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A Hot, Big Day in Georgia

Matt Daw and I decided to do a Big Day route through Georgia on Saturday, 7/23 to attempt and break the standing state month record of 132. As we were both only vaguely familiar with birding much of the state (even though I've "lived" here for six months, I haven't been plugged into the birding scene here and haven't done a whole lot of birding) a lot of our route was makeshift and thrown together over several Sweetwater IPAs the night before. Using Ebird hotspots, recent rare bird reports, and summaries of others' past Big Day routes in the state we constructed a route that started in Oconee National Forest and ended at Altamaha WMA. The best planning? Probably not. Was it effective? More or less. But did we have fun through it all? Heck yes.

We began at 5am along Ward Rd. in the Oconee National Forest in the hopes of getting both chucks, whips, and all three common owls. As Eastern Whip-poor-will is a species that won't really be possible in the coastal plain where we will be ending the day, we had our hopes pinned on Ward Rd. for this species. Within 60 seconds of getting out of the car about a hundred yards down this dirt road we already had all three owls (Great Horned, Barred, and Eastern Screech) sounding off, and multiples of each! A motivational start indeed. Shortly thereafter, and after driving about a mile further down we had numerous Eastern Whip-poor-wills (8 to be exact) calling vociferously along a 3/4 mile stretch as well as a pair of counter-singing Chuck-wills-widows. As a Big Day, in my experience, almost never provides all of the requisite nocturnal species according to plan we were both ecstatic after getting these 5 before dawn.

We posted up at dawn by a freshwater pond/wetland off Ward Rd. that was brimmed by willows, and appropriately has been home to at least one (and at various times, multiple) Willow Flycatcher(s) for the last two and a half months. Sure enough, mixed in with the songs of Indigo Buntings and Blue Grosbeaks at dawn was a familiar "fitz-bew" that gave away the Willow Flycatchers presence. This was a state bird for us both, and a rare summer bird throughout most of Georgia, making it a great addition to the Big Day tally. As we walked a dirt two-track road down towards the pond shortly after dawn, we added several other species to our morning tally such as Northern Rough-winged Swallow and Ruby-throated Hummingbird. A Northern Bobwhite gave it's two-noted whistle from a distant hayfield, another great bird to pick up as this would prove to be our only bobwhite of the day. However, the most unexpected bird of the morning was feeding along the grassy edge of this dirt two-track road- a freaking White-throated Sparrow! An abundant winter resident of the southeast, they are absent during the summer when they are on their breeding grounds in the Canada and the far north. There are only two other accepted July records in Georgia of White-throated Sparrow- one from the northwestern corner of the state, and the other from coastal Georgia. We got great unobstructed views at probably less that 50 feet as it fed on the road shoulder, briefly dissapearing into the adjoining underbrush multiple times before reappearing. That is, until I ran back to my car and got my camera. Then of course, it decided to play coy. I waited as long as I could for it to reappear, but we had a schedule to keep and had to hit the road to our next destination. We left Ward Rd. with 53 species shortly after 7:30.

 

Our next destination was to be Piedmont NWR, where we were hoping to pick up Red-cockaded Woodpecker (RCW) as well as much of the remaining suite of upland forest passerines that we were missing still for the day. Upon arriving, we stopped by Allison Lake where we checked off Belted Kingfisher immediately. Driving through upland pine/hardwood forest to get to the RCW cluster we stumbled across a Wild Turkey as well as a very loud Broad-winged Hawk that seemed to be screeching from right above the car. We had got to about a mile from the RCW cluster when alas- the gravel road forded a creek, and with recent rains it was too high for my Toyota Corolla to safely pass across. It was about a mile further down the dirt road to the cluster, and about a mile and a quarter if we were to choose to access it via a trail near the visitor center. We briefly considered putting our running shoes on and running to the cluster and back, but figured by the time we changed shoes, allows time to run, and time to actually find the birds we would be spending half an hour on a single
species and on a Big Day, this is generally not a winning strategy. So on down the road we went.

Our eventual destination was the coast, but we had a couple stops planned for along the way. We stopped in Macon along Bondsview Rd. where we were able to get our Swainson's Warbler for the day after about 15 minutes of listening. A quick stop by the adjacent Bond Swamp NWR added Hooded Warbler and Acadian Flycatcher, but by this time it was already getting well over 90 degrees and the birds were near silent. Onwards towards the coast.



