Not much is moving around Eilat and the Arava during the Summer (with daily temp' rising to 46 deg' centigrade I can't really blame anyone...) Nevertheless it is worth checking the Gulf of Aqaba for late passage of Terns and Gulls as well as searching for those early fledglings pelagic species.
Last Sat' I went with Avi and Ilan for a short morning boat drive, in search of those pelagic species and indeed we had groups of Common & Little Terns flying around and a lone Sooty Shearwater and Cory's Shearwater. Also around we had beautiful White-eyed Gulls in full breeding plumage and many 'tatty' looking Slender-billed Gulls in heavy moult. Earlier in the week there were reports of Bridled Tern but we couldn't find any.
On Sunday morning I had a spare half an hour and I found 2 Arctic Skua's flying north inland. Yesterday, I've spotted an adult Arctic Tern flying among a group of 20 Common Terns almost exactly a year after I found one 1st summer at the same location.
So despite the heat, it is still interesting around and I hope that more will come soon.
Itai
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