[Jordan] Jordan River, a few miles north of the Dead Sea. (1 Viewer)

eBird hasn't been able to help with this one- could it be a juvenile that looks a fair bit different from an adult? Thanks!

Lesser Whitethroat

Thanks Andrew!

Nice image!

Does anyone know what the shrub is? I initially thought it might be a White Broom but when I looked it up, it flowers in February/March apparently.

Edit - I think it must be a white tamarisk it looks too branchy for a broom in the last pics

Yes, definitely a Tamarisk; no idea which species though (there's lots of them, and they're hard to tell apart!)

Quote Nutcracker:
Yes, definitely a Tamarisk; no idea which species though (there's lots of them, and they're hard to tell apart!)

Of course Nutcracker is right. Yet, after checking the pictures of several Tamarisks in Israel and the localities where they are to be found, I got the idea that the species Tamarix jordanis is a good candidate for this topic.
This "eyshel hayardén" (Yardén = Jordan) grows from north of Lake Kinnereth southward to some distance north of the Dead Sea, only in a strip along the Jordan River. Tamarix palaestina has its place along the western coast of the Dead Sea, but does not feature such bright white flowers. T.hampeana is restricted to the Mediterranean coast and T.aphylla is found is the western and southern regions of Israel. The widespread T.nilotica is a southern species, distributed from the southern part of Israel eastward into Arabia and westward all over northern Africa. That's how far identification can get in this case, without any guarantee.

The Lesser Whitethroat is called "sibkhí tokhaním" in Ivrit (Hebrew). The term "sibkhí" for all such warblers is somewhat difficult, it seems related to svakh = thicket, thick bushes; the word tokhaním means: of the millers (tokhén = miller). I suppose the familiar rattling song will not often be heard in Israël; however, an old book "The Birds of Israel" by Uzi Paz (1987) mentions: "In Israel this is the commonest and most conspicuous of the migrant warblers from August to the end of October and from early March to the end of May. Most of the migrants belong to the subspecies S.c.curruca. It usually migrates in loose flocks numbering up to 20 individuals, which tend to congregate, especially in the desert, in one tree. After the spring migration, a few pairs of this species stay behind to breed in Israel: in West Galilee, Upper Galilee and the slopes of Hermon."
Well, I thought: pictures of such a nice species in a Tamarisk (impossible combination in Germany or Holland) deserve some more than just an identification. (;^)
Tschüss, shalom, kol tuv (= all the best), Jan van der Brugge

Some interesting etymology, thanks Jan.