The Longleaf Trail at Bond Swamp NWR

I-16 from Macon to Savannah has got to be one of the most boring drives in the southeast. Other that the small town of Dublin, there is not much to speak of in terms of human habitations, towns, and amenities for the ~150 mile stretch. On top of that, it's flat and pretty monotypic in terms of habitat. Loblolly pine, interspersed with ag fields of varying sizes. One redeeming factor of this road is it has proven time and again to be a good drive on which to spot Mississippi Kites. We saw 10-12 during our time along this road on Saturday. On this Big Day, we knew we would need to stop at a turf farm somewhere along our route to pick up Killdeer, Eastern Meadowlark, and hopefully a few migratory shorebirds like Pectoral Sandpiper as well. Judging by recent Ebird reports, none of the most productive sod farms this year were within an our of our route so we had to improvise- instead opting for Titan Turf Farm just a couple miles off I-16 near Statesboro. There haven't been many recent reports from here so we didn't really know what to expect. About a half mile away, a stunning Swallow-tailed Kite flew right in front of the car, even banking for us briefly- a good omen perhaps? Alas, no. The turf farm was dry and barren. Not a single shorebird was to be seen. We did however pick up another Swallow-tailed Kite flying high over the fields with a group of vultures, as well as two calling Common Ground-Doves.

From here it was about an hour to Tybee Island, where we hoped to pick up a diverse selection of shorebirds as well as waders, gulls, and terns. As an added bonus, a male Shiny Cowbird (ABA Code 3) has been hanging around for weeks at the north end of Tybee and with some luck, we were hoping to see it in our short time there. We knew it would be crowded at North Beach, but we didn't expect to not be able to fins even a single parking spot! What we ended up doing was parking in the police station parking lot (I left a note on my car in case it would have been a problem; it wasn't) and walking south, accessing the beach, and walking the beach north- effectively making a ~1 mile loop. Throngs of people made birds sparse, but we were able to add on about ten new species along this stretch- including Royal, Sandwich, and Least Tern, and Ring-billed and Great Black-backed Gull. At the terminus of our loop, right as we left the beach to head back to the car through a neighborhood, was the freshwater pond by which the Shiny Cowbird has been seen. It has been seen regularly for approximately a month, and tends to hang out with a small group of female Brown-headed Cowbirds. When we walked up, we were greeted by a Green Heron, Spotted Sandpiper, and surprisingly out-of-context Louisiana Waterthrush all feeding along the shore of the pond in various spots. We also quickly spotted a couple female Brown-headed Cowbirds in a small palm across the pond, but no Shiny that we saw. After walking the length of the boarkwalk across the pond, we circled back and now found 7 brown-headeds feeding in the grass right beside the boardwalk. One was a motley-looking young male, but again now Shiny. But wait! As we were about to give up and head on down the road, Matt spotted a bird taking off from the grassy lawn on the other side of the pond. I was able quickly get my bins on it and sure enough, that was it! Diagnostic, but unsatisfactory looks as it flew into the dunes. We saw roughly where it landed however, and hoofed it to the next beach access down to try and get a better look. A few more minutes of looking and we were able to again get only a brief look. But still, success! An ABA bird for both Matt and myself, and a bit overdue for us both. Shorebirds at Tybee Island, and in the roadside marshes coming to and from, were dissapointingly sparse. We were only able to find Willet, Sanderling, Spotted Sandpiper, and a single Whimbrel.

Non-birds seen on this Big Day included the Tybee Island lighthouse. 

We wanted to get down to Altamaha WMA a good hour and a half before dusk to allow us the chance to scare up some more of our remaining passerines that we still needed as well as to leisurely watch the dusk flight progress from the top of the main observation platform over the marsh. Within a short while after our arrival, we picked up our long overdue Pine Warbler for the day (how is that even possible to be getting our first one this late in the day??) as well as our first Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, Prairie and Yellow-throated Warblers and Orchard Oriole. Dusk atop the platform was eventful and exceedingly pleasant, with substantial numbers of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks ad Glossy Ibis coming in for a good half hour period. A Common Nighthawk graced us overhead shortly before dusk, and we were now hoping to pick up a vocalizing King Rail and Least Bittern at dusk. Despite the endless abounds of ideal habitat available here, we heard neither. Hey, it's July!

Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks were common at Altamaha and had an affinity for perching atop these nest boxes. Most were quite tame- this photo was taken with nothing but my iPhone.



We ended the day with 113 species, certainly shy of the GA July record of 132. However, our route was very rough and could stand some substantial improvement that would come with knowing a bit more about local birding spots and strategies along the coast (and where to reliably find shorebirds!). We also ended up with a lot of easy misses, which included Prothonotary Warbler, Mottled Duck, Killdeer, Eastern Meadowlark, and others. In July, birds are generally much harder to find that earlier in the spring when they are vocalizing readily and defending territories. Now, particularly with songbirds, they tend to be more quiet, reserved, and skulky. Plus, I don't blame them for wanting to take it easy in 100 degree heat!

