part of the night was spent looking successfully for Pharaoh Eagle-Owl - we had wonderful views of a vocal male. Our next nocturnal target was Egyptian Nightjar in Yotvata. Despite being observed there in recent days we had no luck - maybe because it was very cold and pretty windy when we searched there. 

Anyway, we got to Hashalom Lagoon off North Beach in Eilat at dawn. Very quickly we spotted the diver swimming quietly in the lagoon. Forgive me Americans, it's diver from now on.

I got my scope on it, having in mind that yesterday it was identified as Black-throated Diver by Moshe Neeman who found it. But hey, the flanks are all dark - no rear flank white patch... And is this a chinstrap? Nah, can't be. Or can it?

Then the penny dropped and it all kicked in. Pacific Diver!!! Potentially the first for Israel, and what an astonishing record. Because of the enormity of the record, and lack of sufficient experience with both species, I was cautious about releasing the news too quickly. We alerted the Eilat birders, and within a few minutes several local birders joined us. We all watched it very well, swimming and diving for food. We all agreed that it always looked good for pacific, rather small and stocky, weak-billed, pale hindneck, and when it dove it showed the dark line separating the white vent from the white belly. The chinstrap looked stronger and weaker, depending on the angle. 

Interestingly it was loosely associating with an Indian Ocean Humpback Dolphin in the lagoon:

Photo by Shachar Shalev of the vent bar

With positive feedback coming to us from experts in N America and Europe, I released the news nationally, still with an astrix. Later on during the day a global consensus has developed, agreeing that this is the first Pacific Diver for Israel!

Highly elated after this great find, we continued to Nahal Ketura. Rotem Avisar found a male Menetries's Warbler there about a week ago. As soon as we started birding the site I heard it call, and very quickly we had lovely views of a 1cy male Menetries's Warbler. It showed really well and was very vocal, even singing a bit. My photos don't do it justice - it showed exceptionally well. 

I especially enjoyed listening to its subtle song:

And then it was back home - by lunchtime! Thanks to Rony and Arad for a great day out. 

See you tomorrow in my annual review - should be fun.

Spring alive

 This morning I had a meeting in Eilat, which is always a good excuse for birding down there. I left home before my elder son went to sleep, and arrived at Yotvata at 04:30. I checked the fields and had two Egyptian Nightjars and a Pharaoh Eagle Owl. I was alone, driving and holding the torch, so failed with photography. I snoozed for 15 minutes before there was just about enough light for birding. The sky was full of pipits and wagtails, and many hirundines and swifts were on the move. There were first splashes of spring - always elating, offering some hope in this screwed-up world. Wabi-sabi style.

eBird checklist here.

Then I continued to Nimra Valley, near Timna. Itai found there a male Menetries's Warbler a few days ago, which I was hoping to connect with - only a few annually in Israel. I met up there with Amit, an excellent young birder, and his dad Guy. We started searching for it, and I was surprised to find a female Menetries's at almost the same spot - very cool. My first views were through the scope - at first it was feeding out in the open. Not a top video but gives the idea:

When Amit and Guy joined me it became a real nightmare and was difficult to observe. We worked carefully and slowly, and bit by bit we managed to see it well enough to confirm ID. Impressively,  Amit managed sharp flight shots as it moved from bush to bush. Thanks for allowing me to share the illustrative photos here (check those tertials!). Later on they saw the male too.

Some nice desert birds and migrants there, including a couple of Rueppell's, Hooded Wheatear, Temminck's Lark and Striolated Buntings. eBird checklist here.

Conveniently, my meeting was at IBRCE, so I had time for a quick walk with Noam. It felt pretty active, birds were on the move. There was a steady trickle of Steppe Eagles, an Oriental Honey Buzzard, Long-eared Owl in roost - quite enjoyable really.

