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House (Mountain) Bunting, December RFI (1 Viewer)

nicklittlewood

Well-known member
I'm got a week in December - probably mainly Dead Sea/Negev/Eilat. Does anyone know if House/Mountain Buntings are on Dead Sea breeding sites (e.g. Salvadora Wadi or other suggestions) at this time of year?

Site guides also mention areas around Eilat, e.g. Cemetry (Gosney) and Edomit Palace Hotel (Shirihai et al.). Have birds been at these sites (or other) areas recently?

Thanks

Nick
 
I'm going to Israel next week (Thu) for a week, I'll post any info on my return - but I'm pretty sure the Eilat cemetery site's not been successful for a few years now (but still a good place to visit!).
 
I think Wadi Salvadora is still a site. I seem to remember someone having one there last year just after we'd been, wish we'd put a bit more time in! Might have been DantheMan?
 
Thanks folks,

Yes I had gathered that birds are still at Wadi Salvadora but just don't know if they are likely to be present in December - one way to find out I guess...

Mark - good luck next week. Will be great to hear how you get on.

Cheers

Nick
 
I'll do a full trip report when time permits - but for the purposes of the thread question, not a sniff of any Mountain/Striolated/House Buntings I'm afraid! We looked at various possible sites, all around the Dead Sea area, but these were just where birds had been seen at previous undefined points in time. I get the impression they're more or less absent south of the Dead Sea these days, and rather unpredictable (declining?) even there. One would-be site, Wadi Mishmar, held Sinai Rosefinch, and our only Hooded Wheatear was in Wadi Hever, another site searched unsuccessfully for the Buntings.
 
I'll do a full trip report when time permits - but for the purposes of the thread question, not a sniff of any Mountain/Striolated/House Buntings I'm afraid! We looked at various possible sites, all around the Dead Sea area, but these were just where birds had been seen at previous undefined points in time. I get the impression they're more or less absent south of the Dead Sea these days, and rather unpredictable (declining?) even there. One would-be site, Wadi Mishmar, held Sinai Rosefinch, and our only Hooded Wheatear was in Wadi Hever, another site searched unsuccessfully for the Buntings.

Thanks for the update Mark, even if it is of negative news. I will spend a day or so around Dead Sea sites anyway and will update back on this thread if I do see any there (or elsewhere).

Cheers

Nick
 
Well a bit of luck today. Arrived at Ein Gedi late afternoon and, after checking in at the Youth Hostel, had only an hour or so of light remaining. So after a quick look around the Nahal David car park, I went for a wander around a small date palm plantation that had been good on my previous visit (2010). However that was in spring so I didn't expect much this time. Was delighted, therefore, when three Mountain/Stroliated Buntings flew out of the plams and landed on a fence for a minute or two. They then seemed to drop down out of sight inside the fenced area so I continued to wander. A short while later I flushed what I presume was the same three and again they landed for a minute or so on the fence.

For anyone interested, this date plantation is alongside Route 90, on the western side, immediately south of the turn-off for Ein Gedi Kibbutz. The fence they sat on is a big metal thing surrounding a reservoir to the west of the palms.

One or two other birds from recent days that might be of wider interest to visiting birders at least were Buff-bellied Pipit, yesterday, at Yotvata, in what Shirihai et al call the Central Fields (but might be what I have also seen referred to as the circular field - there is a big irrigation boom that turns very slowly around a central pivot point), also a single Syrian Serin there, and a Brown Booby at Eilat North Beach on all three visits, each time sat on big columns looking towards Aquaba.

Might so a trip report if I get time in the next few weeks. If so, will post, naturally enough, on the trip reports section.

Cheers

Nick
 
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A quick postscript. I checked the site described above again at midday today to see if the buntings were hanging around there - and indeed they were, four this time, found within a couple of mins. Again they alighted on the fence and embankment to the west side of the palm plantation and a couple proceeded to give amazing views - pics below.

Certainly seems like a location that it would be worth worth others checking if in the area in winter.

Sadly at airport now for early morning flight back home.

Nick
 

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So, a little of a range question: is Striolated Bunting in NE Africa limited to Egypt (and Sudan) or is it also found in Libya?

thanks
Niels
 
Thanks to Nick for posting about these. I saw 7 on Sunday morning on the south side of the plantation, in a small wadi behind a pumping station.

Good day all round. Nahal Mishmar was full of birds, including at least 5 Sinai Rosefinches.

John
 
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