Trip Report: Israel 9 – 16 October 2011

Israel 9 – 16 October 2011


Dominic and Roderick Standing


A brief trip but what we didn't get in terms of quantity we got in quality, including some southern Israeli specialities that had previously eluded us.

Introduction

We visited Israel in April 2009 and April 2010 when we had seen over 200 species but this was our first autumn trip together.  I had also moved to Israel just two months previously so we were taking a hybrid view of Israel’s birds, part visitor and part resident.  In the event the distinction proved meaningless as our current Israel lists aren’t so very different, although that will no doubt change as the months go by!

The range of species was very different from early April, with Red-backed Shrikes, Masked Shrikes, Spotted Flycatchers, Willow Warblers and Redstarts in abundance, but no Nightingales, Tree Pipits or Ortolans and almost no raptors or sylvia warblers!

Bird of the trip in Israeli terms was a Grey Phalarope at Kehemin sewage, not rare in the UK and Ireland but definitely rare in Israel.  Both of us added Crowned Sandgrouse and Hooded Wheatear to our life lists and we enjoyed great views of a family of Sooty Falcons, a number of rails and crakes and a further seven species of wheatear.

Summary of Itinerary

Date	Locations Visited
9 Oct.	Nir Oz
10 Oct.	Ze’elim sewage and Wadi Besor
11 Oct.	Nizzana, Azuz, Kehemin sewage and Ze’elim rubbish dump
12 Oct.	Kehemin sewage, Yeroham reservoir, Mitzpe Ramon and K77
13 Oct.	Eilat north beach, date palms, K19, K20, Elifaz, Qetura, Lotan and Yotvata
14 Oct.	Yotvata, K20 and K19
15 Oct	Yotvata, Hazeva, Wadi Tamar, Neve Zohar and Mount Amsa
16 Oct.	Nir Oz

Car Hire and Accommodation

Eldan (eldan.co.il/en) provided a small five-door Daihatsu (in Eldan’s car class D) for a daily rate of approximately US$18. This was a good choice for two people in terms of fuel economy and comfort.  It was also automatic and very roomy – one of us is 6’6”!

Accommodation in Eilat was in the SPNI Field School. This time, instead of camping, we choose an air-conditioned room. It was a fairly basic en-suite but clean, quiet and comfortable. Recommended.

Detailed Itinerary

Sunday 9 October

After Rod’s overnight flight from Tel Aviv, we checked out the local patch around the kibbutz, enjoying views of the many Hoopoes and Syrian woodpeckers and the nearby sewage pond. 

Hoopoe

The sewage pond and its surroundings look quite promising and it will be interesting to see what turns up there.  We unearthed the first of many Red-backed Shrikes, Masked shrikes and a few warblers.

Red-backed shrike (juvenile)

Masked shrike (juvenile)

Graceful prinia

It was very hot and overhead a small number of Lesser-spotted Eagles were heading southwest above the teeming Black Kites.  We assumed at the time that this was a harbinger of further raptor movements to come but it turned out to the last as well as the first!

           

Monday 10 October

We made an early start and headed for Ze’elim sewage ponds and Wadi Besor, about 20km away.  The sewage ponds held only a couple of Egyptian Geese amongst the common waders and ducks.  A juvenile Egyptian Vulture was an easy spot perched on a tree as the sun rose over the wadi, a long river of green reeds and rushes that winds through the desert for about 10 km ending at Park Eshkol.

We followed the lush greenery while listening to Cetti’s Warblers and White-breasted Kingfishers and keeping an eye out for open water amongst the reeds.  At the second such pool we spotted a Purple Swamphen clambering around on the stems before it flew off with its bubble-gum red legs trailing. A little further on a dam across the wadi created a shallow pool that covered the width of the valley-bottom.  After a short stake-out a Bluethroat, two Spotted Crakes, one Little Crake and a Water Rail emerged from the vegetation to give fabulous views.

Bluethroat

Spotted crake (record shot)

Little crake

Water rail

It was now getting seriously hot and by the time we got back to Nir Oz it was over 42 degrees so birding took a back seat for the rest of the day.

