BirdForum is the net's largest birding community dedicated to wild birds and birding, and is absolutely FREE!

Register for an account to take part in lively discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Farnboro John" data-source="post: 3599101" data-attributes="member: 36432">8 April: Saturday 2We were up and out fairly early the next morning - there was no great desire to stay in bed anyway, and we had places to go, the immediate one being the bustard hide on the Ezuz road beyond Nizzana. The 20 or so Nubian Ibex were up before us, wandering about the edge of the village. I had a scoot round the Sherman traps I had set out but there was nothing in them. In fact that was the story of the trip: I trapped every night at Mid-Reshet Ben Gurion (where the blasted bus was) and also at our residence up in the Hula Valley and caught two-fifths of naff all. Never mind. Back to the narrative.We had an uneventful drive to our destination, up to within a mile of it when four very unfriendly and uncontrolled Israeli dogs blocked the road and then barked and growled very aggressively round the car. Generally I like dogs but even I came close to advising Steve to drive right over them. What was even more annoying was that we could see the owners, occupying themselves with a radio-controlled aircraft meet on a deserted IDFAF runway that paralleled the road, and they could see what their dogs were doing but made no attempt to call them off. What's the Hebrew for chav?Anyway, we got past them and rocked up to the hide where after some pretty detailed scanning suddenly a male Macqueen's Bustard was on view. It was a long way off but we didn't care (well we did but a tick's a tick) - at least the thing was safely on the list and we could relax a bit. We also had a couple of Chukar scuttling across the landscape, also distantly but another tick.We watched the bustard for a while but of course eventually it walked out of sight and there wasn't much else there. Overnight we had done a bit of research via Google maps and had a much better idea of where the sewage pools were, so we next drove round to near those and walked in, seeing more Chukar close enough for pictures before we reached the pools.They were quite large lakes, fenced but not so as to prevent birding, and with a selection of common waders and ducks present. A flock of 10 Black-bellied Sandgrouse flew in giving us decent flight views before dropping to drink a long way off at the far side of the pools. The bushes outside the fence were stuffed with Lesser Whitethroats but held other birds as well, the best of the bunch being a male Semi-collared Flycatcher that bumped my list up by another one in addition to being a smart elegant bird.Following this successful patch we returned to the Nizzana Fort where the surrounding dry moat held an Eastern Orphean Warbler that stayed just long enough for Maz to tick it and then shot away from us along the moat and vanished. A Hen Harrier ringtail teased out in the desert but eventually gave us ID views.Returning to base for the hot part of the day we had a drive round the local fields, finding more Black-bellied Sandgrouse though they weren't all that co-operative. Back at the bus I decided to have a walk round the village as I'd seen Palestine Sunbirds feeding on red-hot poker flowers and looking eminently photographable, so I wanted a go at them. The boys wandered off in different directions and Maz had a nap.My walk round was pretty successful, with a male sunbird giving great views, a couple of Tristram's Starlings also posing and a fine performance from a family group of Arabian Babblers in addition to finding a male Pied Flycatcher doing its stuff among some trees. Hooded Crow, Laughing Dove and introduced Common Mynas also featured, plus a male Blackcap that had picked up a lot of yellow pollen from the flowers giving it a startling golden bib.Out again late afternoon we had another go at the fields. A fence line barring access to yet more sewage pools held a big flock of sparrows and, at last, a pair of Desert Finches that came up from gleaning seeds in the fields to give good views on the barbed wire strands topping the fence. We were however distracted by first two Egyptian Vultures rising from the pools area and circling over us, and then a point-blank Short-toed Eagle that drifted into the pools area and then drifted off again. A couple of Alpine Swifts catching insects over the pools gave us our best views of this species for the trip.Late afternoon we dropped in to the local garage to get supplies, and with Maz volunteering to do our shopping I stayed by the car and, scanning around, found a Fat Sand Rat sitting by its hole in the sandy soil just off the side of the tarmac car park. Steve and Jeff also got this and we all photographed it, but by the time Maz had returned from the garage, it had disappeared and though we hung around a while, it didn't put on another show. It was quite a smart rodent and good value.Besides, we had to get home to get fed early as we had a formal, paid for night drive coming up later in the evening....JohnPix:ChukarNizzana sewage poolsBlack-bellied SandgrouseSemi-collared FlycatcherNizzana Fort</blockquote>

Verification