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.

Look east

It's that time of year we all wait for. In western Europe it starts in late September, and peaks in October. Here in Israel, it takes the vagrants from the east a little longer to filter down and make it over here. Numbers and diversity of eastern vagrants we get here compared to western Europe are much lower, so we need to make do with what little we get. On Sunday I got a little reward for working Tzor'a, searching in vain for an Oriental Turtle Dove that didn't show. Driving along a cut alfalfa field, oooh what this bird that flew up from the edge? Little Bunting! It showed briefly, then disappeared for a while, then showed again for half a minute, in front of a crown of five, before heading south high. In the next days, two birds were seen there, maybe this one and another, maybe two new birds. Lovely bird in any case.

On Tuesday, before a meeting in Kfar Ruppin conveniently scheduled for late morning, early morning was spent birding the bird-rich valley. Nothing special or new was found, but I enjoyed the huge amounts of big birds, spiced up with November regulars for Kfar Ruppin: Isabelline Shrike, Oriental Skylark and Richard's Pipit. Many Caspian Stonechat around - love 'em.

This morning a Pied Wheatear south of Be'er Sheva required my attention, a good looking 1cy female in a horrible water treatment plant, in horrible weather. Thanks to Eyal for finding and sharing info.

Eilat Festival update day 5 - wheatear masterclass

Blogging on the road is not easy but I will do my best. Here are my adventures as of yesterday. I will post some more fresh stuff from today later on tonight.

So we (Dan, Martin G, Neil G and myself) started off early and went to check the Basalt Wheatear out. It has been showing only on and off over the last few days and has become less predictable, and we were not surprised not to find it in its usual spot. Only after extensive searching it was located some distance to the north by French birders (thanks guys!), and it showed very well in nice morning light. Martin started screaming like a little girl - it was one of his most-wanted birds of the trip.

Basalt Wheatear

Some bastard ringed it last week so I appologize for the ring (it was me...)

Big lens small lens - Rami and Martin

Satisfied we left for Neot Smadar. The place was just unbelievable - I have not seen such huge numbers of migrants for a long long time. In fact for the first time after many years I had the feeling that I am not keeping up with the speed of new exciting birds on show. It felt like a toy shop where one can choose a bird of one's choice. We did some walking through the fields outside the kibbutz and had a quick look at the alfalfa field inside the kibbutz. Hundreds and hundreds of common and scarce migrants of all sorts. The trend of quality wheatears continued and Martin and myself had a great time studying both Pied and Cyprus Wheatears.

Pied Wheatear - 2cy male - this bird showed very well just at the gate. Note the long, thick legs, relatively long and massive bill. Lots of white on the rump. Long primary projection. Pied Wheatear migrates longer distances than cyprus, so it has a different wing formula - longer primary projection, very pointed wingtip (P2 and P3 very close together), short P1.

Then this 2cy male Cyprus Wheatear showed exceptionally well inside the kibbutz, even singing occasionally. Another bird was in the same field, a female. Note more compact and delicate build - small sweet-looking bill, rounded head, thin legs, short primary projection with fewer visible primaries. Note prominent moult limit indicating this is a 2cy. Very limited white on rump, hardly climbing up the back.

Lots of commoner wheatears present too, including this very dull and rather dark female Eastern Black-eared Wheatear. Female pied would be much sootier and darker, with darker breast and some faint streaking on breast and upper flanks.

Another beautiful thrush - male Rock Thrush:

After a good breakfast Neil and myself headed to north beach for a quick look. Just outside the hotel we spotted this Osprey perched on a street lamp overlooking the sea, totally oblivious of the heavy traffic below it:

North beach was rather quiet but still had the two long-staying Brown Boobies, Western Reef Egret, Sibe and Baltic Gulls and this ugly Striated Heron:

In the evening I led the Rambo Night tour. Both nightjars - egyptian and nubian showed extremely well. Then off to the Judean Desert. This time luck was on our side and we had superb views of a male Hume's Owl, perched, hooting and then flying around, and heard another female nearby. Very special desert experience of walking on a moonlit night in a remote wadi. This time it was Neil's turn to scream like a little girl. When we arrived back at our minibus we saw a Wild Cat feeding on some rubbish left by campers - cool stuff. Arrived back at Eilat at 03:00, two hours of sleep and back in the field. To be continued...

Eilat Festival update days 3 & 4 - too much information

The last two days have been too busy with too many birds. I was busy guiding so didn't have enough time to really let this abundance sink in but the feeling is just fantastic - huge numbers of migrants all over the place, quality stuff, and lots of learning and teaching simultaneously. 

