norfolkbirding with chris mills
A TRIP REPORT TO ISRAEL APRIL 2004
CHRIS MILLS, JACKY MILLS, OSCAR CAMPBELL & GARY ELTON
Guidebooks
A must are:
A Guide to the Birding Hot-spots of Northern Israel Volume 1 - Shirihai, Smith, Kirwan & Alon
A Guide to the Birding Hot-spots of Southern Israel Volume 2 - Shirihai, Smith, Kirwan & Alon
The above guides and the relevant pages are referred to in the Daily account of birding.
Others used:
Birdwatching Sites in Israel - Dave Gosney
Maps
If you intend travelling around it is worth ordering a good quality road map we used a Map scaled at 1:250,000; this comes with a Northern sheet & Southern sheet. Enquire at any well-established book store, but allow 4-5 weeks for ordering and delivery.
Temperature
Temperatures varied from 20° C to 38° C, but it is imperative to take and drink lots of water all the time. It is particularly dangerous in the desert areas with a very dry heat where you will not detect that you are sweating as it evaporates as quickly as it forms. 38o C sounds hot but in reality we were birding most afternoons from 1400 to dusk; bird activity did not dry up nearly as markedly as it seems to in other hot countries.
Accommodation
We stayed at three sites in all: Kibbutz Gvulot (one night), Kibbutz Kfar Ruppin (two nights) and Kibbutz Lotan (9 nights); these are all very clean, tidy facilities with showers, a/c in rooms and we even had a TV at Gvulot (it was never switched on!!).
All of the Kibbutz details can be found in the guidebooks mentioned. For an approximate idea of costs, at the time of writing full-board at Lotan with two people sharing a twin worked out at around £30 person per day.
Security
Despite many tourists/birders steering away from Israel during our 2 week stay (in which the Israeli’s assassinated another Palestinian leader) we never saw any problems or felt threatened, and unless you try and drive into Gaza or the West Bank (which is almost impossible at present) you are very unlikely to witness any problems. Security is very tight at the airport; expect to be thoroughly questioned about your stay and to have your optics thoroughly examined on departure; this is of course for everyone’s safety.
Useful websites
www.birdingisrael.com/KibbutzLotan <http://www.birdingisrael.com/KibbutzLotan>
www.birdingisrael.com <http://www.birdingisrael.com>
Email address
chris.mills55@virgin.net <mailto:chris.mills55@virgin.net>
Lotan-programs@lotan.ardom.co.il <mailto:Lotan-programs@lotan.ardom.co.il>
DAILY ACCOUNT OF BIRDING
DAY ONE: 4th April 2004 Nizzana0730 - 1300
Gvulot1400 - 1800
We arrived at Tel Aviv airport at 3.30am, collected our Avis rental car (organised on-line in UK) and were surprised to find puddles of water, left by what had obviously been a heavy downpour. Security was immediate and we were questioned upon disembarking the plane, but this was done and dusted within 20 minutes. By 5 am we were heading for our first destination - Nizzana in the Western Negev desert. En-route as dawn broke we noted many roadside WHITE STORKS and a few STEPPE BUZZARDS sitting around in the desert awaiting the heat of the day to continue their migration. Also, for the half of the team that had not previously been to Israel, GRACEFUL WARBLER and CHUKAR were soon in the notebook.
On arriving at Nizzana we concentrated on the areas adjacent to the disused airstrip (Volume 2 Pg128), looking on both the east and west sides of the road. There are big piles of earth that provided a useful vantage point, initially, for scanning the area, and also played host to both ROCK THRUSH and BLUE ROCK THRUSH.
The rain seemed to have resulted in a fall of Wheatears: during the morning we noted 100+ ISABELLINE & 75+ NORTHERN WHEATEAR. The desert itself was beautifully green and flowery; it appeared to have been a wet winter. Several short walks from this area, and about 1km further south in vegetated wadi (south of the airstrip) produced 10 HOOPOE, 12 DESERT LARK, 150 SHORT-TOED LARK, 12 TAWNY PIPIT, 1 DESERT WHEATEAR, 2 SPECTACLED WARBLER, 12 SCRUB WARBLER, 5 ARABIAN BABBLER, 8 WOODCHAT SHRIKE, 10 SOUTHERN GREY SHRIKE, 2 MASKED SHRIKE, 150 SPANISH SPARROW, 20 BROWN-NECKED-RAVEN, 5 CORN BUNTING & 15 BEE-EATERS. We also noted MOURNING WHEATERS feeding recently fledged juveniles.
Later in the morning we checked the sewage pools at Qeziot junction (Volume 2 Pg 128). We made 2-3 stops on the minor roads in this area, finding many birds. A magical moment occurred as we slowed to scope a ringtail PALLID HARRIER, and then suddenly a group of 6 CROWNED SANDGROUSE crept out from the verge and froze within a few feet of the car, allowing close scrutiny and some nice photographs! The pools opposite the Gas station were less productive save for a pair of GARGANEY.
