Israel 27 April to 3 May Introduction

Transcription

1 Israel 27 April to 3 May 2014 Introduction My brother Dom and I have been on three spring birding trips in Israel 2009, 2010 and These trips have been between 10 March and 12 April. This spring we thought we would try a later trip but little did I realise just how different the birding experience would be: hotter (obviously, up to 40 degrees in Eilat), fewer birds and a very different species mix - Turtle Doves, Rollers, Beeeaters and Honey Buzzards in abundance but very few other raptors, wagtails, pipits, hirundines, larks, chats, wheatears or shrikes. It was widely noted amongst other birders we met that this particular spring was abnormal in this respect. The highlight was of course the migration of Honey Buzzards through the Eilat Mountains, an amazing wildlife experience, but several other sightings will live long in the memory: Blackheaded Buntings singing on the Golan Heights, a Sooty Falcon powering north over the Eilat Mountains, Horned Lark on the summit of Mount Hermon. New lifers for both of us were breeding Eagle Owl on the Golan Heights and Western Reef Egret at Eilat. We also saw a number of seabirds (Little Gull, Sooty Shearwater, Pomarine and Arctic Skuas) for the first time in Israel, perhaps more reminiscent of Norfolk in September! Summary of Itinerary Date Locations Visited 27 April Ma agen Mikhael, Keshet Cave 28 April Golan Heights, Mount Hermon, Wadi Meitsar 29 April Nir Oz to Lotan 30 April Lotan to K20 1 May Lotan to Eilat North Beach 2 May Eilat to K20 3 May Eilat to Beer Sheba Detailed Itinerary Sunday 27 April When one of you lives in Israel and the other has been 5 times already the focus is not surprisingly on filling gaps, in addition to continuing to explore the country and enjoying the spring migration. For both of us a major gap is Western Rock Nuthatch so our first morning saw us heading up Route 6 towards the Keshet

2 Cave near the Lebanese border. This is a long way to drive for one species but neither of us had been birding in the north-west of Israel before and of course the route took us near the Ma agen Michael fishponds on the Mediterranean coast. Our two hours at this site produced the usual herons, a few migrants and a 1s Little Gull with a large flock of Slender-billed and Black-headed Gulls on our way out. We continued on to the Keshet Cave and approached the edge of the cliff which holds the cave with mounting anticipation. Unfortunately no Nuthatches deigned to appear for us, in spite of playing the song for what seemed like hours, but it was a beautiful afternoon and we saw many flocks of Alpine Swifts and Beeeaters swooping along the edge of the escarpment. A possible Eleanora s Falcon flew over heading north but we saw it too late to confirm the ID. The drive east to Park HaYarden near the Sea of Galilee initially took us through steep wooded hills bathed in late sunshine. We stopped at Mount Adir to take in the amazing panorama looking north over Lebanon. To the side we had a clear view of the barren summit of Mount Hermon dominating the eastern horizon, which whetted our appetites for the following day. Monday 28 April We have both long wished to get to the summit of Mount Hermon but in these tense times it is impossible to wander around up there by yourself so we had asked Lior Kislef ( to arrange a permit and to guide us. As last year, we met Lior at the Ramot petrol station at 6 a.m. and headed north stopping on the way to take in the wealth of breeding birds in the area: Bee-eater and Roller colonies were alive with colour; freshly arrived Black-headed Buntings were singing; Calandra Larks liked the fields of vines, perching on the posts as they sang; Corn Buntings, Black-eared Wheatears, Woodchat Shrikes and Orphean Warblers completed the chorus. The best bird was a fearsome Eagle Owl we scoped at its nest with a couple of downy chicks. You can see why they are a threat to birds even the size of Ospreys and Marsh Harriers! In spite of the abundance of nature around us, it was disturbing to overlook the eerily empty roads and villages of Syria to the east,

