Global Medium Day

Yesterday Global Big Day team reunited to take part in October 2019 GBD, organised by eBird. Jonathan, Re'a and I were joined by Piki. Rather than darting across the country like we did in May, we decided to focus on the Bet She'an Valley. I had high hopes for the day. The idea of spending a full day birding in this bird rich valley, actually enjoying birding rather than driving around, was very attractive. Things were off to a good start with Barn Owl before dawn. Our dawn birding spot was the fantastic wetland below Kfar Ruppin, by the Jordan River. The first 48 minutes were both productive and enjoyable, with 65 species and quality that included Daurian Shrike, Pallid Harrier, Ferruginous Ducks, Spotted Crake and many more (eBird checklist here). Moreover, the sky was just full of thousands of birds flying in all directions, leaving their roosts to feed in fields and ponds. This pic of Daurian Shrike in half-light is so bad it's almost beautiful:

 We then continued to check alfalfa fields and more fishponds around Kfar Ruppin and Tirat Zvi, but then things starting to go a bit off. On the one hand, this continuing sensation of tens of thousands of birds filling the sky – kites, pelicans, storks, herons, egrets, spoonbills, pipits and wagtails flying in all directions was quite awesome. 

We also connected with some quality species, including Oriental Skylark, Richard's Pipit, Red-crested Pochard and such.

Red-crated Pochard

 However, we witnessed a complete and utter lack of migrants – there was no raptor migration whatsoever, and we missed too many regular passage raptors. The whole niche of woodland/scrub passerines was missing. We failed to find common migrants such as Blackcap! Also shorebirds put on a disappointing show with very low diversity. Combine that with bad luck and regular big day randomness, and we ended the day with a shambolic 130 species. At times birding was slow enough that we had time to appreciate the fascinating wasp Ammophila rubripes:

The day was saved by a proper rarity that showed up nearby. Galit Moshe and Eran Banker expertly found a Paddyfield Warbler in Neve Ur, at the edge of the valley. We headed over there in the early afternoon and enjoyed surprisingly good and prolonged views of this skulker at an impossible habitat. This is the 13^th record for Israel but the first field record – respect to Galit and Eran. Thanks aso to Barak who 'kept' it for us.

It was not very easy to photograph, though, especially with the harsh light. Maybe not the best of my images, this is the most demonstrative image I managed, showing the strong supercilium with darker upper border, dark smudge at tip of lower mandible, short primary projection and well-patterned tertials.

The abandoned fishfarm, now overgrown with reeds and tamarix, provides fantastic habitats for birds. Even in the heat of the day we managed 64 species there (eBird checklist here).

This concludes another Global Big Day. I assume that some readers of this blog will sense it was actually a brilliant day, but our personal feeling was different. But hey ho, that’s how big days go. And of course, in a broader view, it was a full day of high-intensity birding, with great birders who I am lucky to call my friends. Many thanks to Piki, Re'a and Jonathan for their huge efforts and for the good fun and laughs. Hats off to eBird for organising another wonderful international event. And as always, my gratitude is to Swarovski Optik for allowing me to use the best optics in the world.
Here's to the next GBD!

Kazakh steppes

The final days of the Rockjumper tour I was leading were spent in the steppes and wetlands around Nursultan (until recently Astana...). Together with our sharp-eyed local guide Andrey, we birded one day west of the city, and another day south. Birding was fantastic, with non-stop action both in quality and in numbers. Insect load was seriously heavy this year, perhaps due to exceptionally wet winter and very hot spring (climate change anyone?), and did effect our birding, especially in the vicinity of wetlands and during the hot mid-day hours. However, despite this limitation, we all had a great time. There are too many highlights to include in a single post, so I will try to be concise.

Perhaps the rarest species we saw is the globally Critically Endangered Sociable Lapwing. We had them in several sites on both days, enjoyed and appreciated them immensely. I know them well from Israel in winter, but seeing them on their breeding grounds, in full breeding plumage, was something else. We treated them with utmost care and respect, and did not chase them around for better photos or angles. This pair actually flew towards our minibus and posed. We drove off quickly.

Sociable Lapwing - male

Sociable Lapwing - female

We often found the lapwings accompanied by another threatened species, Black-winged Pratincole. Lovely birds.

Another prominent steppe bird was Demoiselle Crane - elegant, beautiful and pleasantly common:

The lark scene on the steppes was dominated by two quality species, both Central Asian specialties - Black Lark, and White-winged Lark.

Black Lark

White-winged Lark

It was brilliant to see Booted Warblers in good densities at more humid steppe sections. Now I feel prepared to find one in Israel. Interesting that in Uzbekistan we found them breeding in deep desert habitat, compared to Sykes's Warbler that breeds there in Tamarix scrub.

Booted Warbler

In the same habitat by wet meadows and wetland edges, Bluethroat, Sykes's Yellow Wagtail and Siberian Stonechat also breed in good densities.

