Day 1 05.02.2018
So begins my two and half months as a volunteer at the IBRC
in Eilat, Israel. To say I am excited would be a huge understatement, it
promises to be amazing.
My overnight coach to the airport was pretty brutal,
followed by a five hour flight, but I finally arrived in a surprisingly gloomy Tel
Aviv at half two in the afternoon. Because of the way I had booked my
connection, and the fact that the airline had then drastically altered said
connection, I had to travel across Tel Aviv from one airport to another.
However, I had plenty of time, so spent a good hour birding one of the parks
near the Sde Dov Airport.
The first bird in Israel was Hooded Crow, but that was
quickly followed by Spur-winged Lapwing, which is a bit more exciting. Once I
made it to the park the number of birds increased dramatically, although a lot
of it was plastic fantastic; Common Myna, Ring-necked Parakeet, Egyptian Goose
and (regrettably) my first lifer of the trip, Monk Parakeet. My second lifer
was a bit more exciting; Armenian Gull with quite a few roosting on the parks
boating lake. There were other awesome birds as well; Palestine Sunbird, White-throated & Pied Kingfisher and Spectacled Bulbul. A great way to start the trip.
In the evening I got my flight down to Eilat, ready for the
morning when I would begin my raptor counts…
-Monk Parakeet
-Armenian Gull
Species List:
Ben Gurion Airport
& Tel Aviv: Hooded Crow, Feral Pigeon, Common Kestrel, Spur-winged
Lapwing, Common Myna, Eurasian Teal, Steppe Buzzard, Collard Dove, Ring-necked
Parakeet, House Sparrow,
Hayarkon Park: Cormorant,
Chiffchaff, Black-headed Gull, Little Egret, Mallard, Moorhen, Monk Parakeet,
White-throated Kingfisher, Pied Kingfisher, Spectacled Bulbul, Egyptian Goose,
Jackdaw, Blackbird, Palestine Sunbird, Hooded Crow, Feral Pigeon, Spur-winged
Plover, Common Myna, Collard Dove, Ring-necked Parakeet, House Sparrow,
Armenian Gull, Great Tit,
Day 2 06.02.2018
For my first full day in Israel I had the fun task of
paperwork, to ensure I was fully covered by the IBRC. It worked out quite
nicely though, as it meant I got to spend the early morning in the bird park, re-familiarising
myself with many of the species I had seen in Oman. I had a single new bird in
the park; Afghan Babbler, which perched up briefly.
Once the paperwork was complete myself and Gaidis set off to
track down some of the overwintering Wheatear visitors to the north of Eilat.
Our first was a female Finsch’s Wheatear, and then Basalt Wheatear in the same
location. We saw both of these with ease, as well as Hooded Wheatear and
White-crowned Black Wheatear, also both new birds for me. As a wheatear fan, it
was paradise. And it got even better, as we then visited a site further north
for Kurdish Wheatear, a stunning male which we also saw with relative ease.
With our morning wheatear twitching wrapped up we then headed to Amram Pillars to
hopefully see Sinai Rosefinch, but sadly we had no joy. Scrub Warbler was a new
bird for me there though, and I was a big fan of them to be sure.
In the evening I headed out again, round the same sites with
much the same result. The wheatears were all still present but the rosefinches
were not. We also checked K20 for Lesser White-fronted Goose, but sadly it was
not present.
-Palestine Sunbird
-Finsch's Wheatear
-Hooded Wheatear
-Basalt Wheatear
-Kurdish Wheatear
-Scrub Warbler
-Dorcas Gazelle
Species List:
IBRCE Bird Park: Sardinian
Warbler, Laughing Dove, Spectacled Bulbul, House Sparrow, Collard Dove,
Bluethroat, Graceful Prinia, Ring-necked Parakeet, Chiffchaff, Redshank, Ruff,
Green Bee-eater, Black-winged Stilt, Greater Flamingo, Purple Heron, Grey
Heron, House Crow, Marsh Harrier, Wood Sandpiper, Rock Martin, White Wagtail,
Temminck’s Stint, Pintail, Shelduck, Mallard, Spur-winged Plover, Feral Pigeon,
Afghan Babbler, Palestine Sunbird,
Wheatear Twitching: European
Stonechat, Trumpeter Finch, Desert
Lark, Crested Lark, Scrub Warbler, Finsch’s Wheatear, Hooded Wheatear,
White-crowned Black Wheatear, Kurdish Wheatear, Barn Swallow, Rock Martin,
Basalt Wheatear, Southern Grey Shrike, Blackstart, Steppe Eagle, House Crow,
Sardinian Warbler, House Sparrow, Collard Dove, Laughing Dove, Feral Pigeon, Dorcas Gazelle,
K20: European
Starling, Coot, Moorhen, Shoveler, Pintail, Greater Flamingo, Steppe Buzzard,
Feral Pigeon, Spur-winged Plover, Grey Heron, Marsh Harrier, Crested Lark,
Day 3 07.02.2018
Today was my first day in the mountains as an official
raptor watcher. My first count was from Low Mountain, a positon overlooking
Eilat and the bay, and the site where most of the Eagles would come through. As
it happened today was the first day with any real movement, and as a result I
was able to enjoy some 30 Steppe Eagles as they drifted past me, as well as a
Long-legged Buzzard and a Short-toed Eagle. The site was also home to some cool
local birds; Tristrams Starling, Sand Partridge, Striolated Bunting etc. A
Blackstart was also stupidly tame and hanging around the site.
In the evening once we had finished counting we moved on to
North Beach. It was my first experience of Seawatching in Israel and it was
pretty good, although most of my time was spent sifting through the gulls on
the beach looking for White-eyed Gulls. I was able to find some, but tragically
they were all on the other side of the Jordan border. The Brown Booby that had
been around was still in the bay, and a Caspian Tern flyby was nice. A sweet
way to finish the day to be sure!
-Steppe Eagle
-Blackstart
-White-eyed Gull
Species List:
Low Mountain: Hooded
Wheatear, Blackstart, Brown-necked Raven, Tristrams Starling, Feral Pigeon,
Collard Dove, Sardinian Warbler, Steppe Eagle, Long-legged Buzzard, Sand
Partridge, Sparrowhawk, House Sparrow, Desert Lark, Rock Martin, Short-toed
Eagle, Pallid Swift, Striolated Bunting,
North Beach: Caspian
Tern, Western Reef Egret, Heuglin’s Gull, Caspian Gull, Slender-billed Gull,
Black-headed Gull, Common Snipe, White-eyed Gull, House Sparrow, Ring-necked Parakeet,
House Crow, Grey Heron, Black-winged Stilt, White Wagtail, Brown Booby, Great
Crested Grebe,
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