3 and to see a huge cloud of dust mushrooming ten km away followed eventually by a dull boom - a sombre reminder of the agonies being endured there. Lior had to make several calls to confirm the permit but eventually we got the green light and headed up the ski-lift road towards the summit of Mount Hermon. The ski-lift itself is actually very good for birding and we saw or heard singing Rock Buntings, Woodlarks and a Levantine Black Redstart (semirufus) on the way up and down. At the top, a cold wind made the south-west facing side of the summit difficult to work but the north-east side was more protected and after a while faint calls led us to two pairs of Horned Larks. These were birds of the middle-eastern race (bicornis) with white (not yellow) faces and long horns. We also saw many breeding Northern Wheatears, several Syrian Serins, lots of Rock Sparrows and a pair of Ravens, but the least expected bird was a migrating Hobby swooping around the summit looking for prey (which probably didn t help our quest for passerines). Our permit was only for three hours so after far too short a time we were heading back down and driving south through the Golan Heights to Wadi Meitzar. On the way we stopped several times and saw large flocks of Turtle Doves (when was the last time you saw that?) and a few Short-toed Larks. We got to Wadi Meitzar with about an hour of daylight left and watched as Honey Buzzards and Lesser Spotted Eagles fell out of the sky around us to settle in the trees. Eight Black Storks also wheeled downwards into the valley and we saw our first Spotted Flycatcher and our only Redstart and Cretzschmar s Bunting of the trip, the latter a singing male our fifth bunting species of the day. Tuesday 29 April Back at Nir Oz, there was some administrative business to attend to and anyway after the marathon drive back from the Golan Heights the previous evening a bit of a lie-in was very welcome! Hanging around the kibbutz produced a Golden Oriole and a Great-spotted Cuckoo so it was not exactly time wasted! We spent the afternoon driving south to Lotan and arrived in the Arava an hour after the last sighting of an Eastern Chanting

4 Goshawk found that morning by Steve Arlow near Yotvata. Oh well. Wednesday 30 April We started at Samar in the hope that either the Goshawk or a Black Bush Robin that had been seen might still be around. Neither was but an Egyptian Vulture went north over our heads and an Olivaceous Warbler skulked in the olive grove. We moved to Yotvata and toured the main sites in the area (the sewage ponds, the circular fields and the northern fields). Hundreds of Honey Buzzards were by now kettling around the southern circular field and some were coming down to drink at the sewage ponds, giving amazing on-the-deck views from the car. A distant ring-tail Montagu s Harrier was hunting over the dunes on the far side of the southern circular field and a northern potato field held some Red-throated Pipits and a Black-headed Wagtail. To be honest though, the number of birds and species was disappointingly low and our spirits were lifted by a sunset visit to the K20 salt pans: Gull-billed, Caspian and White-winged Black Terns; 27 Red-necked Phalaropes (many females in summer plumage); a couple of Temminck s Stints; and good numbers of common waders. That was better! Thursday 1 May We started again at Yotvata sewage and met Shachar Shalev, a friend of Dom s from Eilat. Together we worked our way south taking in the usual sites but the only one that had many birds was the watered dung heap at the Elifaz turf fields which held good numbers of Red-throated Pipits, Yellow Wagtails, and single Citrine Wagtail and Tree Pipit. Another ring-tail Monty s drifted north over the Jordanian border. In contrast to yesterday, there was virtually no Honey Buzzard passage visible in the Arava. We then headed for K20 salt pans again but because of the dualing of Route 90 one has to go past them and u-turn at the checkpoint to approach from the south. Therefore we came to the K19 reservoir first, which provided a bonanza of dabbling ducks (Pintail, Shoveler, Gadwall, Wigeon, Teal and Garganey) as well as a few more terns.

