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Birding field report Early May 2004
The resident desert species are busy feeding young and are very active and territorial, and are easily seen around drinking pools. In plantations and orchards, the fruiting trees are still teeming with Warblers, and interesting Waders and Passerines are found every day. May 3rd
A gallery of images Itzhak Amir took that day is featured on the site. May 4th
May 5th
We drove through the fields and vineyards north of Eilat, finding 2 Namaqua Doves, 4 Rollers, and no less than 6 Golden Orioles. At the k19 sewage pools there was a group of 12 Night Herons and many Squacco Herons. Between K19 and K20 I noted a beautiful male Lesser Grey Shrike . The fields were full of insects and huge numbers of hirundines were chasing insects, an estimated 500 House Martins , and smaller numbers of Barn and Red-rumped Swallows were quite a spectacle. We continued to the K20 Salt pools and found that the numbers of waders have increased and many new birds have arrived. We noted 450 Little Stint, 200 Ruff, 40 Wood Sandpipers, no less than 30 Curlew Sandpipers and 11 Broad-billed Sandpipers, almost all in beautiful summer plumage. We paid a visit to the long staying 2 Red-necked Phalaropes and came back to Lotan where 10 Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters are still present. May 6 th
Paul carried on towards Eilat and I visited the beautiful lake at Neot Smadar. This amazing site holds great birds and I found 4 Little Bitterns, 1 Little Crake, 1 Water Rail, 20 Reed Warblers, 10 Sedge Warblers, and 6 Great Reed Warblers. As I was circling the lake I noticed Honey Buzzards coming down to drink. I quickly scanned the sky and noticed great numbers of birds thermalling far to the south. I quickly got to my car and sped off to the observation point at Mt Ait. When I arrived many birds were gliding all around me, giving great views. 2 minutes after my arrival a beautiful light phase Eleonora's Falcon passed 30 meters above me.
I finally put my bins down when I noted the stream was drifting to the east, and went down to Lotan. At the Kibbutz I relocated the stream and carried on counting, as the birds were drifting east over the bird reserve and over Jordan. By 12:30 I had counted 37,600 Honey Buzzards , right over my back yard. The hot temperatures and my aching neck were good reasons to call it a day and rest that afternoon. Jonathan and the BirdingIsrael Team Contact infoDaphna Abell |
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Spring is coming to an end and the summer is settling in. The days are bright and hot, with the birds (and the birders) focusing on the morning and late afternoon hours. The changes in temperature also bring a new flavor to the migration season. The last big waves of migrants occur and several species pass the Arava in impressive numbers. Honey Buzzard migration peaks on the first week of May and large numbers of marsh Terns, mainly White-winged Black Tern are seen everywhere in the region. Both Honey Buzzards and White-winged Black Terns , pass in huge flocks and on productive mornings tens of thousands of either can be seen in the Eilat area. 
The day was spent in the company of nature photographer Itzhak Amir. We started at the Eilat mountains, but the hot east winds of yesterdays sandstorm and the mist over the valley called for a slow day for raptor migration. We were able to locate a few hundred birds, but they were already way too high for photography. We headed down to the salt pans and while Itzhak was photographing the resident Flamingo flocks, I birded around the pools finding 5 Broad-billed Sandpiper, 3 Whimbrel, a few White-winged Black Terns and a single Black-winged Pratincole with 12 Collared Pratincoles. 
A cool and misty morning greeted us as we assembled at the base of Mt. Shlomo. I spent the morning with a few French and Dutch birders, and with Hadoram Shirichai. Although Hadoram is busy with different projects in various places worldwide, he still enjoys the spectacle of the Honey Buzzard migration. Once the birds started to rise, we enjoyed a strong and steady passage for a few hours. It was a big day, and the Honey Buzzards gave good views and we were able to pick out 2 beautiful male Crested Honey Buzzards of the classic sandy morph. More and more birds were rising over the ridge, and as the day heated up, higher up went the birds. At around 10:00 we had already seen an estimated 22,000 birds and decided to head down. When we left, more birds were still coming through but at great height and far of to the west. The Israeli Air Force reported that around 12:30, in the middle of the day, the radar picked up a stream of birds a few km long!! Huge numbers. Other interesting raptors seen today were 2 Pallid Harriers, 4 Lesser-spotted eagles, 10 Levant Sparrowhawks, a Hobby and a juvenile Red-footed Falcon. 
I headed up the mountains once more, and met Vincent de Boer and Yosef Kiat. The first bird we saw was a female Pallid Harrier, that passed far to the east, nearly over the city of Eilat. Unfortunately even though we scanned the skies for 2 hours, we saw just 700 Honey Buzzards , and headed down. 
Paul Sterry and I went up road 40 towards the extensive sand flats of the Ovda valley, in search of some desert species. We stopped at a small green area and had good views of resident Sand Partridge, Hooded and White-crowned Black Wheatear, Blackstart, Desert Lark, Scrub Warbler and a few Tristram's Grackle. The site, which is a small area with some scattered shrubs held over 25 Blackcaps , an incredible number, especially due to the fact that the Blackcaps are supposed to be incubating eggs and singing somewhere in Europe by now. 
With so many Honey Buzzards around , I decided to start by focusing on the near birds and found 3 Crested Honey Buzzards in 30 minutes, all males. I then decided sit and count. In two hours, I counted over 20,000 birds!!