Great fun - Italiano style...

It's been very quiet, strangely, since my last post. There were not so many birds around and the nice beginning of November seemed to have change atmosphere and it felt as if nothing is moving. During this time is still managed to see most of the regular stuff for the season, but there was no major attraction.

On the 10th a nice Ferruginus Duck was on a small water pond next to K19 Sewage farm

Also I managed to find almost daily a family of Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse feeding and resting happily in the desert. On Friday I planed to meet Mattia and Andr'eas from Italy and it was good to make sure that these sandgrouses are staying around in one place...

I met the guys early in the morning and we drove to check how does K 76-77 looks like. It was freezing cold, but we managed at last to find some Bar-tailed Larks, many Desert Wheatears and a group of Crowned Sandgrouses

We then drove up to Uvda Valley to check what is going on there. No less than 40 Temminck's Larks along with the same number of Bar-tailed Larks were running around and to top it up a group of 6-10 Thick-billed Larks were also flying among them. Both Mattia and Andr'eas were very pleased to see all these, but unfortunately they kept some distance most of the time so I couldn't get any good photo.

Look for the Temminck's

In Neot Smadar many Eastern Stonechats and a nice dark adult Steppe Buzzard.

Later in the Arava it was already hot and except for a Richard's Pipit in Yotveta, all the rest were "usual's" Red-throated Pipits; Hooded, Desert, Isabeline & Northern Wheatears; Bluethroats; Namaqua Doves... 

We couldn't find the sandgrouses in their usual spot, but thankfully 6 birds came to drink in their usual drinking place.

On our way back to Lotan we stopped again in search of night life and found a Barn Owl hunting in Yotveta and a great list of mammals Red Fox, Golden Jackal, Scrub Hare and probably the jewel in the crown; a beautiful Striped Hyaena who was posing for 2-3 minutes looking very calm (I hope that Andr'eas took some good photos, as I kept on holding the light...)

Saturday morning I received a call from Mattia saying that they found a Yellow-browed Warbler in Lotan. When I came to Lotan later in the day, it was still at the same spot and despite being very quiet, it was very eager to see where is this YbW that is singing from my player...

Re'a who came for a visit has failed with the YbW, but reported of a Fieldfare in Lotan (Yoatm also had one earlier this week in Netafim wadi andi had another 2 in Samar).

Thank you to Mattia and Andr'eas for a great weekend and I hope to have more to report soon... 

A good start for the rarity month...

November is known to be a very interesting month with many migrants still passing and first winter birds arriving. On the October 31st i was joined by Eyal Shochat for a morning out in the Arava. After checking the Ye'elim 'ghost village' for interesting Phyloscupus, I met Eyal at Yotveta and we drove to see if the Bimac's are still around on the circular field and also to see if any new birds arrived.

Indeed we found the 6 Bimaculated Larks still present with the same low numbers of Short-toed Larks, Red-throated Pipits and White Wagtails, but unfortunatly they kept on flying away so the only photo i managed to get is this huge crop...

Also in the fields we found at least two different morphs of Mourning Wheatear probably representing two different subspecies

The most interesting bird on the field though was a male Linnet which is considered a good rarity for the region though a common breeder up north.

We than proceeded south and stopped at Samar Sewage where I found in the morning a very obliging Jack Snipe among the more usual waders.

After checking more sites on the way south we finished by checking North Beach and the only bird present except for White Wagtails, House Sparrows and House Crows was this beauty Western Reef Heron.

On November 1st, i had very little time to be out in the field and i decided to check the K19 Sewage works. There was nothing worth noting inside, but on the fence sat a fresh female Pied Wheatear! This used to be a very big rarity in Israel, but due to better literature, optics and field skills, singles are now annually reported around Eilat and the southern Arava.

As i was learning the Wheatear, suddenly all the Pigeons from the nearby cowshed went up to the sky and a big Falcon was flying very gracefully among them, a first year Lanner was playing with the Pigeons around... Lanner have become very unusual around Eilat and it is probably the first I've seen around Eilat for the last year and a half.

I am driving north tomorrow, for the weekend, I can't wait to be back and see what's new around... 

November is nearly there...

