Israel Trip Report 10-17 January 2015
text by Rod Standing
For our annual birding trip round Israel, my brother Dom and I wanted to fill in a major gap this year: the winter. We have previously been in March, April, May
and October so January seemed a good choice.
Once again we focused just on the north and the centre so as to minimise
travelling time and make the most of the short winter days (sunrise at 6.45 am,
sunset at 4.45 pm).
A big advantage of this time of year is that we were
never roasted and heat-haze was not an issue at all. In fact, the weather was generally cold and
wet, even foggy and snowy at times. If
you want to visit Israel in January, which is the peak month for rainfall, you
will find it much of it covered in lush green vegetation but you will probably
also encounter a great deal of mud.
Bring warm waterproof clothes and wellies and ideally hire a 4-wheel
drive!
The best wintering birds were Black Vulture, Saker, Sociable
Plover and Isabelline Shrike, as well as a nice selection of winter larks in
the Negev. The sheer numbers of some
common wintering species was a constant eye-opener – Common Crane and Coot
(yes!) come to mind. It was also good to
see textbook examples of Caspian and Siberian Stonechats along with their
European cousins. A Kashmir Black Redstart in the Beit She’an Valley was an
unexpected bonus.
It wasn’t the rarities that made this trip special
though. It was the combination of
northern palearctic birds like Fieldfare, Brambling, Hawfinch, Siskin and Reed
Bunting and southern species on the northern limit of their winter ranges like
Booted Eagle, Little Crake and Little Swift that made this trip one of our most
memorable yet.
Summary Itinerary
Date
|
Locations
|
11
Jan
|
North-West Negev (Gevulot, Urim Fields,
Re’im Reservoir)
|
12
Jan
|
Carmel Coast (Ma’agen Michael), Jezreel Valley (Kfar Baruch Reservoir),
Mount Gilboa (Wadi Zviya)
|
13
Jan
|
Beit She’an Valley (Beit HaShitta, Tel
Harod, Wadi Zviya, Maoz Haim, Kfar Ruppin, Beit HaShitta)
|
14
Jan
|
Beit She’an Valley (Kfar Ruppin, Maoz Haim,
Neve Eitan, Beit HaShitta)
|
15
Jan
|
Golan Heights (El Rom, Gamla Gorge,
Wadi Meitzar), Jordan Delta
|
16
Jan
|
Hula Valley (Hula Reserve, Hula
Agamon Lake), Jezreel Valley
(Ginegar Reservoirs)
|
17
Jan
|
Central Negev (Meishar Plateau)
|
Detailed Itinerary
Sunday 11 January – North-West Negev
We started at Gevulot in the rain and in search of a
Hume’s Warbler which had been around for a while. It wasn’t there but a Lesser Whitethroat was
– very surprising in the middle of winter.
The presence of what we thought were passage migrants in January became
one of the themes of the trip.
Next to Urim fields, which had been inundated with rain
in the preceding days and so the farm tracks were mired in glutinous mud. We parked at the end of the metalled road and
walked about 8 miles along the line of electricity pylons which bisects this prairie-like
landscape. The pylons provide perfect
perches for raptors and it didn't take long to find two Eastern Imperial
Eagles.
In the surrounding fields were
hundreds of Common Cranes, many Corn Buntings and Skylarks, a Barn Owl,
two
Peregrines, two Hen Harriers, two Pallid Harriers and several each of
Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Marsh Harrier and Long-legged Buzzard. We couldn’t immediately confirm the ID of two
immature Saker Falcons on the pylons as they wouldn't allow us to get closer
than about half a mile, so we took the best photos that we could and confirmed
the ID subsequently.
An Isabelline
Wheatear was also a nice find.
After all that exertion we ended the day on the bank
surrounding Re'im Reservoir. The water
contained large numbers of the usual water-birds, including hundreds of
Shoveler and Pochard. Eight flyover
Golden Plover and a male Siberian Stonechat were also nice.
Back in Kibbutz Nir Oz several Long-eared Owls and a
Stone Curlew became active as darkness fell.
Monday 12 January – Carmel Coast, Jezreel Valley, Mount Gilboa
The next day we headed north and made our usual error of
stopping at Ma'agen Michael. I say usual
error because the list of birds we could
see there is always tantalising but we usually end up seeing only the same
common water birds. To be fair we did
find a flock of 60 Pallas's Gulls, 5 Temminck's Stints and a Greater Spotted
Eagle but even so we resolved to try Nahsholim instead next time. Are we getting too blasé?
