We recorded; 700 STEPPE BUZZARD, 20+ STEPPE EAGLE, 1 BOOTED EAGLE, 150 BLACK KITE, 1 HONEY BUZZARD, 10 MARSH HARRIER, 1 EGYPTIAN VULTURE, 1 OSPREY, 10 SPAROWHAWK, & 1 UNID RINGTAIL HARRIER (v. high).

A quick sortie up Wadi Shlomo in rather hot conditions produced a brief burst of birds, after the area had initially seem to devoid of birds! We scored with SCRUB WARBLER, TRISTRAMS GRACKLE, DESERT LARK, & WHITE-CROWNED BLACK WHEATEAR.

The heat was now intense and heading for the upper 30's we retired for n excellent falafel lunch, and spent an excellent couple of hours snorkelling at the Coral Beach just east of Eilat. Even whilst relaxing here it was impossible to escape the birding, both OSPREY & PURPLE HERON passed up the gulf.

We arrived at North beach at around 5PM, we were relieved to see there had been a mass exodus of 'tourists', it seemed to suit the birds as gulls & terns paraded up and down the shoreline. It proved more productive; 1 POMARINE SKUA, 3 WHITE-EYED GULL, 150+ BALTIC GULL, 1 KINGFISHER, 5 CASPIAN TERN, 40 COMMON TERN, & 2+ SANDWICH TERN. However, it was an unlikely species that will remain in everyone's minds, we picked up 3 unidentifiable dots way out to sea probably 2KM. It was probably as their jizz that drew attention, they didn't fit anything we had seen over the sea before! As they got much closer, they appeared blue with strongly contrasting wings, eventually it became apparent 3 ROLLERS in off the sea!!

Tipped off by Johnathan that the Litchenstein's Sandgrouse site was no more in Eilat, we took his advice and tried another site (the site is very susceptible to disturbance, and is not recorded here, if you are staying or plan to visit Lotan please consult with Johnathan Meyrev).

The birds arrived on cue, just as the light faltered with approximately 12 LITCHENSTEIN'S SANDGROUSE coming to drink.

Day Eleven 14/04/2004 - Kibbutz Lotan 0530 -12; Quetera Date Palms & Organic garden; Shizzafon kibbutz & Sewage farm 1300- 1730

The alarms went off at 0500, and the nets were opened at Lotan organic garden and muck heaps at 0530.

Birding during the ringing produced 1 GRIFFON VULTURE, 1 STEPPE EAGLE, 3 QUAIL, 2 CORNCRAKE. There were smaller numbers today of the species encountered in the last few days, still present from the 'fall' were 6 THRUSH NIGHTINGALE, 4 SEMI-COLLARED FLYCATCHER, & 2 WHITE-THROATED ROBIN. But fresh arrivals of 3 RED-BACKED SHRIKE, 1 LESSER GREY SHRIKE & 3 SPOTTED FLYCATCHER demonstrated a changeover of species was underway.

Following lunch, we spent a couple of hours in the heat exploring the area of Quetera organic gardens 1Km south of Lotan, (can be reached by taking the track south off the Lotan entrance road, take the track immediately on exiting the main road, on your right if you are arriving from Yotvata). Incredibly, another WHITE-THROATED ROBIN was located. Other highlights here were, 1 ORPHEAN WARBLER, 3 RED-BACKED SHRIKE, 3 OLIVACEOUS WARBLER, 3 THRUSH NIGHTINGALE, & 3 SPOTTED FLYCATCHER.

We then re-visited Shizzafon lake & Sewage pools. The big pool held small numbers of waders plus; 1 M LITTLE BITTERN, 4 LITTLE CRAKE & 6 SEMI-COLLARED FLYCATCHER (Johnathan also had Baillons).

We then called in again at the Sewage pond, small numbers of waders plus 1 COLLARED PRATINCOLE, 1PR HOODED WHEATEAR, 1 WHITE-CROWNED BALCK WHEATEAR, 1 SEMI-COLLARED FLYCATCHER (perched on the barbed wire perimeter fence!).

White-throated Robin	Corncrake
Marsh Sandpiper	Collared Pratincole
Terek Sandpiper	Broad-billed Sandpiper

Day Twelve 15/04/2004 - Kibbutz Lotan 0530 -1000; Shizzafon kibbutz & Sewage farm 1030- 1230; K19 Sewage pools & k20 Reservoir 1400-1600; North beach 1630 -1730 K40 sewage piles

The alarms went off at 0500, and the nets were opened at Lotan organic garden and muck heaps at 0530.

Birding today at Lotan produced similar numbers and species as yesterday, with fewer Nightingale species present. 11 BLACK STORK, 1 CATTLE EGRET, 2 STEPPE EAGLE & 1 OSPREY headed north along the valley. The highlight of the morning was the fearsome speed and agility of the local BARBARY FALCON, as it made light work of a doomed TURTLE DOVE.

With the ringing a bit slower, and the possibility of some overhead passage we closed the nets early and headed up towards Shizzafon. Unfortunately the early promise of raptor passage seemed to have fizzled out so we walked the dried Wadi at Shizzafon sewage. Another excellent collection of migrants were present, including WHITE-THROATED ROBIN (yet another bird!), 1 ORPHEAN WARBLER, 1 BARRED WARBLER, 2 SEMI-COLLARED FLYCATCHER, 2 RED-BACKED SHRIKE, 1 WOODCHAT SHRIKE, 2 MASKED SHRIKE, 1 ISABELLINE WHEATEAR & 1 WHITE-CROWNED BLACK WHEATEAR.

In the afternoon we headed again for K19/K20, there was a similar mix of species as per our previous visits. Different species recorded or big changes in numbers were; a pair of BARBARY FALCON, 1 CURLEW SANDPIPER, 150 GREENSHANK, 70 MARSH SANDPIPER, 1 BLACK-TAILED GODWIT & 1 TEREK SANDPIPER ( a different individual).

We stopped briefly at the North beach, but this seemed fairly quiet and we followed Johnathan to K40.

The sewage piles and the surrounding bushes produced another WHITE-THROATED ROBIN, in fact one small bush held 1 WRYNECK, WHITE-THROATED ROBIN, 3 REDSTART, 1 OLIVACEOUS WARBLER & 1 SPOTTED FLYCATCHER. Also in the area were 2 RED-BACKED SHRIKE & 1 WOODCHAT SHRIKE

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