Recent stuff

It's peak spring migration here in Israel now. With unstable weather, birds are blown in different directions and it is exciting just to be out there and witness migration. I have nothing too major to report, but over the last few days some decent stuff accumulated on my hard drive that is worth sharing here.

Last Wednesday (April 5th) I had time only for a quick early-morning birding session. So I opted for a circuit of Hulda Reservoir with Piki - our regular shared session few minutes away from home. Piki always complains that I start too early, I always complain that he's lazy, eventually we meet halfway. That morning I had time to listen out for active migrants and cook coffee by the time Piki arrived. Birding expectations weren't huge because water levels at the reservoir are very high currently, meaning there's little space for mud-loving waterbirds. We were pleasantly surprised when two minutes after we started walking a small passerine jumped up from the path in front of us, gave a thin 'tick' call and perched on the fence. We both exclaimed simultaneously (more or less 😉) - Little Bunting! We rattled off a few quick photos:

Then the petite bunting flew past us and landed to forage on the path again for a couple of minutes before being chased off by a badass territorial Eastern Olivaceous Warbler (you can hear it singing in the background of the video below). The poor bunting flew up and away and we lost it far in the distance to the south, never to be seen again. Sweet.

Nice to have Turtle Doves back, already in display flight over their territories:

Eventually it was quite a productive morning - eBird checklist here.

A weekend in Tel Aviv to celebrate my wife's birthday meant a couple of early-morning sessions in local Tel Aviv sites. Hatzuk beach was fairly quiet (eBird checklist here) but there's always interest in watching migrants on the edge of the big smoke. 

European Bee-eater cuteness and top-class wildlife narration, this morning in Tel Aviv. pic.twitter.com/wwrx1YEijh

— Yoav Perlman (@yoavperlman) April 8, 2023

Next day I checked Hayarkon Park that runs through the city center, including Rosh Tzipor and the adjacent Rock Park. Rosh Tzipor held a Little Crake and a Little Bittern:

Common Kingfisher is the most cliché bird in the world, yet it is irresistible when posed nicely:

Golden Jackals are a prominent feature of Hayarkon Park. They are abundant there, and very accustomed to humans and their dogs - a somewhat surreal coexistence in the middle of the city.

This one is called 'Sexy Ear'

Oh yes, oh yes, right there... Ooohhh so gooood...

On Monday I joined a large public event SPNI held up in the Golan Heights, promoting public action to halt disastrous plans that threaten the wild beauty of the Golan Heights. I picked up Nadav from his home in the Hula Valley. What can I do that the shortest way up to the Golan Heights drives through the fields north of the Agamon, where a Demoiselle Crane has been hanging around?

Birds in flight

 My favourite type of birding is on foot. Most often you'd find me walking through habitat, with scope on one shoulder, camera on the other. I think this is an optimal way for general birding, rather than sit in a hide or drive around in a car. This choice has a few outcomes. First, I see many birds, including birds in flight, and identify many birds on call - not easy when you're in a hide or in a car. Second, my photos are often distant (birds often won't let me approach on foot) and often in flight. Especially since I sold my 500mm lens two years ago, I enjoy shooting small birds in flight. In most cases, photos are rubbish and worth nothing. Sometimes, like today, it works slightly better...

This morning I birded with Piki at Tal Shachar, few minutes from home. It was a special morning because it's Piki's birthday today (Happy Birthday!), and because for the first time since March I put on a second layer first thing. At first, birding was a bit slow, but eventually things picked up. The first bird I photographed today was perched in fact, not in flight, this male Red-backed Shrike, too gorgeous to walk past without attention:

The western section of the alfalfa was half-quiet, there were some pipits and wagtails, nothing major, and Marsh, Montagu's and Pallid Harriers cruised over the field.

Pallid Harrier

Eventually we found two Richard's Pipits that flew up, giving that bursting call. 

Jonathan had just arrived with a busload of punters, and one of the pipits flew directly towards the group. Not sure if anyone but Jonathan saw it.

We made it to the eastern section of the field, that was really busy. Yellow Wagtail numbers went down from many hundreds a month ago to just over 100, and pipit numbers are up, many Red-throats and Tree, several Tawny.

Tawny Pipit

Then a small bird flew up from the field, calling that familiar thin and sharp 'Tzip'. I got my bins on it, Piki too, Little Bunting! Boom! Unfortunately it flew off and away, and we lost it in the distant wood. I was very happy to find it - Little Bunting was one of my Big Year targets for October. This is an exceptionally early record.

Happy and motivated, we continued birding in the alfalfa. It was heartwarming to see good numbers of European Rollers, mostly juveniles. They are not doing well in Israel, and are classified as Vulnerable. Also globally (especially in Europe) their status isn't positive. So 12 in a single field was good.

