norfolkbirding with chris mills
DAY SIX: 9th April 2004
Kibbutz Lotan0530 - 1200
Shizzafon kibbutz & Sewage farm 1300- 1730
The alarms went off at 0500, and the nets were opened at Lotan organic garden and muck heaps at 0530. See attached sheets for ringing totals. Needless to say, we had a pretty full-on opening session with 93 birds of 25 species. We had carefully sited our nets to maximise species range, including in tamarisks for Sylvias, between a large hedge and scrubby allotments for just about anything and around the compost heaps for pipits, wagtails and wheatears. The area was full of warblers, wheatears, pipits and we also managed the odd shrike, Wryneck, Spanish Sparrow and babbler, not to mention a fine male CRETZSCHMARS BUNTING. We caught another one next morning which remained to sing for a further day or two before moving north; these were our only examples of this common March transient.
Birds of note other than those ringed, were 1 LESSER SPOTTED EAGLE, 30 BLACK KITE,
4 EGYPTIAN VULTURE, 1000+ STEPPE BUZZARD, 5+ STEPPE EAGLE, 3 BOOTED EAGLE,
2 OSPREY, (all raptors in a notable early surge, our second in two days over the kibbutz, but we were actually only to enjoy a couple of other such mornings from the valley floor; several mornings had almost nothing) 8 MASKED SHRIKE, 1 BONELLI’S WARBLER, 4 NAMAQUA DOVE, 4 HOOPOE, 1 QUAIL and 2 fly-over BLUE-CHEEKED BEE-EATERS.
After lunch we headed for Shizzafon (Pg86-87 Volume 2); we first worked the dried out wadi south of the sewage farm and then the sewage pools themselves: we were soon to learn that any tiny area of water or mud, regardless of how foul or smelly would be well worth a look. The scrubby area of the wadi produced birds such as 3 TAWNY PIPIT, 5 NIGHTINGALE, 1 ISABELLINE WHEATEAR, 4 BLACK-EARED WHEATEAR, 2 ROCK THRUSH, 3 MASKED SHRIKE, 1 BLUETHROAT , & NORTHERN WHEATEAR. The pools and fencing yielded 1 WOODCHAT SHRIKE, 2 TEMMINCK’S STINT, 3 WOOD SANDPIPER, GREENSHANK, GREEN SANDPIPER, COMMON SANDPIPER, a MARSH SANDPIPER, SNIPE, 2 HOOPOE AND QUAIL. All of these gave super, close-up views in such a confined place and we also pondered long over an odd looking wheatear which transpired to be a female HOODED; on another visit here we were to see both HOODED and WHITE-CROWNED BLACK WHEATEARS singing and displaying.
The eastern fields at Shizzafon were looked at briefly and a large flock 120+ SPANISH SPARROW were noted. A large, lush “boating lake” in the middle of the actual kibbutz with vegetated sides provided excellent and prolonged views of 3 LITTLE CRAKE and a mix of commoner waders etc. Nearby on the way out we had fantastic views of a female BLUETHROAT perched prominently on a snag. In the end we saw almost 20 individuals of this species, but all were to be tardy females (the males pass through in large numbers almost exclusively in March).
OVERNIGHT AT KIBBUTZ LOTAN
Top left - “flava” Wagtail
Top right - Isabelline Wheatear
Bottom left - Redstart “samamiscus”
Bottom right - Masked Shrike
DAY SEVEN: 10th April 2004
Kibbutz Lotan0530 - 1200
Yotvata fields, scrub & Sewage pools 1300- 1730
The alarms went off at 0500, and the nets were opened at Lotan organic garden and muck heaps at 0530. See attached sheets for ringing totals. Today we ringed 73 birds in all, with OLIVACEOUS and BONNELLI’S WARBLERS clearly up in numbers, as were flava wagtails: hence it was probably no co-incidence that we were to see two CITRINE WAGTAILS as well.
Birding during the ringing and a quick tour around the swimming pool just before lunch produced similar species to yesterday, with the addition of 1 SHROT-TOED EAGLE, 2 QUAIL, 1 COLLARED PRATINCOLE, 3 ALPINE SWIFT, 1 PALLID SWIFT, (probably more), 100 SWIFT, 500+ SAND MARTIN, a BLUETHROAT, 1 WHINCHAT, newly arrived RUFOUS BUSHCHATS just starting to sing and 2 WOODCHAT SHIKE.