Deprived of sleep for the last 24 hours and starting to feel the pinch a tad, we decided to head for Kibbutz Gvulot and check-in to our accommodation for the night. Before entering the Kibbutz (Volume 2, pg146) we visited the Refuse tip (2km east of the Kibbutz). We had 100+ BLACK KITES, 100 + WHITE STORK, 25 CATTLE EGRET, and an overhead passage of hirundines also contained 4 ALPINE SWIFT & PALLID SWIFT with a flyover PURPLE HERON tagging on for good measure. After offloading our gear, we took a leisurely stroll during the last hour of light around the (relatively) lush Kibbutz grounds, resulting in some notable additions to the day’s list. These included: GREAT SPOTTED CUCKOO 1 juvenile (being fed by it’s surrogate Hooded Crow parents), LESSER KESTREL 3, HOOPOE 4, STONE CURLEW 5, PALESTINE SUNBIRD 10, HOBBY 1 and OLIVACEOUS WARBLER 1 plus, during dinner, BARN OWL.
OVERNIGHT AT KIBBUTZ GVULOT TWIN ROOM; ON SITE SHOP FOR FOOD
Top left - Crowned Sandgrouse
Top right - Woodchat Shrike
Bottom right - Hoopoe
Bottom left - Black Kite
DAY TWO: 5th April 2004 Nizzana0600 - 1100
Yeroham Reservoir1200 - 1330
En Gedi, Dead Sea1515 - 1700
Having arrived at Nizzana just a little late the previous day for our key targets of coursers and bustards, we left Gvulot at 0500am and arrived back at the area just east of Nizzana airstrip at 0600. Here, we met up with Barak and Dubie, two Israeli birders whom we had met at Gvulot the previous evening. Their precise knowledge of this area helped and they directed us to the sparsely vegetated area immediately south of the airstrip. Before long we were soon gorging ourselves on 3 MALE & 2 FEMALE MCQUEENS BUSTARDS, which were using both sides of the road. (Barak later located a further 8 Bustards further south of this location). The males were giving their full display, appearing to turn themselves inside out and then hopping along in their ridiculous strutting run. Our attention was eventually distracted by 15 CREAM-COLOURED COURSERS with a nearby DESERT WHEATEAR running around in the foreground and eventually showing at 25 metres. Other birds were much as yesterday but there seemed to be rather fewer wheatears. However, we did note Cuckoo and Hobby.
We decided to try the other nearby sewage pools (Volume 2, Pg128 Site 4b); these appeared to be in use and two held water and consequently plenty of birds as well. We arrived a little late for Sandgrouse (1-2 hours after sunrise is ideal), but still managed: 2 BLACK-BELLIED SANDGROUSE drinking, 25 SPOTTED SANDGROUSE flying over, 5 PURPLE HERON, OSPREY, 2 GARGANEY, 2 RED-RUMPED SWALLOW, 2 ORTOLAN BUNTING, 1 SPECTACLED WARBLER, 2 MASKED SHRIKE, 1 WOODCHAT SHRIKE, WRYNECK 1, 200 SHORT-TOED LARK, ARABIAN BABBLER & several “FLAVA” WAGTAILS. We also enjoyed a sprinkling of waders and a fine, latish RUDDY SHELDUCK which flew around for many minutes before eventually plucking up the courage to pitch in.
We reluctantly headed off, westwards towards the Dead Sea for the afternoon. Our next stop for lunch and to break the journey was at Yeroham reservoir (Volume 2 Pg136). This proved the epitome of a green oasis in the desert, and a mere gentle walk in the midday heat produced masses of transient warblers (the highlights including OLIVACEOUS WARBLER, 4 EASTERN BONELLI’S and a WOOD WARBLER in the same tree!) and amongst various waterfowl and waders, 8 GARGANEY, 1 WHISKERED TERN, 20 LITTLE STINT, 10 GREEN SANDPIPER, GREENSHANK, 30 RUFF, & WOOD SANDPIPER.
We reached En Gedi at 1500 to be told that the Reserve gates are closed at 1600. Hence we only had a quick walk up and down the wadi. This produced some of our target species: 6 FAN-TAILED RAVEN, 10 ROCK MARTIN, 2-3 BLACKSTART, a LITTLE GREEN BEE-EATER & 20 TRISTRAM’S GRACKLES and also 2 SHORT-TOED EAGLES.
A walk around the nearby field study centre produced similar birds.
We drove on to Kfar Rupin and arrived there at 1830, in time to join the Kibbutz for the Passover dinner, which proved a wonderful occasion, not to mention a fantastic meal, especially welcome as we had been subsisting on snacks and pitas up until that point.
OVERNIGHT AT KIBBUTZ KFAR RUPPIN TWIN ROOM. ON SITE: SHOP FOR FOOD, MEALS ALSO AVAILABLE.