Tuesday 11 October 

An even earlier start found us at the Nizzana plain in the dawn light.  The scene was rather quiet compared to April, with no birds singing or harriers quartering the plain, but a McQueen’s Bustard soon put in an appearance flying across the road with its owl-like wing beats.  While we were checking out the Southern Grey Shrikes, a Bar-tailed Lark called but did not give itself up.

Southern grey shrike

We moved on to the Kehemin sewage ponds which were, in contrast, teaming with ducks, waders and other birdlife.  We spotted a Hobby, 5 Whiskered Terns, a Temminck’s Stint and our only Moustached, Great Reed and Olivaceous Warblers of the trip.

Olivaceous warbler

These were pretty standard Israeli birds but the smart Grey Phalarope we found was certainly not and we took some time to get views and photos of the dark-yellow bill-base to be absolutely sure!

Grey phalarope

While we were watching these birds a small number of Spotted and Black-bellied Sandgrouse teased us by calling and flying distantly but they didn’t come in to drink.  We resolved to come back earlier the following day.

Late that afternoon we tried the Ze’elim rubbish dump for raptors but saw only hundreds of Black Kites.  It does look as though it should be a good site in the winter though.

                                                                                   

Wednesday 12 October

Back to Kehemin sewage at dawn, where we were quickly rewarded with superb views of several groups of Crowned Sandgrouse flying in to drink, totalling 43 birds.  At least 50 Black-bellied and 100 Spotted Sandgrouse also came in giving great views.

Spotted sandgrouse

We then headed south via Yeroham where we discovered that the reservoir has been drained.  This became something of a theme throughout the trip, whereby sites which had previously held water were found to be dry.  Fortunately the Yeroham park authorities have created a small recreational lake as a replacement and our spirits lifted when we found two Little Bitterns, a Night Heron and two Wrynecks around its margins.

Next stop was the Officers’ School sewage pool just before Mitzpe Ramon.  This held a Glossy Ibis but the nearby woodland, which had been nurtured over the years by the no-longer leaking overflow pipe, has become seriously degraded and over-run by goats.  Picking up our only White-crowned Black Wheatear of the trip on the outskirts of Mitzpe Ramon, we then tried the town’s sewage plant but this has now been tidied up and fenced in and offered little apart from a few Red-throated Pipits and lots of Barn Swallows.

The sun was getting low as we continued south and it became clear that we would arrive at Eilat in darkness so we enjoyed the last few minutes of daylight at K77 on Route 90, picking up our first Blackstart but very little else apart from the inevitable Red-backed Shrike.

                                                     

Thursday 13 October

We decided to cover as much of the southern Arava as we could and started at Eilat North Beach at dawn.  A few White-eyed Gulls loafed around offshore but not much else so we headed north starting with the date palms.  These contained little apart from the customary flock of Indian Silverbills. 

Indian silverbill

Next was the Bird Park which contained only Caspian and White-winged Black Terns.  The K19 reservoir held the usual water birds including a Spoonbill and 5 Garganey but the ditch leading up to the K20 salt pans was dry and bird-less and the K20 salt pans were relatively quiet.

Heading further north, the Elifaz dung heap had an Isabelline Wheatear and the nearby sewage pond a Squacco Heron.  Qetura sewage was quiet but we saw our first Little Green Bee-eaters of the trip.

Little green bee-eater

The kibbutz at Lotan was also very quiet so we tried a bit of raptor watching from the heights overlooking the Arava next to Route 40 where it climbs up to Neot Smadar.  In the course of nearly an hour this yielded one Pallid Harrier and one Marsh Harrier hurtling south at enormous height on a mixture of powerful thermals and the northerly wind.  It was obvious why we weren’t seeing any raptor movement whatsoever from the valley below!

Next we went to Yotvata sewage plant where we found a new lake next to the plant.  It contained no birds of particular interest but it made a pleasant change to find a new water body rather than a succession of drained ones.