Yesterday spent a morning at Yotvata with Martin Garner and Nadav. We saw tons of birds - lots of good stuff. Marting is really into describing new stuff and I got into some interesting discussions with him. Still so much to learn and know. Anyway, tons of passerines in the fields and bushes - larks, pipts, wagtails, redstarts, wheatears, warblers, bluethroats etc.  At the sewage ponds this confiding Spotted Crake:

Big numbers of Eastern Black-eared Wheaters - some very warm-toned individuals:

Very strong raptor migration overhead, including this very pale and striking Lesser Spotted Eagle - note short P7, small head and some barring on remiges:

Murmuration of Spanish Sparrows:

In the evening led the 'Rambo Night'. At Neot Hakikar great show of Nubian Nightjars and the Egyptian Nightjar still present. No show of Hume's owl unfortunately. Got back to Eilat at 02:00 and up at 05:00 for birding. Spent the morning at the IBRCE. It was a massive morning with more than 600 birds processed. Lots of Rueppel's and Balkan Warblers, some Scops Owls and one ugly-looking Subalpine Warbler. Such a great morning. MG almost started crying.

In the afternoon led a nice tour. Started off to clinch the ID of a wing-barred phylosc found by Neil Gelnn at SPNI fieldschool. We relocated it quickly and id'd it as Yellow-browed Warbler. Nice one Neil! Then off to Ofira Park. It was just packed with birds. So much stuff, such quality. My poor guests didn't know where to look. Buntings, pipits, wagtails, redstarts, wheatears, wrynecks, quails, warblers etc. I was with my 40D and small lens hence the poor images:

Cretzschmar's Bunting

Several forms of Yellow Wagtail, including this dombrowski-type:

Pied Wheater with Black-headed Wagtail:

Ended the day at KM19. At dusk two Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse came in to drink - super birds. Good night.

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.

Nizzana

This morning I went to Nizzana area with Ron (BTW yesterday Ron found a fine Rufous Turtle Dove at the JBO - well done Ron!). We began with a short ringing session which was pretty standard and rather slow. 1 yekutensis Willow Warbler, Marsh and Savi's Warblers being the only birds of note. A 1cy Rosy Starling flew over - a very good bird!
So we closed pretty early and went birding in the area. While closing the nets down many sandgrouse came in to drink in the nearby ponds. We stayed there for just a few minutes in order not to disturb the birds drinking. An adult Barbary Falcon flying around caused them much more panic. There were about 40 Crowned Sandgrouse, this group landed right next to us:

The adults are in active moult, with 4 to 6 replaced primaries:

There were about 30 Black-bellied Sandgrouse:

And about 50 Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, many of them were juveniles, typical for these late breeders:

The long-staying Black-winged Kite is still around; it has already moulted 3 primaries:

Namaqua Doves are spreading fast in Israel. Once restricted to the Eilat region, this sweet dove is colonizing much of the Negev and Judean Plains, and is now quite easy to see in Nizzana. This female was preched on a rather ornamental fence, and was nicely backlit while stretching. Unfortunately it was quite distant.

And a large crop:

Later we visited Be'erotayim grove which was quite birdy with many Blackcaps and Redstarts. I had a probable female Pied Wheatear there. I had it for just a few seconds but I saw it was very dark and cold-toned, dark breast and neat pale fringes to mantle feathers. It vanished and we could not relocate it despite extensive searching; hopefully someone looks for it again in the next few days.

Festival update - day 3

This morning I went birding with Jonathan at Yotvata, which held many good birds during the last few days. Yotvata was quite birdy, more than most other sites.
There were about 50 Lesser Kestrels hunting over the circular field:

We had a few Woodchat Shrikes:


Among the many hundreds of Greater Short-toed Larks we had about 15 Bimaculated Larks.

Greater Short-toed Lark

We saw the Pied Wheatear which has been around for a few days. It is a fine male, very clean and neat. It was performing very nicely:

And here it shows the extensive white rump:

After breakfast I noticed there was massive migration over the hotel, with thousands of buzzards and kites, mixed with good numbers of other species, mainly Steppe Eagles, but also some booted and lesser spots, Short-toed Eagles, Black Storks, and Marsh Harriers. All of the following images were taken from my balcony:

Steppe Eagle (4cy)

Booted Eagle

I had one 2cy Eastern Imperial Eagle:

In the afternnon I led together with Jonathan a tour targeting the Nubian Nightjars south of the Dead Sea. We made a couple of stops along the Arava that produced a male Cyprus Warbler and fantastic views of Arabian Warblers - a couple interacting and feeding a recently fledged juvenile.

At Neot Hakikar, we had superb views of four nightjars that concluded a terrific day.