Southern observations – Mid October 2005

Steve Mann, Barak Granit, Tomer Landsberger, Tuvia Kahn and myself spent the 12 th-15 th of October in the south. With the weather still pleasantly hot, we made a comprehensive tour of the birding sites of southern Israel .

Although several very interesting species were found, the numbers of migrants were low and we had to work hard for our birds. Here are the highlights of the tour.

12 th October – We started in the Dead Sea , where we easily found most of the key species for the region. Around 30 Fan-tailed Ravens were feeding in Ein-gedi alongside ridiculously tame Tristram's Grackles. A common Raven that flew overhead while calling completed our list of Israel 's Desertic Ravens.

A visit to some of the area's reservoirs produced good numbers of common duck species, 5 Ferruginous Ducks (3 handsome males) and several Namaqua Doves.

One of the trips highlights was a visit to a Sooty Falcon site near the Arava junction, where we enjoyed awesome views of 2 adults and no less than 4 fresh juvenile Falcons. For over an hour these birds flew back and forth and gave awesome views, occasionally perching above us and nearby.

13 th October – After a short drive south we started at the Yotvata circular field, 10 minutes south of Lotan. We found 3 Richard's Pipits and several Desert Wheatears feeding in the open area. The K20 salt pools near Eilat held an impressive number of Flamingos (730) and Little Stints (over a 1000), but not much else, we did manage to find 1 Broad billed Sandpiper, and single Grey Plovers.

The bird of the day was a 1 st year Daurian Shrike found at the IBRC park in Eilat. Unfortunately the bird was elusive and hard to photograph.

14 th October – We spent the day in the high Negev Plateau and the chilly morning produced some awesome birds. Near the officer's training camp ("Bahad 1") we found 2 Red-breasted Flycatchers, an adult Baillon's Crake, 2 Water Rails, a possible "tristis" Chiffchaff and a Garden Warbler. In a wadi nearby a Spectacled Warbler gave decent views.

At Sdeh Boker college we found another RB Flycatcher, but not much else.

We finished the day in a remote area of Wadi Paran where we managed only brief views of a Hume's Tawny Owl.

15 th October – We headed north to the Nizzana area. We were a bit disappointed to find only 1 McQueen's Bustard but a Bimaculated Lark that called as it flew overhead was a good bird for the fall.

At the famous drinking pool we had amazing views of a close party of Crowned Sandgrouse that we found as we drove into the complex. All in all 33 Crowned Sandgrouse were counted alongside 500 Black-bellied Sandgrouse, 100 Spotted and 3 Pin-tailed Sandgrouse.

A surprise find was a nice White-tailed Plover in the adjacent pools.

A visit to the Urim fields in the western Negev produced fine views of 7 Red-footed Falcons hunting over the fields and 4 Peregrines were also found harassing the doves and pigeons in the area.

It was a very interesting trip, with a nice mix of resident, migrant and wintering species. Stay posted as our tour season gets under way.

Good birding ///Jonathan Meyrav

Contact info

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