Migration resumes?!

The 7th Eilat Bird Festival is behind us and despite not getting to our usual final checklist of 240 species, we still managed to get a nice assembly of species, some not very commonly seen neither at any of the past festivals nor every spring like these Hill Sparrow, Black Bush Robins & Pharaoh Eagle Owl and no less than 3 White-tailed Plovers!

During the last 2-3 days a big wave of Warblers, Hirundines, Wheatears and Raptors throughout the region and today we got our first Subalpine Warbler at the IBRCE ringing station and more were seen and photographed in many wadies around Eilat.

A report of 2 Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse at Holland Park from this morning (Y. Baser) shuld also be mentioned with respect to the species scarcity over the last 10-15 years. I hope that the many green patches in the desert, after the last winter, will help the very sensitive local population which has dropped dramatically in numbers.
  
Below is a small collection of bird photos taken by Eilat resident photographers Yael & Shimon Shiff...