Birding Field Report, Israel, 3/2004 - The last 10 days

On the morning of March 21 st we started our first week classic tour. Throughout the week we visited all the desert areas in southern Israel and found most of our target species. As is the case in the Arava in spring we also had quite a few rare and interesting species to spice things up.

March 21 st

We left Lotan at first light and had our first good bird after 10 minutes, a Lanner that crossed the road in front of the car near Grofit. During the morning we visited the hot spots around Eilat finding some great birds including Barbary Falcon, Egyptian Vulture and Desert Wheatear. A real surprise was a male Cyprus Wheatear at the K19 compost heaps. 4 Penduline Tits were also a good find. In the afternoon we birded around Lotan on foot, we came up with many migrants and a pair of tame Namaqua Doves in the organic gardens. Overwhelmed by his first day of birding in southern Israel, Mitch went to bed with over 75 new species for the day.

March 22 nd

We started off at the wind swept flats of k33 where we found another male Cyprus wheatear, this is turning out to be quite a spring for this uncommon species. We spent the rest of the morning birding around date plantations and fields and found among others a Wren ( southernmost record in Israel to date ), many Sylvia warblers and an obliging pair of Indian Silverbill. In the afternoon we visited Eilat north beach, where we had good views of White eyed Gulls, Gull billed Tern and a perched Osprey.

We capped the day off with 18 Lichtenstien Sandgrouse at a traditional drinking spot at dusk.

March 23 rd

Today we headed north, we stopped at a green spot by the Arava road and found many birds including Desert Warbler, Arabian Warbler and a beautiful male Ruppells Warbler. We drove up to the dead sea area where we found all the species related with this special region, Fan Tailed Raven, Tristrams Grackle, Pallid Swift and Dead sea Sparrows. We also saw 5 kinds of wheatears and both Desert and Trumpeter Finches.

March 24 th

We were joined by a couple of German birders and head out to the Eilat area in the morning. The highlight of the morning was no doubt an adult Barbary Falcon that Mitch pointed out. The falcon was perched on a pylon feeding on a Ruff and we spent 10 minutes enjoying incredible views. Only later when I checked the image I noticed that the bird was ringed !! We had a great day with nearly 90 species and some really nice birds like Little Bittern, Caspian Tern, eastern Stonechat and 5 different subspecies of Yellow Wagtail . The German couple mentioned that they had spent some time birding on their own and that Little Green Bee Eater was high on their wish list, so we got close up and personal with no less than 4 different pairs and everyone was delighted to see these beautiful birds.

March 25 th

Today we set out to visit some desert areas in the breathtaking scenery of the Ramon crater. We stopped briefly at a local sewage pool where we had good views of a beautiful Grey Wagtail and a Blue Rock Thrush. Our next stop was the vast Meishar, where we found a pair of Bar tailed desert Lark, and a couple of Spotted Sandgrouse . The high plains surrounding the town of Mitzpe Ramon and the Ramon Crater rim where productive with more sought after species like Griffon Vultures, Scrub Warbler and a beautiful male Pallid Harrier seen briefly. 7 species of Wheatears were seen today, no doubt a great day of desert birding.

March 26 th 27th

We set out to the western negev for our classic 2 day Negev trip. We spent the day in different habitats and had a good mix of desert, semi desert and more northern species. We visited a local river bed that held much water and we found Cettis Warbler, Reed Warbler, Syrian Woodpecker and Blackbird. We had many groups of White Storks, Black kite and a few Crane. A male Namaqua Dove seen feeding in the Urim fields was a good find and a few peched Long Legged Buzzards Made things interesting. In the evening we visited a local roost of Black Kites and enjoyed hundreds of birds at very close range.

We spent the night at kibbutz Gevulot where we noticed Barn Owl and Long eared Owls Hawking around the kibbutz trees. We also visited a nest of Stone Curlew near the kibbutz, with the help of a friend.

The next morning we were up early and stopped at first light at a Habesor suspension bridge and had great views of Little Crake and more Acrocephalus Warblers. We then set out to the vast steppe habitat of Nizzana. We found a sleepy male Pallid Harrier perched by the road and enjoyed incredible close views. Mitch Horvitz had Houbara Bustard on his mind from day one so we were very happy to find a pair after only a few minutes of scanning the plains. The male was doing his dancing ritual around the female and we enjoyed these birds for a good 30 minutes. We carried on south to a wide river bed area around Ezuz and found lots of birds feeding on the ground. The desert here has received significant rainfall and the whole area was green and dotted with flowers. It was truly beautiful and the birds were just as inviting, we found hundreds of Pin-tailed Sandgrouse a few Black Bellied Sandgrouse and heard Crowned and Spotted sandgrouse as well. Also in the area we noted hundreds of Short-toed and lesser short toed Larks, southern Grey Shrike and many more.

On our way back to Lotan we stopped at a feeding station around Sdeh-boker. We spent an hour here enjoying superb views of over 15 Griffon Vultures and several Egyptian Vultures perched and flying around the carcasses, no doubt a great way to end our tour.

The tour was a great success and we managed to find over 180 species, most of then new to my clients. We visited most of the remote areas of southern Israel, and covered a wide range of habitats. There is more to see and the guys are already planning a return trip to the area. I enjoyed the tour just as much and being it the first complete 7-day tour of the season it certainly met our expectations, both with the quantity and the quality of the species we found.

Till Next

Jonathan Meyrav /// Kibbutz Lotan center for birdwatching.

Contact info

Daphna Abell
Program Coordinator
lotan-programs@lotan.ardom.co.il
Tel: +972 8 6356935;
Toll Free: 1800 2000 75 (when in Israel)