Excellent raptor migration and very few passerines around

The past few days have been slow days for the ringing station, with few birds caught in the nets. Gusty and windy conditions were a factor, but also, as said already, the desert is in full bloom after the rains, and the birds do not need to come to the kibbutzim to look for food. 

Overhead migration is going on in full force, with well over 15,000 raptors above Lotan today. The vast majority were Steppe Buzzards (Buteo buteo vulpines), but also large numbers of Black Kites (Milvus migrans), Steppe Eagles (Aquila nipalensis), Booted Eagles (Hieraaetus pennatus), Egyptian Vultures (Neophron percnopterus), Black Storks (Ciconia nigra) and White Storks (Ciconia ciconia). Frank Moffatt, who is staying here at Lotan, had one Cinereous (Black) Vulture (Aegypius monachus), too. I keep track of the migration counts on the excellent Dutch website www.trektellen.nl. 

Black Storks in the Eilat mountains

With little over 20 birds in the nets, we did have a nice surprise that the Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) that has been hanging around the ringing station has finally been caught in the net. It was already ringed, and we are in the process of finding out where and when it had been ringed.

Feisty Kestrel just before release

The lack of birds was evident everywhere, so I took a picture of a resident near Lotan, the Stone Curlew (Burhinus oedicnemus), here two of the three that I saw right outside the back gate of the kibbutz.

Stone Curlews

Slow ringing day, but relatively good overhead migration

We started out at 5:15 with the nets open, and immediately had the feeling that there were a lot less birds around. The spring this year has been one with a lot more rainfall than the annual average, which means that the birds are spread out over a much larger area. This was felt very well in our ringing station. The group of British ringers that was with us are now back in Britain, so the number of nets open is much smaller. That we would be catching a lot fewer birds was clear, but to have a grand total of 24 birds out of 10 nets over four hours was quite low. 

We are noticing that the number of Chiffchaffs (Phylloscopus collibyta) is slowly diminishing, the Lesser Whitethroats (Sylvia curruca) are still going strong, there is an increase in Balkan Warblers (Phylloscopus orientalis), and a large increase in Blackcaps (Sylvia atricapilla). Those are the predominant species, but to a lesser extent we are seeing a lot of others. The Sedge Warbler, the Reed Warbler and the Savi's Warbler are caught in steady numbers, also some Rueppell's Warblers (Sylvia rueppelli), and Eastern Orphean Warblers (Sylvia crassirostris). We did get one female Dead Sea Sparrow(Passer moabiticus) in the net, as well as an almost daily Cretzschmar's Bunting (Emberiza caesia). We are waiting for the change-over to Ortolan Bunting (Emberiza hortulana) that should be happening very soon.

Female Rueppell's Warbler

Overhead migration is quite good, with a good mix of birds, the predominant being the Steppe Buzzard (Buteo vulpines), followed by Black Kite (Milvus migrans), and then Steppe Eagle (Aquila nipalensis). Other species we saw today were Short-toed Eagle (Circaetus gallicus), Osprey (Pandion heliaetus), Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus), Black Stork (Ciconia nigra) and Booted Eagle (Aquila pennata), but in much lesser numbers. There was also one Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea) migrating in the opposite direction, it seemed.

Migration is continuing on

Migration is going on unabated, with new species coming in. At the ringing station we are seeing a change-over from the masses of Chiffchaffs (Phylloscopus collybita) to Lesser Whitethroats (Sylvia curruca), and now on to Blackcaps (Sylvia atricapilla). There are also increasing numbers of Balkan Warblers (formerly Eastern Bonelli's Sylvia orientalis). We also had the first Quail in the net (Coturnix coturnix), and the first Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus). On the grounds of the Kibbutz the highlights are a female Semi-collared Flycatcher (Ficedula semitorquata), a Black Restart (Phoenicurus ochruros) and a samamisicus Redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus). Also at least two Masked Shrikes (Lanius nubicus). Here pictures of the Semi-collared Flycatcher...

First Eagle in the net - a Booted Eagle

Today we got off to a better start as compared to previous days, with well over a hundred birds in the net. It was a nice mix of birds, but the predominant kind was a Lesser Whitethroat that is migrating right now. We had a few Savi's Warblers, Nightingales, Olivaceous Warblers, Bluethroats and a good assortment of birds.

At 9:15 a call over the walkie-talkie that a Booted Eagle had been captured in the net. It was brought to the ringing station, but we did not have the appropriate ring for it, especially when the focus of the ringing station is not capturing raptors. We called Itai Shanni and requested that he bring over an appropriate ring. Luckily he was in Uvda valley, and came over to provide us with the ring.

