Spring bliss

This morning was one of those mornings that demonstrate best (to me at least) why I am a birder and how rewarding being a birder can be. I visited Mt. Amasa, at the southern tip of the Judean Mts. This is one of my favourite birding sites in March - the habitat is beautiful, the landscape is stunning, and birding is magnificent. The open, rocky slopes, now covered with flowers, attract juicy migrants, and support healthy populations of quality breeding species. For me, a mid-March visit to Mt. Amasa is really one of the highlights of my birding year in Israel. I know the sites there very well, and I could predict almost precisely what and where I would see. It made no difference - it was a beautiful morning, albeit a bit short (family stuff...).

I met up early with Barak (in the photo above), Avi & Ron. At first we checked around the ruins of Tel Krayot, then descended to the adjacent Wadi Tov. It was a bit cold early on but soon the sweet warm sun lit up some beautiful birds for us. Check out this handsome 2cy male Woodchat Shrike, likely a migrant (not quite in breeding habitat), glowing in the soft early morning light:

There were really nice numbers of Cretzschmar's Buntings, several flocks moving through and quite many hopping on the rocks. They do breed here but despite some males bursting into their sweet 'Si-si-seee' song, I think they were mostly migrants.

Male

Female

Using the ruins and boulders as breeding sites, there were good numbers of Rock Sparrow, Blue Rock-Thrush and Eastern Black-eared Wheatear, all seen in advanced breeding activity. Wait for it and turn your volume up:

Down by the wadi there were more Sylvia warblers in the scattered bushes, including Rueppell's, Eastern Orphean and Eastern Subalpine. I have seen brighter subalps before - still a very neat bird.

There were many redstarts about - lots of wintering Western Blacks still here, one cracking male Eastern Black (likely semirufa), and several Commons, including three male Ehrenberg's. Barak talking in the background:

Twas also fun watching several Wrynecks rockhopping. Always fascinating birds.

There were many common migrants around. I enjoyed that immensely. A few scarcities weren't seen this morning (Cinereous Bunting, Rufous-tailed Rock-Thrush) - next time hopefully. More images and videos in the eBird checklist here.

Migration fall

 The bad weather in Israel continued, and yesterday a serious system hit our coast. I guessed that birds would avoid the storm epicenter and make landfall farther south. So this morning I went birding in Ashkelon NP with Piki and Yossi, and I guessed well. Soon after starting to walk we realised that the coastal scrub is absolutely dripping with migrants. It was also dripping with water - rain downpours passed us every few minutes, so the birds were very wet, as we were. 

It really was exploding with birds. By far the most abundant was Lesser whitethroat - we made a conservative estimate of over 600 during our walk. They were really everywhere, jumping up from the wet grass every step we took. Also Blackcap and Chiffchaff were present at very high numbers. It was difficult to capture this magical experience in photos, but the sights of tens of warblers in every bush were very impressive.

Lesser Whitethroats

There were exceptional numbers of Rueppell's Warbler too - we estimated 45. They were very vocal and typically showed very well, jumping out in the open. Also Eastern Orphean Warbler was well represented. 

Rueppell's Warbler

There were so many other birds - tons of Cretzschmar's Buntings, pipits, nightingales, and some quality in the form of Richard's Pipit, Sibe Stonechat, Blue Rock-thrush. In fact, at some points it felt like there were too many birds, and it became impossible to check every bird. Certainly there were too many birds for photography - birds were jumping and moving in every direction. For me this was a peak day, one of the most impressive spring falls I have ever seen on the Mediterranean coast in spring. A day to remember.

Cretzschmar's Buntings

It was certainly hard to focus when at every time I quickly looked at the sea it was evident there were birds out there - skuas, shearwaters, gulls and terns - but we did our best to stay focused on the migrant landbirds.

'Baltic' Lesser Black-backed Gull

It was difficult to ignore the local Hoopoes, busy feeding their young.

Eventually the rain stopped and we just had a lovely time. Thank you spring.
eBird checklist here.

Mig mig

Migration is peaking now in Israel. The weather is still quite awful - midday temperatures soar into the mid 30's, but the early mornings offer some respite and are pleasant enough for birds and for birders. I keep going out birding every morning, even now during our second lockdown. I have fieldwork to do, and anti-poaching duties, which thankfully keep me outdoors. 

The fields and reservoirs near home are packed full with birds, offering some hope that we have not screwed the world up completely, yet. Often, early morning birding sessions end up with an impressive tally (check this representative checklist for example). Willow Warblers numbers are very low, but other species groups seem to be doing OK - shrikes, buntings, chats. Young Lesser Gray Shrikes are seen in numbers now - very neat birds:

Numbers of Cretzschmar's and Ortolans and even now - Cretzs still around in force:

Raptor migration is very prominent now. Luckily, I live on the main highway. Unlucky for me, I need to spend most hours of the day working indoors - wish I could sit outside all day with a cold beer and stare at the skies. However, every time I stick my head out of the air-conditioned house between 10:00 and 15:00 and look up there are convoys up in the sky, of Lesser Spotted Eagle, Levant Sparrowhawk, Honey Buzzard, Black Kite and many other species (check this checklist for example).

Lesser Spotted Eagle and two levants

Part of a flock of 800 Levant Sparrowhawks

It's a good time of year for shorebirds too. A visit to Ma'agan Michael offered good views of Bar-tailed Godwits - scarce in Israel:

Gan Shmuel fishponds hosted a Pectoral Sandpiper - I had to go and visit. 15th for Israel, I have seen a few before but always nice to connect with:

Pec Sand with friends

Best bird I found recently was yesterday - while birding with Piki in Tal Shachar (good fun!) we flushed a snipe from under our feet - it gave a familiar call, taking me back to November 1998 - Pin-tailed Snipe! In flight we noticed that there was no trailing edge, it was stocky with a short bill, but if flew away and out of sight. Sadly no photo but satisfying birding moment! We couldn't relocate it - hope it shows up again.