The day ended at the Yotvata circular fields where we found a Lesser Grey Shrike perched on recently harvested alfalfa bales in the northern field.  It was refreshing also to see large numbers of passerines in the stubble, including Red-throated Pipits, Tawny Pipits, Short-toed Larks, Whinchats, wagtails and wheatears.  The sun was setting so we couldn’t work the stubble as we would have liked and would clearly have to return.

Lesser grey shrike

Friday 14 October

A bizarre day!  We started by heading into the Eilat Mountains before dawn to try a stake-out of the Ein Netafim spring, in the faint hope of seeing Hooded Wheatear.  Unfortunately we were turned back by the IDF and after a beautiful but birdless walk towards Mount Shlomo we went straight to the Yotvata circular fields.  Here we found a superb Hoopoe Lark followed by, guess what, a fine male Hooded Wheatear.  Clearly their distribution changes somewhat in autumn! Also present nearby was a mourning wheatear providing a lovely comparison of bill size and weight and amount of black on breast.

Hooded wheatear Mourning wheatear

After a fruitless search for a Pied Wheatear that had been reported the previous day we turned our attention to the alfalfa stubble we had seen the previous day.  The Desert Wheatears were aggressively defending territories, at least until the Lesser Grey Shrike came along and chased them for minutes at a time.  We also could see a number of Richard’s Pipits in flight but couldn’t connect with them on the ground.

We wanted to finish the day at the K19 reservoir so headed south via the still-quiet K20 salt pans.  As the sun sank lower we waited on the reservoir bank and enjoyed great views of a male Barbary Falcon on the border fence.  A Purple Heron also flew in as at least 6 Night Herons emerged from the waterside vegetation to begin their nocturnal vigil.  Finally, several small groups of Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse, totalling 11 birds, flew in and gave us rather dark but still satisfying views.

Saturday 15 October                                    

Our long drive back north started with yet another visit to the Yotvata circular fields.  We quickly nailed some great scope views of at least one Richard’s Pipit in the stubble.  The other decent bird was an Oriental Skylark seen and heard in flight, which then vanished when it settled never to be seen again.  We also spotted the only Spanish Sparrow of the trip – a distant male perched at the edge of the field.

Continuing north we dropped in at Hazeva only to find that the reservoir was still dry and the kibbutz largely bird-free.  Next to Wadi Tamar, where we watched two adult and two juvenile Sooty Falcons in the canyon as it climbs up from the Dead Sea plain.  Then to Neve Zohar, where the reservoir was also dry (surprise, surprise) but a few Desert Larks entertained us.

Finally, as the sun set, we dropped off at Mount Amsa.  The Finsch’s Wheatears were already in their winter quarters accompanied by Spectacled Warbler and Little Owl. 

Sunday 16 October

A final walk round the Nir Oz sewage ponds turned up our only Sardinian Warblers, a fitting ending to a great trip.

Systematic list

No	Name	Comments
1	Egyptian Goose	2 Ze'elim sewage 11/10
2	Mallard	Common on fresh water
3	Wigeon	Pair Mitzpe Ramon sewage 12/10
4	Garganey	5 K19 reservoir 13/10
5	Teal	Common on fresh water
6	Shoveler	Common on fresh water
7	Sand Partridge	A few in desert areas
8	Chukar	Common in desert areas
9	Quail	Singles Yotvata 13/10 and 14/10
10	Little Grebe	Common on fresh water
11	Black-necked Grebe	1 wp Kehemin sewage 12/10
12	Greater Flamingo	Usual flock K20 salt pans
13	White Stork	7 K19 13/10
14	Grey Heron	Very common in flocks up to 20
15	Night Heron	4 Azuz 11/10; 6 K19 reservoir 14/10
16	Purple Heron	1 K19 reservoir 14/10
17	Little Egret	Common on fresh water
18	Cattle Egret	Widespread in N. Negev
19	Great White Egret	A few on most fresh water bodies
20	Squacco Heron	Singles at Elifaz and Qetura sewage 13/10
21	Little Bittern	Ad and juv Yeroham reservoir 12/10
22	Glossy Ibis	1 Mitzpe Ramon Officers School sewage 12/10
23	Spoonbill	1 K19 reservoir 13/10
24	Egyptian Vulture	Juv Wadi Besor 10/10
25	Lesser Spotted Eagle	c 5 SW over Nir Oz 9/10
26	Short-toed Eagle	1 Kehemin sewage 12/10
27	Booted Eagle	1 Kehemin sewage 11/10 and 12/10
28	Black Kite	Abundant, especially in N. Negev
29	Marsh Harrier	M. S over R40 near Neot Smadar 13/10; f. K19 13/10 and 14/10
30	Pallid Harrier	Ringtail S viewed from R25 near Neot Smadar 13/10
31	Steppe Buzzard	Only 3 individuals during the trip
32	Sparrowhawk	10 throughout the trip
33	Kestrel	Common and widespread
34	Hobby	1 Kehemin sewage 11/10 and 12/10
35	Barbary Falcon	M. K19 14/10; f. Yotvata 15/10
36	Sooty Falcon	Pair and 2 juvs Wadi Tamar 15/10
37	Spotted Crake	2 juvs Wadi Besor 10/10
38	Little Crake	1 juv Wadi Besor 10/10
39	Water Rail	1 ad Wadi Besor 10/10