5 We worked our way up the K19 ditch and encountered five more Temminck s Stints. At the K20 salt pans the birds from the previous day were largely present although the Red-necked Phalaropes had increased to 37 and single red specimens of Curlew Sandpiper and Black-tailed Godwit had also dropped in. The wind was from the south so we then went to Eilat North Beach for an evening sea-watch. In the course of two hours we saw 6 species of tern including a flock of 50 White-winged Black Terns which flew 50 meters over our heads up the Arava. About 20 were also lingering offshore with 50 Common Terns and 6 Whitecheeked Terns. Single Little, Sandwich and Caspian Terns and about 15 White-eyed Gulls patrolled the shore. After about an hour we picked up a flock of 6 large birds far out in the Gulf heading straight towards us with strong elastic wing-beats. We couldn t work out what they were to start with and it was only as they came closer and turned to cut the corner behind the hotels that we could see spoons on the tail of one of them Pomarine Skuas! As they powered past without missing a wing-beat, four Arctic Skuas which had been circling undetected high in the sky attached themselves to the group and they all headed up the Arava. Just before dusk a Sooty Shearwater glided past, flashing its silver underwings in the last rays of the sun, 29 Grey Herons beat their way north in solemn formation and a single Arctic Skua chased a tern round the ships offshore magical birding. Friday 2 May We began the day in the Eilat Mountains to try to see some raptor passage but it was slow and erratic to begin with and so we moved up and down Route 12 several times to try and position ourselves under the stream when it started. In so doing we ended up exactly where we had first started but we did bump into a couple of pairs of White-crowned Black Wheatears and one pair of Hooded Wheatears in the process. We also picked up a Sooty Falcon flying north close to us a fantastic bird! When the stream did start it was of course Honey Buzzards that dominated with kettles appearing all around us, gradually getting higher as the morning wore on until the birds were just dots. Mixed in were a single (Greater) Spotted Eagle and a pale phase Booted Eagle. It was difficult to count them but we estimated that about 5,000 Honey Buzzards had passed low by Eilat standards but still an impressive sight.

6 We then went down to the Arava, working the plantations around K20 for passerines. There weren t many birds around apart from Thrush Nightingales, Blackcaps and Garden Warblers but a Great Reed Warbler was an interesting find. The birds at the salt pans and K19 had thinned out from yesterday so we headed back down to North Beach. In the ditch just north of there we found a very flighty egret which we eventually resolved into a Western Reef Egret with the aid of photographs. We ended the day at a bird-free Holland Park, although a large family party of Arabian Babblers did their best to entertain us. Saturday 3 May On our last day we birded our way back north to Nir Oz via a family evening meal in Beer Sheva. We started at North Beach which was much depleted in avian terms after the excitements of two days before just the Sooty Shearwater and the Caspian and White-cheeked Terns. We also tried the Eilat Mountains again but in contrast to yesterday there was not a single Honey Buzzard weird! K19 and K20 were also quiet apart from 8 Avocets and 14 more Curlew Sandpipers new in at the latter. Working north through the plantations produced a Golden Oriole, 3 Garden Warblers, 3 Spotted Flycatchers, 6 Thrush Nightingales and a host of Blackcaps. Neot Smadar held an Ortolan and our only Honey Buzzard of the day. Crossing the Meishar Plateau we spotted a very green wadi bed in the far north eastern corner. (NB: the Meishar is firmly closed except on Saturdays ignore this at your peril.) Working through the vegetation produced a good mix of breeding birds (Desert Wheatear, Desert Lark, Scrub Warbler) and migratory species (Short-toed Lark, Red-throated Pipit, Thrush Nightingale), a nice end to the trip.

