ISRAEL - Late Spring 25 April to 6 May (1 Viewer)

Thats it I'm sold.

Planning on a return trip to Beidaihe next year but had been considering a later spring Israel trip and now planning for following year, birding sounds superbly different to March and early April.

I think I may join this up with a trip up north to Hermon and Golan however can a reasonably priced place be suggested to stay as Kfar Blum seems way to expensive for my skinflint budgets.

Keep it up its been great reading again.

cheers

Day 9: Friday 3rd May 2013

Hi Folks,

Weather: Hot and a little humid again. Hazy. Cloud 3/8 winds light NNE F2-3 AM. By afternoon strange dark clouds to west with wind picking up considerably particularly around Yotvata where I was told it was difficult to get out of your car. Wind was switching around from N to S in a matter of minutes which prompted a finish at North Beach. Even a few rain drops late afternoon and as I drove north to Lotan but didn’t amount much.

Birds:
Lots of birds around including a very obvious influx of Golden Orioles. Very similar mix to previous few days. Highlight for me was a nice Red-breasted Flycatcher at Holland Park very early morning. No colour to breast so presumably a first year bird and an Israel TICK for me.

After Holland Park I headed up into the Eilat Mountains, Mt Yoash and saw some very nice Honey Buzzard migration but the RBF delayed my arrival and as a consequence I just missed the main ‘push’ and worse still, two Oriental Honey Buzzards: a female and a very close male. You can’t have everything.

Then it was down into Canada Park, Eilat where I notched up three Red-backed Shrikes and a Masked, a handful of Tree Pipits and at least three E. Olivaceous Warblers.

Into Eilat Cemetery and a few more Red-backed Shrikes and Eastern Ollies. Down and into Elot date plantation for… you’ve guessed it, Red-backed Shrikes and three Spotted Flycatchers.

Thought I’d give the KM20 Salt Pans a try. Several Golden Orioles on the way. Lots of waders here including the usual mix plus:
Broad-billed Sandpipers 8-10
Turnstone – single
Oystercatcher - three
Red-necked Phalarope – min 6
Greater Sandplover single.
Whiskered Tern – at least one.
Purple Heron – single
Grey Heron – 20+
Collared Pratincole – min 12
Caspian Tern – at least one.
Honey Buzzard – single
Marsh Harrier – single
Loads of flava wagtails, E. Bee-eaters, Barn Swallows, Sand Martins passing a less so Common Swifts.
Cattle Egret – 27 north

Some really good birding to be had here.

Tried the Acacias nearby for you know what and failed miserably yet again but several Eastern Ollies, Red-backed Shrikes and Lesser Whitethroats PLUS family party of Gazelles and a hare. The adult gazelles gave a barking cry to warn their young of my presence. Quite a sight watching four Golden Orioles scorching north through the desert here.

Then a finish at North Beach:
White-eyed Gull 6+
Common Terns 60+ and Little Terns 40+ including northward migration.
Caspian Tern at least one.
Common Swift – 10+
Barn Swallows and Sand Marts heading north.
Common Sandpiper – single
Striated Heron – single.


And that was the end of yet another fun packed day. A long birding day and a hot one but great birding.

Cheers for now.

Frank

Steve Arlow said:

Thats it I'm sold.

Planning on a return trip to Beidaihe next year but had been considering a later spring Israel trip and now planning for following year, birding sounds superbly different to March and early April.

I think I may join this up with a trip up north to Hermon and Golan however can a reasonably priced place be suggested to stay as Kfar Blum seems way to expensive for my skinflint budgets.

Keep it up its been great reading again.

cheers

Click to expand...

Ramot Naftali, which is close to the Hula, has some great B&B's.

Reading Franks posts proves that late April and May offers great birding but is a much neglected period.

Bubbs said:

Ramot Naftali, which is close to the Hula, has some great B&B's.

Reading Franks posts proves that late April and May offers great birding but is a much neglected period.

Click to expand...

Try airbnb.com you can find interesting deals there. We found a very nice place there for our last stay for a good price.