40	Moorhen		widespread on fresh water
41	Coot		2 Wadi Besor 10/10
42	Purple Swamphen		1 ad Wadi Besor 10/10
43	McQueen's Bustard		1 in flight Nizzana plain 11/10
44	Avocet		6 K20 salt pans 13/10 and 14/10
45	Black-winged Stilt		Common on all water bodies
46	Stone Curlew		Abundant in N. Negev
47	Spur-Winged Plover		Common by water and habitation
48	Ringed Plover		Widespread by water bodies
49	Little Ringed Plover		Juv K20 salt pans 13/10
50	Kentish Plover		Up to 3 K20 salt pans 13/10 and 14/10
51	Dunlin		Up to 4 K20 salt pans 13/10 and 14/10
52	Temminck’s Stint		1 wp Kehemin sewage 11/10
53	Little Stint		Abundant at K20 salt pans and Eilat Bird Park
54	Wood Sandpiper		Common on all water bodies
55	Green Sandpiper		Common on all fresh water bodies
56	Common Sandpiper		Common on all fresh water bodies
57	Redshank		Common on all fresh water bodies
58	Spotted Redshank		4 wp Kehemin sewage 11/10
59	Greenshank		1 Eilat Bird Park 13/10
60	Marsh Sandpiper		2 wp Kehemin sewage 11/10
61	Snipe		Common on all fresh water bodies
62	Grey Phalarope		Ad wp Kehemin sewage 11/10 and 12/10
63	Ruff		Common on all fresh water bodies
64	Lesser Black-backed Gull		A few around Eilat North Beach and K19 reservoir
65	Slender-Billed Gull		A few around Eilat North Beach, K19 reservoir and K20 salt pans
66	White-Eyed Gull		15 Eilat North Beach 13/10
67	Caspian Tern		Up to 17 K20 salt pans and Eilat Bird Park
68	White-Winged Black Tern		1 juv K20 salt pans and Eilat Bird Park 13/10
69	Whiskered Tern		5 Kehemin sewage 11/10 and 12/10
70	Black-Bellied Sandgrouse		50 plus Kehemin sewage 12/10
71	Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse		11 K19 reservoir 14/10
72	Spotted Sandgrouse		100 plus Kehemin sewage 12/10
73	Crowned Sandgrouse		43 Kehemin sewage 12/10
74	Feral Pigeon		Abundant
75	Namaqua Dove		Common at Yotvata
76	Collared Dove		Abundant
77	Turtle Dove		2 in N. Negev
78	Laughing Dove		Abundant
79	Long-eared Owl		1 Nir Oz 10/10
80	Little Owl		1 Mount Amsa 15/10
81	Kingfisher		Singles Kehemin sewage 11/10 and Yeroham reservoir 12/10
82		White-Breasted Kingfisher		3 in N. Negev
83		Hoopoe		Common
84		Little Green Bee-eater		Common in desert areas
85		Syrian Woodpecker		Widespread in N. Negev
86		Wryneck		2 Yeroham reservoir 12/10
87		Oriental Skylark		1 Yotvata 15/10
88		Crested Lark		Abundant
89		Short-toed Lark		Common
90		Desert Lark		10 Neve Zohar 15/10
91		Bar-tailed Lark		1 hd Nizzana Plain 11/10
92		Hoopoe Lark		1 or 2 Yotvata 14/10 and 15/10
93		Barn Swallow		Common
94		Red-rumped Swallow		1 Kehelim sewage 11/10
95		House Martin		A few
96		Sand Martin		Common
97		Pale Crag Martin		Widespread in small numbers
98		Richard's Pipit		Up to 3 Yotvata 14/10 and 15/10
99		Red-Throated Pipit		200+ Yotvata
100		Tawny Pipit		20+ Yotvata
101		White Wagtail		Common
102		Yellow Wagtail		50+ Yotvata
103		Blackbird		A few in N. Negev
104		Bluethroat		Widespread; up to 10 daily
105		Redstart		Widespread; up to 5 daily
106		Blackstart		Widespread in desert areas
107		Northern Wheatear		Up to 10 daily
108		Black-eared Wheatear		Up to 2 most days
109		Isabelline Wheatear		Up to 2 most days
110		Desert Wheatear		20+ at Yotvata
111		White-Crowned Wheatear		Ad Mitzpe Ramon 12/10
112		Finsch's Wheatear		4 ad males Mount Amsa 15/10
113		Mourning Wheatear		Up to 2  daily in S. Negev
114		Hooded Wheatear		Ad Yotvata 14/10 and 15/10
115		Whinchat		Up to 3 Yotvata
116		Sardinian Warbler		2 Nir Oz sewage 16/10
117		Spectacled Warbler		1 Mount Amsa 15/10
118		Blackcap		3 in all
119		Whitethroat		1 Nir Oz 10/10
120		Lesser Whitethroat		1 Nir Oz 10/10
121		Reed Warbler		Widespread in suitable cover
122		Sedge Warbler		1 Wadi Besor 10/11
123		Moustached Warbler		1 Kehemin sewage 11/11