Following lunch, we were advised by Jonathan that a White-throated Robin had been found at nearby Yotvata, so we decided to have an afternoon birding this area; this splendid site is just 5km south of Lotan and provides a mixture of scrub, cultivated fields and sewage tanks in the middle of the arid Arava Valley. As a result, it is a magnet for migrants. On arrival we joined the “twitch” of 5 birders!! We were soon watching the WHITE-THROATED ROBIN with just the bird for company. Little did we realise at the time that this was the very first in what was to become a major fall of the species over the coming week and that finding our own robins was to become almost routine. Anyway this bird was a stunning male and we gorged ourselves for an hour or so. Further searching of the Sewage Tanks and the perimeter of the abandoned holiday camp produced 3 SQUACCO, 1 GLOSSY IBIS, GARGANEY, LITTLE RINGED PLOVER,RUFF, GREEN SANDPIPER, WOOD SANDPIPER, TURTLE DOVE, 4 LITTLE GREEN BEE-EATER, 5 WRYNECK, 20 EASTERN BONELLI’S WARBLER, 1 NIGHTINGALE, 100 SPANISH SPARROW, 2 ORTOLAN BUNTING, & lots of BLACKCAP & LESSER WHITETHROAT. Of particular interest was a burst pipe behind the camp which results in small puddles and wet flashes amidst the acacias: it seemed a very strange place to find plovers and sandpipers!
The acacia just beyond the sewage tanks was where we found a single female ARABIAN WARBLER.
We then took the track east of the holiday camp towards Jordan, this joins another that takes you to the northernmost fields of the area and adjacent to the Jordanian border. The fields to look for are known as “circular fields”; they have is a big steel irrigating arm, that clearly moves through 360° from a big concrete base. This area can also be reached by taking the track from the main road just North of Yotvata petrol station.
This area proved excellent for pipits, larks, wagtails and harriers, and was a great way to end the day. Today we saw 4 MARSH HARRIER, 1 R/T HEN HARRIER, 1M MONTAGU’S HARRIER, 2 HOBBY (doing exocet impressions low over the fields) , 2 QUAIL, 100+ SHORT-TOED LARK, 100+ RED-THROATED PIPIT & 40+ FLAVA WAGTAIL
OVERNIGHT AT KIBBUTZ LOTAN
DAY EIGHT: 11th April 2004
Kibbutz Lotan 0530 - 1200
Lotan date palms an bird reserve 1300- 1730
The alarms went off at 0500, and the nets were opened at Lotan organic garden and muck heaps at 0530. See attached sheets for ringing totals. Today 67 species were ringed and it was a very busy session as there was much else to look at besides. Abiding memories include; releasing a LITTLE RINGED PLOVER as a GULL-BILLED TERN flew over, grilling our first SEMI-COLLARED FLYCATCHER from the ringing base with bins in one hand and a WRYNECK in the other and elucidating the last nightingale done to be a SPROSSER, not to mention a SCOP’S OWL that had blundered into the kibbutz buildings the night before! Whilst Lesser Whitethroats, pipits and wagtails were clearly down, the first WILLOW WARBLERS and SPOTTED FLYCATCHERS had arrived and other notable totals for birds not ringed included: 2 NIGHTINGALE, 6 THRUSH NIGHTINGALE, 3 ISABELLINE WHEATEAR, 20+ WRYNECK, 4 REDSTART, 12 BLACK-EARED WHEATEAR and 2 WHINCHAT. None of us were prepared for the next few hours, as late morning, first 2 SEMI-COLLARED FLYCATCHERS appeared in the organic garden, then Gary came back to the ringing base having found the 3rd ever record for Lotan of WHITE-THROATED ROBIN. A thorough search of the Kibbutz chalets, date palms and bird reserve eventually yielded an all time record for Lotan; we saw a minimum of 24 SEMI-COLLARED FLYCATCHERS!
Other additions were 2 ORPHEAN WARBLERS, a female putative COLLARED FLYCATCHER (normally much more numerous than Semi-collared), 6 NAMAQUA DOVES, 100+ BEE-EATER, 2 WOODCHAT SHRIKE, 2 DESERT FINCH & 1 BOOTED EAGLE on the ground. Both the bird reserve and the date palms produced reasonable numbers of birds.
