Our friend Jonathan Meyrav came down to Lotan for a visit this weekend, so we joined forces this morning and went down towards Eilat on a surprisingly cold, gloomy winter's morning after a night of rain. The mist was slow to clear and the viewing at the North Beach was not too great. We did see plenty of White-eyed Gulls, and a rarer visitor to Eilat, an Armenian Gull.

The north sewage pools beckoned and here we found a better selection of species including a Greater Spotted Eagle, 4 Great Crested Grebes, Northern Lapwing, 3 Whiskered Terns, a late Red-rumped Swallow, Citrine Wagtail and a Greater Sand Plover, which circled for a while without landing and then moved on.

Closer to the melon fields we had good views of the long staying adult 'Isabelline' Shrike, which looked in fine condition as it chased Stonechats and Rock Martins around the manure heaps. Another Citrine Wagtail was also present in the melon fields.