Patch OBP!

If I was super-chuffed to find a Richard's Pipit on my local dog-walk patch a few days ago, I can report that today I am mega-chuffed. My routine dog walk along wadi Ekron near my house started well with a distinct wave of Red-backed Shrikes - 4 birds right outside my house; then it got better by finding my first Spotted Crake for the patch:

A couple of minutes later I heard a familiar call, saw a pipit approaching from the north - Olive-backed Pipit! Got on it through the bins while I tried to reach my phone to sound-record it, but it was too quick. Managed to see a bold head pattern, and plain greenish mantle as it flew away. It did not drop down but continued to fly on low, disappearing between the houses. I spent some time trying to relocate it without success. I was over the moon - while Richard's Pipit is a fine bird but 'only' scarce, OBP is a proper national rarity and a local patch classic. I am so happy that my local patch delivers quality so quickly. Sadly no documentation for now - hope it reappears in the next few days.
The rest of the dog walk was actually pretty good, for the site. Wryneck was sweet, and I am happy to welcome Bluethroat and Chiffchaff - both species were first noted on my walk yesterday. Check my eBird checklist here.

Shame about the reed across the breast

My contribution to Global Big day

Today was eBird's October Global Big Day. For me it was a day full of family commitments, so all I managed to do is a good and intensive morning session. I birded Tal Shachar and Tsor'a area, mostly solo but I joined some other birders there for short periods. The big September push is gone, but there were still plenty of birds at some spots, and I made the most out of the variety. It was a solid morning, with new species getting onto my list continuously. I had no real rarities, but relative highlights were a Richard's Pipit (found yesterday by Piki), Wood Warbler, male Pallid Harrier, and sweet raptor migration. I ended up with 101 species - pretty satisfying IMO. Check out my full eBird checklist here.

Whinchats

Sedge warbler in the alfalfa

 Spotted Flycatcher

Willow Warbler

Wood Warbler record shot

Lesser Spotted Eagles

Red-footed Falcon - adult male

Urban Dicky and more

This morning I walked my dog at our usual spot, a bit later in the morning than usual - I normally walk my dog at the crack of dawn, before there's proper light. Before leaving home I thought to myself, 'should I carry my camera?' - na... Shortly after we started walking I saw a large passerine descend down from great altitude. It did not call but I instantly recognised it - Richard's Pipit! I managed to see it on the deck for a few seconds, and was eager to document it somehow. Failed to digibin it, so tried to sound record it with my phone when it takes off. It soon did, uttering a couple of weak calls, and circled around me for a couple of minutes. The poor sound recording is in my eBird checklist here. It landed again, then took off again - it was very restless at this busy site, flying between the houses. I alerted Alon, a birder who lives nearby, and ran off home with Bamba to get my camera, some 300 meters away. Before running back I had a look out from my garden and saw it circle again - on the garden list too! Then Alon joined me and we watched the bird for several minutes. Still totally restless and flighty, so we let it be.

Though Richard's Pipit is only a scarce migrant in Israel, and now is its peak time of year, I am super chuffed to find it on my patch, in an urban setting. My neighbourhood is largely under construction, so there's a bit of rough ground left, more suitable for a pipit. My first decent patch bird in the month I'm here. That Alon saw it too added to my enjoyment of the mini-discovery.

Yesterday was THE day for Lesser Spotted Eagle migration. More than 40,000 passed over Israel, almost half of the estimated world population in one day! I assume that about 30,000 passed over my house, with some breathtaking scenes, but of course I was away yesterday. I had meetings at Ma'agan Michael, so again I spent a couple of very hot hours birding in the fishponds and along the beach before the meeting. Because of the heat, passerines were few, but shorebirds provided some relative quality. There was a Red (Grey) Knot on the beach, and a Red-necked Phalarope in an excellent empty fishpond. Both have been there for a week now. Other birds of note were a Corncrake I flushed while driving around, and 3 Citrine Wagtails. My full eBird checklist is here.

Red-necked Phalarope and friends

Happy hour

It was another day of massive raptor migration today, and my house's position on the main highway rewarded me with brilliant migration overhead. I stepped outside and first bird I saw was a stonking Steppe Eagle, low over my garden. I ran back in to get my camera but I lost it. But there were tons of birds up in the air, so I stayed outside. It was around midday, so birds were very high up. Maybe no as spectacular views as I had a couple of days ago, but it felt so good, bringing back nostalgic memories of the many years I counted raptors for weeks every autumn as part of my job. It was such a great hour, actually 38 minutes of joy, that I think they're worthy of a blogpost. During those 38 minutes I counted 1456 raptors of 13 species. And when this happens in my garden, with a cold beer in my hand, I feel vert content. Main species were Black Kite 608, Lesser Spotted Eagle 454, Levant Sparrowhawk 368. Full eBird Checklist here.