Day 10: Saturday 4th April 2013

Weather: Same as yesterday morning - hot and a little humid. Hazy. Cloud 3/8 winds light NNE F2-3 AM.

Birds:
Clearly been a massive departure of Red-backed Shrikes overnight but still lots of Barred Warblers and a huge influx of Garden Warblers plus a splash of colour thanks to a wave of Golden Orioles. Blackcaps, Lesser Whitethroats, European Bee-eaters and Barn Swallows and Sand Martins everywhere. Didn’t see as many Spotted Flycatchers. Waders still present in excellent numbers.

Started at Holland Park first light but nothing different to report and was unable to relocate yesterday’s Red-breasted Flycatcher. Plenty of the regulars present including several Barred Warblers. As I was departing Barak Granit and team were just arriving. They’d had another River Warbler (also one at Qetura Sewage yesterday) and a group of nine Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters at Elifaz first thing.

Next it was up into the Eilat Mountains, Mt Yoash, for 0715. Didn’t look promising with not a raptor until 0800ish. Then they came in their thousands and incredibly close at times before they did what they’d been doing all week and veered west of Mt Yoash to continue their journey north. So unless you fancied chasing them it was all over at around 0930. Brilliant!

Plenty of Steppe Buzzards mixed in as well as a handful of Black Kites and a few Marsh Harriers for good measure. Spectacular stuff. Barak and his group had two Oriental Honey Buzzards a little lower down. I spent some time checking through the HBs with well known Israeli birder Eran Banker but between us we didn’t manage to find an OHB.

Eran headed home and I teamed up with Top Gun Barak and his Team and headed to the Salt Pans at the south end of the Eilat Ringing Centre. Good choice. Two TEREK SANDPIPERS alongside a couple of Broad-billed Sands (two more of the latter nearby) and a nice group of Red-necked Phalaropes. Wow.

At that moment I received a phone call from Itai at ringing HQ: River Warbler trapped. Dashed to have a good look at it (Israel ‘tick’ for me) and also got up close with several Barred Warblers, Little Bittern and a Namaqua Dove.

What a great mornings birding.

KM20 Salt Pans next:
The typical mix of waders, nothing special to report, plus lots of flava wagtails, red-throated Pipits, a few Collared Pratincoles and White-winged Terns and a nice flock of c.28 Little Egrets.

We headed off but didn’t get far as several Golden Orioles were performing in the small copse at the entrance to KM20 Salt Pans, adjacent to the road. Full of birds.
Golden Orioles - several
Barred Warbler – 3+
Blackcap – many
Lesser Whitethroat – many
Garden Warbler – very many
Thrush Nightingale – single
Eastern Olivaceous 4+
Masked Shrike 3+

Unfortunately it doubles up as a toilet stop. Maybe that helps!

Barak and team headed off to Yotvata and then home. I checked the next two small copses at km 24 and 26.

Not much to report really except a Masked Shrike, several Blackcap and Lesser Whitethroat, E. Ollivaceous Warbler, Common Whitethroat quite common (everywhere actually).

To Yotvata for a bite to eat and then to Lotan.

On to BBCs sports page, football, live scores. I could not believe what I was reading. The Tigers battling for automatic promotion to the Premier League. The tension was incredible. At one point I had to stop reading as it was getting too much to bear. Penalty awarded, missed, Cardiff go up the other end and equalise with the last kick of the match. Ten man Watford can’t believe their luck and now just need a second goal and they pinch our automatic spot. Thankfully fellow Yorkshire men Leeds United did us a massive favour and beat Italy 1 – 2 at their place. We did it.

Me Old Mucka Paul Higson, now based on Orkney was providing me with updates ahead of the BBC. Nice one Paul. Shame about Bolton. Paul first came to Israel in 1976 and was responsible for introducing me to the place in 1990. What great times eh Paul?

Final stroll around Lotan to dusk. European Bee-eaters, a few Spot Flys and Eastern Ollies, Blackcaps and Lesser Whitethroats, Barn Swallows and Sand Marts north and that was it.

Fantastic day for all sorts of reasons.

Still no Olive-tree or Upcher’s Warbler. Last full day tomorrow so I’ll keep trying.


Cheers for now.

