A very nice surprise today. Visited some of my wife's family in Kibbutz Ginnegar in the Yizrael Valley and took the opportunity to explore the local reservoirs. I was on foot I could only do the first two. After the first, to be honest, I was giving up hope of seeing anything other than Coot and Spur Winged Plovers. I was therefore delighted to see a couple of Black Francolin feeding in a field close to the larger reservoir. A 4x4 pulled up next to them and they flew hard and fast into a wheat field. Nice views as they whisked past me but no photos - it was a choice of bins or camera and this time I kept to the bins. Wondering exactly what BF sounded like I played an mp3 of their song on my mobile and was immediately rewarded with a reply from the field. They didn't come into view but it was still a wonderful (albeit brief) duet.
Marbled Duck was the other good bird of the day. These are lovely little ducks and I've often seen them here. Like most wildfowl they keep a very respectful distance from people. This one kept a steady 150 m away.
And this flew off as soon as I appeared over the reservoir bank.
In other news, last weekend we had another excursion to Urim (thank you, Yariv) and had great views of the Saker.
Love those pylons! Saker Falcon with Long Legged Buzzard taking the Stalls. Several Eastern Imperial Eagles around as well.
Good days!