That underwing is simply stunning

Among the many Spur-winged Lapwings there was a single newly-arrived Northern Lapwing.

All in all it was a great morning, eBird checklist here. Thanks Piki!

Look east

It's that time of year we all wait for. In western Europe it starts in late September, and peaks in October. Here in Israel, it takes the vagrants from the east a little longer to filter down and make it over here. Numbers and diversity of eastern vagrants we get here compared to western Europe are much lower, so we need to make do with what little we get. On Sunday I got a little reward for working Tzor'a, searching in vain for an Oriental Turtle Dove that didn't show. Driving along a cut alfalfa field, oooh what this bird that flew up from the edge? Little Bunting! It showed briefly, then disappeared for a while, then showed again for half a minute, in front of a crown of five, before heading south high. In the next days, two birds were seen there, maybe this one and another, maybe two new birds. Lovely bird in any case.

On Tuesday, before a meeting in Kfar Ruppin conveniently scheduled for late morning, early morning was spent birding the bird-rich valley. Nothing special or new was found, but I enjoyed the huge amounts of big birds, spiced up with November regulars for Kfar Ruppin: Isabelline Shrike, Oriental Skylark and Richard's Pipit. Many Caspian Stonechat around - love 'em.

This morning a Pied Wheatear south of Be'er Sheva required my attention, a good looking 1cy female in a horrible water treatment plant, in horrible weather. Thanks to Eyal for finding and sharing info.

Classic Sibe birding in the Negev

What an excellent morning I had with Rony and Re'a. We left at silly-O'clock to get to Nafha Vineyards at first light, a bit too early. We met up there with Eran who focused on lying on his belly to photograph the many ralids present in the small wetland. It was jam-packed with birds, but we decided to walk around and boy, that was fun! There were tons of pipits and wagtails along the creek, and the bushes had lots of Spotted Flys and Phylloscs. Very soon we had a Richard's Pipit flying over calling, pretty high up - pretty cool.

Richard's Pipit - believe me...

We continued working through the common migrants, some of them beautifully lit in the golden early morning sunlight.

Blackcap

Spotted Flycatcher

Tree Pipit

Whinchat

flava Yellow Wagtail

One of a few acredula-type Willow Warblers

Then things picked up quite rapidly. First we spotted a finch flying around - big bill, long tail, then heard the call - Common Rosefinch! About a minute later I heard a familiar soft 'Tzik' and immediately exclaimed - 'Little Bunting!!'. Soon we saw the bird flying towards us and down the valley. It landed for a few seconds at some distance, but we obtained good enough views to confirm it wasn't a rarer bunting. Then it flew up and down the valley a few more time - it was very mobile and didn't give itself up. My camera didn't cope well with these pass-bys. 

We were very happy with this find, and continued walking. Back at the wetland, activity was excellent. The grass and reeds were whopping with acros, crakes, Bluethroats and hirundines. There was this most obliging and absolutely cracking male Caspian Stonechat by the wetland, with which I spent a few enjoyable minutes:

At least four Spotted Crakes, five Water Rails and one or two Little Crakes were at the wetland:

Spotted Crake

Always good to bathe in smelly sewage

Water Rails (1cy and adult?)

Re'a and me continued working the olive groves that were OK, while Rony and Eran remained at the wetland. We had a brief Red-breasted Flycatcher, and more common migrants and residents. 

Bluethroat

Marsh Harrier - stunner

Mourning Wheatear of the nominate lugens group, probably 1cy

There were two large falcons working the site. One adult Barbary was straightforward to ID, but this 1cy is more challenging. In the field it felt tiny and very lightly built, unlike Peregrine. It is rather heavily streaked on the breast and flanks, possibly a bit too much for a Barbary. But the ground colour of the breast is buffish, and the upperparts feel more Barbary to me with browner tones rather than lead-grey. Not 100% sure about this one - happy to learn.

Out of focus, sorry

It was getting hot and Re'a and me felt that we had enough of this fantastic site - quite a good haul I think. Just as we talked about this classic October Negev morning, Rony notified us about a Yellow-browed warbler by the wetland. It was mobile and by the time we got there it was gone. We spent a bit more time there and headed on. Full checklist for Nafha is here.

Next stop was Mitzpe Ramon sewage. There were tons of hirundines, wagtails and pipits around the reservoir, including one Crag Martin, but the adjacent tamarisk grove that used to be fed by spillover is now dry and was rather quiet, perhaps also because of the heat. Only one Red-breasted Fly. Full checklist here.

On the way back home we paid a visit to the White-tailed lapwing found by Arnon Tsairi at Sde Boker sewage (thanks!) - always great to see, especially so well. Grand finale to a brilliant day.