Here are a few pictures:

Booted Eagle with ring

Booted Eagle

Jan, Itai and Gary of the British ringing team determining the age of the eagle

Slowest ringing day ends with big surprise!

The nets were opened before 5:30 this morning in anticipation of the hordes of birds that would be around. There are a total of twelve ringers to process them, but it was not to happen. By 10 a.m., and with high winds, we closed the nets and set to rest for the day. But then the call came that a Black Bush Robin (Cercotrichas podobe) was seen at the northern end of the residential area of Lotan.

Immediately everything went into high gear. First we located the bird and all had a good look at it, and then a total of four spring traps were set to try to get the bird. Three quarters of an hour later, and with the last trap set, we finally got the bird. It was taken to the ringing station, got a ring, was measured and weighed, and, after some photographs was released exactly where it had been captured. All this took no more than twenty minutes. It did remain in the area for quite a while afterwards, and  then flew over the perimeter fence of the kibbutz.

When consulting the book "Birds of the Western Palearctic", Jan Visser and I noticed that the bird being described and the one we had in the hand was of the African nominate species and not of the Arabian subspecies. The wings are clearly orange-colored, reminiscent of the Tristram's Starling (Onychognathus tristramii), and the color can be seen in the pictures. Here are some of the pictures...

Black Bush Robin from exactly one year ago

Black Bush Robin, version 2014

Good overhead migration day

It started with a few birds at around 7:45 a.m., but continued on in intensity and length. At first a few Steppe Buzzards, followed pretty soon by a dark-morph Booted Eagle, and some Black Kites. Then we got White Storks in the mix, and more Steppe Buzzards. There was one Egyptian Vulture migrating with them, as well as one Short-toed Eagle. A group of eight Steppe Eagles, both adults and second calendar-year's came over, too. The migration continued on with small pauses between groups, until about noon. We then started to get a southerly wind,which means sandstorm. It was not a particularly strong storm, but it did kick up some dust around here. The migration must then have gone even higher, so that it was impossible to see with binoculars through the layer of dust. We ended up with over 1,200 Steppe Buzzards (Buteo buteo vulpines), 250 or so Black Kites (Milvus migrans), 25 White Storks (Ciconia ciconia), 8 Steppe Eagles (Aquila nipalensis), 5 Booted Eagles (Aquila pennata), 1 Short-toed Eagle (Circaetus gallicus) and one Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus).

Steppe Buzzards

Steppe Eagle

Here is also the picture of the samamisicus Redstart that we ringed yesterday.

samamisicus Redstart

Eastern Orphean Warbler in the nets here...

The nets were opened bright and early at 5:30 today, and we waited to see which birds would be trapped. It turned out to be a slow ringing day, but there were some nice surprises. Jan and Andre, the ringers from Holland, did their duty, we had a group of 6 to 11 year-old boys with us who were very excited to see the birds, and release them after they were ringed. 

Andre had five birds that he had in the hand for the first time, including a Rueppell's Warbler (Sylvia rueppelli), a Sardinian Warbler (Sylvia melanocephala), A samamisicus Common Redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus) several Spanish Sparrows (Passer hispaniolensis), a Spectacled Bulbul (Pycnonotus xanthopygos), and one eastern Orphean Warbler (Sylvia crassirostris). This was the first one caught in the nets.

Overhead migration was light, but we did have one dark-morph Booted Eagle.

dark-morph Booted Eagle

eastern Orphean Warbler (Sylvia crassirostris)

Brown Booby and Hoopoe Lark today

I was out today with four people, three of whom were photographers. We wanted to see what kinds of birds were around, and went to the usual places to look for them. 

At Yotvata we saw several hundred each of Common Swifts and Alpine Swifts migrating, with some Barn Swallows and Red-rumped Swallows. In the southern circular field the balance seems to be shifting away from White Wagtail to Yellow Wagtail, with feldegg, and superciliaris subspecies about. There was also one dombrowski around, too.

While looking at the birds, I heard a familiar mournful song, and immediately recognized it as that of the Hoopoe Lark. It was very faint, and the other four around me had not heard it yet. I immediately went for the sound, but it turned out that it was quite far away. I hadn't realized how far the song carried in the silent desert, and started walking towards it. All five of us eventually heard the song. Directing my scope to the sound, I eventually managed to get a view of it, at maximum magnification, but still at a great distance a good 300 meters inside Jordan. When it did its characteristic dance, I knew where it was. One of the four with me managed to see, but it disappeared from view. The others heard it quite clearly. No picture, even with a 500 mm lens plus multiplier.