Our next stop was Kfar Baruch Reservoir in search of the
Lesser White-fronted Goose that had been there many weeks but it had gone
either temporarily or permanently. Over
50 White Pelicans and 2 more Greater Spotted Eagles were good
alternatives. I think the difference in
our reactions is that we expect to be amazed at Ma'agen Michael and it is not a
very attractive place in its own right so we are generally disappointed.
Our final destination for the day also illustrated this
point. A Kurdish Wheatear had been
reported for several weeks in Wadi Zviya on Mount Gilboa overlooking the Beit
She'an valley. We walked about a third
of the way down the wadi from the top of the mountain and saw 'only' about 6
Black Redstarts, 3 Finsch's Wheatears, 55 Corn Buntings and our first Southern
Grey Shrike. But the scenery was so
beautiful and the winter flowers so plentiful (and literally growing out of the
rocks) that we forgave the lack of the Kurdish
Wheatear.
Tuesday 13 January – Beit Shean Valley
That night we stayed at Kfar Ruppin where at dawn the following
day the temperature was 2C. By the time
we got to the Tel Harod fish ponds the air had warmed up enough in the sun for
us to wear just two layers. The main
pond and its surroundings were quite productive with 3 more Greater Spotted
Eagles, 6 Pygmy Cormorants, 40 Tufted Ducks, 12 Shelduck, 2 Water Pipits, 2
Desert Finches, a Citrine Wagtail heard as it flew over us and several smart
adult Pallas's Gulls flying around.
We then tried again for the Kurdish Wheatear, this time
from the bottom of the mountain. After
about 30 minutes trying to find the right access we started walking/climbing up
the rocky bottom of the wadi. Again, our
enjoyment of the climb over-rode our disappointment at not finding the wheatear. A female Blue Rock Thrush, 2 Long-billed
Pipits, 2 more Finsch's Wheatear and another very smart Siberian Stonechat were
reward enough.
We had been told that a Sociable Plover had been seen at Maoz
Haim fish pond just north of the road to the Jordanian border. We headed over there and drove up on to the
bank. As I started eating lunch Dom
trained his scope on the gathering of several hundred Lapwings and Spur-winged
Plovers on the far shore. Literally the
first bird he saw as he focused was the Sociable Plover. Within 5 seconds it had taken flight and
disappeared to the south. What an
amazing bit of luck!
For our penultimate visit of the day, we toured the Kfar
Ruppin fish ponds, which contained a good selection of water birds including
over 100 Spoonbills and 50 Black Stork. It
was great to see a large flock of Dead Sea Sparrows dust bathing next to the
track.
Finally we went to Bet HaShitta up Route 71 to see the
Kashmir Back Redstart that was wintering there.
Right on cue it appeared on the expected perch at 4 p.m. and gave views
down to 10 metres, a great end to the day.
Wednesday 14 January – Beit Shean Valley
Wednesday started with another visit to the Kfar Ruppin
fish ponds which were bustling with birds.
The early morning sun shone brightly as the mist swirled in the Jordan
valley. A Merlin repeatedly stooped like
a Peregrine over the fish ponds and a Purple Heron stood like a sentry on a
post posing for photos.
Little Ringed
and Ringed plovers, Little Stints, Black-tailed Godwits, Marsh Sandpipers,
Redshanks and a Greenshank bumped up the wader count.
We then drove to a small patch of scrub near the entrance
to the kibbutz and found the Isabelline Shrike which had been there for several
weeks performing beautifully in the sunshine.
A 2-hour beating of the kibbutz's alfalfa fields (near the Ringing
Station) yielded enormous numbers of Skylarks (well over 2,000) but not the
hoped-for Oriental Skylarks or Buff bellied Pipits. We did turn up two more flocks of Dead Sea
Sparrows, 2 Little Swift hawking over the fields with the Swallows, 2 Zitting
Cisticolas, 2 more Greater Spotted Eagles and a female Caspian Stonechat.
Leaving the kibbutz we dropped in again at Maoz Haim fish
pond and quickly found 2 Sociable Plovers with the Vanellus flock. After a
little while they all took off and headed south. It was amazing how easily the Sociable Plovers
disappeared in the flying flock.