7 Abbreviations Abbreviation EM ENB f GH K19 K20 KC m MH MM MP NO NS WM YSCF Meaning Eilat Mountains Eilat North Beach Female Golan Heights K19 Reservoir and ditch K20 Salt Pans Keshet Cave, NW Israel Male Mount Hermon, Golan Heights Ma agan Mikhael, Mediterranean coast Meishar Plateau, central Negev desert Nir Oz, NW Negev desert Neot Smadar, S Negev desert Wadi Meitsar, S Golan Heights Yotvata Southern Circular Field Systematic list No Name Comments 1 Egyptian Goose 2 NO 2 Mallard Common on fresh water bodies 3 Wigeon Up to 10 K19 4 Shoveler Up to 5 K19; 12 flying N ENB 5 Teal Up to 2 K19 6 Garganey 2 m K19 7 Gadwall pair K19 8 Pintail m K19 9 Chukar Heard MH 10 Sand Partridge Heard EM 11 Little Grebe Very common on fresh water bodies in N 12 Sooty Shearwater 1-2 ENB 13 Great Cormorant Common MM 14 Grey Heron Widespread 15 Purple Heron Singles K20 and MM 16 Night Heron Common on fresh water bodies 17 Little Egret Common on fresh water bodies

8 No Name Comments 18 Cattle Egret Common on fresh water bodies 19 Great White Egret 1 MM 20 Western Reef Egret 1 ENB 2/5 21 Glossy Ibis A few K20 and MM 22 Squacco Heron Common on fresh water bodies 23 White Stork Widespread 24 Black Stork 7 WM, 1 K20 25 Flamingo Usual K20 26 Egyptian Vulture 1 Samar 30/4 27 Lesser-Spotted Eagle 3 WM 28 Spotted Eagle 1 EM 29 Booted Eagle 1 EM. 1 K20 30 Short-toed Eagle Common 31 Steppe Buzzard A few 32 Long-Legged Buzzard Widespread 33 Honey Buzzard Widespread, 500 YSCF 30/4, 5,000 EM 2/5 34 Black Kite A few 35 Marsh Harrier Common 36 Montagu s Harrier 1 YSCF, 1 Elifaz 37 Sparrowhawk 1 KC, 1 MH 38 Kestrel Widespread 39 Hobby Singles at MH and YSCF 40 Sooty Falcon 1 EM 2/5 41 Moorhen Widespread 42 Coot Widespread 43 Avocet 8 K20 44 Stone Curlew 1 NO 45 Black-Winged Stilt Common on fresh water bodies 46 Spur-Winged Plover Abundant 47 Ringed Plover Common K20 48 Grey Plover 3 K20 49 Kentish Plover 10 Ma agan Mikhael 12/3 50 Wood Sandpiper Common 51 Green Sandpiper Widespread 52 Common Sandpiper Widespread 53 Dunlin Up to 2 K20

9 No Name Comments 54 Curlew Sandpiper Up to 15 K20 55 Temminck s Stint 5 K19 ditch 56 Little Stint Abundant 57 Redshank 1 K20 58 Greenshank Up to 3 K20 59 Black-Tailed Godwit 1 K20 60 Ruff Common 61 Snipe 3 K20 62 Red-necked Phalarope Up to 37 K20, mostly full summer plumage 63 Pomarine Skua 6 flying N ENB 1/5 64 Arctic Skua 4 with above 65 Black-Headed Gull Common at MM 66 Slender-Billed Gull Common at MM and S Arava 67 Caspian Gull 1 MM 68 Yellow-Legged Gull A few MM 69 Little Gull 1s MM 70 White-eyed Gull Up to 15 ENB 71 Sandwich Tern 1 north Ma agan Mikhael 12/3 72 Little Tern Widespread 73 Common Tern Widespread 74 White-cheeked Tern Up to 6 ENB 75 Caspian Tern Single at K20 and ENB 76 Gull-billed Tern Up to 9 K20 77 White-winged Black Tern 70 ENB 1/5, up to 4 K19/K20 78 Lichtenstein s Sandgrouse Several breeding (location withheld) 79 Crowned Sandgrouse Flight calls Meishar Plateau 10/3 80 Black-Bellied Sandgrouse 6 Route /3 81 Pin-Tailed Sandgrouse 7 Ezuz 10/3 82 Feral Pigeon Abundant 83 Collared Dove Abundant 84 Turtle Dove Abundant 85 Laughing Dove Abundant 86 Namaqua Dove A few S Arava 87 Ring-necked Parakeet Widespread in small numbers 88 Great Spotted Cuckoo 1 NO 89 Scops Owl 1 NO

