Early summer in the southern Arava- June 2008

Summer is a rough time for birding the southern Arava. Day temperatures are already very high, often over 40 degrees, and the birding activity is limited to the cooler hours of dusk and dawn.

I spent a few days with Thomas Krumenacker in the south and using Lotan as a base we covered most of the more productive sites in the southern Arava. Thomas started in the Dead Sea area and got decent views of some Mountain Buntings, Trumpeter Finch and more. A visit to the Sooty Falcon territory in the southern Dead Sea was nice, but although the birds were present, they were still quite loosely attached to the actual nest site and could be seen around the canyon but were not restricted to one site.

We tried another very productive Sooty Falcon territory near Eilat but there we did not find any Falcons but got great views of a resident pair of Egyptian Vultures.

We were greatly disappointed with the North Beach as normally by mid June at least some of the Red Sea species make an appearance, and this year nothing. The sea was very slow with only a handful of White-eyed Gulls and Caspian Terns.

At K20 there were very few migrants, with single Ruff, Redshank, and juvenile White-winged Terns. Over 25 Black winged Stilt fledglings were carefully attended by their parents and a group of 50 or so Little Terns was around the pools. There was a single adult Rose-coulored Starling near K20, a very late record indeed.

The surprise find of the trip was a probable male Black-Bush Robin seen at the little wooded area near Ein evrona, just off the Arava road. The bird was extremely shy and wary. This is one of the latest records of this species ever in the country and could point to breeding activity in the area. Although breeding of BB Robin was never actually proven in Israel, we strongly believe that this species occasionally breeds in the southern Arava and this record is a good indication. We will keep our eyes open on this spot.

We did fare well with some hard to find residents. Thomas found a few groups of the enigmatic Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse at regular summer sites, including a rather confiding group of 6 males. I checked some sites around the Paran and Meishar along road 40 and came up with several families of Bar-tailed Larks, Mourning and Desert Wheatear fledglings and a nice family of Spotted Sandgrouse with mommy, dad and a chick. Although fairly common, Spotted Sandgrouse can be very shy during the breeding season and are rarely seen with fledglings. In the Western Paran I had a nice adult Lanner Falcon harassing some Rock Doves.  

Hopefully in the next few days action on the Red-Sea will pick up. Both fish farms off the North Beach are removing their cages and underwater structures, leaving a clean sea behind, now all we need is the birds. I am adding a nice gallery from the past few days. I would like to thank Thomas for his images and for a great time in the field as always.

Stay posted for news and observations fresh from the field.

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)