Birding field report – Early May

Credits: All photos courtesy of Jonathan Meyrav; Click on the photos to enlarge [+]

1 May 2005 - The first of May started off quietly, but ended with me relocating and identifying with certainty the Great Snipe at Yotvata sewage. Several images were taken and most of the feedback I got so far supports Great Snipe , possibly a 1 st year bird.

2 May 2005 - Today I was joined by Igal and Hannah Talmi on their annual trip to the southern Arava. We started off at the mountains and had reasonable views of several thousand Honey Buzzards . The birds climbed quickly and within an hour of our arrival were high and drifting swiftly to the east, into the valley. We decided to leave the Honeys for another day and headed down to the K20 pools. The pools were relatively quiet but we did have great views of a summer plumaged Red Necked Phalarope , several Broad billed Sandpipers and a Whiskered Tern . In the Afternoon we headed to Yotvata and relocated the probable flavissima Yellow Wagtail. In the fields we found a first year male Black headed Bunting and a female Rock Thrush. High on Igal's wish list was Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, so we decided to check out some potential sites. After 15 minutes we found a nice group of 8 Blue-Cheeks, giving great views as they feasted on Bees. A great way to end the day.

3 May 2005 - It was a beautiful spring day but the Honey Buzzards were once again high and far and so the raptor watch was cut short. We were rewarded with incredible views of 2 Corncrakes feeding in the canal at the bird park and a 1 st year Terek Sandpiper was found at the K20 pools.

4 May 2005 - Hazy east winds greeted us in the mountains that morning and that was once again a bad sign for HB migration. With some effort I was able to locate a decent stream of Honey Buzzards but they quickly gathered height and drifted west over the Egyptian wilderness. A dark distant Falcon silhouette turned out to be a superb dark morph Eleonora's Falcon, but that was the only real highlight of the raptor watch...

In the valley we had good views of Booted Eagles, Pallid and Marsh Harriers and several Caspian Terns. No less than 9 Broad-billed Sandpipers and 50 Curlew Sandpipers were counted at K20 and 2 beautiful Red-necked Phalaropes could be seen spinning around gracefully. That afternoon at Yotvata I met Yoav,Nadav and Amit at Yotvata and we enjoyed great views of an over confident Icterine Warbler and a female type Little Bittern .

5 May 2005 - An awesome wave of Blackcaps swept over the Arava valley, I woke up to the tzicking of hundreds of birds. The short walk to my car produced 15 Blackcaps and a single Barred and Garden Warbler. That morning at the IBRCE ringing station in Eilat over 500(!!!) Blackcaps were ringed. We can only guess the real number of birds that actually go through, but the number is surely astronomical.

6 May 2005 - It was the harsh Chrrrrrr calls of dozens of Thrush Nightingales that woke me up in the early morning. An evident fall of this shy species had taken place and several could be seen on every lawn. I spent the morning helping at the ringing station at Eilat, as they were swamped with hundreds of passerines. Hundreds of Blackcaps were the main species, but also ringed were a dozen Barred Warblers, several Garden Warblers and 2 Olive-tree Warblers. But the star of the morning was a first year male Rosy Starling, that produced smiles all around and was in very interesting plumage to study in the hand.

7 May 2005 - It was a fairly quiet day, worth noting were several Black headed Buntings at the Yotvata fields and a male Collared Flycatcher on Lotan.

8 May 2005 - I woke up to a gentle south wind - the worst wind conditions for Honey Buzzards. The winds were a bit stronger at Eilat so I decided to check out the north beach. Several White-eyed and Baltic Gulls were on the cages and single Gull-billed and Little Terns were hunting near shore. A distant Tern turned out to be an adult (or nearly) and a White-cheeked Tern which gave decent views, but that was it. The day heated quickly and at 10:00 it was already well over 30 degrees. The K20 pools held many shorebirds, but nothing new. On the way north from Eilat I checked a tiny wooded area and was thrilled to find a pair of Lichtenstein' s Sandgrouse, that gave awesome views.

More will follow with more fresh images from the field. Stay posted.

Jonathan Meyrav and the BirdingIsrael team.

Contact info

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