124		Scrub Warbler		1 Nizzana plain 11/11
125		Graceful Prinia		Common
126		Cetti’s Warbler		Singing Wadi Besor 10/10
127		Reed Warbler		Up to 3 daily in reeds
128		Great Reed Warbler		1 Kehemin sewage 11/10
129		Olivaceous Warbler		1 Kehemin sewage 11/10
130		Willow Warbler		Abundant
131		Chiffchaff		4 Mitzpe Ramon sewage 12/10
132		Spotted Flycatcher		Up to 5 at most locations
133		Arabian Babbler		Small numbers in desert areas
134		Great Tit		Common in N. Negev
135		Masked Shrike		Widespread in small numbers
136		Red-backed Shrike		Up to 3 at all locations
137		Southern Grey Shrike		Common in N. Negev
138		Lesser Grey Shrike		Juv Yotvata from 13/10 to 15/10
139		Jay		Common in N. Negev
140		Jackdaw		3 near Tel Aviv on way to airport
141		House Crow		Common in Eilat
142		Hooded Crow		Abundant
143		Raven		Widespread in small numbers
144		Brown-necked Raven		2 near Neot Smadar 13/10
145		Mynah Bird		2 near airport, common in Kibbutz Nir Oz
146		Tristram’s Grackle		2 Wadi Tamar 15/10
147		Yellow-Vented Bulbul		Abundant
148		Palestine Sunbird		Common
149		House Sparrow		Abundant
150		Spanish Sparrow		1 m. Yotvata 15/10
151		Goldfinch		Heard over Nir Oz 9/10
152		Ring-Necked Parakeet		Small numbers in Eilat
153		Indian Silverbill		50+ Eilat Date Palms 13/10; 1 Elifaz sewage 13/10; 3 Yotvata 14/10