Look south

Today I had a good day down south with Meidad. We started early at Hameishar Plains. It felt dry and rather quiet, but eventually our list there included Asian Desert Warbler, Temminck's and Bar-tailed Larks, Spotted and Crowned Sandgrouse, several Siberian Stonechat and this wonderful young female (dark eyes) Hen Harrier, cruising over the plains in soft golden light:

An early afternoon visit to Urim powerline produced five Sociable Lapwings one minute after I went offroad. They were sat in a field and were spooked when the irrigation started, circled in front of me and landed in a tomato (?) field nearby:

5 and 5

Critically Endangered

Then this stunning 2cy male Pallid Harrier flew by, leaving my jaw on the floor:

Still clutching the remains of its last meal

Good effort

As my son's football coach used to say after their team lost 2-4...
Last night the weather finally changed. After two weeks of high pressure, hot and dry easterlies and no birds, at last a low-pressure system made its way across the Mediterranean and hit Israel with a glorious thunderstorm and heavy rain. I was so excited that I couldn't wait to wake up and witness an epic morning flight. Was today going to be THE day? Charts looked good. Weather and date were all perfect. And I had the perfect companion. Four years ago, almost to the day, Barak Granit had an epic morning flight. Today was his birthday - would he get the best birthday present possible?
We got to Hatzuk right on time. I opened the car door, first bird I hear - Penduline Tit! Followed shortly by a Song Thrush. Hmmm... bingo? We walked in, enjoyed a clear and beautiful sunrise, and sadly witnessed almost empty skies. Singles of several species, tiny numbers of pipits, where are the birds?!? We continued birding - also on the ground numbers were depressingly low. With our high expectations, disappointment was big. Then small numbers of Caucasian Water Pipits started to move through, shortly followed by small flocks of Chaffinch - at last some movement. But even Chaff numbers did not build up to anything worthy of any superlatives.

A beautiful male Hen Harrier sailed past - will it spend the winter here?

Not a Brown Shrike

Just before leaving I had a pleasant surprise-  a young Striated Heron stood by one of the large rainfall puddles, looking rather lost - not the place I was expecting to find one (though they are resident in Hayarkon Park, only 5 km away).

What will be the end of the story? Will tomorrow bring that fabulous migration peak? Or have those birds skipped over Israel this year? Or have these populations crashed? Time will tell.

For the time being, here's our eBird checklist.

Israel quickie

Arrived in Israel yesterday for few days of family, meetings and some birds. Today I had a chance to go birding with my boss - isn't it good to meet your boss with bins around the neck and camera on shoulder? We had a short but enjoyable hour in Tsor'a. Lots of pipits and larks in the alfalfa fields, and by the reservoir lots of Chiffchaffs etc. Can't complain - check our eBird checklist. Few birds posed but was nice to see this stunning Caspian Stonechat and a flyby Hen Harrier, looking for rodents:

Caspian Stonechat - 1cy male 

My old camera got confused by the harsh light conditions and got the exposure wrong (or is it my fault by shooting in AV and not M?):

Hen Harrier 1cy

Raptors, routine

Another day of wintering raptor census, today in the Judean Lowlands. I was in a bit of time pressure so cruised through the transect rather fast. Had average numbers of raptors - three Greater Spotted Eagles, many buzzards (common and long-legged) and harriers (marsh and hen), tons of Kestrels etc.

Greater Spotted Eagle - just after brunch - feather still stuck to its bill

Hen Harrier

I know that in most European countries such totals would have been phenomenal, but for me it was a rather slow morning.

Stone Curlew

More Caspian Stonechats and harriers - boring stuff!

Again had some time for birding this morning instead of standing in traffic. First checked my alfalfa field at Bet Kama - highlights were a funny-calling Oriental Skylark (very soft call; flushed it twice but didn't manage to soundrecord it whatsoever), 2 Hen Harriers, 1 Merlin and a Caspian Stonechat. Nice late wave of Northern Wheatears.

Caspian Stonechat

Northern Wheatear

Merlin

Then another short stop at the Tzor'a alfalfa field - not much there apart for this 1cy Hen Harrier - very close!

In the afternoon new village tick but again just 100 m away from my garden - Red-breasted Flycatcher.

Hen again

Today is my birthday. Traditionally, I go out birding in the morning and see nothing special at all. Today was not different. After receiving my share of attention from wife and kids, headed out and was greeted by wild easterlies, creating a disgusting sand storm. Far from ideal weather for birding. Headed again to Bet Kama alfalfa field to try and relocate the possible Dusky Warbler from yesterday, but the wind was so strong that no passerines were showing on the deck. Only the harriers flying over the field flushed the birds up. So I decided to spend some time to photograph the (same?) Hen Harrier passing over the field. Such a beautiful bird.

Hen Harrier

  

Taking a dump

I usually prefer images with neat background, but I like this image too with the very cluttered background

Other raptors hunting over the field included Peregrine, Sparrowhawk and 3-4 Marsh harriers. The pipits were flying non-stop this morning.

Marsh Harrier

Other birds of interest in the field were one Richard's Pipit and this Jack Snipe - a good bird for my region (only...):

Caterpillars anyone?

With a new baby girl at home, my mornings are pretty limited - I can't leave early too often because I need to take the older kids to school and kindergarten. The weather is still pretty warm, so if I want to do some morning birding I can't drive very far if I want to bird in pleasent temperatures. So my default for short birding breaks is Bet Kama alfalfa - good and close local patch. Pity most of the birds perch there on ugly sprinklers and pipes.

Anyway, this morning on my way to work did my routine stop there. The field is just exploding with African Cotton Leafworm (Spodoptera littoralis) catterpillars, and all the many birds in the field were having a feast. Almost every bird at any moment was carrying a caterpillar. A very noticeable wave of Willow Warblers is going through us again, and a late autumn peak of Yellow Wagtails was evident too. Increasing numbers of Red-throated Pipits, Stonechats, etc. Thought I had a glimpse of a Dusky Warbler but lost it in the tall alfalfa and couldn't relocate it. Will try again tomorrow.

Willow Warbler

Yellow Wagtail

Northern Wheatear and Willow Warbler

Red-throated Pipit

This stunning male Hen Harrier made some very determined passes over the field but caught nothing as far as I could see. Wish it was a bit closer (big crop here).

This juvenile female Eurasian Sparrowhawk was more successfull - after a brief rest on a sprinkler it continued hunting and got one pipit.

On the outskirts of Tel Aviv spotted this Greater Spotted Eagle above the highway. Stopped on the shoulders and quickly managed some pix before a lorry takes me with it...

Greater Spotted Eagle - 4cy, with Jackdaw