Intermediate Egret – Egretta (Ardea) intermedia

By Dubi Shapiro & Tomer Landsberger

Eilat and the southern Arava in November had always been excellent for rare vagrants, so Tomer Landsberger and I made plans to spend the weekend birding in this area. Our thoughts turned to vagrants from Siberia and Asia. The first day birding was pretty slow, with the only a Red-breasted Flycatcher at Lotan Gardens. The next day (6.11) was still slow, with an early start at Ein Netafim that gave us several Sinai Rosefinches at the drinking spot. By 1400, after checking the north beach, some fields and the salt ponds at k' 20, we reached Yotvata. We were about to check the fields, but due to the heat, we decided to start at the sewage ponds. Then all our plans changed.

As soon as we crossed the gate, I noticed a group of egrets with one being obviously bigger than the two little egrets that were beside him. As soon as I put my bins on the bird, it flew to a different pond, and landed at a spot where we couldn't see it. I looked at Tomer and shouted, "Did you see that?? It looks like a cattle egret, but this is too big for a 'cattle.' This can be something interesting!" We tried to get closer to the spot where we saw it landing, and as we reached the spot the bird took off only to land just south of the pond on a patch of water with tall reeds around it; then it went missing again. As we were walking in its direction, I got a phone call from Barak Granit, who wanted to know how the birding was doing. No sooner have I described the egret we were chasing, he responded: “Are you joking?"

I said, "Just open an Asian field guide and describe to me the Intermediate Egret since there is no description in the European field guides." After some discussions, this individual was taken seriously as a potential first INTERMEDIATE EGRET for Israel. Obviously, excitement levels rose. We knew that we were not leaving the area before finding the bird, even if it meant we would have to spend a few years there. We soon relocated the bird standing at the edge of the pond. I concentrated on trying to obtain some shots using the coolpix and managed to take some record shots with better views, and after checking the bird carefully, I was now convinced that the bird was an INTERMEDIATE EGRET. Soon afterwards, the bird moved back to the sewage ponds, and spent much of its time feeding busily along the bushes, eating all kinds of insects. The bird seemed settled. We watched it for about two more hours before heading back north. The bird was seen the following days by several birders, including Daniel Gilbert, Eran Banker, Nir Sapir, Ido Tzurim, Eyal Vanunu, and more.

This is a medium-size heron, 70 cm. long, clearly bigger than two little egrets, which were near him, with a relatively shorter neck than Great Egret, and a gape line that does not extend behind the eye. The bill is short and yellow with a blackish tip, and the legs are all black. This species is a resident breeder with a range from East Africa across tropical Asia. Vagrants occur in southern Sinai (December 1981), and the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea (April 1963) with the latest one being one in Italy in May-June 2001.

Dubi Shapiro,Tomer Landsberger

Contact info

Daphna Abell
Program Coordinator
lotan-programs@lotan.ardom.co.il
Tel: +972 8 6356935;
Toll Free: 1800 2000 75 (when in Israel)