Quality birding day

Back at the field, I started my day at the IBRCE with a highly comfortable lifer- a Greylag Goose! This species is a very rare winter visitor and passage migrant in Israel. The bird was first seen yesterday by Barak and Shachar at the North beach, and later on at the IBRCE By the team. March 2007 provided a similar case, with the observer James Smith and the goose- Israel's first Bean Goose…

Right after seeing the goose I joined Yossi Eshbol, an Israeli nature and birds photographer for a day in the southern Arava. Before we left the IBRCE I clearly asked the volunteers not to catch anything too interesting while I'm away. They obviously didn't listen to me and caught a male Menetries's Warbler of the rubescens ssp.! I was out of reach deep in the mountains and the guys let the bird fly before I got back…thus I haven't any photos of the bird.
Roni was kind enough to give us two of his ecxellent photos:

I spent the afternoon around Lotan and Yotvata. This was my first time at Lotan's new sewage works. This site held many Wagtails of 4 species , some Pipits, 4  LR Plovers and other nice migrants. I'm sure this place will produce some excellent stuff during the season.

We ended the day at Yotvata's northern circular field. This place holds many birds and birdwatchers these days. We got great views of some 70 Bimaculated larks among few hundred ST Larks , 3 beautiful and rather cooperative Caspian Plovers , 2 Pallid Harriers , 1 Merlin, 3 Lesser kestrels and many more common migrants.

I can't remember two days  with so many RBAs- Pide&Cyprus Wheatears, Dun's lark, Goose, Warbler, a Swan sp., and of course the  Masked wagtail from Ma'agan Michael…looks like bird are showing up for the 5^th spring migration festival beginning tomorrow.

 I will try to keep the blog updated for the coming week, so stay tuned as there are many birders around and the good bird will surely come.

Good night