Birding Southern Israel - Early Spring 2008

Spring is in the air and winter is giving its final push. As the valley fills with the first trickle of spring migrants, some wintering species are getting thin on the ground. This winter was very mild in the southern Arava and although there were some days and nights with extreme cold snaps, it was very dry.

I met up with the Italian group on the morning of Feb 25th for our opening tour of the spring.

With passerines in mind we started in one of Eilot's young date plantations. This particular plantation has been productive lately and the low vegetation on the plantation ground was crawling with birds when we arrived. We were happy to see around 5 Black-eared Wheatears, the first of the year and around 4 Isabelline Wheatears were present as well. We started working through the many Pipits and quickly located 2 Asian Buff-bellied Pipits, which gave excellent views for the duration of our stay. Also a Single Richard's Pipit showed well amongst the more numerous Water and Red-throated Pipits. From here we headed to the Birdwatching Park where we found a nice flock of Dead-sea Sparrows and many Chiffchaffs and common Whitethroats. We continued north to the Eilot northern date plantation, where after some work we finally located no less than 3 Olive-backed Pipits.

A quick visit to the K19 sewage was not very productive. Most Cormorants have left by now and only a couple of dozen were present. We headed to the desert area of Doum palms where we had distant and brief views of a single Asian Desert Warbler, when we got the message of a Sociable Plover at Yotvata. Since this species was very high on the guys' wish list, we jumped in the car and headed north. In Yotvata it took us a few minutes but finally we located the bird. It had moved to the other end of the field but was a real cracker! Adults in full summer plumage are extremely rare in the Eilat area. The fields around Yotvata were good, nothing outstanding, but a nice 3rd cal male Pallid Harrier was nice as was an adult Steppe Eagle feeding in on a dead Cattle Egret.

After a great lunch at Lotan we headed to the southern Negev plateau. As we were climbing, the sky started to fill with storm clouds, very rare in this part of the country. We did not find the hoped for Yellow-browed Warbler but did find another Richard's Pipit in the fields. At K76 we enjoyed good views of a party of Crowned Sandgrouse and several Hooded Wheatears.

We then checked an Acacia Wadi and connected with the wintering Striated Scops Owl, roosting in its favorite tree. By this time, what started as a lazy drizzle of rain, had turned to a full on winter storm and as we left the Wadi, unbelievably we were soaked from the rain.

That night we tried for the elusive Hume's Tawny Owl. It took a long time and as the wind and rain had not stopped, it was hard to listen for the Owl. Finally we had  a few minutes with a probable female Hume's Owl, but with the weather conditions as they were, we had to leave the Canyon.

The next day was quite productive. Migration was evident everywhere, 35 Cranes passed over the southern Arava early in the morning. By lunchtime we had at least a dozen Common Whitethroats, many Lesser Whitethroats, 2 male Cyprus Warblers and finally Lorenzo found a bright male Ruppell's Warbler at the Lotan bird reserve. After lunch we headed north to the Northern Arava, where we made a quick stop en route to search for Arabian Warbler.

A male Arabian Warbler showed well for a few minutes and a bright sammimisicus type Common Redstart added a dash of color.

Our last evening was devoted to Nubian Nightjars. We met up with Yoav Perlman and headed out to the fields. Within an hour we saw 4 different Nightjars. 3 times we had short flight views of different birds, but the 4th Nubian Nightjar stole the show. The bird flew as we approached but landed a few meters away. We were then able to all get out of the vehicles and enjoy amazing views for a few minutes at point blank range. It does not get better than that!

Additional good birds are present around Eilat and the southern Arava. A probable 2nd cal Oriental Honey Buzzard has been spotted several times during the winter. This hard bird probably wintered in the area. The bird being a young one posed quite a few identification problems, but prolonged views and some photographs helped with clinching the ID as an Oriental HB.

The Meishar area on road 90 received significant rains this winter and has some nice green areas. During late February we noted up to 3 asian Desert Warblers in the area, 2-5 Temminck's Larks regularly, several Cream colored Coursers and a single greater Hoopoe-Lark.  

The Italians were a nice bunch and this was a great tour to open the season with and as migration builds up, so does our excitement. Spring is indeed in the air and many more good birds are just waiting to be found. Stay posted for more news and images 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)