Eilat festival update - day 5

Just got back from another rambo tour, but before hitting the bed I will share my adventures for today. Started off early with Zev, we headed to the Uvda Vally for some quality larking. And indeed quality was to be seen with mixed flocks containing some great species feeding and flying around the dry wadi. Highlights were 7 flyover Dunn's Larks, hundreds of Thick-bills, tens of Bimacs, 1 Temminck's and 1 Lesser Short-toed. A few bar-tails were singing with all their hearts, but all other larks didn't look as if they're interested in breeding. One Asian Desert Warbler was a good addition to my festival list. This fly-by Hen Harrier was nice:

One of our group was having a great time with the larks:

In the afternoon I led the rambo tour. We headed first to Shezaf NR. It was bloody windy there, and birds were very difficult to find. We did not manage to find Arabian Warbler, but part of our group had a Cyprus Wheatear. 3 flyover Desert Finches were nice too.

By the time we got to Neot Hakikar it started raining, and conditions weren't looking too good for night animals. However driving in we almost hit a Nubian Nightjar sat on the main road, and in the fields we had good views of two more individuals.

In the Judean Desert we had a great show by a pair of Hume's Owls in an impressive canyon. It was actually quite dramatic with a thunderstorm but it only added to the magical atmosphere.

Eilat festival update - day 4

Yet another fantastic day. I began the day with a quick browse through some local sites near the city, that were rather quiet. This handsome male Eastern Black- eared Wheatear was very attractive in the clear early morning sun:

On the way north I received an RBA message about a Menetries's Warbler ringed at the IBRCE. I made a quick detour to see this excellent bird - many thanks to the IBRCE staff!

Menetries's Warbler - 2cy male

And here in the distinctive cocked-tail posture:

I headed with Asaf to Yotvata. As we drove into the fields, we noticed the same Pallid Harrier from yesterday, but this time perched on a better branch (not on a sprinkler like yesterday). It was so friendly and let us get very close. I waited patiently for it to get used to us and do some interesting stuff. For a long time it just sat there, looking and listening:

Pallid Harrier

Then it started scratching:

And shaking:
And stretching:

And then it decided to take off. I was lucky to get these shots. what a stunning bird! It really made my week.

The fields of Yotvata had a similar selection as yesterday, with a notable arrival of Tawny Pipits.

In the afternoon I led a tour to the KM19 sewage farm, which was pretty quiet but the pair of Little Crakes continued to show very well, and we had a male Namaqua Dove and several brief Dead Sea Sparrows.

And one more thing: check Stephen Menzie's terrific videos from the Festival here and here. It's great having Stephen with us, he's certainly working harder than anyone else this week...

Eilat festival update - day 3

What a terrific day! I had the morning off, so I headed towards Yotvata early in the morning. While driving up I noticed these photogenic Black Kites perched on a tree just by the road:

The northern circular field of Yotvata was teaming with birds. Lots and lots of larks, including about 50 Bimacs and two Oriental Skylarks buzzing around. Several harriers of three species (hen, pallid and marsh) were cruising over the field, as was a Barbary Falcon. They kept the birds quite jumpy and weary. This stunning male Pallid Harrier posed nicely though:

It practiced some stretching:
and scratching:
This dark morph Booted Eagle flying overhead further contributed panic to the songbirds in the field:

There were at least four Eastern Stonechats in the field - 2 male variegatus and 2 females:

Among the many Yellow Wagtail, I had this pretty superciliaris :

Greater Short-toed Larks were the commonest bird in the field with many hundreds:

I then moved on to the new constructed wetland of Lotan. These small ponds are excellent and had many birds. I found there this very worn Buff-bellied Pipit. I did not manage to get a decent shot of it, only this record shot:

There was a very pretty male Citrine Wagtail there too, but one of our groups arrived to see the pipit and I was unable to photograph it. At the swimming pool I had this pretty male Caspian Stonechat sat nicely on an Ochradenus baccatus bush:

In the afternoon I led the 'Rambo Tour'. We left Eilat and started heading north. Two minutes before we drove past KM 76 I got a text from Tom Nordblad about a Cyprus Wheatear there - perfect timing (thanks Tom!). We made a tiny detour and found the wheatear quickly; all the group had great views.