On Saturday, I went out with Orr Shpigel for few hours in the morning to see if we can find any of the area interesting species and also to try and find more migrants that are still moving through.

We've managed to re-locate the Hoopoe Larks which I've found 2 weeks ago, this time with a group of 6-7 Bar-tailed Larks, and many White Wagtails.

Later we drove to Samar turf fields and had the usual Red-throated Pipits and the usual mix of Desert, Northern, Isabeline, Mourning and Hooded Wheatears. In Elifaz sewage we had big concentrations of Bluethroats a single Savi's Warbler within a wave of Reed Warblers and Chiffchafs, a trio of Squacco Herons and a nice Goshawk flying south.

Later, I joined my family for a day of snorkelling in Eilat. On our way back, late afternoon, I had a strange Tern-like bird flying over Eilat Port coming from south. When I stopped the car, I could easily show the kids and Tal (my wife) an adult Black-winged Kite which was flying gracefully over our heads (what a shame I didn't carry any camera with me...) 

This morning I was joined by Shai Kabessa (manager of the Hai-bar Yotveta) to check if there are any new arrivals at the Yotveta fields.

There are not too many birds, but a group of 6 Bimaculated Larks among the Red-throated Pipits, White Wagtails and Short-toad Larks were a nice treat.

Later we found another pair of Hoopoe Larks around Yotveta fields that gave us a wonderful show including a great flight dance.

At Yotveta sewage there are hundreds of White Wagtails and Bluethroats and a single White-throated Kingfisher, which is not a common bird down here, as well as Spotted Redshank, Little Stints and Ruffs. 

In Samar Sewage, among the common migrant waders a late Little Ringed Plover (most have passed through by mid Oct') and the first Desert Finch for the season.


November is nearly there...

Last week of October

Autumn is progressing and groups of Eurasian Cranes are seen daily, with a single Demoiselle Crane yesterday flying very fast in the strong northern wind within a group of 10 Eurasian Cranes above K20. Unfortunately, by the time I took out my camera, it was already too far for anything...

Also around K20, numbers of waders is quit steady but there seem to be rising numbers of Pied Avocets, Northern Shovelers and Northern Pintails.

A single Grey Plover has also joined the ponds. Last year we had 4-5 wintering birds, I wonder if this is one of them?!

Northern Lapwings are very common up north, but around the southern Arava, we see them less often. Though they are not a big rarity, it is always nice to see them in this habitat... 

During last weekend i got a report from Mori Chen of a strange Plover at the cowshed of Kibbutz Neve Harif, after seeing his photo, it was clear that this is a nice White-tailed Plover I hope it will stay for the winter...

On the Passerine front, there is a steady growth of Desert, Isabeline and Northern Wheatears and few Black-eared and Mourning Wheatears are also around. Chiffchafs are present already and I caught 2 of them at the IBRCE.

Growing numbers of White Wagtails, Red-throated Pipits and the first Water Pipits are seen on most places and as I write these lines, I can see through my window the first Black Redstarts male and female for the season. Bar-tailed Larks are also very visible in many traditional sites and today I had my first Temminck's Lark  for this Autumn, feeding next to K20 ponds.

The Pharaoh Eagle Owl  in Yotveta, is very cooperative and there were at least 2 Eurasian Nightjars also flying in Yotveta and another one in Eilat during this week.

Yoatm reported yesterday of a Golden Eagle flying in the Mts. this has become a very rare sight around Eilat and southern Arava in recent years, i wonder where did it come from?!

Greater Spotted and Booted Eagles as well as Black Kites, Marsh Harriers, Barbary Falcons are also seen almost daily now.

Stay tuned and I will keep updating as soon as I can,

Itai  

Autumn is great in the desert

Yesterday we (my wife and kids) joined the important event which was carried out at the Samar dunes to try and prevent the operation of a new sand quarry. These dunes are the last remaining dunes on the Israeli side of the Arava which are open for the public and hold a very interesting and important wildlife.

The event went on well and it was great to see so many people from the area and also from throughout Israel who came to support the dunes.

Today i decided to check the area of K33 and also the turf field of Samar.