Our real destination though was the Neve Eitan fish
ponds, which held over 2,000 coot (including around 1,000 in one tightly-packed
flock - an amazing sight), 10 Osprey, 8 Whiskered Tern, another Purple Heron, a
Peregrine and 3 Reed Buntings. The
latter were in some overgrown ponds furthest from the road and these look like
excellent habitat for wintering or migrant passerines.
We finished the day as we had the previous one with a
visit to Bet HaShitta. Once again the
Kashmir Black Redstart appeared right on time at 4 p.m. but this time a female
Common Redstart (triple ringed!) also appeared on exactly the same perch a few
minutes later. This was strange because
Common Redstart is a very rare find in Israel in January. The chances of two such vagrants appearing on
the same piece of wood a few minutes apart must be very small indeed. Another bizarre piece of luck.
We then drove to Qatsrin on the Golan Heights which was
to be our base for the next two days.
Thursday 15 January – Golan Heights
Our plan for the day was to cover as much of the Golan
Heights as possible given the snowy conditions.
In the event we got as far as El Rom and then turned back, not because
of the 30cm of snow lying on the ground (the snow ploughs had done a great job
of clearing even the minor roads) but because the fog and rain made birding
impossible. Before heading south again we
managed an hour’s birding in the snow near El Rom and saw 6 Brambling, 15
Siskin and 50 Fieldfares. It was strange
and wonderful to see birds so evocative of northern Europe and Asia in a snowy Middle
Eastern landscape.
We got as far south as Gamla Gorge before the rain stopped. Five Griffon Vultures and a single Black
Vulture wheeled around the viewing point in the gloom,
as did 10 Woodlarks and 100 Serin. A male Black Redstart posed beautifully for photos by the car park
along with another wintering Lesser Whitethroat.
We headed further south to escape the cloudy skies and
decided to try Wadi Meitzar. Getting
down into it required us to navigate a series of huge muddy puddles in the hire
car which was entertaining! Somehow we
got through and even more importantly we got back out again to our immense
relief. The wadi itself was surprisingly
devoid of birds apart from a few Crag Martins at the bottom but another
Brambling and a few Hawfinches posing on tree tops as we went past were nice.
We finished the day at the Jordan Delta by Lake
Tiberias. 15 Little Swift were hunting
above the road where it runs along the shore of the Lake.
The sewage ponds held some squealing Water Rails and we heard Penduline Tits but could not see them.
Friday 16 January – Hula Valley, Jezreel Valley
Our Hula day started like the two previous ones with an
early visit to the former fish ponds outside the entrance to the Hula Reserve
while we waited for it to open at 8 a.m.
As we stood on the boundary bank in the mist we heard again the calls of
Penduline Tits in a thin strip of reeds below us and with patience we gained
good views of two birds as they flitted amongst bottom of the stems. Perched above us in the customary tree was an
adult White-tailed Eagle, like us waiting for the mist to clear.
Our entrance to the reserve was delayed somewhat while the
staff rounded up an escaped water buffalo but when we did get in we were again
surprised by birds we thought were ‘passage migrants’ – this time a pale-phase
Booted Eagle and an amazingly obliging Little Crake scampering about on the
floating stems in full view at a few metres range for 30 minutes.
A Water Rail made a brief cameo appearance,
flying over the Little Crake. Yet again
we heard Penduline Tits but were not surprised that we didn’t see them in the profusion
of vegetation.
A Pygmy Cormorant on a Cormorant tree.
A five minute drive north took us to the Hula Reflooded
Area, which contained around 37,000 Common Cranes – a truly spectacular wildlife
experience.
As we scooted round on our
golf buggy (an expensive essential at this site) we notched up 3 more Greater
Spotted Eagles, 3 more Booted Eagles, a Black-shouldered Kite and two more Hawfinch.
Last stop of the day was Ginnegar Reservoir an hour’s drive to
the south west, our target being White-headed Duck. None were present, but through the scope we
picked out three Marbled Duck on the far side of the reservoir and two Black
Francolins on the bank. The latter were
feeding quietly in the long grass and amused us by their habit of alternately
sticking their heads up out of the vegetation, presumably a mechanism to
combine maximum feeding time and security.
This was our last visit of the day and we headed for Route 6
for the long drive south.
Saturday 17 January – Central Negev
An evening flight meant that we had half a day available and
so an early start saw us arriving at the Meishar Plateau in the High Negev at
dawn. An angry sunrise pierced the rain
clouds on the eastern horizon but the rain held off.