DAY THREE 6th April 2004Kfar Ruppin fishponds 0700 - 1500
Neve Eitan fishponds1500 - 1830
After the first couple of hectic days we allowed ourselves a lie in until 0630, and were not out birding until 0700. We searched the plethora of fishponds on foot around Kfar Ruppin (Volume 1 Pg 79) until mid afternoon, and then explored the nearby ponds at Neve Eitan (Volume 1 Pg 79) until dusk.
The ponds held masses of egrets, and both WHITE-BREASTED KINGFISHER and PIED KINGFISHER were easy to see. Suitable wader pools took a bit more locating, but where shallow pools were found most of the commoner waders were present. (We recommend driving the car around all these areas, especially if you are short on time: the birdiest ones are widely scattered amongst deeper, emptier ones.)
The best birds on the Kibbutz included 20 GARGANEY, 10 GREAT WHITE EGRET, 100 LITTLE STINT, SYRIAN WOODPECKER, 4 CLAMOROUS REED WARBLER, 1 SARDINIAN WARBLER, nesting RED-RUMPED SWALLOWS, 20+ DEAD SEA SPARROW & 10 ORTOLAN BUNTING.
During mid morning there was a good passage of birds and we were kept busy with scopes pointing skyward as 120 BLACK KITE, 1 EGYPTIAN VULTURE, 1 SHORT-TOED EAGLE, 2 GRIFFON VULTURE, 20 MARSH HARRIER, 1 MALE PALLID HARRIER (Ye gods!; topping a kettle of a dozen storks), 12 SPARROWHAWK, 70 STEPPE BUZZARD, 6 LESSER SPOTTED EAGLE, 10 OSPREY, 2 LESSER KESTRELS, 700 WHITE STORK, 25 BEE-EATER AND 300 BLACK STORK all passed overhead.
We then headed off for Neve Eitan, momentarily distracted en route, by the striking attired and raucous
BLACK FRANCOLIN (relatively easy to see here if you are patient). A ringtail HEN HARRIER, STONE-CURLEW and a GREAT SPOTTED CUCKOO were also seen from roadside stops between the two areas. The day was “nearly” finished at the Neve Eitan fishponds with further additions of 10 CASPIAN GULL , 10 GULL-BILLED TERN, 1 SLENDER-BILLED GULL, 4 SPOONBILLS and finally 60 WHITE PELICAN & 100 NIGHT HERON against the back-drop of a fantastic sunset! The fishpond tracks at dusk also yielded excellent views of Jackals. But the day only eventually ended when a BARN OWL and a torch-lit SCOPS OWL were scrutinised just outside our room whilst, in the background, NIGHTINGALES sang and more STONE-CURLEWS called.
OVERNIGHT AT KIBBUTZ KFAR RUPPIN
Top left - Bonelli’s Warbler
Top right - Caspian Gull
Bottom left - White Pelicans
Bottom right - Turtle dove
DAY FOUR: 7th April 2004 Kfar Rupin ringing station 0700 - 1200
Neve Eitan fishponds1230 - 1500
Early morning, we headed up to the ringing station (information available at the Kibbutz). This small area of scrub isolated by arable fields proved to be alive with arriving migrants. These included notables such as WRYNECK, 20 TREE PIPIT over, 1 BLUETHROAT, 2 GREAT REED WARBLER, 1 ORPHEAN WARBLER, and SAVI’S WARBLER (virtually in the same bush!),3 CETTI’S WARBLER, 12+ QUAIL, 30+ ORTOLAN BUNTING. We also had 1500 WHITE STORK in a fantastic low blizzard gaining height as they came off their roosting fields to continue their northward migration. Higher overhead they were joined by 20 WHITE PELICAN. Other birds of note were 3 BLACK FRANCOLIN, 1 PURPLE HERON, 1 WOOD WARBLER & 12 DEAD SEA SPARROW.
We spent the early afternoon having a more thorough search of the Neve Eitan fishponds. This is a large area but perseverance was rewarded as we eventually found some fantastic lush pools yielding birds such as 20 GARGANEY, 1 MALE & 3 FEM LITTLE CRAKE, 170 LITTLE STINT, 4 TEMMINCK’S STINT, 12 SPOTTED REDSHANK, 30+ MARSH SANDPIPER, 6 WOOD SANDPIPER, 100 ARMENIAN GULL, 3 CASPIAN GULL, plus the bonus of a late 2ND-winter GREAT BLACK-HEADED GULL, and many of the other egrets and ducks present at Ruppin. Overhead 10 BLACK STORKS AND 9 GLOSSY IBIS were noted heading north.
By mid-afternoon we left for Wadi Ammud, with a brief stop at Lake Tiberias (Pg72 Volume 1) where we scored very quickly with a flyby PYGMY CORMORANT, by merely pulling off the road at a suitable vantage point. Here we also had 2 WHISKERED TERN.