Super duper

On Monday I left home too early, to make it on time to a boat trip out of Eilat. At first light, while cruising through Hameishar Plains, I noticed a lovely herd of Onager by the road - had to stop and film them quickly. It was really dark; only on the computer screen I noticed there were some birds in the frame too - a Woodchat Shrike, and perhaps another shrike in the foreground:

A quick birding stop at Neot Smadar revealed a nice variety of migrants, albeit in small numbers - wagtails, hirundines, shrikes, wheatears, buntings, warblers - not bad. eBird checklist here.

23+20=RBS

I met up with Noam at IBRCE, where I parked my car as we had arranged to drive together to the dock where our boat was moored. When I stepped out of the car, Noam walked towards me out of the ringing hut smiling from cheek to cheek, holding a bird. Menetries's Warbler! Fantastic bird, extremely early (they're even rarer in autumn than in spring, usually in November), perfect timing for me... Time for a quick snap, under pressure, we had to shoot off; wrong camera settings and harsh light make the tail look less pitch-black and overall more warm-toned than it was in real life. 

Menetries's Warbler, 1cy, IBRCE, 7 September 2020. Pinkish flush on breast may suggest it belongs to ssp. mystacea

Then it was time for the main show. I joined the monthly pelagic monitoring trip, organised by INPA and IBRCE. On the boat were INPA's Chen and Eran, and IBRCE's Noam and Iris.We set off from Eilat at 08:30, and headed out towards our regular spot, as close as possible to the border triangle Israel - Egypt - Jordan. Strong northerlies made the sea relatively rough (not like southern ocean rough, but there were white crests), which made scanning rather challenging. We spent over three hours chumming, nada. Nothing came in to check the chum, and there were no seabirds around us at all. As we started talking about a pack-up and retreat, suddenly a storm-petrel was spotted fluttering over the slick, out of nowhere. It spent few seconds over the slick, about 50 m away, good light conditions. It showed a small size and big white rump extending down to undertail coverts - Wilson's Petrel! It happened all too fast for any photos to be taken, sadly. The storm-petrel then continued south and landed on the water, too far to get any details on it. We tried to edge towards it, but were immediately called out by the navy, warning us not to drift across the border. We waited for a while, hoping the bird would return to check the slick, but it didn't and we lost contact with it.

Wilson's and I have a bit of history together. The first record for Israel, in 1983, was before I started birding. Then 33 years of nothing, until in September 2016 Noam blasted with a fantastic record. In 2017, another tasty record, this time two were seen. During these years I lived in the UK, and watched with envy my friend's lists growing. These records suggested that Wilson's Storm-Petrel (and Swinhoe's) is a regular summer/autumn visitor to the Gulf of Aqaba. In 2018, shortly after my return to Israel, I tried a couple of times. Blank. In 2019, again, nothing, 'just' a Swinhoe's. July 2020 - again, a single bird recorded by Noam and INPA, photo by Gal Marinov: 

In August one more try - swinhoe's again but no wilson's. I didn't give up, and I'm glad I didn't - finally Wilson's Storm-Petrel is on my list.

We returned to shore, Noam smiling from cheek to cheek for the second time that day. It became very hot (43 ⁰C), I was very tired and wanted to get back home. Despite these, KM20 saltpans lured me for a quick check. I did not regret. The pans were exploding with shorebirds - best form I have seen them in many years. Many thousands of shorebirds, huge numbers of Little Stint and Ringed Plover, several more species in impressive numbers, quality in the form of two Terek Sands, four Black-winged Pratincloes, six Broad-billed Sands, a Red-necked Phalarope - very good fun. I wish I had more time in better conditions - not easy to quickly pick up a semiP in strong wind and scorching heat. Next time. ebird checklist here.

Class of September 2020, from left: Common Redshank, Wood Sandpiper, Terek Sandpiper, Western Yellow wagtail, Common Ringed Plover, Marsh Sandpiper

Thanks agaim to Noam, Iris and IBRCE team, and to Eran and Chen of INPA - I wish us all many more successful days like this one.

