Desert Owls unguided? (2 Viewers)

I know of where the owls are from previous excursions out with Barak Granit and this could mean I could go and look for them myself, not that I should its just because I know where they are.

As far as I'm aware Israeli birders are licenced (permits) by the SPNI to visit the birds and they tend to rotate which birds they visit with other birders to reduce disturbance to the same pairs over and over.

Whilst independent birders can search for the owl however what sort of disturbance could this cause to the birds if others all done the same.

If desperate to see the birds I would recommend contacting a local guide, such as Barak, however if intent on looking for them yourself and are discovered without the required permit it could result in a fine.

With these sensitive and seemingly decline Israeli species I would certainly recommend getting local information on how to best see them.

I have been 3 times in Israel as an independent birder and have paid £180 3 times to see Sooty falcon, and Nubian Nightjar (took 2 times to see them).

As a 56 year old single birder, I must admit to having some trepidation about birding by myself in rough wadi's in a car at night. There are reports that hyena's are becoming more aggressive to humans there too (Ok I know its unlikely).

The IBRCE used to run trips for birders in their own vehicles for quite a small charge (say £30 equivalent) but they have stopped doing these past few years.

I intend to go back after Xmas for 5 days (probably February) and I will have to hope Barak is available as he seems to be the only one who does Desert Owl tours.

Upto 4 Oriental Honey Buzzards are currently over-wintering around the IBRCE too. But I would love to see Desert Owls, so will probably end up paying.

Has the tiny population of Leopards at Ein Gedi now expired? I know it was virtually extinct back in 2005.

Also around that time a German traveller was killed by hyenas in a Dead Sea wadi.

Walking 'alone' at night in Wadi Mishmar or Wadi Ze-Elim trying to find owls doesn't sound very enticing.

Appreciate chances are minimal.

temmie said:

This way, with some programming you can extract many useful exact coordinates, load them on your map app or GPS, and litterally walk from stake-out to stake-out.

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And completely lose the idea of birdwatching and just become a pure twitcher - whereas the fun and spirit of adventure here! The art of foreign birding is disappearing fast with these exact co-ordinates being shared, it's a shame birders are becoming increasingly reliant on these.

James

Why does it even matter to one person what another person sees as adventure? I find this very thread perfect though, with two responses above each other, one literally saying that the plan is too much of an adventure and the other one saying it's too little! Did you guys prepare this beforehand?

Anyway, I like having the coordinates. At least it's more of an adventure than to go with a guide that even shows you the bird! And it's still not exactly "geocaching with birds" quite often - for example in Western Sahara, we had a plenty of coordinates for Dunn's lark, but 9 of 10 places did not have any ... But still it was more fun for me to have at least some clue than to be faced with 150 kms of horizonless semidesert.

Finally, let me note how much of an irony it would be to be eaten by hyenas in Israel right after we came back from three weeks of safaris in southern Africa

I am a bit of a wuss these days, I think it comes with age.
Not so bad if you are with other people.

I’m very grateful for your thread BTW. I’m desperate to see these owls.

wolfbirder said:

I am a bit of a wuss these days, I think it comes with age.
Not so bad if you are with other people.

I’m very grateful for your thread BTW. I’m desperate to see these owls.

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I will report in three weeks about whether this is the correct strategy to that or not

Btw. despite us getting quite into mammalwatching, I somewhat missed that there are actual hyenas in Israel, so thanks for the tip, we will try to find out where to look for them. And honestly the fact that leopards are or at least used to be until recently a possibility in Israel is absolutely stunning. I checked our WP mammal book and there should be even caracal, african wild cat ... We are definitely gonna spotlight a lot, just need to plan a route where we won't be arrested for that

opisska said:

I will report in three weeks about whether this is the correct strategy to that or not

Btw. despite us getting quite into mammalwatching, I somewhat missed that there are actual hyenas in Israel, so thanks for the tip, we will try to find out where to look for them. And honestly the fact that leopards are or at least used to be until recently a possibility in Israel is absolutely stunning. I checked our WP mammal book and there should be even caracal, african wild cat ... We are definitely gonna spotlight a lot, just need to plan a route where we won't be arrested for that

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I think there are meant to be about just 8 Leopards left in Israel though that may not be up to date. They may be extinct in the Country.

Striped Hyena's are rare too, but there must be gen about them. I read one report where a hyena had been incorporated into a wolf-pack in Israel, and subsequently their dual qualities worked well in the hunt.

Look forward to hearing your report about the owls, I really do.

Frankly speaking, after South Africa you will be disappointed with Israel. Even without the pile of security issues, mammal fauna is very poor.