As we drove slowly across the plain towards
the monument in the gathering light a Stonechat flitted across the road in
front of us and drew our attention to four Lesser-short Toed Larks at the
roadside giving very close views from the car.
What a start!
We parked a bit north of the monument and started carefully
working the strip of vegetation just west of the road. Bar-tailed Larks were calling further to the
west out in the desert and 13 Temminck’s Larks were feeding quietly in the
short grass by the road giving wonderful views.
In the next couple of hours as the sun appeared and the temperatures
rose we saw in addition 8 Desert Larks,
50 Skylarks, 20 Corn Buntings, 50
Spanish Sparrows, 3 Tawny Pipits, 4 Mourning Wheatears, 6 Desert Wheatears
(characteristically defending their winter territories), 2 Isabelline
Wheatears, 3+ Desert Warblers, a Sardinian Warbler and a Southern Grey
Shrike.
We also heard the calls of a
large flock of Crowned Sandgrouse and saw c. 200 Spotted Sandgrouse. Two Black-bellied Sandgrouse flew over, rare
at this site.
Time was forcing us to head back north and we stopped off at
Wadi Terashim, following the white track to the east of the road on the
northern rim of the plateau. Note that
access to the Meishar Plateau is limited only to Saturdays – military
activities close it on other days. We
found some more wheatears, a Blackstart, several Scrub Warblers and a nice flock
of 20 Trumpeter Finches.
As we climbed
the northern rim of the plateau in the car we passed a Peregrine perched on a
prominent rock surveying the plain below.
We drove north back to Nir Oz through the showers, and
picked up 5 more Black-bellied Sandgrouse flying over the road and a pair of
White-crowned Black Wheatears at the petrol station outside Mitzpe Ramon. As we crossed the Ramon Crater after a
particularly heavy rain storm we saw watercourses running with water, a rare
sight in this parched land.
Systematic List
Name
|
Comments
|
Egyptian Goose
|
Widespread in small
numbers in the North-West Negev
|
Shelduck
|
12 Tel Harod 13/1; common
Hula Valley 16/1
|
Mallard
|
Common in suitable habitat
|
Gadwall
|
Abundant in the Hula
Valley 16/1
|
Wigeon
|
Common in suitable habitat
|
Pintail
|
Widespread in small
numbers
|
Teal
|
Common in suitable habitat
|
Shoveler
|
Abundant in suitable
habitat
|
Marbled Duck
|
3 Ginegar Reservoir 16/1
|
Tufted Duck
|
Widespread in small
numbers
|
Pochard
|
Widespread in small
numbers
|
Ferruginous Duck
|
2 Golan Heights 15/1
|
Chukar
|
Widespread in small
numbers
|
Black Francolin
|
3 Ginegar Reservoir 16/1
|
Black-necked Grebe
|
3 Kfar Ruppin 14/1
|
Little Grebe
|
Common on fresh water,
abundant Hula Valley 16/1
|
Black Stork
|
Common in northern
lowlands
|
White Pelican
|
Common in northern
lowlands
|
Cormorant
|
Common
|
Pygmy Cormorant
|
Small numbers in northern
lowlands
|
Grey Heron
|
Common
|
Night Heron
|
4 Azuz 11/10; 6 K19
reservoir 14/10
|
Purple Heron
|
1 Kfar Ruppin 14/1, 1 Neve
Eitan 14/1
|
Little Egret
|
Common
|
Cattle Egret