Two prominent hunters, patrolling over the steppes, were Short-eared Owl, frequently encountered day-foraging, and the stunning Pallid Harrier.

We had one encounter with Saiga on the steppes - two youngsters that were rather tame (shame on the horrible heat haze and harsh light that killed my photos). Their mother fled at amazing speed as soon as it spotted us.

The wetlands were rich and exciting. Each one was different, depending on their water levels, salinity, nutrition richness etc. Some wetlands held fantastic numbers of Red-necked Phalaropes and other staging shorebirds. One wetland held an estimated 30,000 phalaropes - it was impossible to capture this by camera.

Mixed flock of Red-necked Phals, Curlew Sands, Dunlin and Little Stint

Another wetland held a large breeding colony of Pallas's, Steppe, Russian Mew and Slender-billed Gulls.

Pallas's Gulls and guests

Steppe Gull 

Other wetlands held large numbers of breeding White-winged and Black Terns, providing excellent photographic opportunities as they surface-forage.

Wetland reedbeds and wet grassy edges are what Paddyfield Warbler need - some males were singing ferociously from reedtops:

Scattered woodlands held the beautiful Pine Bunting, and breeding Red-footed Falcons:

I eBirded on the road all the birds seen on tour, and took many more (too many?) photos during my days in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. My eBird checklists, and photos and audio I uploaded to Macaulay Library, can be seen through my public eBird profile here (KZ and UZ).

This concludes my Rockjumper 'Best of Central Asia' tour updates. I hope you enjoyed - join me there in 2021?

Mediterranean dip with salted plastic and rice pudding

As I drove back from Yorkshire (more to come on this...) on Sunday evening, I was saddened to witness a beautiful sunset in a clear sky over the North Norfolk coast. The Moltoni's Warbler (another brilliant find by my mate Dave) was last seen in the late afternoon. I guessed it might have moved on last night, but decided to give it my best shot. In a somewhat masochistic way, I like the walk to Blakeney Point, and hoped to find some other stuff if Mr. Moltoni made a bunk - the weather still felt rare. When I started walking from Cley beach carpark this morning there was already negative news from early birders. Those who have walked to the Point know that there's a lot of time for thinking along that loooooong shingle bank. I had plenty of time to think about dips and the reasons why I still twitch. I started encountering dead birds in an increasing rate. Alcids, first of two very fresh Kittiwake, Teal, Lesser Blacked-backed and Common Gulls, Cormorant. Pretty morbid. Some of the alcids had been on the beach for a while, perhaps a few weeks, but not too long, as they were all in summer plumage. I did not spend time opening their stomachs - I was trying to get to the Point as quickly as possible. However, out of the open bellies of three auks plastic bits stuck out. They were all decapitated by some necrophiliacs, so identifying them was not easy.  I think most were Guillemot, with fewer Razorbill and Puffin.

So sad to see dead Kittiwakes, in context of their dire state in the UK as published today in The Guardian.

Anyway, eventually I got to the Point. I first checked some bushes between the huts, and flushed a tiny acro out of a bush. It flew right past me at close range, I noticed it was very short- and rounded-winged. It flew around a hut. I walked there and saw it perched on a bramble for a split second. I immediately noticed a bold supercilium, but then the bird shot off to the east, behind another hut and I lost it. Paddyfield Warbler! But I was unsatisfied with the brief views, and left it as a 'possible'. I spent a few minutes searching for it but could not relocate. I alerted some birders around, and headed off to try my luck with the moltonis. I was surprised to be alone on site but at least there was no annoying chit-chat. The weather was pretty grim with strong wind and constant drizzle. The bird did not show during the couple of hours I stood around - must have moved on last night. Dip. I did have a trickle of migrants popping in the garden briefly - Tree Pipit, Spotted Flycatcher and Chiffchaff. A spoonbill flew east miles away.

The moltonis was here

Tree Pipit

 Spoonbill

Quite a few Cinnabar Moths on the dunes - my phone camera wouldn't focus, sorry:

Before walking back, I picked up a garbage bag from the wardens, planning to collect some plastic and other rubbish en route. I was shocked by the amount of plastic. I filled the large bag up until it almost burst within 500 meters. I kept on finding dead birds. I was frustrated that I could not pick up more plastic because my bag was full, knowing the rubbish would wash back into the North Sea at the next high tide. My spirit was not very high. 

Foreign plastic (NL and France)

I continued to walk faster low down on the sand, avoiding the shingle. Mistake.When I got back to Norwich, I learned that James McCallum had found a tame paddyfield on the shingle a couple of hours after I had passed below there - must have been an beautiful experience. If my bird was indeed a paddyfield, it may or may not have been the same bird - who knows. My bird disappeared in the right direction but James described his birds' behaviour as a bird fresh in off the sea and reckons his was a different bird. Who knows. 

Map from Birdguides: