Five years

Yesterday was a pretty big day for me. I celebrated five years of eBird checklist streak: for the past five years I have been out birding every day. 1825 consecutive days of eBirding, in which I went out birding every day. The last day that I didn't go birding was the 22nd of December 2018. eBird's rules for checklist streak are pretty fluid regarding the effort. I set myself a standard of daily meaningful birding, i.e. at least 30 minutes in proper birding mode, with binoculars around neck. I am pretty proud of this streak - during those five years my checklist streak was threatened by war, pandemic, eye injury, long flights. I endured all and somehow managed to keep going every day.

Kudos to my mate Dubi Shapiro for his stunning image appearing on eBird front page yesterday

To celebrate this special day, I wanted to go somewhere special. Can one celebrate during a war? Well, I can. I decided to go with Piki to Wadi Hemda in the Arava Valley, where a Basalt Wheatear has been present for a couple of weeks now. I spent many of those 1825 days of birding with Piki so it was very fitting to spend my anniversary together. We left very early to arrive on site at dawn. En route we encountered two beautiful Wolves by the roadside. My camera was in the back so thanks to Piki for sharing an image of this breathtaking beast of a hound. This one lost the tip of its tail, like my dog Lola (see below). In the back seat, Lola was very excited by the wolves. 

We arrived as planned just as the sun was rising over the mountains on the Jordanian side of the valley. In this image is my private wolf, Lola who is proving to be an excellent birding companion, just like her much-missed predecessor Bamba. 

We started searching for the wheatear all over the place. We checked every corner, bush and hill for a good couple of hours, no sign. Things were starting to look desolate, despite finding some nice birds during the search - several Greater Hoopoe-Larks, Asian Desert Warbler typically following a Desert Wheatear, and the remains of a dead Short-eared Owl.

Eventually, after a long search, we found the bird (on the other side of the road). We enjoyed wonderful views of it, foraging very actively. I have special feelings for the Basalt Wheatear. Whether it's a full species or a morph or a subspecies, it's a very special bird with a tiny population. After becoming quite regular in winter until 2020, it was totally absent for the two previous winters. So this bird was very welcome. 

Depending on the light and angle it can look quite sooty brown

In flight the whitish wing flashes show, as well as the complete terminal tail band

Yosef was there too, and later on he notified us that he had trapped the bird for his research. It was fascinating to watch the bird from up close - it was identified as a 1st-calendar female. The whitish tips to primary and carpal coverts are typical for a young Basalt Wheatear. 

Note the partial moult, with replaced greater and lesser coverts and inner alula. 

eBird checklist here. 

After enjoying this special wheatear we continued to Ovda Valley. One section of the valley experienced a massive flood last week, and was looking great. There were good numbers of common birds there, nothing special, just nice to be out in great weather, with fine company. eBird checklist here.

Quick quiz: take five seconds and estimate how many Spanish Sparrows are in this flock:

Five years of @Team_eBird checklist streak! 1825 consecutive days of birding. Basalt Wheatear is a proper bird to celebrate. Here's to another five. Thanks Piki for the wolf pic pic.twitter.com/LV3C59a9Cs

— Yoav Perlman (@yoavperlman) December 21, 2023

Here's to another five years!

364

Well, I wasn't expecting THAT

It started yesterday, I headed down to Eilat for a leisurely overnighter of scuba diving. My birding expectations were very limited. En route I stopped at Hameishar for a quick look. It was very dry and pretty quiet. I did find one Asian Desert Warbler but it wouldn't play ball. This Long-legged Buzzard did.

This morning I had a bit of time for pre-breakfast birding before scuba diving. I checked Wadi Zefahot in the Eilat Mts. It was quiet there, a small flock of five Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse was very nice (thanks Piki), but they were super shy.

Commoner desert species weren't shy at all.

White-crowned Wheatear

Blackstart

As I was heading to breakfast Noam Weiss calls me: 'Come quick! I have a Dideric Cuckoo!'. Thanks Noam! I had little time to think, I skipped breakfast and drove to the IBRCE, my heart beating very fast. I arrived while it was being ringed by Shachar - so small! Weighing 24 gr only. Then it was taken to a photo session before being released back to where it was trapped. While taking photos of it an oriental Honey-Buzzard flew over. Classic.

Thanks Amir for the photo

This young male represents the second record for Israel. I actually saw the first one, in March 1994, few hundred meters from the spot it was found today. Barak uploaded this photo on FB - I am not sure who is the photographer. I am on the left, aged 18 with my first scope, Kowa TS1. Barak is second from the right. It was found by Mark Lawlor who volunteered at IBRCE that time.

This brings my annual total of bird species seen in Israel to 364. With less than two hours left, I think now I can call it a final figure.

Desert weekend

This weekend I participated (and helped the organisers) in the annual Great Desert Survey, coordinated by IBRCE, INPA and Eilot Regional Council. As last year, the event was a huge success and great fun. About 40 teams covered the remotest parts of the southern desert, collecting valuable data for conservation. Personally, I had a great time. My polygons weren't the busiest, but between them and general birding outside the polygons, I got to see some top birds. It was a difficult weekend for photography - I was too busy and/or with other people, so photo opps were limited.

On Friday morning I worked southeast of Ovda Valley, in a nice sandy wadi. There were lots of wheatears about, but I couldn't find a basalt of my own. I enjoyed this male Hooded Wheatear:

Born in 2019 - check moult limit in coverts:

Typically, wheatears were followed by Asian Desert Warblers. None were obliging, but it's always fun to see theצ running on the sand like rodents:

 

I usually don't pay much attention to Cattle Egrets, but this one that appeared in the middle of nowhere, flew directly towards us and started foraging right beside us was somewhat special:

eBird checklist here.

After we were done, we went to pay respect to a new Basalt Wheatear found nearby by Rony:

In the afternoon I did a few more bits and pieces, hoping that the African Crake would get released, no joy. After dusk I went with Re'a to Yotvata that delivered the goods - Egyptian Nightjar and Pharaoh Eagle Owl, here showing the diagnostic barred underparts:

On Saturday morning, before my polygon, I quickly checked a wadi for Pallid Scops Owl (successfully, thanks Miguel!). My polygon was in another wadi deep in the desert. It was rather quiet - the weather was not enjoyable, neither for birds nor for humans, very cold and windy. We did manage a couple of Temminck's Larks and Desert Wheatears - gotta love 'em:

eBird checklist here.

On the way out stopped for a quick scan at a spot that looked promising for Hoopoe Lark - boom! After a couple minutes of scanning one walked into view, albeit too distant:

Our route out passed by yet another Basalt Wheatears found earlier by Ohad (#7 this season, all within about 10X10 km) - it would have been rude to drive by without stopping to say hello. 

On the way back home we stopped at Hameishar Plains (as many others did) - excellent birding there. Hameishar did not receive rain this winter yet, so there is no annual germination, but last winter's productivity left tons of seeds on the ground, and lark numbers are good as a response. Best were 23 Thick-billed Larks, also many Temminck's, Bar-tails, sandgrouse etc. eBird checklist here.

Thick-billed Larks

Temminck's Lark

Crowned Sandgrouse

Many thanks to Noam, Itai and the rest of the organising team, including Hai Bar staff for hosting the whole event. My team - Golan, Noga and Yossi were great, thank you! 

Wheatear-fest

This morning I birded with Meidad in the far south. We started birding the purple patch of Upper Wadi Hayun, which is practically the northern end of Ovda Valley. This section of the valley is lush and green after some rain a few weeks ago.

This productivity attracts caterpillar-eating birds, and indeed wheatear densities were exceptionally high. White-crowned, Mourning and Black-tailed (AKA Blackstart) Wheatears were present in unusually big numbers. Among the rare wheatears, first up was the Kurdish Wheatear found a few days ago, a fine 1cy male. Very nice plumage, but he didn't want to play ball. When we first found him, he flew towards us, as if checking whether we had mealworms on offer. We didn't, so he kept his distance and was usually in a bad angle. Yet, a great bird to watch.

Only a short way up the wadi we had a Basalt Wheatear, one of three currently present in Ovda Valley. Like Mr. Kurdish, he was disappointed that we did not provide any free protein, and punished us with relatively distant views and very skittish behaviour. Unlike some previous Basalt Wheatear fashion-show experiences (see here for example), this guy (he was singing) did not allow me proper photography. 

Note the diagnostic pale tips to primary coverts:

I got some semi-decent flight shots though, demonstrating the white wing flashes (especially prominent on underwing) and full terminal tail band. Quality bird, rubbish photographer.

Not too many birds besides the wheatear bonanza. Asian Desert Warbler, Fieldfare and Merlin worth noting. eBird checklist here.

We then continued to check the central Ovda valley, near the 'black hills' Somewhat quieter, but some Temminck's and Bar-tailed Larks were nice. On the way home checked the lower section of Wadi Hayun, where it meets the Arava valley. It was pretty damn quiet there (eBird checklist here), with another Asian Desert Warbler being one of the few birds seen.

Thanks to Meidad for a great day.