We arrived late at Wadi Ammud (pg73 Volume 1) after a traffic-jam to do the M25 proud (avoid Tiberias during the Passover holiday - the traffic was horrendous and the signposting random, verging on the non-existent). The Wadi is a popular spot for noisy tourists so after a while of walking north up the canyon, we decided to climb the sides (choosing a suitably shallow slope) and up and out onto the top. This proved beneficial with lots more birds and far less day-trippers, not to mention splendid flowery meadows and fine views at sunset across to the Sea of Galilee. Here we enjoyed: 1 BLUE ROCK THRUSH, numerous OLIVACEAOUS WARBLERS 200+ LITTLE SWIFT (roosting at dusk) 3 PALESTINE SUNBIRD, SOUTHERN GREY SHRIKE, QUAIL and 30+ TREE PIPIT Overhead was also busy as raptors seemed to descend to lower elevations as the air cooled at dusk. We noted 1 LONG-LEGGED BUZZARD (breeds here), 1 GRIFFON, 1 SHORT-TOED EAGLE, 2 MALE & 2 FEM PALLID HARRIER (very high and clearly migrating), 51 WHITE PELICAN & 1 BLACK STORK.
We had a quick cool wash in the stream, and then a rather slow drive cross-country to collect Gary & Jacky from Tel Aviv airport at 3:30am, before heading south for the second leg of the trip.
OVERNIGHT EN ROUTE IN THE CAR TO TEL AVIV.
DAY FIVE: 8th April 2004Kibbutz lotan0800 - 1500
Eilat North beach 1600 - 1830
The drive from Tel Aviv was uneventful, save FOR 2 MARSH HARRIERS & 2 WHITE CROWNED BLACK WHEATEAR in desert areas just south of Sede Boquer. A petrol station stop complete with a few bushes dripping in BLACKCAPS and LESSER WHITETHROATS were the first evidence of the heavy passage we were to witness of these two species.
We arrived at Kibbutz Lotan, at around 0800 and almost on hopping out of the car were right into the thick of it. We were soon scanning through 50 BEE-EATER, 100 BLACK KITE, 1 EGYPTIAN VULTURE, 40 STEPPE BUZZARD and a STEPPE EAGLE as we savoured our first flush of overhead raptors. The bags were eventually unloaded into the rooms, and a tour of the chalets, gardens and swimming pool between breakfast and lunch produced some excellent birds. The kibbutz is set in the narrow Arava valley, close to the Jordan border and flanked on both sides by impressive, arid ridges. Much of the southern Arava was formerly open Acacia “woodland”; some remains but large areas have been taken over by cultivation. This isn’t good for many lark species (which are generally sparse and nomadic at the best of times; 2004 seemed an especially poor year, in marked contrast, apparently, to 2003) and Acacia specialists such as Arabian Warbler. However, presumably trans-desert migrants now find cover and greenery much more easily than they did in the past and it was on these that we were to concentrate efforts over the next 10 days.
On the ground star birds included 2 female and a male NAMAQUA DOVE, 5 WRYNECK, a bewildering array of flashy FLAVAS (feldegg thunbergi, dombrowskii, superciliaris, flava/beema, and many variations were noted during our stay), LITTLE GREEN BEE-EATER, 4 HOOPOE, 12 RED-THROATED PIPIT, 1 ROCK THRUSH, 1 NIGHTINGALE, 1 RUFOUS BUSHCHAT, & 1 MASKED SHRIKE.
In the air 1 OSPREY, 100 BLACK STORK, 9 GLOSSY IBIS AND 1 LESSER KESTREL ensured regular scans of the skies, and combined with a steady passage of hirundines and swifts, including a single LITTLE SWIFT which was a nice surprise find.
After lunch we set our mist nets in the organic garden, and then furled them in preparation for the following mornings ringing. Setting the nets was not easy, with the constant distraction of more birds! REDSTART (both nominate & samamiscus), BLACKSTARTS, WHEATEARS, 10 BLACK-EARED WHEATEAR, 3 EASTERN BONELLI’S WARBLER, 5+ MASKED SHRIKE, 2 ORTOLAN BUNTING and 1 CRETZCHMARS BUNTING were the highlights.
Jonathan Meyrev the Lotan site birder was really helpful and we took up his offer late afternoon of a run down to North Beach, Eilat for the last 1.5 hrs of light. Unfortunately, the beach was teaming with “Passover tourists” and most of the birding was a little distant, but we added a number of species: 3 WESTERN REEF HERON, 1 WHITE-EYED GULL, the second GREAT BLACK-HEADED GULL in two days, 1 BLACK TERN amongst many COMMON TERNS, 3 BALTIC GULL, & INDIAN HOUSE CROW. Also of note were 5 MARSH HARRIER, 1 OSPREY, 150 SHOVELER, 70 GARGANEY, 7 GLOSSY IBIS, & 3 SQUACCO HERON.
