|
Southern Israel circuit 28-31/3/2004Southern Arava and Ramon Crater
Mr. and Mrs. Simon and their friends Mr. and Mrs. Saltzman came to Lotan from Ohio. Being this their first birding experience in Israel we started at a slow pace but the shear wealth of birds around made it hard to do so! March 28th We started the day at the Eilat mountains where we had great low views of hundreds of Steppe Buzzards and smaller numbers of Black Storks and Steppe Eagles. The air was heating rapidly and by 08:30 the birds were already high up, but by that time we had already seen over 1500 birds. British birders that stayed for a few more hours later reported 16000 raptors that passed over the mountains and the Arava valley. We decided to drive down a desert wadi and were rewarded with close up views of a group of Nubian Ibex and further down the wadi found Tristram's Grackle and White crowned Black Wheatear. In the afternoon we birded around the fields and orchards of Neot smadar, where amongst many common migrants we found Blue Rock Thrush, Wheatears, Pipits Wagtails and a late afternoon light phase Booted Eagle. March 29th
At the Ketura organic gardens we briefly saw a male Namaqua Dove and a male Semi Collared Flycatcher on Lotan that stayed for a few days. In the afternoon we headed to Eilat north beach where we found Gull Billed Tern, Caspian and Sandwich Terns, and both Striated and western Reef Herons. Great flocks of ducks congregating on the sea consisted of hundreds of Garganey and Shoveler. At the Birdwatching park I found a Grey Phalarope, a very rare bird in the Arava. We capped off this great day with 18 Lichtenstien's Sandgrouse at a traditional drinking spot at dusk. At the end of the day we dropped Martie and Marie Ellen Saltzman at the airport for their departing flight. I bet they were thinking of Sandgrouse as the plane was taking off. March 30th Simon and Beth Howard had really wanted to see the Ramon crater and we were happy to We spent the morning hours visiting some sights in the crater and found a group of 18 Spotted Sandgrouse and a pair of local Egyptian Vultures. Simon and Beth took a pause from birding and visited the Ramon crater visitor center and we then birded around the town finding Desert finch, Desert Lark and Mourning wheatears, we also had good views of a local Long Legged Buzzard. March 31st On our last morning we headed down to Eilat once more, we had an interesting morning with the highlights being a Broad Billed Sandpiper at k20 salt pans, a winter plumaged Red Necked Phalarope at the birdwatching park, and a migrating Osprey over the mountains. I then dropped off the Simons at their Hotel in Eilat where they spent the rest of the afternoon snorkeling and enjoying the 34 degrees noted today. We concluded another great tour and there is still more to come. Stay posted. Till next time. Jonathan Meyrav and the birdingisrael team. Contact infoDaphna Abell |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| © Copyright 2002-2005 [Kibbutz Lotan Center for Ecotourism and Creative Ecology]. All rights reserved. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The month of March closed with the usual dust and wind we know in the Arava in spring. The end of the month also saw a surge in raptor and soaring bird migration in the area. On the ground more and more good birds are being found. A great surprise to us was to encounter many European birders in the Eilat area. I guess people have understood that in southern Israel things move at a pace of their own and the country's problems are really confined to other areas. 
We headed to the area of Yotvata where we spent the morning hours. As we were driving into the fields we noticed a group of 48 Common Cranes on the ground. For the next 15 minutes we enjoyed great views of these majestic birds resting and feeding on the ground while overhead a steady passage of raptors kept things interesting. The Cranes then took off and slowly soared high and northwards. We saw over 4000 raptors that morning including some great species like Short toed Eagle, Booted Eagle, Steppe Eagle and an incredible male Montague's Harrier. 
oblige. The Ramon crater area is incredible in scenery and holds some great desert birds. On the way to the crater we stopped briefly at a sewage pool and found a beautiful male Rock Thrush and an obliging Woodchat Shrike.