For caracal or african wildcat - go South Africa, for the striped hyena - go NW India.

opisska said:

I checked our WP mammal book and there should be even caracal, african wild cat ...

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I saw Caracal at Petra across the border in Jordan, though that was extreme luck rather than any plan.

jurek said:

Frankly speaking, after South Africa you will be disappointed with Israel. Even without the pile of security issues, mammal fauna is very poor.

For caracal or african wildcat - go South Africa, for the striped hyena - go NW India.

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Of course I am aware of that. The main reason for the Israel trip is WP birding, in particular the owls that this thread was originally about. And also the fact that it is not far, it's quite cheap and friendly and familiar to me and thus simple and relaxing.

But when there are mammals, it's always worth trying. The owls are basically the only avian fun for the nighttime (the Nubian Nightjars are not really accessible and they might even not be there in winter?), so mammals provide good entertainment for the very long (14 hours) nights, even if we don't see much.

Wolves occasionally get seen at the vulture feeding site near Ramon, as does Hyena. Two years ago I had Hyena run across the road in front of the car near Grofit, north of Eilat, about an hour after dark. Asian Wild Ass can be found at Ovda.
Egyptian Nightjars might be around at Yotvata but it might be just a bit to early for them.
The Persian Wheatear has also returned to Mt. Amasa for urs second winter whilst the Basalt Wheatear is still in Ovda and Wallcreeper again at En Avdat near Sde Boker

I might be wrong but I think Nubian Nightjars are there all year. Last year, a guide showed me one with some difficulty, around 10 Feb.

Anyway, the Nubian Nightjar seems to be an actual case of a guided-only bird due to the silly location next to the border - or at least everyone says that. It's still a little confusing to me, how to tell which places are OK and which isn't, because several popular locations around km20 north of Eilat are also right next to Jordan and apparently that doesn't cause nearly as much trouble (and again, I once walked in the night all the way from km20 to the border crossing and had no trouble, despite being clearly seen as indicated by the spotlight that followed us half of the time). I heard about people meeting them randomly outside the critical area, but that is extreme luck.

This is a little bit off-topic for owls, but since we started throwing around birds, I'd like to note how much there is for me to try in Israel, despite this being my fourth trip. From "common" birds, it's Black Francolin, Long-billed Pipit, Spotted Sandgrouse and Vinous-brested Starling (cat. C). A little more challenging, but reportedly often possible is Syrian Serin, Arabian Warbler, Pallid Scops Owl, Cyprus Warbler, Oriental Skylark and Asian Desert Warbler. This year so far reported rarities of interest for me are OHB and Demoiselle crane. Remote possibilities (amounting to self-discovery of rarities, but still not terribly unseen) would be Blyth's and Olive-backed Pipits, Radde's Accentor, Kurdish Wheatear or Lesser Pink-footed Goose. Finally birds that I am not sure if can be present include Little Swift, Egyptian Nightjar, Steppe Shrike and Black Scrub-Robin. Isn't Israel just a great birding country with all of this in the realm of possibility?

I agree about the confusion around the Nubian nightjar territory within the Kibbutz at Ne’ot Hakkikar. Getting into the village isn’t tough, but it’s finding the birds even with a spotlight that may be hard at this time of year as they will not be displaying actively. There are lots of tracks around fields and in the dark its easy to get lost or disorientated. Oded lives there and he got lost at one point in the dark. It’s better if there is no cloud at night & a full moon. I can give you email of Oded Keynan there who should be able to guide you, but I know you don't like using guides which I understand. The Nightjars aren't easy at this time of year. Last year I also flushed a very probable Pharoah Eagle Owl.

Keep watching www.birds.org for daily reports.

There has already been an Egyptian Nightjar just north of Yotvata north circular field last week. Last year 4 were present right by IBRCE in Eilat.

Persian Wheatear is back at Mount Amasa(?) but I don’t have precise location. Long Billed Pipit possible there.

A wintering Kurdish Wheatear was present at Ketura Kibbutz along Route 90 last year and easily twitchable but again keep your ears to the ground to see if it returns.

Asian Desert Warbler often not that difficult in Jan/Feb at places like Km94 or Amram’s Pillars, often near Wheatears. I also had Hoopoe Lark at KM94, and at 4pm quite a few Sinai Rosefinches at Amram's Pillars.

Basalt Wheatear - a returning bird is back at Ovda I believe, surely destined for independent species status.

Pallid Scops Owl usually overwinters in trees at Hatzeva Field School (they did last year), or in first tree on entrance to village of Shitim (have done last few years).

