James Smith's daily sightings reports

22nd November 2001 - Southern Arava

Overnight the weather had changed yet again. The morning was cool and cloudy and even rain threatened around 9 am. I headed straight down to Eilat and the famous 'north beach' to see if yesterday's southerly wind had brought in anything out of the ordinary. I found only gulls but was quite happy to identify an immature Armenian Gull amongst the various forms of Yellow-legged Gull. Of the latter, I was quite sure that I saw several adults of the form 'barabensis'. With gull identification and taxonomy one of the more fluid situations in birding I tend to feel defeated every time I look a flock of large gulls in Eilat. Like many others in birding, I'm hungry for more definitive information on how to identify this very challenging group.

Also seen from the beach were many White-eyed Gulls and several Pied Kingfishers, but nothing unusual so I drove to the north sewage pools, again with hopes of finding the Red-wattled Lapwing. There were plenty of birds around including a few species that I hadn't seen there on previous visits this week such as 2 Common Sandpipers, 2 Crag Martins, 5 Indian Silverbills, and a juvenile Spoonbill. On the largest pool I noticed a lone gull sitting on the water and was astonished to find that it was a 2nd calendar year Great Black-headed Gull. This magnificent beast is the largest of all our gulls in Israel and is one of the last winter visitors to arrive. A small number usually spend the winter in Eilat but they are never common. This particular bird was my earliest arrival date for this species in Israel, and the majority will not arrive until the end of the first week in December. I also had very nice views of two Citrine Wagtails, both first years, but one male and one female. Unfortunately there was no sign of the Red-wattled Lapwing.

It was still quite cool at 10:30hrs so I decided to check the larger saline pools at Km.20. Again it was full of birds, and Greater Flamingos were present in very good numbers. I also counted 68 Shelduck, 3 Marsh Sandpipers, 45 Kentish Plovers and 3 Black-tailed Godwits amongst the hundreds of waders feeding, most of which were Little Stints and Dunlin. In some nearby fields a couple of late Northern Wheatear, a 'Siberian' Stonechat and a flock of 160 Dead Sea Sparrows were also pleasing finds.

After lunch I drove up to the fields of Kibbutz Samar, which has a reputation for organically grown field crops. In the past I've seen the fields full of birds, but today was very quiet. However, I did manage a find a female Namaqua Dove, a tiny African species with just a foothold in Israel, found mostly around Eilat in spring and summer.

With the day drawing to a close I headed back down to Eilat's north sewage for one last attempt to see the Red-wattled Lapwing. After another forty five minutes I knew it wasn't to be but an Osprey was obviously new there. With just half an hour of daylight remaining I quickly drove down the International Birdwatching Centre's car park and found the female Pied Stonechat still present and actively feeding. As I was about to leave, a juvenile White Pelican came in over the Jordanian border and flew towards to the Red Sea. A very nice way in which to end the day.

Good birding to all,

James Smith.

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