OVERNIGHT AT KIBBUTZ LOTAN
Top left - Black-eared Wheatear
Top right - Cretzchmars Bunting
Mid left - European Bee-eater
Mid right - Palestine Sunbird
Bottom left - Wryneck
Bottom right - Rock Thrush
CHRIS MILLS, JACKY MILLS, OSCAR CAMPBELL & GARY ELTON
Guidebooks
A must are:
A Guide to the Birding Hot-spots of Northern Israel Volume 1 - Shirihai, Smith, Kirwan & Alon
A Guide to the Birding Hot-spots of Southern Israel Volume 2 - Shirihai, Smith, Kirwan & Alon
The above guides and the relevant pages are referred to in the Daily account of birding.
Others used:
Birdwatching Sites in Israel - Dave Gosney
Maps
If you intend travelling around it is worth ordering a good quality road map we used a Map scaled at 1:250,000; this comes with a Northern sheet & Southern sheet. Enquire at any well-established book store, but allow 4-5 weeks for ordering and delivery.
Temperature
Temperatures varied from 20° C to 38° C, but it is imperative to take and drink lots of water all the time. It is particularly dangerous in the desert areas with a very dry heat where you will not detect that you are sweating as it evaporates as quickly as it forms. 38o C sounds hot but in reality we were birding most afternoons from 1400 to dusk; bird activity did not dry up nearly as markedly as it seems to in other hot countries.
Accommodation
We stayed at three sites in all: Kibbutz Gvulot (one night), Kibbutz Kfar Ruppin (two nights) and Kibbutz Lotan (9 nights); these are all very clean, tidy facilities with showers, a/c in rooms and we even had a TV at Gvulot (it was never switched on!!).
All of the Kibbutz details can be found in the guidebooks mentioned. For an approximate idea of costs, at the time of writing full-board at Lotan with two people sharing a twin worked out at around £30 person per day.
Security
Despite many tourists/birders steering away from Israel during our 2 week stay (in which the Israeli’s assassinated another Palestinian leader) we never saw any problems or felt threatened, and unless you try and drive into Gaza or the West Bank (which is almost impossible at present) you are very unlikely to witness any problems. Security is very tight at the airport; expect to be thoroughly questioned about your stay and to have your optics thoroughly examined on departure; this is of course for everyone’s safety.
Useful websites
www.birdingisrael.com/KibbutzLotan <http://www.birdingisrael.com/KibbutzLotan>
www.birdingisrael.com <http://www.birdingisrael.com>
Email address
chris.mills55@virgin.net <mailto:chris.mills55@virgin.net>
Lotan-programs@lotan.ardom.co.il <mailto:Lotan-programs@lotan.ardom.co.il>
DAILY ACCOUNT OF BIRDING
DAY ONE: 4th April 2004 Nizzana0730 - 1300
Gvulot1400 - 1800
We arrived at Tel Aviv airport at 3.30am, collected our Avis rental car (organised on-line in UK) and were surprised to find puddles of water, left by what had obviously been a heavy downpour. Security was immediate and we were questioned upon disembarking the plane, but this was done and dusted within 20 minutes. By 5 am we were heading for our first destination - Nizzana in the Western Negev desert. En-route as dawn broke we noted many roadside WHITE STORKS and a few STEPPE BUZZARDS sitting around in the desert awaiting the heat of the day to continue their migration. Also, for the half of the team that had not previously been to Israel, GRACEFUL WARBLER and CHUKAR were soon in the notebook.
On arriving at Nizzana we concentrated on the areas adjacent to the disused airstrip (Volume 2 Pg128), looking on both the east and west sides of the road. There are big piles of earth that provided a useful vantage point, initially, for scanning the area, and also played host to both ROCK THRUSH and BLUE ROCK THRUSH.
The rain seemed to have resulted in a fall of Wheatears: during the morning we noted 100+ ISABELLINE & 75+ NORTHERN WHEATEAR. The desert itself was beautifully green and flowery; it appeared to have been a wet winter. Several short walks from this area, and about 1km further south in vegetated wadi (south of the airstrip) produced 10 HOOPOE, 12 DESERT LARK, 150 SHORT-TOED LARK, 12 TAWNY PIPIT, 1 DESERT WHEATEAR, 2 SPECTACLED WARBLER, 12 SCRUB WARBLER, 5 ARABIAN BABBLER, 8 WOODCHAT SHRIKE, 10 SOUTHERN GREY SHRIKE, 2 MASKED SHRIKE, 150 SPANISH SPARROW, 20 BROWN-NECKED-RAVEN, 5 CORN BUNTING & 15 BEE-EATERS. We also noted MOURNING WHEATERS feeding recently fledged juveniles.
Later in the morning we checked the sewage pools at Qeziot junction (Volume 2 Pg 128). We made 2-3 stops on the minor roads in this area, finding many birds. A magical moment occurred as we slowed to scope a ringtail PALLID HARRIER, and then suddenly a group of 6 CROWNED SANDGROUSE crept out from the verge and froze within a few feet of the car, allowing close scrutiny and some nice photographs! The pools opposite the Gas station were less productive save for a pair of GARGANEY.