OVERNIGHT AT KIBBUTZ LOTAN
Top left - White-throated Robin
Top right - Broad-billed sandpiper
Bottom left - Scops Owl
Bottom right - Semi-collared Flycatche
DAY NINE: 12th April 2004
Kibbutz Lotan0530 - 1200
K19 Sewage Pools & K20 Reservoirs 1330- 1900
The alarms went off at 0500, and the nets were opened at Lotan organic garden and muck heaps at 0530. See attached sheets for ringing totals. Today we had 21 species totalling 83 individual birds, including no less than 3 SEMI-COLLARED FLYCATCHERS and a CORNCRAKE. We were later to see several more of these, including one ambling around the lawn in front of the rooms like a Moorhen by a Norfolk duckpond.
The mix of species and numbers at Lotan in the morning was similar to yesterday. The highlights were a second WHITE-THROATED ROBIN being found around the swimming pool area at lunchtime, more flycatchers and REDSTARTS in and a plethora of WRYNECKS (up to three in one dwarf palm!)
We decided in the afternoon to head for K20 reservoir and K19 sewage pools; both of these areas held good numbers of waterfowl and waders. For birds cutting up the Gulf of Aquaba and over Eilat into the Arava, these pools are the first decent areas of expansive water that they meet. The highlights included: 1 PURPLE HERON, 200 GREATER FLAMINGO, 400 SHOVELER, 10 PINTAIL, 4 WIGEON, GARGANEY, 6 MARSH HARRIER, 1M PALLID HARRIER, 2M MONTAGU’S HARRIER, 2 OSPREY, 1 HOBBY, 1 CORNCRAKE, 4 COLLARED PRATINCOLE, 50+ KENTISH PLOVER, 5 GREATER SANDPLOVER, 250 LITTLE STINT, 2 BROAD-BILLED SANDPIPER, 1 TEREK SANDPIPER 50+ MARSH SANDPIPER, 30 GREENSHANK, 12 WOOD SANDPIPER, 200 BLACK-WINGED STILT, 150 SLENDER-BILLED GULL, 25 BALTIC GULL, 15 GULL-BILLED TEREN, 3 WHITE-WINGED BLACK TERN, 3 BLUE-CHEEKED BEE-EATER, 50 BEE-EATER, and 30 RED-THROATED PIPIT. There were also thousands of SWIFTS and hundreds of SAND MARTINS.
The weedy field just north of the K19 was well worth walking, and should also be taken in if time permits; here we found an eastern race STONECHAT (the only one of the trip) plus many commoner migrants.
OVERNIGHT AT KIBBUTZ LOTAN
Kibbutz Lotan0530 - 1200
Shizzafon kibbutz & Sewage farm 1300- 1730
The alarms went off at 0500, and the nets were opened at Lotan organic garden and muck heaps at 0530. See attached sheets for ringing totals. Needless to say, we had a pretty full-on opening session with 93 birds of 25 species. We had carefully sited our nets to maximise species range, including in tamarisks for Sylvias, between a large hedge and scrubby allotments for just about anything and around the compost heaps for pipits, wagtails and wheatears. The area was full of warblers, wheatears, pipits and we also managed the odd shrike, Wryneck, Spanish Sparrow and babbler, not to mention a fine male CRETZSCHMARS BUNTING. We caught another one next morning which remained to sing for a further day or two before moving north; these were our only examples of this common March transient.
Birds of note other than those ringed, were 1 LESSER SPOTTED EAGLE, 30 BLACK KITE,
4 EGYPTIAN VULTURE, 1000+ STEPPE BUZZARD, 5+ STEPPE EAGLE, 3 BOOTED EAGLE,
2 OSPREY, (all raptors in a notable early surge, our second in two days over the kibbutz, but we were actually only to enjoy a couple of other such mornings from the valley floor; several mornings had almost nothing) 8 MASKED SHRIKE, 1 BONELLI’S WARBLER, 4 NAMAQUA DOVE, 4 HOOPOE, 1 QUAIL and 2 fly-over BLUE-CHEEKED BEE-EATERS.
After lunch we headed for Shizzafon (Pg86-87 Volume 2); we first worked the dried out wadi south of the sewage farm and then the sewage pools themselves: we were soon to learn that any tiny area of water or mud, regardless of how foul or smelly would be well worth a look. The scrubby area of the wadi produced birds such as 3 TAWNY PIPIT, 5 NIGHTINGALE, 1 ISABELLINE WHEATEAR, 4 BLACK-EARED WHEATEAR, 2 ROCK THRUSH, 3 MASKED SHRIKE, 1 BLUETHROAT , & NORTHERN WHEATEAR. The pools and fencing yielded 1 WOODCHAT SHRIKE, 2 TEMMINCK’S STINT, 3 WOOD SANDPIPER, GREENSHANK, GREEN SANDPIPER, COMMON SANDPIPER, a MARSH SANDPIPER, SNIPE, 2 HOOPOE AND QUAIL. All of these gave super, close-up views in such a confined place and we also pondered long over an odd looking wheatear which transpired to be a female HOODED; on another visit here we were to see both HOODED and WHITE-CROWNED BLACK WHEATEARS singing and displaying.