At North Beach, the usual pale-morph Western Reef Heron, and well into Jordan, the Brown Booby. Here are two shots from yesterday, grey, rainy and pictures with massive crop. 

Brown Booby

Brown Booby

Slow ringing day, Bimaculated Larks and several subspecies of Stonechat

We opened the nets bright and early at 5:30 today, and were hoping for a migratory day, but that did not happen. A quarter of the birds in the nets were retraps from previous days, including the Robin from the first day of ringing. A grand total of 16 birds today.

Stonechat ringed today at Lotan

I left Jan Visser at 8:00 in order to guide a German couple for half a day. Shachar Shalev from Eilat came to have a look and help out a bit at the ringing station. The couple and I headed down to Yotvata to try to look for the Bimaculated Larks found there a few days ago. Within about 20 minutes we had already located the birds, seven in total, in amongst the Short-toed Larks. They were, however, at a great distance, and I could only see them with the scope, but no pictures. They really did look like Goliaths among a sea of Davids.

?Siberian Stonechat Maurus

In the southern circular field we had a show of Stonechats, including the variegatus and maurus subspecies. 

?Caspian Stonechat Variegatus

Second (slow) ringing day

We opened the nets today at 5:30 this morning, and waited for birds to become active again. Immediately it became apparent that the majority of birds from yesterday had moved on, and that the nets were catching very few birds. We had a total of 16 birds with one retrap, consisting of Lesser Whitethroat (Sylvia curucca), Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita- mostly females), Bluethroats (Luscinia svecica), White Wagtail (Moticilla alba), and the local White-spectacled Bulbul (Pycnonotus xanthopygos).

Reports in the area of Greater and Lesser Short-toed Larks (Calandrella brachydactyla and Calandrella rufescens), Bimaculated Larks (Melanocorypha bimaculata), Temminck's Larks (Eremophila bilopha). Moreover, and influx of Rueppell's Warbler (Sylvia rueppelli), Cyprus Warbler (Sylvia melanothorax) and a whole host of other sylvia warblers.

First ringing day

Jan Visser and I opened the nets officially this morning, starting with 9 nets and an hour later remaining with 7 nets until closing at around 10 a.m. 

The first bird we caught was a Robin Erithacus rubecula, a species that is not very common here in the southern desert of Israel.

Robin

Aside from that an assortment of Chiffchaffs Phylloscopus collybita, Lesser Whitethroats Sylvia curruca, Bluethroats Luscinia svecica, Savi's Warblers Locustella Luscinioides, Sardinian Warbler Sylvia melanocephala. In total, we had 22 birds on this hot day. Towards the end, the wind had started to turn to the south, blowing very softly, but this usually means that we will be getting a sand storm later on today. This is something that is very common in early spring. Temperatures this morning started at 14 degrees and high are expected to be around 27 degrees.

Savi's Warbler

Migration is beginning! More and more birds

During the next two months we will be having a Dutch ringer here at Lotan. Today we set up the mist nets, but have not started to ring, since we require the formal permission of the Israel Ornithological Center. They have supplied us with rings and nets, but until the official go-ahead, no ringing.

Tawny Pipit

We have been doing a transect today and here are the results of it:

Stone Curlew (Burhinus oedicnemus) 2

Spur-winged Lapwing (Vanellus spinosus) 34

Ringed Plover (Charadrius dubius) 1

Green Sandpiper (Tringa ochropus) 2

Feral Pigeon (Columba livia domest.) 500+

Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) 20

Turtle Dove  (Streptopelia turtur) 100+

Namaqua Dove (Oena capensis) 1

Common Swift (Apus apus) 5

Alpine Swift (Apus melba) 2

Little Green Bee-eater (Merops orientalis) 3

Hoopoe (Upupa epops) 2

Crested Lark (Galerida cristata) 8

Short-toed Lark (Calandrella brachtydactyla) 1

Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) 4

Red-rumped Swallow (Hirundo daurica) 6

Tawny Pipit (Anthus campestris) 1

Water Pipit (Anthus spinoletta) 5

Red-throated Pipit (Anthus cervinus) 9

White Wagtail (Motacilla alba) 15

White-spectacled Bulbul (Pycnonotus xanthopygos) 2

Bluethroat (Luscinia svecica) 2

European Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) 7

Stonechat (Saxicola torquatus) 2

Lesser Whitethroat (Sylvia curruca) 3

Eastern Orphean Warbler (Sylvia crassirostris) 1

Sardinian Warbler (Sylvia melanocephala) 3

Graceful Prinia (Prinia gracilis) 2

Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita)  5

House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) 90+

Spanish Sparrow (Passer hispanoilensis) 210+