|
Abundant
|
Great White Egret
|
Common
|
Glossy Ibis
|
Common
|
Spoonbill
|
Widespread in small
numbers, 100 Kfar Ruppin 13-14/1
|
Griffon Vulture
|
5 Gamla Gorge 15/1
|
Black Vulture
|
1 Gamla Gorge 15/1
|
Osprey
|
Common Beit She’an Valley
|
White-tailed Eagle
|
Ad. Hula Reserve 16/1
|
Greater Spotted Eagle
|
Widespread in small
numbers in northern lowlands
|
Eastern Imperial Eagle
|
2 Urim Fields 11/1
|
Booted Eagle
|
4 Hula Valley 16/1
|
Black-shouldered Kite
|
1 Agamon Hula Reserve 16/1
|
Black Kite
|
Abundant
|
Marsh Harrier
|
Common in lowlands
|
Hen Harrier
|
2 Urim Fields 11/1
|
Pallid Harrier
|
1 Wadi Besor NW Negev
11/1, 2 Urim Fields 11/1
|
Long-legged Buzzard
|
Small numbers in
North-West Negev
|
Common Buzzard
|
Widespread in small
numbers
|
|
|
Sparrowhawk
|
Widespread in small
numbers
|
Kestrel
|
Common and widespread
|
Merlin
|
1 Kfar Ruppin 14/1
|
Peregrine
|
3 Urim Fields 11/1, 1 Neve
Eitan 14/1, 1 Meishar Plateau 17/1
|
Saker
|
2 immatures Urim Fields
11/1
|
Little Crake
|
1 immature Hula Reserve 16/1
|
Water Rail
|
1 Jordan Delta 15/1, 2
Hula Valley 16/1
|
Moorhen
|
Widespread on fresh water
|
Coot
|
Abundant, including a
flock of at least 1,000 Neve Eitan 14/1
|
Common Crane
|
Abundant, including 37,000
Hula Agamon Lake 16/1
|
Avocet
|
12 Ma’agen Michael 12/1, 100
Hula Agamon Lake 16/1
|
Black-winged Stilt
|
Common on all water bodies
|
Stone Curlew
|
1 heard Nir Oz 11/1
|
Lapwing
|
Common in North-West Negev
and northern lowlands
|
Sociable Plover
|
1-2 Maoz Haim 13-14/1
|
Spur-Winged Plover
|
Common by water and
habitation
|
Ringed Plover
|
A few Kfar Ruppin 14/1
|
Little Ringed Plover
|
A few Kfar Ruppin 14/1
|
Golden Plover
|
8 Re’im Reservoir 11/1
|
Dunlin
|
1 Kfar Ruppin 14/1
|
Temminck’s Stint
|
5 Ma’agen Michael 12/1
|
Little Stint
|
Common by fresh water
|
Wood Sandpiper
|
A few
|
Green Sandpiper
|
A few
|
Common Sandpiper
|
A few
|
Redshank
|
Common by fresh water
|
Spotted Redshank
|
12 Kfar Ruppin 14/1
|
Greenshank
|
1 Kfar Ruppin 14/1
|
Marsh Sandpiper
|
1 Ma’agen Michael 12/1
|
Black-tailed Godwit
|
1 Kfar Ruppin 14/1. 35
Hula Reserve 16/1
|
Snipe
|
2 Kfar Ruppin 14/1
|
Ruff
|
A few
|
Armenian Gull
|
Large numbers Ma’agen
Michael 12/1
|
Black-headed Gull
|
A few around Eilat North
Beach, K19 reservoir and K20 salt pans
|
Pallas’s Gull
|
60 Ma’agen Michael 12/1,
15 Beit She’an Valley 13/1
|
Caspian Gull
|
A few Ma’agen Michael 12/1
|
Whiskered Tern
|
10 Neve Eitan fish ponds 14/1
|
Black-Bellied Sandgrouse
|
2 Meishar Plateau, 5 near
Nafcha Prison 17/1
|
Spotted Sandgrouse
|
200 Meishar Plateau 17/1
|
Crowned Sandgrouse
|
Large flock heard Kehemin Meishar Plateau 17/1
|
Feral Pigeon
|
Abundant
|
Collared Dove
|
Abundant
|
Laughing Dove
|
Abundant
|
Long-eared Owl
|
Several heard Nir Oz 11/1
|
Barn Owl
|
1 Urim Fields 11/1
|
Little Swift
|
2 Kfar Ruppin 14/1, 15
Jordan Delta 15/1
|
Kingfisher
|
Several in Hula Valley
16/1
|
White-breasted Kingfisher
|
Widespread in northern
lowlands
|
Pied Kingfisher
|
4 Ma’agen Michael 12/1
|
Hoopoe
|