The eastern fields at Shizzafon were looked at briefly and a large flock 120+ SPANISH SPARROW were noted. A large, lush “boating lake” in the middle of the actual kibbutz with vegetated sides provided excellent and prolonged views of 3 LITTLE CRAKE and a mix of commoner waders etc. Nearby on the way out we had fantastic views of a female BLUETHROAT perched prominently on a snag. In the end we saw almost 20 individuals of this species, but all were to be tardy females (the males pass through in large numbers almost exclusively in March).
OVERNIGHT AT KIBBUTZ LOTAN
Top left - “flava” Wagtail
Top right - Isabelline Wheatear
Bottom left - Redstart “samamiscus”
Bottom right - Masked Shrike
DAY SEVEN: 10th April 2004
Kibbutz Lotan0530 - 1200
Yotvata fields, scrub & Sewage pools 1300- 1730
The alarms went off at 0500, and the nets were opened at Lotan organic garden and muck heaps at 0530. See attached sheets for ringing totals. Today we ringed 73 birds in all, with OLIVACEOUS and BONNELLI’S WARBLERS clearly up in numbers, as were flava wagtails: hence it was probably no co-incidence that we were to see two CITRINE WAGTAILS as well.
Birding during the ringing and a quick tour around the swimming pool just before lunch produced similar species to yesterday, with the addition of 1 SHROT-TOED EAGLE, 2 QUAIL, 1 COLLARED PRATINCOLE, 3 ALPINE SWIFT, 1 PALLID SWIFT, (probably more), 100 SWIFT, 500+ SAND MARTIN, a BLUETHROAT, 1 WHINCHAT, newly arrived RUFOUS BUSHCHATS just starting to sing and 2 WOODCHAT SHIKE.
Following lunch, we were advised by Jonathan that a White-throated Robin had been found at nearby Yotvata, so we decided to have an afternoon birding this area; this splendid site is just 5km south of Lotan and provides a mixture of scrub, cultivated fields and sewage tanks in the middle of the arid Arava Valley. As a result, it is a magnet for migrants. On arrival we joined the “twitch” of 5 birders!! We were soon watching the WHITE-THROATED ROBIN with just the bird for company. Little did we realise at the time that this was the very first in what was to become a major fall of the species over the coming week and that finding our own robins was to become almost routine. Anyway this bird was a stunning male and we gorged ourselves for an hour or so. Further searching of the Sewage Tanks and the perimeter of the abandoned holiday camp produced 3 SQUACCO, 1 GLOSSY IBIS, GARGANEY, LITTLE RINGED PLOVER,RUFF, GREEN SANDPIPER, WOOD SANDPIPER, TURTLE DOVE, 4 LITTLE GREEN BEE-EATER, 5 WRYNECK, 20 EASTERN BONELLI’S WARBLER, 1 NIGHTINGALE, 100 SPANISH SPARROW, 2 ORTOLAN BUNTING, & lots of BLACKCAP & LESSER WHITETHROAT. Of particular interest was a burst pipe behind the camp which results in small puddles and wet flashes amidst the acacias: it seemed a very strange place to find plovers and sandpipers!
The acacia just beyond the sewage tanks was where we found a single female ARABIAN WARBLER.
We then took the track east of the holiday camp towards Jordan, this joins another that takes you to the northernmost fields of the area and adjacent to the Jordanian border. The fields to look for are known as “circular fields”; they have is a big steel irrigating arm, that clearly moves through 360° from a big concrete base. This area can also be reached by taking the track from the main road just North of Yotvata petrol station.