Deprived of sleep for the last 24 hours and starting to feel the pinch a tad, we decided to head for Kibbutz Gvulot and check-in to our accommodation for the night. Before entering the Kibbutz (Volume 2, pg146) we visited the Refuse tip (2km east of the Kibbutz). We had 100+ BLACK KITES, 100 + WHITE STORK, 25 CATTLE EGRET, and an overhead passage of hirundines also contained 4 ALPINE SWIFT & PALLID SWIFT with a flyover PURPLE HERON tagging on for good measure. After offloading our gear, we took a leisurely stroll during the last hour of light around the (relatively) lush Kibbutz grounds, resulting in some notable additions to the day’s list. These included: GREAT SPOTTED CUCKOO 1 juvenile (being fed by it’s surrogate Hooded Crow parents), LESSER KESTREL 3, HOOPOE 4, STONE CURLEW 5, PALESTINE SUNBIRD 10, HOBBY 1 and OLIVACEOUS WARBLER 1 plus, during dinner, BARN OWL.
OVERNIGHT AT KIBBUTZ GVULOT TWIN ROOM; ON SITE SHOP FOR FOOD
Top left - Crowned Sandgrouse
Top right - Woodchat Shrike
Bottom right - Hoopoe
Bottom left - Black Kite
DAY TWO: 5th April 2004 Nizzana0600 - 1100
Yeroham Reservoir1200 - 1330
En Gedi, Dead Sea1515 - 1700
Having arrived at Nizzana just a little late the previous day for our key targets of coursers and bustards, we left Gvulot at 0500am and arrived back at the area just east of Nizzana airstrip at 0600. Here, we met up with Barak and Dubie, two Israeli birders whom we had met at Gvulot the previous evening. Their precise knowledge of this area helped and they directed us to the sparsely vegetated area immediately south of the airstrip. Before long we were soon gorging ourselves on 3 MALE & 2 FEMALE MCQUEENS BUSTARDS, which were using both sides of the road. (Barak later located a further 8 Bustards further south of this location). The males were giving their full display, appearing to turn themselves inside out and then hopping along in their ridiculous strutting run. Our attention was eventually distracted by 15 CREAM-COLOURED COURSERS with a nearby DESERT WHEATEAR running around in the foreground and eventually showing at 25 metres. Other birds were much as yesterday but there seemed to be rather fewer wheatears. However, we did note Cuckoo and Hobby.
We decided to try the other nearby sewage pools (Volume 2, Pg128 Site 4b); these appeared to be in use and two held water and consequently plenty of birds as well. We arrived a little late for Sandgrouse (1-2 hours after sunrise is ideal), but still managed: 2 BLACK-BELLIED SANDGROUSE drinking, 25 SPOTTED SANDGROUSE flying over, 5 PURPLE HERON, OSPREY, 2 GARGANEY, 2 RED-RUMPED SWALLOW, 2 ORTOLAN BUNTING, 1 SPECTACLED WARBLER, 2 MASKED SHRIKE, 1 WOODCHAT SHRIKE, WRYNECK 1, 200 SHORT-TOED LARK, ARABIAN BABBLER & several “FLAVA” WAGTAILS. We also enjoyed a sprinkling of waders and a fine, latish RUDDY SHELDUCK which flew around for many minutes before eventually plucking up the courage to pitch in.
We reluctantly headed off, westwards towards the Dead Sea for the afternoon. Our next stop for lunch and to break the journey was at Yeroham reservoir (Volume 2 Pg136). This proved the epitome of a green oasis in the desert, and a mere gentle walk in the midday heat produced masses of transient warblers (the highlights including OLIVACEOUS WARBLER, 4 EASTERN BONELLI’S and a WOOD WARBLER in the same tree!) and amongst various waterfowl and waders, 8 GARGANEY, 1 WHISKERED TERN, 20 LITTLE STINT, 10 GREEN SANDPIPER, GREENSHANK, 30 RUFF, & WOOD SANDPIPER.
We reached En Gedi at 1500 to be told that the Reserve gates are closed at 1600. Hence we only had a quick walk up and down the wadi. This produced some of our target species: 6 FAN-TAILED RAVEN, 10 ROCK MARTIN, 2-3 BLACKSTART, a LITTLE GREEN BEE-EATER & 20 TRISTRAM’S GRACKLES and also 2 SHORT-TOED EAGLES.
A walk around the nearby field study centre produced similar birds.
We drove on to Kfar Rupin and arrived there at 1830, in time to join the Kibbutz for the Passover dinner, which proved a wonderful occasion, not to mention a fantastic meal, especially welcome as we had been subsisting on snacks and pitas up until that point.
OVERNIGHT AT KIBBUTZ KFAR RUPPIN TWIN ROOM. ON SITE: SHOP FOR FOOD, MEALS ALSO AVAILABLE.