Common
|
Syrian Woodpecker
|
Widespread in north
|
Skylark
|
Abundant in arable fields
and grasslands
|
Temminck’s Lark
|
12 Meishar Plateau 17/1
|
Crested Lark
|
Common everywhere
|
Lesser Short-toed Lark
|
4 Meishar Plateau 17/1
|
Desert Lark
|
8 Meishar Plateau 17/1
|
Bar-tailed Lark
|
1+ heard calling Meishar
Plateau 17/1
|
Woodlark
|
10 Gamla Gorge 15/1
|
Barn Swallow
|
Birds of the Transitiva race widespread in lowlands
|
Crag Martin
|
A few Wadi Meitzar 15/1
|
Tawny Pipit
|
3 Meishar Plateau 17/1
|
Long-billed Pipit
|
2 Wadi Zviya 15/1
|
Meadow Pipit
|
Abundant
|
Red-Throated Pipit
|
200+ Yotvata
|
Water Pipit
|
2 Tel Harod fish ponds
13/1
|
White Wagtail
|
Abundant
|
Citrine Wagtail
|
1 heard over Tel Harod
fish ponds 13/1
|
Robin
|
Common everywhere
|
Blackbird
|
Common everywhere
|
Fieldfare
|
50 El Rom 13/1
|
Song Thrush
|
Widespread in the north
|
Bluethroat
|
Common in Hula valley
|
Redstart
|
f. Beit HaShitta 14/1
|
Black Redstart
|
Common
|
Kashmir Black Redstart
|
m. Beit HaShitta 13-14/1
|
Blackstart
|
1 Wadi Terashim, Meishar
Plateau, 17/1
|
Isabelline Wheatear
|
1 Urim Fields 11/1, 2
Meishar Plateau 17/1
|
Desert Wheatear
|
8 Meishar Plateau 17/1
|
White-Crowned Wheatear
|
2 Mitzpe Ramon 11/1
|
Finsch's Wheatear
|
5 Wadi Zviya 12-13/1
|
Mourning Wheatear
|
6 Meishar Plateau 17/1
|
Stonechat
|
Abundant
|
Siberian Stonechat
|
m. Reim Reservoir 11/1, m
Wadi Zviya 13/1
|
Caspian Stonechat
|
f. Kfar Ruppin 14/1
|
Blue Rock Thrush
|
f. Wadi Zviya 13/1
|
Sardinian Warbler
|
1 Wadi Zviya 12/1, 1
Meishar Plateau 17/1
|
Lesser Whitethroat
|
1 Gevulot 11/1, 1 Gamla
Gorge 15/1
|
Desert Warbler
|
2-3 Meishar Plateau 17/1
|
Chiffchaff
|
Common
|
Cetti’s Warbler
|
Widespread in northern
lowlands
|
Clamorous Reed Warbler
|
1 Hula Reserve 16/1
|
Zitting Cisticola
|
2 Kfar Ruppin 14/1, 1
Gamla Gorge 15/1
|
Scrub Warbler
|
1 Wadi Terashim, Meishar
Plateau 11/11
|
Graceful Prinia
|
Common in northern
lowlands
|
Great Tit
|
Common in north
|
Penduline Tit
|
2 Hula Reserve 16/1
|
Southern Grey Shrike
|
Widespread in north
|
Isabelline Shrike
|
m. Kfar Ruppin 14/1
|
Jay
|
Widespread in north
|
Jackdaw
|
Common in north
|
Hooded Crow
|
Abundant
|
Brown-necked Raven
|
Large numbers Meishar
Plateau 17/1
|
Mynah Bird
|
Common in NW Negev
|
Yellow-Vented Bulbul
|
Abundant
|
Palestine Sunbird
|
Common
|
Starling
|
Common in north, a few in
NW Negev
|
House Sparrow
|
Abundant
|
Spanish Sparrow
|
Flock Meishar Plateau 17/1
|
Dead Sea Sparrow
|
3 flocks Kfar Ruppin
13-14/1
|
Goldfinch
|
Common
|
Greenfinch
|
Common
|
Hawfinch
|
5 Wadi Meitzar 15/1, 1
Hula Agamon Lake 16/1
|
Chaffinch
|
Abundant – commonest bird
|
Brambling
|
6 El Rom 15/1, 1 Wadi
Meitzar 15/1
|
Siskin
|
15 El Rom 15/1
|
Serin
|
100 Gamla Gorge 15/1
|
Desert Finch
|
2 Tel Harod fish ponds
13/1
|
Trumpeter Finch
|
20 Wadi Terashim, Meishar
Plateau 17/1
|
Reed Bunting
|
3 Neve Eitan fish ponds
14/1
|
Corn Bunting
|
Common
in suitable habitat
|
Ring-Necked Parakeet
|
Widespread in NW Negev and
Hula Valley
|
163 species
