Spring 2003 looks like being an outstanding season for this beautiful bunting. The 20th of March brought the first ones and since then a number of birders have already reported a wide scatter of one to three individuals at several sites in the Southern Arava.

This much sought after bunting is local and scarce throughout its near eastern and middle eastern range, breeding on high, barren slopes with little vegetation. All of the reports to date concern the white bellied form 'cineracea', birds which are destined for the dry hills of Western Turkey and a few of the Greek Islands.

April fools day it may have been, but I really didn't feel as though anyone was playing a practical joke on me. For the first time this spring I decided to check the western fields of Kibbutz Neot Semadar and walked into a virtual paradise for bunting lovers. Almost every other bunting I found was a Cinereous or so it seemed, and most of them gave enchanting views in fantastic light. By the end of the day I'd recorded a total of ten Cinereous Buntings, by far the most I've ever seen in a day in Israel and actually higher than the previous highest total given for the Eilat area (8 on 27th March 1984) in the Birds of Israel (Shirihai 1996).

All of these images were taken on that day, the 1st April 2003.

What a spring this is!!