Frank

There seems to have been a lack of Rollers in the past few years, is anyone seeing them in the valley or is it to early,?

Hi Frank

Out of curiosity where have you bee viewing the Honey's from, on top of Yoash or from the large open viewpoint on the right as you head up the mountains and just before the left turn to climb Mt Yoash?

We had varying success at the lower area in March.

cheers

Day 11: Sunday 5th May 2013

My last full day.
Slightly cooler start which was really nice but by 0900 normal service resumed 37°C. Cloud 0/8. Clear blue skies but as usual a little hazy to east and south. Wind light N F2-3.

KM76 first light.
Amazing watching migration streaming through the Arava at this desert location. As they have done all during my stay European Bee-eaters, Barn Swallows and Sand Martins kept pouring through. Also two Marsh and single Montagu’s Harriers, 3+ Steppe Buzzards. Heard distant Spotted Sandgrouse calling.

Bushes teemed with Blackcap, Lesser and Common Whitethroat and Garden Warblers. First Red-backed Shrike for a while: nice male. At least two Rufous-bush Robins singing. Whilst they're still around they are not present in the numbers of a few days back so there must have been a big ‘push’. Got a surprise in the big shape of a Great Reed Warbler or perhaps two. What were they doing out there?

Up to Neot Samadar sewage area and adjacent bushes.
Common and Wood Sandpipers in low numbers, 4 Cattle Egret, at least 7 Spotted Flycatchers, 3+ Eastern Olivaceous Warblers, 3 Masked Shrikes, 2 Rufous-bush Robins, Thrush Nightingale single, several Blackcaps, L. Whitethroats, Garden Warblers and C. Whitethroats and a single Barred Warbler.

Picked a viewpoint and did a little sky watching:
Honey Buzzard c.25
Marsh Harrier 5
Levant Sparrowhawk 10+
Common Kestrel single
Steppe Buzzard 3
Short-toed Eagle single
E. Bee-eater c.100
Black Kite 2


Checked out a small copse near KM 76.
Masked Shrike single
Rufous-bush Robin single
Spotted Flycatcher 3+
Eastern Olivaceous Warbler 5+
Blackcap, L. and C. Whitethroat, Garden Warbler

KM20 Salt Pans:
Birded last two hours to dusk here. Despite this being one of the Worlds’s Birding Hot Spots and it being peak migration time I had the place to myself; well, along with thousands of birds and even more flies. The latter are on the water surface and don’t create a nuisance for birders.

Continuous very heavy Barn Swallow and Sand Martin passage. They were joined by several Common Swifts late on.
Grey Heron 22
Little Egrets c.20
Whimbrel – one arrived calling at dusk.
Greater Sand Plover – single male.
Flava wagtails c.100 inc heading south to roost in the canal area.
White Wagtail 2
Red-throated Pipit – several.
Marsh Harrier female
Curlew Sandpipers – at least 8 signifying a small arrival. Nice colours.
Little Stints c.150 min
Wood Sands common.
C. Greenshank – quite numerous.
C. Redshank – single.
Common Sandpipers – common. Notable influx.
Kentish Plover numerous.
Ruff – quite common.
Black-winged Stilt – common
Collared Pratincole c.20
White-winged Tern – several.
Gull-billed Tern at least one.
Shoverler – pair.
Plover sp. – annoyingly it got away from me. Looked a little dainty for Grey!

Back to Lotan via Yotvata for some food and to start preparing for my return journey tomorrow. Will get a chance to bird for three hours or so in the morning.

Cheers

Frank

Rollers and Raptors

Hi Steve,

I've not seen Roller and nobody has mentioned them but a friend of mine had one up near Mizpe Ramon about a week ago. I'll ask around.

Raptor watching in the Eilat Mountains! You could write a book on how to go about it. I chose Yoash because on the massive day they poured though there. They also went through east to west on the south side of Yoash on several other mornings and as a consequence you got great views... while it lasted. Then you needed to be elsewhere.

In my experience chasing them often gets you nowhere but occasionally it works well. The 'traditional' watchpoints, including the one you mention, would all have given fantastic views at some point and I know for a fact that those watching from other places had great success.

