September 2003 Daily Journal

1st - Two rather early Great White Egrets were present on the fishponds at Geva, along with 110 Glossy Ibis and about 600 Armenian Gulls. Two Cretzschmar's Buntings and a Red-backed Shrike could be seen from my station but migration was a little slow with 870 Honey Buzzards during the day. A juvenile Bonelli's Eagle patrolled the area in the morning.

2nd - A day off from the survey! What a day it turned out to be, beginning with early morning birding with Paavo and Rami at Tirat Zevi. Here we found a nice Broad-billed Sandpiper, as well as a couple of Curlew Sandpipers and a juvenile Black Tern.

The guys then dropped me at Kefar Ruppin station and I birded the area alone for the rest of the morning spending some time photographing Zitting Cisticola along a weedy fringed alfalfa field, where 2 Quail and a Savi's Warbler were also present. Close by, at 08:15 am, I discovered a juvenile Rosy Starling perched with 2 Yellow-vented Bulbuls near the ringing station. .

Next stop was the 'famous' turf fields of Kefar Ruppin, and after seeing several Honey Buzzards and a Montagu's Harrier pass through, the first interesting bird that I found was a Snipe. From the rear the bird struck me as looking rather odd and I began taking images, mulling through the options before it flew giving a low, rather throaty call, lower in pitch than Common Snipe. It also lacked a white trailing edge to the wing, and on relocating it some 600 metres further north, I realized that I could only be dealing with either a Pintail or Swinhoe's Snipe.

Having just relocated the snipe, my attention was distracted once again, this time by a rather dark, bulky looking turtle dove. Over the next five minutes I grabbed a handful of images of what could only be an adult Rufous Turtle Dove (S.orientalis meena). Close examination of the images later in the day revealed the critical pattern on the tertials and scapulars, and confirming the identification. I then went back to the snipe before alerting the survey crew later in the day, all of which enjoyed views and heard the calls of this highly probable Pintail Snipe.

3rd - Back to work today, my station being Tirat Zevi. There are certainly worse places to spend the day! Good birds around included a juvenile Namaqua Dove, several Citrine Wagtails, and a confiding Rufous Bush Chat. Also, present amongst the swarms of swallows and martins, at least one of the probable Asian House Martins which we've recently featured in our pages.

Migration was good with almost 2,000 Honey Buzzards and 14,500 White Storks during the morning, along with singles of Long-legged and Steppe Buzzards.

The presumed Pintail Snipe was again seen in the turf fields.

4th - Spent the day at Bet Hashitta with views of Mount Gilboa to the south of my station. An Orphean Warbler and an adult male Red-backed Shrike were nice, but migration was rather slow with just 836 Honey Buzzards seen today. Singles of Bonelli's and Booted Eagles were also notable as well as a high flying flock of 51 Armenian Gulls heading south.

5th - A welcome change in weather brought the passage of a cold front, strong westerly winds and even a few rain showers, the first of the season. There was a good passage of Honey Buzzards at Geva in the morning, including one impressive thermal of 1200 birds! The total for the day at Geva was 6831 Honey Buzzards. Little else of interest, though the 2 Great White Egrets from the 1st were still present on the fishponds.

6th - The delivery of cooler air after yesterday's cold front provided welcome relief. This combined with good viewing conditions made for an enjoyable day at Neve Eitan. Migration could be described as steady, though Black Storks put in their first major appearance of the season with 197 recorded. Honey Buzzards (510 today) included many in low level take off flights provided excellent views. Other notable migrants included 2 Montagu's Harriers, 1 Baltic Gull, 4 Rollers, 175 Yellow Wagtails, and 9 Alpine Swifts. Present in the area were 6 Temminck's Stints, 1 juvenile Citrine Wagtail and 1 'possible' Asian House Martin. A thoroughly enjoyable day.

Click the thumbnails to enlarge (+)
Woodchat Shrike (3/9)	Geva Station (5/9)	Citrine Wagtail (6/9)
Honey Buzzard-adult (6/9)	White Stork & Honey Buzzard (7/9)	Yellow-breasted Bunting (11/9)

7th - Another day at Neve Eitan and rather better for Honey Buzzards migration with 3250 seen today, as well as 550 White Storks and 8 Marsh Harriers. One Great White Egret arrived from the north in the evening, and 2 each of White-winged Black and Whiskered Terns flew south today.

Rami found a Pintail Snipe (possibly the same or another), and a very early Richard's Pipit on the turf fields.

8th - A mass migration of White Storks at Kefar Ruppin was the highlight of my day off, plus one adult Pacific Golden Plover flew over the turf fields just before noon and an elusive Richard's Pipit was present for much of the morning.

9th - Spent the day at Kefar Yehezqel, noting the first real good sprinkling of various raptors. Of course, Honey Buzzards were the main feature with 5047, but 5 Lesser Spotted Eagles, 1 Egyptian Vulture, 1 Red-footed Falcon, and 2 male Pallid Harriers were notable. In the area were 2 Little Swifts, 1 Masked and 1 juvenile Red-backed Shrike, and 1 Eastern Bonelli's Warbler.

10th- Tried an early morning visit to the turf fields with Rami, eventually locating a presumed Pintail Snipe amongst the 22 Common Snipe present there. The Pintail Snipe was shy and didn't allow a close approach, eventually flying off south. Four Collared Pratincoles were also present.

A steady day at Neve Eitan included 2065 Honey Buzzard and a rather high total of 501 Black Storks. Singles of Little Tern, Calandra Lark and Citrine Wagtail (adult male) migrated through the area.

11th - This morning's easterly airflow brought a rise in temperature and put pay to any prospect of good visible migration at Tel Yosef cemetery. Even so, the views of the only passage of the day were good, including 220 Honey Buzzard, 11 Lesser Spotted Eagle, and 11 Levant Sparrowhawk.

The undoubted highlight of the morning was good but brief views of a first-winter Yellow-breasted Bunting which perched in front of my station for short while before being disturbed by the local gardener. Unfortunately, I couldn't relocate it and failed to grab any digital images before it disappeared. To give a 'feeling' of the sighting I'm presenting a field sketch made at the scene. The bird was seen at 11:10 hours and, with about ten national records, is major rarity in Israel.

12th - Had a pretty good day at Shunam close to Afula counting migration with Nimrod Gross. Between us we recorded 2074 Honey Buzzard, 1080 White Pelican, 18 Levant Sparrowhawks, and 13 Lesser Spotted Eagles.

Rami, Paavo, Amit and Nimrod also reported a Purple Swamp Hen from Maoz Hayyim this morning.

More daily notes from the survey will follow soon.

Good birding,

James P. Smith & 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)