On my way i received a txt message from a visiting British birding group that a Black-winged Kite was spotted and seen very well around the K19 cowshed. This species is certainly spreading in Israel. A growing number of records for the species are coming from all corners of the country. We also had 1-2 birds last autumn around Eilat and the Arava (the photo is from last year).

I than proceeded along the old Arava Rd. when suddenly a pair of Hoopoe Lark were jumping next to me, not far from where I've seen them with Re'a last December.

I then drove to Samar where I met Shachar Alterman and plenty of Red-throated Pipits, White Wagtails, a single Caspian Stonechat and one of each Desert, Hooded and Isabeline Wheatears. On my way back I met again the British gang next to Elifaz sewage where we had a White-winged Tern, Bluethroat and 3 Squacco Herons. I learned that they've missed the Larks but had a lone Osprey flying around the area where I had the Larks.

Back on the road towards Eilat, a family of 5 Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse were posing under the shade of a lone Acacia tree. When I txt this to the British gang, they were already too far, but responded that after I left them, they had a Red-breasted Flycatcher at the date plantation next to the Elifaz sewage.

As November (the rarity month) is just around the corner, I hope to have more sightings to report soon...

Wheatears, Cranes and more

Today I had a day of meetings up at the Arava. It was a great opportunity to check the ground and see how many migrants are around...

I first stopped at Yotveta fields. The southern circular field was packed with many hundreds Short-toed Larks (STL) and Red-throated Pipits (RtP). Among them were also two Richard's Pipits and a group of Tawny Pipits were flying by.

A surprise, though not a big rarity, was a pair of Cream-coloured Coursers which were walking around. This species is much more common in the Northern and central Negev and around here seen mostly during autumn and winter.

after the first meetings in Lotan i had a nice Mourning Wheatear (another northern and central Negev bird that is seen around the Arava mostly during autumn and winter).

I than climbed up towards Shizafon and found Black-eared, Hooded and White-crowned Black Wheatears together with more STL's, RtP's Yellow Wagtails and many Red-backed Shrikes. 

 Mrs. Hooded

 Mr. Hooded

 Mr. Hooded checking the neighbors

Around 10:30 I heard a distant call of Eurasian Cranes and not far after I found a small group of 83 birds flying due SE in a shape of a giant man (or what Uri, my son, called Lukas the "Gormiti" who guard the forests...) After this group passed i had another group of 200 birds and another group of 650 birds all flying in the same general direction. 

Just before going into my next meetings, I decided to check the Ovda Valley if there are any migrating Larks already?! No larks were found, but a nice group of some 35 Spotted Sandgrouse and 10-15 Crowned Sandgrouse.

Nothing like a good birding day out in the desert !!!

As for our Sooty Falcon survey, the 6 territories I've been following are still active around. Any day now I expect to see young birds fledging out of their nests...

Vultures Conservation

Between the 18-22 September, the Israel Ornithological Centre (IOC) together with the Israeli Nature and Parks Authority (INPA) and the Israeli Electric Corporation (IEC) have organised an International Conference and workshop on the Conservation of Vultures in Israel. I will be attending some parts of this workshop and will update on it when I'm back.

Mean while, I would like to get you all into the subject of Vulture Conservation using this great video which was produced as part of the International Vulture Awareness Day in Kenya, a country I have strong affiliation with after living there for 4.5 years (and travelling frequently up and down since 1997).

I think that this is one of the most important conservation issues in Kenya and surely that it is also affecting the birds which migrate into our side of the globe like Egyptian Vultures.  


Numbers of Egyptian Vultures in Israel have fallen down over the last 20 years very drastically, and it is believed to be partly due to their wintering grounds situation.

Griffon Vultures colonies in Israel have shown a very steep decline due to many reasons but one of the most important, is poisoning of cattle as part of breeders battles on grazing land...

Surely I will have much more to say on the subject after the workshop. Mean while, I will be happy if you will distribute this video and also send your comments on the subject.


On the birding front, migrants are coming through. The most interesting one is a beautiful male Ruppell's Warbler which was jumping next to the ringing station at the IBRCE. Re'a got some record shots which I'm sure will come later... and a group of 4 Rose-coloured Starlings flying east towards the Aqaba Bird Observatory