Turkish delight 3 - Iraq Babblers @ Birecik

After the fish owl success, we took an internal flight to Adana, collected a car and drove to Birecik - excellent highway so very fast and comfortable drive. Arrived at Birecik in the afternoon, checked in at the Mirkelam and drove straight away to the gravel pits on the western side of the Euphrates. We went there to search for target species # 2: Iraq Babbler. First recorded in Turkey only in 2006, they are now easy to see in the reedbeds of the gravel pits. On the first afternoon the weather was bad - very strong wind and thunderstorm plus rain, but next morning we easily located a family group of an adult plus four juveniles rather quickly (lifer #2). They are very sweet birds, very small and delicate compared to our brute Arabian Babbler. They really reminded me of Thick-billed Warblers - small, rounded wings and long tail, open face. We saw them very well as they were moving through the reedbed, feeding and doing some babbler-stuff like preening each other and socializing. We had brilliant views but I did not manage to get any good images - we were there twice in the very early morning, before sunrise, for rather brief visits (good excuses, ha?).

Iraq Babbler - juvenile

The reedbed there is good for passerines and other reedbed-birds.Unlike European birders visiting there, we did not get very excited by Dead Sea Sparrow, Black Francolin, Little Bittern and Great Reed Warbler, but still plenty of other good birds around. Unfortunately there is massive shooting taking place there, which made the visit less enjoyable. As a result we saw nothing larger than a passerine - no ducks, swamphens, herons, nothing. I hope Doga (BirdLife Turkey) do something quickly to protect this special site.

I did enjoy watching Menetries's Warblers there. Plenty of families were seen in the scruby edges of the reedbed at the gravel pits, and along the Ibis Center wadi (see next post). I managed to photograph only some 2cy males - note the very worn and brown remiges and GC. These are of the duller subspecies rubescens.

Menetries's Warbler - 2cy male

Amir

Another serious attraction at Birecik is the Northern Bald Ibis project (lifer #3, though slightly dodgy - see below). Critically Endangered, the population breeding at Birecik has enormous global importance. Once breeding inside town, now all 20-30 pairs (150 birds in total) breed in the colony on the cliff of the center. Sadly, each year the whole wild population needs to get trapped and prevented from migrating, as the risk is too high - massive hunting in all countries they need to migrate through means zero survival rates.

Northern Bald Ibis

Euphrates & Birecik

The Ibises are evident almost anywhere in town:

Eilat Festival update day 1 - crazy wheatears

At last I made it down to Eilat for the Festival. On the way down saw lots and lots of birds. First brief stop at Yotvata around midday, packed with birds. 40 Bimacs, 1 Cyprus Wheatear. Then drove down to KM20 to see the vittata found yesterday by Arjan van-Egmond and Marc Guyt - great bird! The first record of this morph in Israel. I was amazed to see how many Pied and Cyprus Wheatears are present. In the same small plantation I had about 5 more pied and 3 cyprus, and driving around I saw several more that I didn't even bother to slow down for. Also two Semi-collared Flys.

 Pied Wheatear (Oenanthe pleschanka 'vittata')

Cyprus Wheatear

 

Had a quick look at the ditch south of KM19. I found there a superb male Menetries's Warbler - a very pallid individual with just a bit of pinkish flush on the breast. I missed it perched exposed on a fence 3 metres away, and then it flew into a huge saltbush and gave awful views. Ah well.

In the afternoon I led the first Festival tour. We had a first look at KM20 saltpans, and then a quick look for the vittata. There were sooooooooooooo many birds and it was very difficult for some of the guests to keep up with the pace: in about two hours we had 2 Black-winged Pratincoles, 1 Greater Sandplover, 1 Short-eared Owl, vittata and some Pied Wheatears, Wryneck, lots of Ehrenberg's Redstarts, and many common species - gulls, shorebirds, flamingos, raptors, wagtails, pipits, shrikes etc. A great start. It was great to meet Martin and Neill - they were of much help during the tour and I think they had a great time too.