10 No Name Comments 90 Little Owl 1 WM 91 Eagle Owl Adult and 2 chicks GH 92 Common Swift Widespread 93 Alpine Swift Up to 40 KC 94 Hoopoe Widespread and common 95 White-Throated Kingfisher Heard WM 96 Pied Kingfisher A few MM and K19 97 Bee-eater Common; breeding in N GH 98 Little Green Bee-eater Small numbers in S Arava 99 Roller Common breeding GH 100 Syrian Woodpecker Heard WM 101 Woodlark 4 singing MH 102 Horned Lark 2 Pairs HM 103 Crested Lark Abundant 104 Desert Lark Pair MP 105 Short-Toed Lark 3 MP, 1 GH 106 Calandra Lark 3 in vines near Buq ata 107 Barn Swallow Small numbers flying N 108 Sand Martin Small numbers flying N up S Arava 109 Red-rumped Swallow Widespread N GH 110 Rock Martin A few Mitzpe Ramon 111 Red-throated Pipit Small numbers 112 Tree Pipit Singles NS and Elifaz 113 Tawny Pipit 1 Mount Hermonit GH 114 White Wagtail A few 115 Yellow Wagtail A few 116 Citrine Wagtail 1 f Elifaz 1/5 117 Redstart 1 f WM 118 Black Redstart m semirufus singing MH 119 Rufous Bush Robin Common S Arava 120 Thrush Nightingale Widespread S Arava 121 Northern Wheatear Abundant MH summit 123 Black-Eared Wheatear Breeding N GH and MH 124 Desert Wheatear Pair MP 125 Mourning Wheatear 1 in central Negev from Route White-crowned Wheatear 2 pairs EM

11 No Name Comments 127 Hooded Wheatear 1 pair EM 128 Blackstart A few in S 129 Blackbird A few in N 130 Blue Rock Thrush 2 KC 131 Scrub Warbler 4 WM 132 Graceful Prinia Common in suitable habitat 133 Blackcap Common 134 Garden Warbler A few S Arava 135 Whitethroat Common breeding N GH 136 Lesser Whitethroat A few breeding N GH 137 Orphean Warbler Common breeding GH 138 Sardinian Warbler Widespread in small numbers 139 Great Reed Warbler 1 S Arava 140 Sedge Warbler 1 Samar Sewage 141 Reed Warbler A few S Arava 142 Clamorous Reed Warbler Singing MM 143 Cettis Warbler Common singing in suitable habitat 144 Olivaceous Warbler Singing WM, a few migrants in S Arava 145 Wren Singing at near Buq ata GH 146 Spotted Flycatcher A few 147 Great Tit Common in the North 148 Palestine Sunbird Widespread in small numbers 149 Red-backed Shrike 1 f WM 150 Woodchat Shrike Common breeding GH 151 Masked Shrike A few 152 Yellow-Vented Bulbul Abundant 153 Tristram s Grackle A few EM 154 Mynah Bird Common 155 Arabian Babbler Family in Holland Park 156 Jay A few in the North 157 Brown-necked Raven A few in the South 158 Raven 2 MH 159 Jackdaw A few in the North seen from the car 160 Hooded Crow Widespread and common 161 House Crow Several Eilat 162 Golden Oriole 1 NO, 1 S Arava

12 No Name Comments 163 House Sparrow Abundant 164 Spanish Sparrow 2 flocks in N GH 165 Rock Sparrow Abundant MH summit 166 Greenfinch Widespread and common GH 167 Goldfinch Widespread and common GH 168 Linnet Widespread and common GH 169 Syrian Serin 2 MH summit 170 Corn Bunting Common GH 171 Rock Bunting M singing MH 172 Ortolan Bunting Common N GH, 1 NS 173 Cretzschmar s Bunting m singing WM 174 Black-headed Bunting 3 m singing N GH