Arabian Warbler at km152 of route 90, well about a km east via a track. Same area also accessible from Hatzeva (I did a detailed directions report of this area under Vacational Trip Report). Might take a bit of searching but they are there.

Spotted and Crowned Sandgrouse often within a few hundred metres of the 3 black hills at Ovda, OR reliably between 8-9.30am at Uddan Water Works. Again see my last Feb visit for location details.

Oriental Skylark should soon be at Yotvata circular fields.

Are Black Bush Robin still at Hai-bar NR near Yotvata? You may have to pay to go in to the mini-zoo but I saw 3 there. It’s the obvious place to try for them, if they are still breeding there they are easy.

You know about the 4 wintering Oriental Honey Buzzards at IBRCE already.

I have a regular pre-roost spot for Syrian Serin too at Mitze Ramon, well good chance at least based on last few years.

Also 11 Sociable Plover currently overwintering at Urim fields, along with a couple of Eastern Imperial Eagles.

Though things change all the time with birding so always a bit of gamble with these things. Jonathan Meyrev at IBRCE may be able to help with the up to date situation.

Those are some good spots! I can't, for the love of Achnaton, find any update on the scrub robins. I know they were breeding there, but no info I bumped into was from this year. It won't kill me to just check though ...

I really can't take any "reliable spotted sandgrouse" spots seriously, I believe in this species about as much as you do in fan-tailed ravens The hours I have spent sitting somewhere to wait for them drinking, be it Israel or Morocco, are becoming a significant toll of my overall lifetime ... But this time, we will get them!

As we have become somewhat frequent visitors in the southern parts of WP, a lot of species that people find interesting are already on our lists and I am not planning to go out of my way for species I already have, but it definitely is nice how many species one can see in one trip here. I saw a report of >160 species in January, which is just astonishing.

James Eaton said:

And completely lose the idea of birdwatching and just become a pure twitcher - whereas the fun and spirit of adventure here! The art of foreign birding is disappearing fast with these exact co-ordinates being shared, it's a shame birders are becoming increasingly reliant on these.

James

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So James,
what's the difference between using GPS to find birds or paying a tour company to show them to you?

People pay a fair bit of money to be walked through Finnish forests, checking nest boxes, again, what's the difference?

Jos Stratford said:

Edit: I did get detained by Jordanian security at the pools north of Aqaba for a while for not having a (supposedly no longer required) permit.

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Jordan was superb when I was there in c1998, very friendly and no sign whatever of security services.

Wandered up to the border on foot from Eilat.

What have you got to do to see Verreaux's Eagle these days? A very serious bogey bird for me having missed it in half a dozen countries.

opisska said:

Those are some good spots! I can't, for the love of Achnaton, find any update on the scrub robins. I know they were breeding there, but no info I bumped into was from this year. It won't kill me to just check though ...

I really can't take any "reliable spotted sandgrouse" spots seriously, I believe in this species about as much as you do in fan-tailed ravens The hours I have spent sitting somewhere to wait for them drinking, be it Israel or Morocco, are becoming a significant toll of my overall lifetime ... But this time, we will get them!

As we have become somewhat frequent visitors in the southern parts of WP, a lot of species that people find interesting are already on our lists and I am not planning to go out of my way for species I already have, but it definitely is nice how many species one can see in one trip here. I saw a report of >160 species in January, which is just astonishing.

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Last February they were the most common sandgrouse species on the plains just south of, but within a mile of the 3 black hills of shale that appear on your right as you drive in to Ovda from Route 12 (the road to Ovda north of the airport). I had small groups of Spotted quite easily as well as a few Crowned. I spent a couple of hours trudging around and probably saw them in flight 3-4 times. Be very careful at Ovda that your car doesn't get stuck in sand. Best to park by main road as you drive into Ovda and walk the plains.

But Iddan Water Treatment Works (near Hazeva) I was told produce both Spotted and Crowned Sandgrouse reliably between 8.30 and 9.30am. And indeed roughly around 9am a dozen or so Spotted came in to the middle pool, followed 20 minutes later by a dozen or so Crowned Sandgrouse, but neither stayed long unlike at Ovda plain where they seemed to be settled but perhaps more difficult to see in the denser scrub except in flight. Iddan is a bugger to find, again I give precise directions in my February report under Vacational Trip Reports. Easy to miss this site by going the wrong way.

Another little good site is Revivim Pools, especially for BB Sandgrouse, but also I had 3 small groups of 4-5 Spotted Sandgrouse come in after the large numbers of BB Sandgrouse.

You may already have had these places on your radar. You will get them though I realise you don't trust reliable sites for them. I guess it often depends how wet winter has been.

Do charter flights still land at Ovda rather than Eilat?