Friday 4 April 2014

Israel coming to to an end

We head home tomorrow evening after having to traverse the Israeli Jordan border and all the security checks that come with it. Leaving should be easier though as the Israelis aren't too bothered as you are leaving and therefore no longer a threat and everything that happens on the Jordanian side is just a show - I'm not even sure the x ray machines are plugged in ...

Today was spent within a 20km radius of Lotan Kibbutz. The kibbutz itself served up male Collared and Semi-collared Flycatchers in very close proximity of each other but unfortunately never together.
North of the kibbutz we had 19 Crowned Sandgrouse first in flight and then feeding.
We witnessed a good raptor passage that lasted about an hour from 10am and which also included over 100 Black Storks. As usual Steppe Buzzards were 95% of the birds but we also has Steppe Eagle, Black Kite, Osprey, Pallid and Montagu's Harrier.

The day was supposed to end with a fantastic display from hunting harriers over the fields at Yotvata but they failed to show. Instead we had to be content with a showy male and female Little Crake at the slightly less salubrious sewage ponds at Yotvata. Great birds though.

1 comment:

  1. Don't kid yourself Simon, last time I left Israel I had to dismantle a reassemble my laptop, open up all electronics, have my camera man-handled and have an interview. It's the main reason I won't go back voluntarily....

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