Birding Israel field report – April 2005, the last week

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

The last big wave of spring is upon us. Late spring migrants pour in, sometimes in incredible numbers and interesting new birds make an appearance. The days are filled with the beautiful song of Rufous Bush Robins, Olivaceous Warblers and Shrikes. Large numbers of Northern Wheatears (up to 150 a day) could be seen aggressively holding territories, even on migration. Every single agricultural area holds European Bee-eaters, sometimes in large numbers, and colorful Rollers and Golden Orioles can be seen here and there.

Here are some of the Highlights from the last week of April 2005:

During the 25-26 th April, large numbers of European Bee-eaters swarmed the southern Arava, causing havoc as they feasted on the honey bees adjacent to the Melon fields. We estimated over a 1000 Bee-eaters Between Eilat and Lotan on the 26 th, with up to 40 Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters.

Awesome numbers of Yellow Wagtails also arrived on the morning of the 26 th and several hundred were feeding on the banks of the pools of K20. I estimated 1200 Yellow Wagtails that day, with 3lutea, 15supercirialis and hundreds of the more common ssp. Also at K20 there were 4 Citrine Wagtails, 11 Broad-billed Sandpipers over 30 Curlew Sandpipers and 3 Whiskered Terns. In the fields adjacent to the pools there was a beautiful male Lesser Grey Shrike, 2 Collared Flycatchers and several Spotted Flycatchers. At Neot Smadar there were 3 Black-winged Pratincoles and several Golden Orioles.

On the 27 th we noted our first real Honey Buzzard flocks. Around 3000 HB passed that morning over the southern Arava (mostly counted over Samar ). An adult Hobby and single Levant Sparrowhawks passed with the Honey Buzzards. At the Elifaz sewage I was surprised to find yet another adult White-tailed Plover. Amazingly enough this bird was in exactly the same spot another WT Plover chose, in March.

In the fields east of there I managed to find only one Bimaculated Lark, a last, lingering individual from the awesome flocks earlier this spring at this location.

The 28 th started at the Eilat Mountains . Martin Epstein from the U.S joined us on his annual birding venture to Lotan and we enjoyed an awesome morning of raptor migration. It was one of those mornings we wait for, one of the single days in the year where we truly are in awe in the face of the spectacle. Honey Buzzards were pouring in over the ridge and glided above us, below us and sometimes close enough to hear...

An estimated 15,000 Honey Buzzards passed that day. We had great views of at least 5000 Honeys from 7:30 to 10:30 . I was able to point out at least 2 Crested Honey Buzzards, a classic adult male and a huge dark female, from the hundreds of Honey buzzards around at any given moment. We had our fill of raptors around 10:30 and headed down to the valley where large numbers of Honey Buzzards continued to flow overhead. We were happy to see some Levant Sparrowhawk s in the hand at the IRBC Park and later I learned that no less than 80 Levants were ringed that day, breaking all previous records.

On the 29 th HB migration was substantially weaker with only several hundred Buzzards going through. The Eilat area in general was misty and windy with relatively few new birds. A Crested Tern was reported from the North Beach .

That afternoon at Neot Smadar there were several Semi-collared Flycatchers, Garden Warblers, Whinchats, up to 3 Rock Thrush and 5 Golden Orioles. A summer plumaged Curlew Sandpiper was feeding alongside a Temminck’s Stint at the sewage. A male Montague’s Harrier was seen at the Lotan bird reserve at the end of the day.

The strange winds of the previous day held no promise for Honey Buzzard migration on the 30 th of April. Historically, this date was a magical, peak migration day in recent years. This year was the opposite... only single Honey Buzzards passed over the mountains. We were happy to find a pair of Lichtenstein Sandgrouse resting in the shade of a tree near K20. Corncrakes are becoming a common sight with at least 3 birds seen everyday from the 26 th of April and 7 different birds on the 30 th, 3 at Yotvata. Also at the fields 3 Black headed Buntings were nice as were several Red-backed Shrikes, a male Rock Thrush and several Whinchats.

More will follow soon as we enter peak Honey Buzzard season.

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)