Asian Desert Warbler at Lotan bird reserve, and just south of it

Here are two pictures I took of the bird this morning. The yellow eye really stands out in the pictures. These birds winter in the Arava desert and go back to central Asia in the spring.

Asian Desert Warbler

Asian Desert Warbler

I saw two specimen of this wonderful little bird. As soon as you play its song backto it, it is right near you, so inquisitive.

Oriental Skylark at Yotvata

I went out yesterday to see whether there had been any change in migration patterns at two main locations, Qa es- Sa'eddin (Km 76) and Yotvata.

At Qa es- Sa'eddin I had a Blackstart, a Black Redstart (female), a group of about 40 Spanish Sparrows practicing synchronized flying, one Marsh Harrier, three Bar-tailed Larks and over 90 Trumpeter Finches. There were also three Bar-tailed Larks and two Sardinian Warblers. We still have Stonechats around, a total of seven. The Southern Grey Shrike that usually is there I saw again for the first time in a long time. I photographed it while it was surveying the area from inside Jordanian territory, close to the border. Here is a picture:

Going to Yotvata, tried for the Little Bunting, but was unsuccessful. There were less than  the usual number of Red-throated Pipits about, maybe it is a sign that it is no longer there, but we need to come back several times more to be sure. Yotvata is at the moment Swift heaven, with a majority of Common Swifts (about 150), but also sizable numbers of Pallid Swifts about (maybe 40). In addition, there were House Martins, a few Barn Swallows and Rock Martins galore. One of the three Imperial Eagles that are wintering here could be seen well, but the interesting bird was the Oriental Skylark. There is a small flock of Skylarks that I see regularly flying about, and was looking for the Oriental Skylarks that we had seen a few weeks ago. I did see one individual. I bring you the picture I shot yesterday, and one from four weeks ago.

Oriental Skylark

Oriental Skylark

Imperial Eagle

David

A morning at Yotvata, 9 February 2014

We are at the very beginning of the migratory season, and the signs of migration are staring to show. We still have a lot of the wintering birds here, but migrants are coming along. 

I was out yesterday and today in the region to have a look what the migration is looking like. First of all, there are more and more Swifts, both Common and Pallid, that are frolicking above the southern circular field in Yotvata. This morning, as I left, the numbers were increasing, with about two hundred flying around. A 3-to-1 split between Common Swifts and Pallid Swifts. There were a few Barn Swallows in the mix, as well as Rock Martins. I had four Corn Buntings there,two, as well as a small flock of Skylarks. 

At the northern circular field, there is the flock of Red-throated Pipits in the tall grass, but today, no Little Bunting. Here is a picture of it from last week.

Little Bunting

Two Isabelline Wheatears were doing what seemed to be mating displays, but no good photos of it. There was the usual mix of Crested Larks, Ringed Plovers, Skylarks in this field, too. The manure piles there had very few birds on them, just one lone Stonechat and one White Wagtail.

Stonechat

Egyptian Goose

A short visit to Yotvata sewage revealed a pair of Egyptian Geese, and very little else. The place is almost deserted, with very few White Wagtails, a small flock of Spanish Sparrows, a lone Bluethroat, a few Graceful Prinias calling, and two Little Green Bee-eaters. Not having that much to do, I took a couple of pictures of the resident flock of Tristram's Starlings that makes the car park and surrounding trees it home.

Tristram's Starlings

Little Bunting and lots and lots of Swifts...

I went out with Itai Shanni to survey the birds that are out there today. We started at Qa es-Sa'eddin, (so-called Km 76), and saw very little. The highlights were two Asian Desert Warblers, eight Trumpeter Finches, a few Stonechats, two or three Sardinian Warblers, an Isabelline Wheatear and little else. No Sandgrouse to be heard or seen.

After spending a boring two hours there, we continued on to Yotvata, and there the story was different. The northern circular field held the Little Bunting that Lirron Ziv had discovered a few weeks back, mixed in with a flock of about 50 Red-throated Pipits. We were lucky to see it on the irrigation pipes because in  previous transects it was hopping in between the alfalfa, so invisible.

Two Isabelline Wheatears, a Desert Wheatear, and quite a few Crested Larks could be seen.

Aside from that there was little else going on. 

From there we proceeded to the southern circular field, and here the story  was completely different. Half of the field has wheat that is almost fully grown and should be harvested at some time in the near future. The sights here were incredible. No pictures could adequately describe what was going on  there. There were easily over a 1000 Common Swifts, 300 Pallid Swifts, House Martins, Rock Martins, some Barn Swallows and over a 100 Red-throated Pipits. We also saw about 15 Skylarks, but did not see the four Oriental Skylarks that had been seen here more than a week ago. I am including a picture that very poorly portrays the swift mayhem going on there...