Wednesday 21 March 2012

Cyprus Wheatear

Sde Boker was really quiet today. I walked around the Pistachia grove and had almost given up hope of seeing anything other than sparrows, bulbuls and babblers when I caught sight of a very dark wheatear on the fence. My first impression was Cyprus Wheatear but as I'm not familiar with this species I wanted longer, better views. However, it was very flighty and elusive and I managed to only get the poorest of poor record shots. First impressions count and this is a female Cyprus Wheatear - a fairly rare spring migrant through Israel, although this spring in Eilat has been particularly good for them.


Wow, these photos are getting close to edge of what's actually discernible. With many thanks to Yoav Perlman and Meidad Goren for their comments and expertise.

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