DAY THREE 6th April 2004Kfar Ruppin fishponds 0700 - 1500
Neve Eitan fishponds1500 - 1830
After the first couple of hectic days we allowed ourselves a lie in until 0630, and were not out birding until 0700. We searched the plethora of fishponds on foot around Kfar Ruppin (Volume 1 Pg 79) until mid afternoon, and then explored the nearby ponds at Neve Eitan (Volume 1 Pg 79) until dusk.
The ponds held masses of egrets, and both WHITE-BREASTED KINGFISHER and PIED KINGFISHER were easy to see. Suitable wader pools took a bit more locating, but where shallow pools were found most of the commoner waders were present. (We recommend driving the car around all these areas, especially if you are short on time: the birdiest ones are widely scattered amongst deeper, emptier ones.)
The best birds on the Kibbutz included 20 GARGANEY, 10 GREAT WHITE EGRET, 100 LITTLE STINT, SYRIAN WOODPECKER, 4 CLAMOROUS REED WARBLER, 1 SARDINIAN WARBLER, nesting RED-RUMPED SWALLOWS, 20+ DEAD SEA SPARROW & 10 ORTOLAN BUNTING.
During mid morning there was a good passage of birds and we were kept busy with scopes pointing skyward as 120 BLACK KITE, 1 EGYPTIAN VULTURE, 1 SHORT-TOED EAGLE, 2 GRIFFON VULTURE, 20 MARSH HARRIER, 1 MALE PALLID HARRIER (Ye gods!; topping a kettle of a dozen storks), 12 SPARROWHAWK, 70 STEPPE BUZZARD, 6 LESSER SPOTTED EAGLE, 10 OSPREY, 2 LESSER KESTRELS, 700 WHITE STORK, 25 BEE-EATER AND 300 BLACK STORK all passed overhead.
We then headed off for Neve Eitan, momentarily distracted en route, by the striking attired and raucous
BLACK FRANCOLIN (relatively easy to see here if you are patient). A ringtail HEN HARRIER, STONE-CURLEW and a GREAT SPOTTED CUCKOO were also seen from roadside stops between the two areas. The day was “nearly” finished at the Neve Eitan fishponds with further additions of 10 CASPIAN GULL , 10 GULL-BILLED TERN, 1 SLENDER-BILLED GULL, 4 SPOONBILLS and finally 60 WHITE PELICAN & 100 NIGHT HERON against the back-drop of a fantastic sunset! The fishpond tracks at dusk also yielded excellent views of Jackals. But the day only eventually ended when a BARN OWL and a torch-lit SCOPS OWL were scrutinised just outside our room whilst, in the background, NIGHTINGALES sang and more STONE-CURLEWS called.
OVERNIGHT AT KIBBUTZ KFAR RUPPIN
Top left - Bonelli’s Warbler
Top right - Caspian Gull
Bottom left - White Pelicans
Bottom right - Turtle dove
DAY FOUR: 7th April 2004 Kfar Rupin ringing station 0700 - 1200
Neve Eitan fishponds1230 - 1500
Early morning, we headed up to the ringing station (information available at the Kibbutz). This small area of scrub isolated by arable fields proved to be alive with arriving migrants. These included notables such as WRYNECK, 20 TREE PIPIT over, 1 BLUETHROAT, 2 GREAT REED WARBLER, 1 ORPHEAN WARBLER, and SAVI’S WARBLER (virtually in the same bush!),3 CETTI’S WARBLER, 12+ QUAIL, 30+ ORTOLAN BUNTING. We also had 1500 WHITE STORK in a fantastic low blizzard gaining height as they came off their roosting fields to continue their northward migration. Higher overhead they were joined by 20 WHITE PELICAN. Other birds of note were 3 BLACK FRANCOLIN, 1 PURPLE HERON, 1 WOOD WARBLER & 12 DEAD SEA SPARROW.
We spent the early afternoon having a more thorough search of the Neve Eitan fishponds. This is a large area but perseverance was rewarded as we eventually found some fantastic lush pools yielding birds such as 20 GARGANEY, 1 MALE & 3 FEM LITTLE CRAKE, 170 LITTLE STINT, 4 TEMMINCK’S STINT, 12 SPOTTED REDSHANK, 30+ MARSH SANDPIPER, 6 WOOD SANDPIPER, 100 ARMENIAN GULL, 3 CASPIAN GULL, plus the bonus of a late 2ND-winter GREAT BLACK-HEADED GULL, and many of the other egrets and ducks present at Ruppin. Overhead 10 BLACK STORKS AND 9 GLOSSY IBIS were noted heading north.
By mid-afternoon we left for Wadi Ammud, with a brief stop at Lake Tiberias (Pg72 Volume 1) where we scored very quickly with a flyby PYGMY CORMORANT, by merely pulling off the road at a suitable vantage point. Here we also had 2 WHISKERED TERN.