Black Stork

Booted Eagle

Lesser Spotted Eagle

Black Kites, Marsh Harrier and a few Levants

Marsh Harrier

Unlike most other raptors that don't look down when they migrate, Short-toed Eagles often feed on the wing. I watched this youngster leave a stream, drop several hundred meters for a scan after a juicy snake, and moved on.

After 38 minutes I had to get inside (my daughter's birthday), but whenever I found an excuse to look outside the aerial highway was still busy. 

Skyfull of birds

Yesterday early morning I headed over to Ben Shemen forest, to witness the anticipated massive Lesser Spotted eagle take-off. In the previous afternoon massive numbers had been moving until late, so it was expected that they will roost at their traditional roost site. When I got there few eagles were seen perched on treetops. While waiting for the air to heat up and the eagles to take off, I walked around in the adjacent scrub and olive grove, where I enjoyed nice numbers of migrants and some favourite species too:

Eastern Black-eared Wheatear

Tree Pipit

Spotted Flycatcher

Many shrikes around, this male Red-backed Shrike was one of those individuals with some white primary bases:

Masked Shrike

Turkish Meadow Brown

Olive grove and scrub; non-native pine forest in the background where the eagles roost

Then the main show started. When the eagles decided it's warm enough to start searching for thermals, large numbers started pouring over from all directions. The skies were full of birds in all directions. First low, soon they started to gain height using the first thermals of the morning. Some individuals passed very close, allowing the assembled crowd to admire their plumage variation:

Lesser Spotted Eagle, made in 2018

When the thermals started forming very close to where we were positioned, the obligatory 'Whoooo' and 'Wow' were noted.

Soon the eagles were too high for photography, but the continuous stream intensified - many hundreds of eagles that had roosted in the forest were now on the move.

Mixed among them were some other species. There were a fair number of Levant Sparrowhawks, but all larger flocks were very distant and into the sun, so no photos of flocks sadly.

Go Ninja!

This lucky Levant probably made a narrow escape from a Lebanese poacher the day before:

Western Black Kite - 1cy

Dark Booted Eagle (with adult Lesser Spot)

Pale Booted Eagle (with adult Lesser Spot)

Long-legged Buzzard 1cy - possibly a local bird

Other than those species here was a Greater Spotted Eagle, and a group that stood in another spot had an Eleonora's Falcon.

Well that was awesome! Amazing to think that now the birds might be already across the Gulf of Suez after crossing Israel and Sinai. Migration Champions!

Check my full eBird checklist here.

Introduction to my new life

At the start of September I moved to a house in a new place for me - Mazkeret Batya. It's a small town in the centre of the country, right at the edge of the huge metropolin of greater Tel Aviv:

My neighbourhood is rather new, and still partially under construction. Most gardens are still barren, and there are few trees. But only few hundred meters from my house is Wadi Ekron that holds some water and has a bit of vegetation. 

Because this is Israel, even a tiny bit of habitat in any random place attracts migrants. And after four years of living in no-migration zone, I appreciate this very much. Very early, every morning, I walk my dog here before schoolrun. It's a lovely little site that holds migrants and has the potential to surprise. I try to eBird every morning, but usually these visits are all too brief, and too early for some species. A typical early morning visit produces fewer migrants, mainly acros that are active from very early, but visits later on produce a wider range of species. Since I started birding there the most prominent migrant was Sedge Warble; Reed, Willow and Savi's Warblers and Red-backed Shrikes are present almost daily. In the early morning I often have nocturnal migrants coming in to land, such as Tree Pipit. Some quality came in the form of Little Crake, and a few Golden Orioles.

Sedge Warbler

Willow Warbler

Red-backed Shrike

There are plenty of dragonflies, butterflies and other wildlife around, but I have not started to deal with them yet. 

Plain Tiger

Common Tortoise

Mazkeret Batya is right on the main autumn raptor migration motorway. Whenever I have time I sit outside and enjoy the supreme views I have to the northern skies, often accompanied by a cold beer. Almost every day there is movement, usually around midday when the stream is very high up and photo-opps are limited. I have had some pretty decent sessions - check this. 

Lesser Spotted Eagles

Mazkeret Batya is close to some excellent birding areas. Whenever I get the chance I check one of the sites near my home that provide a more 'complete' experience than my limited immediate local patch. Tsor'a Valley has brilliant habitats and is truly packed with birds. On my last visit there I had a Common Rosefinch among many other species, some of them rather colourful. 

European Roller and European Bee-eaters

There are several reservoirs nearby my home, that in winter hold important numbers of ducks, notably up to 10% of the global population of White-headed Duck. Of note are Hulda Reservoir, and the sewage works of Matash Ayalon. They are fun to visit year-round.

In a couple of weeks raptor migration will be over, but new birds will arrive. I am looking forward to this turnover, and will keep reporting here and on eBird. Stay tuned.