We continued to Shezaf NR. We parked our vehicle and almost immediately located an Arabian Warbler in a nearby acacia. It played hard to get for a few minutes but eventually we all got good views of it. I had a funny incident when it flew into a tree and from the other side came out an Eastern Orphean Warbler that almost destroyed my reputation in bird identification... But then the correct bird showed and I could breathe again. 96 noisy Spotted Sandgrouse flying over us added to the excitement.

We drove further north to the southern Judean Desert. For the festival we managed to obtain special permits to enter the NR at night, and after a short walk into an impressive canyon we reached a Hume's Owl territory. Sure enough it started calling instantly and we all enjoyed great views of the male sat on top of a small cliff, calling and posing!

Second target species in the bag, we headed down to Neot Hakikar, and after about 20 seconds of searching found a Nubian Nightjar sat next to us. We enjoyed breathtaking views from down to four meters, and then another bird showed just as well. With an extremely satisfied group we headed back to Eilat, most of the group snoring in the back and myself being entertained by our driver's bizzare stories... Arrived back at the hotel almost twenty hours after I began my day, but with lots of great experiences for one day!

Eilat festival update - day 2

Had a pretty good day today, long and busy. The festival is gaining speed and our groups are seeing excellent birds. I Took the morning tour first to the IBRCE. We had a good selection of migrant passerines, and one Indian Silverbill.

Balkan Warbler

Later on we went up to the Eilat mountains to watch some raptor migration. Take-off was pretty good with a few thousands of Steppe Buzzard mixed with Steppe Eagles, Black kites and a few other species. A short visit to Holland Park was hot and rather quiet but we had good views of one Rueppel's Warbler. Our last stop for the morning was at Ophira Park that produced some quality stuff such as this Wryneck feeding on ants:

While I was driving through the city I had a Corncrake on the main roundabout of the city - cool!

Afternoon at the North Beach was quite good, lots of gulls and ducks flying around. One Oystercatcher was a good bird for us Israelis. I spent some time photographing this obliging Western Reef Egret fishing in the canal - fantastic bird:

Eilat festival update - day 1

It's that time of year again... I joined the festival team today, and am looking forward to an exciting week. Previous festivals produced excellent birds and great birding experiences; I am sure that this festival will not disappoint.
I drove down rather late in the morning, so by the time we (Gal and myself) arrived at Hameyshar it was pretty hot and birdless. We did find 10 Bimaculated Larks though.
After settling down at the hotel, I led the afternoon tour. We visited the KM20 saltpans that were rather quiet but still some good stuff there - Ruddy Shelduck, Caucasian Stonechat and others. The KM19 sewage farm was much better with lots of stuff around. Best were two Little Crakes showing very well and two Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse that arrived at dusk for a drink. A great end to the first day!
The evening activity included a poolside cocktail party, a short introductory film and some words by Jonathan.
I will do my best to post daily updates so stay posted. I promise to have some images tomorrow, I was too lazy today...

Masked Wagtail!

yesterday my dinner was interrupted by an RBA message followed by a flood of text messages and phone calls, informing me that earlier in the afternoon Amir Ben Dov had found (and semi-supressed (-; ) a male Masked Wagtail at Ma'agan Michael. This is the 2nd record for Israel (the first was seen by a single observer in 1989). As this is a very distinctive form that will probably become a species in the near future (and a very beautiful bird), I had no choice but to twitch it today. I made an early start and arrived with Amir Balaban and Ron Haran right on time. we relocated the bird within a few minutes, and were actually happy and ready to head back home within a few minutes... Disgusting twitchers...

The bird was showing very well - it was feeding very actively, and was very territorial against other wagtails and other birds. But photography was not easy - light was shit and the bird kept its distance from us. But eventually I got some decent shots. A few other guys arrived later and the bird kept showing very well for everyone. Hopefully it stays for another day or two - Barak and Shachar are doing Atlas boxes for me in the south this weekend, unable to twitch this bird...

Well done Amir!!!

During the short time spent there we had quite a few quality birds - about 10 Citrine Wagtails (daily total of five wagtails - not bad...), three Gannets feeding offshore, and a Whimbrel flying about.

Egyptian Mongoose