I don't normally head up to the top of Yoash but fancied a bit of a change.

Hope that helps but it probably doesn't.

Cheers.

Frank

Cheers Frank for the HB and Yoash update, thought I'd get a little info as planning to return in 2015 as off back to Beidaihe next year.

Safe journey home

regards

Day 12: Monday 6th May 2013

Hi Folks,

My last opportunity to do some birding as I’m heading north to Ben Gurion airport today for my 1710hrs return flight with Jet2 to Manchester.

Weather: Lovely clear blue skies, slight haze. Cloud 0/8. Light N F2 breeze. Beautiful start. Took things easy and birded Lotan for a little over two hours. Up and out for first light. Lots of birds in the gardens:

Masked Shrike 3
Red-backed Shrike 4
Spotted Flycatcher 6+
Eastern Olivaceous Warbler spread liberally throughout the kibbutz.
Garden Warblers numerous.
Wryneck – single on the football pitch.
Thrush Nightingale – single.
Marsh Harrier – single north.
Blackcaps very common as were (but less so) Common and Lesser Whitethroats. Typically there was a strong overhead passage involving European Bee-eaters, Barn Swallows and Sand Martins.

Headed for a 9am breakfast then packed and showered and away north passing through the Kibbutz Lotan gate at 1000am.

Stopped very briefly at Ha Meishar to stretch my legs and have a quick look and listen from the roadside. Very hot with F4 wind. Presumed it was locust I could hear all over the place. An indication of the massive plague that arrived earlier in Spring. Several Scrub Warblers, at least two E. Olivaceous Warblers plus numerous Blackcaps.

Continued to Mizpe Ramon and into the small wood just past the garage:
Red-backed Shrike 3
Masked Shrike 3
Spotted Flycatchers 5+
Blackcaps everywhere, E. Olivaceous Warblers numerous.

Took a coffee break at first garage on road out then onwards towards the airport.

Then end of yet another superb trip to the southern Arava. Got to say this period is a ‘must’ for every migration lover. Is it better than early spring? Definitely different but the whole period is spectacular. If I was pressed to choose between early or late then maybe the latter would win but only by a very short-head.

Pro late: Maybe the chances of finding rarities (seem to) increase. The Honey Buzzards – keep repeating myself but you’ve got to experience this at least once in your lifetime. You’ve got the place to yourself… almost, but it's nice to have some company to share the birding with. More chance of something unusual coming up the Red-sea and arriving at the North Beach.

Great to see Shachar and Barak again and to have the opportunity to do some superb birding with them. Thanks guys.:king:

Also great to meet up with Eran in the Eilat Mountains and North Beach even if it was only briefly. :eek!:

Thanks to Itai and his ringing Team including Marcus and Noa for making me feel very welcome at the Eilat International Ringing Centre and to Tsadok for a lovely cup of mint tea. :t:

Also great to talk to Tuvia, Jonathan, Liron, Yoav, Daniel and thanks for keeping me up-to-date with what was happening. And to everyone at Lotan, including Daphna and David, where I was looked after really well once again.

Also good to see my friends at Yotvata who always make sure my plate has more than its fair share of food on it.:eat:

Cheers for now.

Frank

Few Photos for Starters

Hi Folks,

Hopefully these will give a flavour of what was around and add to the general impression.

Photos were taken by my birding companion Shachar Alterman
Using Canon 7D 400mm F5.6

My Panasonic Lumix struggles to cope with the extremely bright conditions but these illustrate what can be achieved with better kit. I'll post several shots of mine later.

1&2 Roller
3&4 Montagu's Harrier.

Cheers

Frank

More Photos

Impressions - Photos Shachar Alterman.

Nice couple of Blackcaps - probably the most numereous species of the trip.

Tree Pipit - nice detail. Not so many around but I/we came across just a few in the date palms and elsewhere when looking for OBPs (of which we didn't find this spring).

Frank

More Pics

A few more courtesy of Shachar:

1&2 Collared pratincole
3 Red-necked Phalarope
4 Wood Warbler - surely thee best phyllosc

Enjoy.