Over much of the last two weeks, I've focused my attention on finding Striated Scops Owls in the Southern Arava. It's a mouthwatering prospect for a winter day in the desert even though the owls themselves are thinly distributed and difficult to find. Such a project involves hiking many tens of kilometres in remote desert regions in the process of meticulously checking every Acacia tree, the favoured haunt of Striated Scops Owl. To date, I've found twelve individual owls and checked over three thousand Acacia trees!! This is a rare bird indeed and deserving of such special attention.

In general, the birding in the desert wadis in mid-winter is rather light. The birds are few and thinly distributed but more often than not, true desert species can be confiding and tame in these places and well worth the effort.

This gallery of images is a mere selection of the impressive sights that I've encountered over the last two weeks.

Good birding,

James Smith