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End April / 7 day tour / Southern Israel
Part 2 April 29th
At the southern tip of the Dead Sea we stopped at a reservoir that holds rain and flood water from the surrounding wadis. The first bird we heard was a singing Clamorous Reed Warbler, perched on some reeds, giving outstanding views. The same area held a Common Kingfisher and no less than 10 Little Grebes. A low flying Lesser-spotted Eagle was nice to see, and together we worked on the identification features of this sometimes tricky bird. In a nearby similar reservoir we found our first Dead Sea Sparrows of the day, 2 males perched on a fence 3 meters away. The guys were impressed with the massive nests this attractive little bird builds. We headed to a raptor watch point in the central Dead sea area. We timed it just right and we had hundreds of birds at eye level and passing low against the spectacular background of the Dead Sea valley. We noted 2 Egyptian Vultures, 8 Short toed Eagles, Honey and Steppe Buzzards, Marsh Harrier, Booted Eagles, and a group of 89 Levant Sparrowhawks, in a tight formation. We obviously got all the Dead Sea specialties with many Fan-tailed Ravens and Tristram's Grackles. We headed back south stopping to admire hundreds of Pallid Swifts , near a big colony. Once back at Lotan, Yohan and I decided to go and have another Look at the Black-crowned Finch Lark we found the day before. We finally found it but also had a beautiful summer plumaged Caspian Plover. What a day... April 30thWe headed to the Eilat Mountains , this time of year we try May 1st
Things worked out like a charm. We arrived at the Nizzana area just before 7:00 and I knew we had 45 minutes before the local Sandgrouse come to drink. So we tried for the mysterious Houbara Bustard, which normally takes some time to find, but luckily we found a bird feeding in a flat area 50 meters away. This was an incredible start, and we managed to find another bird at another site before heading to the pools where the Sandgrouse come to drink. We sat patiently and the birds started to arrive. Before long over 350 birds arrived and we had amazing views of all 4 species ( Spotted, Crowned, Black-bellied and Pin-tailed Sandgrouse ) , and the area also held Hen Harrier, Common Crane, Lesser-spotted Eagles and surprisingly a Gull-billed Tern. This is an incredible spot by any standard. The following We stopped at Sdeh Boker, and found many obliging Desert Finch and on the lawns found Blackcaps and a Garden Warbler. A nearby canyon was our next stop and we had great views of 10 Griffon Vultures, including two active nests, and a spectacular adult Bonnelli's Eagle. We continued south and stopped at the Meishar where we found a group of 28 Spotted Sandgrouse to add to our great luck with these birds, and 2 Bar-tailed Larks at a traditional site, an adult feeding a young bird. This was one of the better tours I led. We had great luck with the desert species, and as is the case in May the days were filled with large numbers of Raptors and migrants on the ground. As usual in southern Israel in spring we added some incredible rarities, for a trip list of over 180 species. I am sure that before long I will be birding again with Yohan , Brent, Martin and the others in our beautiful back yard of southern Israels deserts. Till next, Jonathan Meyrav and the birdingisrael team. Contact infoDaphna Abell |
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The fourth day of our tour was dedicated to the northern Arava valley and the Dead Sea area. We left Lotan early and stopped at a few places along the way picking up some of the common species and enjoying a light but fairly steady passage of raptors over head. 
and get as many raptor watching mornings as possible. And what a day it turned out to be. We were a group of 7 birders at the mountains and we were swarmed by Honey Buzzards . This was the first big passage day with 22000 Honey Buzzards , overhead in a massive stream, and 3 Crested Honey Buzzards and several other raptors. Yohan and the French birders were just amazed at the spectacle, and I was happy to be able to get them onto a male Crested Honey Buzzard , which isn't easy to find in a thick stream of birds... As if this was not enough, we were blown away by an adult Verraux's Eagle which passed low over mount Shlomo and gave breathtaking views. This was an amazing migration watch by any standard and the day carried on to be a great day with Pallid Harrier, Lesser-spotted Eagles and 3 Golden Plovers , my first of the year. 
Saving the best for last, we set out on our famous Nizzana day. This is a long birding day dedicated to the western and central Negev . We left Lotan at the grueling hour of 04:30 in the morning. The expectations were high and I wanted to get all the target species as early in the day as possible. 
hours we found singing Spectacled Warblers, Little Owl with prey, many Southern Grey Shrikes and had outstanding views of 3 Cream Coloured Coursers with a cute chick. I was amazed at our luck as some of these birds can be very hard to find this time of year. Driving back towards the central Negev , we noted a tight flock of 220 White Pelicans migrating north.