Early spring in the southern Arava - 6-8 March 2008

Two nice days of early spring migration with our first real heat spell of the spring. On March 6th the temperature slowly started to climb and by midday, it was nearly 30 degrees.

The clear skies and calm weather contributed to migration and after a few days lull, some new birds started trickling through, and some surprises.

The first major find of the spring was a handsome male Persian (Kurdish) Wheatear Oenanthe xanthoprymna at the Neot Smadar sewage pools. The bird was initially seen by Thomas Krumenacker who is staying with us at Lotan for a month. That afternoon the bird was extremely wary and shy and was seen on and off, until around 16:00. Afterwards, despite extensive searching Thomas and I could not find the bird till sunset. We had to settle for small groups of Trumpeter Finches, that cam in to drink.

We arrived at the sewage pools early the next morning (March 7th) but the bird seemed to have left. We were compensated by a beautiful female Wolf that was curios and posed marvelously. Everyone left but I decided to stick around in case the bird reappears. And it did. At around 8:15 it flew back to the same area it was seen the day before. Although the bird was very shy and active many birders connected with it as it remained loyal to one spot. We all got decent pictures of the bird but Thomas put in the time and effort and got these stunning images.

In the fields of Neot Smadar there was a Richard's Pipit, a male Pallid Harrier and a light morph Booted Eagle.

Back down in the valley, near Ketura we had 5 Pale Rock-Sparrows with a few Short-toed Larks, and a single Temminck's Lark near Grofit. The first sammimisicus Redstarts have shown up, preceding the nominate Redstarts by a couple of weeks.

On the morning of March 8th the Kurdish Wheatear was still around, and the fields of Neot Smadar held a nice Bimaculated Lark (A.Ben Dov). Thomas and Amir birded the fields and reported a flock of 13 Thick-billed Larks. Unfortunately the Larks flew over and out of sight, and as nearly always the case with this species, could not be relocated.

Noam Weiss reported an adult male Menetrie's Warbler that was caught at the Birdwatching Park, but no one was able to relocate the bird after its release.

 The southern Arava nightlife is starting to pick up. The warm nights are full of insects and rodents and the Pharaoh Eagle Owl is seen nearly nightly at Yotvata. Roni Livne reported a Short-eared Owl from there as well on the 5th. 2 Egyptian Nightjars were hawking over Lotan on the night of the 7th. The birds were seen well hunting moths relatively high (30 metres) above the kibbutz Lawns.

The heat wave and misty conditions are supposed to improve starting tomorrow. Stay posted for more excellent images and regular news from the field.

Clik here for more pictures of the Kurdish Wheatear

Good birding.

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)