This area proved excellent for pipits, larks, wagtails and harriers, and was a great way to end the day. Today we saw 4 MARSH HARRIER, 1 R/T HEN HARRIER, 1M MONTAGU’S HARRIER, 2 HOBBY (doing exocet impressions low over the fields) , 2 QUAIL, 100+ SHORT-TOED LARK, 100+ RED-THROATED PIPIT & 40+ FLAVA WAGTAIL
OVERNIGHT AT KIBBUTZ LOTAN
DAY EIGHT: 11th April 2004
Kibbutz Lotan 0530 - 1200
Lotan date palms an bird reserve 1300- 1730
The alarms went off at 0500, and the nets were opened at Lotan organic garden and muck heaps at 0530. See attached sheets for ringing totals. Today 67 species were ringed and it was a very busy session as there was much else to look at besides. Abiding memories include; releasing a LITTLE RINGED PLOVER as a GULL-BILLED TERN flew over, grilling our first SEMI-COLLARED FLYCATCHER from the ringing base with bins in one hand and a WRYNECK in the other and elucidating the last nightingale done to be a SPROSSER, not to mention a SCOP’S OWL that had blundered into the kibbutz buildings the night before! Whilst Lesser Whitethroats, pipits and wagtails were clearly down, the first WILLOW WARBLERS and SPOTTED FLYCATCHERS had arrived and other notable totals for birds not ringed included: 2 NIGHTINGALE, 6 THRUSH NIGHTINGALE, 3 ISABELLINE WHEATEAR, 20+ WRYNECK, 4 REDSTART, 12 BLACK-EARED WHEATEAR and 2 WHINCHAT. None of us were prepared for the next few hours, as late morning, first 2 SEMI-COLLARED FLYCATCHERS appeared in the organic garden, then Gary came back to the ringing base having found the 3rd ever record for Lotan of WHITE-THROATED ROBIN. A thorough search of the Kibbutz chalets, date palms and bird reserve eventually yielded an all time record for Lotan; we saw a minimum of 24 SEMI-COLLARED FLYCATCHERS!
Other additions were 2 ORPHEAN WARBLERS, a female putative COLLARED FLYCATCHER (normally much more numerous than Semi-collared), 6 NAMAQUA DOVES, 100+ BEE-EATER, 2 WOODCHAT SHRIKE, 2 DESERT FINCH & 1 BOOTED EAGLE on the ground. Both the bird reserve and the date palms produced reasonable numbers of birds.
OVERNIGHT AT KIBBUTZ LOTAN
Top left - White-throated Robin
Top right - Broad-billed sandpiper
Bottom left - Scops Owl
Bottom right - Semi-collared Flycatche
DAY NINE: 12th April 2004
Kibbutz Lotan0530 - 1200
K19 Sewage Pools & K20 Reservoirs 1330- 1900
The alarms went off at 0500, and the nets were opened at Lotan organic garden and muck heaps at 0530. See attached sheets for ringing totals. Today we had 21 species totalling 83 individual birds, including no less than 3 SEMI-COLLARED FLYCATCHERS and a CORNCRAKE. We were later to see several more of these, including one ambling around the lawn in front of the rooms like a Moorhen by a Norfolk duckpond.
The mix of species and numbers at Lotan in the morning was similar to yesterday. The highlights were a second WHITE-THROATED ROBIN being found around the swimming pool area at lunchtime, more flycatchers and REDSTARTS in and a plethora of WRYNECKS (up to three in one dwarf palm!)
We decided in the afternoon to head for K20 reservoir and K19 sewage pools; both of these areas held good numbers of waterfowl and waders. For birds cutting up the Gulf of Aquaba and over Eilat into the Arava, these pools are the first decent areas of expansive water that they meet. The highlights included: 1 PURPLE HERON, 200 GREATER FLAMINGO, 400 SHOVELER, 10 PINTAIL, 4 WIGEON, GARGANEY, 6 MARSH HARRIER, 1M PALLID HARRIER, 2M MONTAGU’S HARRIER, 2 OSPREY, 1 HOBBY, 1 CORNCRAKE, 4 COLLARED PRATINCOLE, 50+ KENTISH PLOVER, 5 GREATER SANDPLOVER, 250 LITTLE STINT, 2 BROAD-BILLED SANDPIPER, 1 TEREK SANDPIPER 50+ MARSH SANDPIPER, 30 GREENSHANK, 12 WOOD SANDPIPER, 200 BLACK-WINGED STILT, 150 SLENDER-BILLED GULL, 25 BALTIC GULL, 15 GULL-BILLED TEREN, 3 WHITE-WINGED BLACK TERN, 3 BLUE-CHEEKED BEE-EATER, 50 BEE-EATER, and 30 RED-THROATED PIPIT. There were also thousands of SWIFTS and hundreds of SAND MARTINS.
The weedy field just north of the K19 was well worth walking, and should also be taken in if time permits; here we found an eastern race STONECHAT (the only one of the trip) plus many commoner migrants.
OVERNIGHT AT KIBBUTZ LOTAN