We arrived late at Wadi Ammud (pg73 Volume 1) after a traffic-jam to do the M25 proud (avoid Tiberias during the Passover holiday - the traffic was horrendous and the signposting random, verging on the non-existent). The Wadi is a popular spot for noisy tourists so after a while of walking north up the canyon, we decided to climb the sides (choosing a suitably shallow slope) and up and out onto the top. This proved beneficial with lots more birds and far less day-trippers, not to mention splendid flowery meadows and fine views at sunset across to the Sea of Galilee. Here we enjoyed: 1 BLUE ROCK THRUSH, numerous OLIVACEAOUS WARBLERS 200+ LITTLE SWIFT (roosting at dusk) 3 PALESTINE SUNBIRD, SOUTHERN GREY SHRIKE, QUAIL and 30+ TREE PIPIT Overhead was also busy as raptors seemed to descend to lower elevations as the air cooled at dusk. We noted 1 LONG-LEGGED BUZZARD (breeds here), 1 GRIFFON, 1 SHORT-TOED EAGLE, 2 MALE & 2 FEM PALLID HARRIER (very high and clearly migrating), 51 WHITE PELICAN & 1 BLACK STORK.
We had a quick cool wash in the stream, and then a rather slow drive cross-country to collect Gary & Jacky from Tel Aviv airport at 3:30am, before heading south for the second leg of the trip.
OVERNIGHT EN ROUTE IN THE CAR TO TEL AVIV.
DAY FIVE: 8th April 2004Kibbutz lotan0800 - 1500
Eilat North beach 1600 - 1830
The drive from Tel Aviv was uneventful, save FOR 2 MARSH HARRIERS & 2 WHITE CROWNED BLACK WHEATEAR in desert areas just south of Sede Boquer. A petrol station stop complete with a few bushes dripping in BLACKCAPS and LESSER WHITETHROATS were the first evidence of the heavy passage we were to witness of these two species.
We arrived at Kibbutz Lotan, at around 0800 and almost on hopping out of the car were right into the thick of it. We were soon scanning through 50 BEE-EATER, 100 BLACK KITE, 1 EGYPTIAN VULTURE, 40 STEPPE BUZZARD and a STEPPE EAGLE as we savoured our first flush of overhead raptors. The bags were eventually unloaded into the rooms, and a tour of the chalets, gardens and swimming pool between breakfast and lunch produced some excellent birds. The kibbutz is set in the narrow Arava valley, close to the Jordan border and flanked on both sides by impressive, arid ridges. Much of the southern Arava was formerly open Acacia “woodland”; some remains but large areas have been taken over by cultivation. This isn’t good for many lark species (which are generally sparse and nomadic at the best of times; 2004 seemed an especially poor year, in marked contrast, apparently, to 2003) and Acacia specialists such as Arabian Warbler. However, presumably trans-desert migrants now find cover and greenery much more easily than they did in the past and it was on these that we were to concentrate efforts over the next 10 days.
On the ground star birds included 2 female and a male NAMAQUA DOVE, 5 WRYNECK, a bewildering array of flashy FLAVAS (feldegg thunbergi, dombrowskii, superciliaris, flava/beema, and many variations were noted during our stay), LITTLE GREEN BEE-EATER, 4 HOOPOE, 12 RED-THROATED PIPIT, 1 ROCK THRUSH, 1 NIGHTINGALE, 1 RUFOUS BUSHCHAT, & 1 MASKED SHRIKE.
In the air 1 OSPREY, 100 BLACK STORK, 9 GLOSSY IBIS AND 1 LESSER KESTREL ensured regular scans of the skies, and combined with a steady passage of hirundines and swifts, including a single LITTLE SWIFT which was a nice surprise find.
After lunch we set our mist nets in the organic garden, and then furled them in preparation for the following mornings ringing. Setting the nets was not easy, with the constant distraction of more birds! REDSTART (both nominate & samamiscus), BLACKSTARTS, WHEATEARS, 10 BLACK-EARED WHEATEAR, 3 EASTERN BONELLI’S WARBLER, 5+ MASKED SHRIKE, 2 ORTOLAN BUNTING and 1 CRETZCHMARS BUNTING were the highlights.
Jonathan Meyrev the Lotan site birder was really helpful and we took up his offer late afternoon of a run down to North Beach, Eilat for the last 1.5 hrs of light. Unfortunately, the beach was teaming with “Passover tourists” and most of the birding was a little distant, but we added a number of species: 3 WESTERN REEF HERON, 1 WHITE-EYED GULL, the second GREAT BLACK-HEADED GULL in two days, 1 BLACK TERN amongst many COMMON TERNS, 3 BALTIC GULL, & INDIAN HOUSE CROW. Also of note were 5 MARSH HARRIER, 1 OSPREY, 150 SHOVELER, 70 GARGANEY, 7 GLOSSY IBIS, & 3 SQUACCO HERON.
OVERNIGHT AT KIBBUTZ LOTAN
Top left - Black-eared Wheatear
Top right - Cretzchmars Bunting
Mid left - European Bee-eater
Mid right - Palestine Sunbird
Bottom left - Wryneck
Bottom right - Rock Thrush