Sadly, not all of my work includes happy birding moments. On Friday I was called to retrieve a transmitter of a dead Bonelli's Eagle not far from home, and asses the cause of death. No need for detective work to make this assessment:

Unlockdown birding

While the entire country is in near-complete lockdown, I still do fieldwork. Paradoxically, while so many people in Israel and worldwide and out of work, I work even harder now, trying to get as much fieldwork done, to compensate for missing seasonal field technicians, before lockdown regulations tighten even further. I get to work in solitude, in wonderful habitats, during this lovely time of year - lucky me. I worked in Tzafit Hills NR, not far from home. Beautiful landscape, home to Mountain Gazelles

Many orchids, dominated by Long-lipped Serapias

And lots of migrants and good breeding birds, such as Cretzchmar's Buntings, looking pretty in early morning sun

Down south I worked in some remote desert sites, finding breeding evidence for several important species. It was fun to see this lone Squacco Heron flying solo over the desert, then landed in a small patch of suitable habitat - roadside barrier:

I enjoyed birding in Mitzpe Ramon park, normally very busy with people, now deserted and packed with birds, including two Syrian Serins

This morning I ringed at the Jerusalem Bird Observatory, that is experiencing a great migration season; sadly ringing activity is limited now by the capacity of permanent staff like myself. JBO is looking good now, with trees packed with birds. Most dominant this morning were Siskin and Hawfinch - huge numbers of both. Check this soundscape, of a flock of 180 Siskin chattering to each other:

Subalpine Warbler is always a treat:

As was my first-of-year Collared Flycatcher:

Fantastic orchids in flower there now:

Galilee Orchid

Three-toothed Orchid

Yellow Bee-orchid

Champions of the Flyway starts soon - will do my best tomorrow!

Happy spring

Best way to avoid Coronavirus and to stay mentally healthy is birding, isn't it? That's exactly what I did this morning, only in my case it's also work. I worked/birded in Tel Krayot/Mt. Amasa area. It was a fine morning, together with good friends Barak, Roni, Oded, Avi and Ron.
We started off early at the archaeological site of Tel Krayot (eBird checklist here). Most prominent were Blue rock-Thrushes - they were everywhere. They breed here, I even found a nest with eggs. Sadly, birds at this site are quite skittish - too much disturbance from herders I guess, so please accept these photos as habitat shots...

Nearby, Nahal Tov was pretty good. Highlight was this stonking male Rufous-tailed Rock-Thrush, showing its better side in this photo:

Numbers of Cretzschmar's Bunting are still a bit low, and we found no hoped-for Cinereous Bunting. However, can't complain about Cretzschmar's Bunting...

In this sound recording, a male gives some typical sharp calls and a short song sequence, then when a another bunting flew over he gave these soft bubbly contact calls:

There was some raptor migration up in the air, three Eurasian Crag-Martins flew by, and a single Syrian Serin did the same.

Beautiful flowers everywhere, including many Sharon Tulip:

On the way out, I stopped to admire impressive carpets of Lion's Leaf (Leontice leontopetalum) and Persian Lilly (Fritillaria persica):

Persian Lilly

Bamba posing

Batha fix

In recent days I have been doing fieldwork and guiding, which means busy and enjoyable times. Spending much time in the precious Batha habitat, which is so beautiful and productive these days. On Sunday I met up with the Eilat Bird Festival group, first at Har Amasa. It was horribly windy and the birds kept quiet and hidden. Despite missing some key species that are present there (Rock Thrush, Pale Rock Sparrow) and seeing relatively few birds, we still had some good encounters including a copulating pair of Common Cuckoo, female Subalpine Warbler, many Finsch's Wheatears, Persian Wheatear still, a cracking male Ehrenberg's Redstart etc.

This returning Finsch's Wheatear is a real performer

Yosef did a good lob with wheatears there. This is a returning Eastern Black-eared Wheatear:

Black Kite 

We had a great end to the evening with brilliant views of Nubian Nightjar at Neot Hakikar.

Yesterday morning I worked in the batha survey north of Jerusalem. Again stunning scenery, quality breeding birds and good number of migrants.

Cretzschmar's Bunting is a stunning bird

Rock Sparrows breeding activity was in full swing

On the way home stopped to check for Cinereous Bunting - Tzur had found two near Kfar Adumim the previous day. I got there when it was already hot and windy, so managed only frustratingly brief views of two birds. Despite seeing many of these scarce migrants over the years, I have yet to obtain a photo. Next time... A pair of vocal Great Spotted Cuckoo was entertaining:

BTW in Hebrew they're called 'Crested Cuckoo' - here it is possible to see why.

Hermon day 2 - no Hermon!

Late last night we got the bad news from the military that for security reasons the whole mountain will be closed off to the public today. That was very bad news for us as we already had a big team assembled for an early start. As we were unable to survey the mountain, we decided to check another interesting habitat, the open grassy slopes of Mt. Keta, below the small community of Nimrod. This site held a small population of Bimaculated Larks until some years ago, but they seem to have become extinct as breeding birds in Israel nowadays. Despite trying hard we found none. Nevertheless it was good up there - very good density of Cretzschmar's Buntings (10 pairs), 11-12 Black-headed Buntings, one Long-billed Pipit and lots more. Beautiful scenery too.

Hoping for a more productive day on Mt. Hermon tomorrow.

Black-headed Bunting

View from Mt. Keta