I needed to drop Matt off at the ATL airport by 6:30 the next morning, so seeing as we were in the opposite end of the state at 9:30pm when we wrapped up our day's birding we hit the road again. Time allowed for us to catch about 3 hours of much-needed sleep at a rest area off I-16 before having to be on the road again by 4. Just north of Macon on I-75 about 4:30 I noticed my low tire pressure light came on and the car was driving funny. Ugh- a flat tire was not what we were wanting to have to deal with right now. We were instead looking forward to an early breakfast and weren't going to tolerate a measely flat tire getting in our way. On went the donut tire and off we went again.

I always enjoy Big Days, as they invariably take me to new birding spots and challenge my logistical planning abilities, while of course seeing a whole lot of birds. This day was no different! It was a lot of fun to be out again and a great way to help beat the summer birding doldrums.

A Caracara to Beat the Mid-Summer Doldrums

Particularly in the southern US, when stagnant temperatures hover around 100 degrees, mid-summer is a time when birds become harder to find and birders lead a semblance of a normal life- regular attendance at their day jobs followed by time at home in their air conditioners. In the time frame before shorebirds start their journey south for the fall and breeding birds are not as vocal, a morning out birding can be pretty dull save for the occasional local or state rarity that may show up.  One of these rarities gave me an excuse for my only real birding excursion in the past few weeks however- a continuing Crested Caracara that has become comfortable near the Cape Hatteras, NC lighthouse. As I still consider myself an active NC state lister (even though I am currently residing in nearby GA), a rarity of this scope was an easy choice for me to put the Corolla on the interstate. 

I detoured to the Pilot Mountain area to pick up my girlfriend, Lauren, on the way. I got a few hours of sleep at her place on Friday night and we got off to an early 4am start on Saturday. Five and a half hours later and several cups of coffee brought us to our destination. A couple other birders were already on scene and I was hoping we would get lucky and they would already have the bird scoped out for us. But behold- no such luck! A fruitless hour of walking back and forth around the area did not produce the bird, and we were about to take a lunch and swim break to try again in another hour or two when a carload of birders pulled up. Fantastic! Four of my birding friends from the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area had arrived. It worked out well as they could hold down the fort in case the bird reappeared while Lauren and I were taking a swim and getting lunch. 

About an hour and a half later I got a call from Ed Corey (one of the aforementioned birders)- the bird was back! We ran up from the beach to find the young Crested Caracara picking on the pitiful remnants of an opossum skeleton and surrounded by about twelve birders. Success! NC #368. After clicking off some photos and sharing triumphant grins with all the other birders present, Lauren and I joined Ed, Mark Kosiewski, Jesse Alexander, and Jacob Farmer for a sandwich and a porter to finish off the day in style at a nearby seafood diner. Worth the drive!   

 Crested Caracara: On ground near its favored opossum skeleton (not pictured) and in flight

Fairies, stones, and Jesus Christ

I'm visiting my girlfriend this weekend at her farm outside Mt. Airy, NC and we decided to take a short trip up the road this morning to Fairy Stone State Park in southwestern Virginia. Neither of us had been there before and it sounded intriguing. My first question was "what the heck is a fairy stone"? Well, it turns out that the park is home to a unique type of stone crystal that is shaped like a crucifix or other cross-like shape and are otherwise known as staurolite, comprised of iron, silicate, and aluminum. According to the VA State Parks brochure,  they were formed through a specific combination of heat and pressure due to the crumpling and folding of the Earth's crust  during the formation of the Appalachian Mountains. So why call them "fairy stones"? According to legend, "fairies" roamed freely in this certain area of the Blue Ridge foothills and took joy in the enchantedness of the area. It is said that an elfin messenger arrived one day bringing the news of Jesus Christ's death, to which the fairies wept immensely when they heard the details of the crucifixion. Their tears crystallized into stone crosses upon hitting the ground, and although the fairies are now long gone these "Fairy Stones" remain.

 Top: Entrance sign to Fairy Stone State Park

Bottom: Trail through mixed pine/hardwoods along lakeshore

We hiked about five miles through the park this morning, meandering through mixed upland forest, along a lakeshore, and even visiting a defunct iron mine by the historic town of Fayerdale, Virginia- which was flooded in 1930 during the creation of Fairy Stone Lake. The park was the largest of Virginia's original six state parks, largely created and built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).

Top: Looking out at Fairy Stone Lake from the dam

Bottom: an entrance to a shaft of the historic iron mine in the park.

Birdwise, we saw nothing out of the ordinary this morning. However, I had never birded Patrick County, VA before so everything we saw/heard over the course of out excursion was a county bird for me (all ~30 species). Fairy Stone Lake held nary a single waterfowl of any sort, and the interior deciduous/mixed forest held only the expected winter residents such as chickadees, titmice, and kinglets. A single Red-headed Woodpecker and a handful of hyper Pine Siskins were the best birds of the day.  The 45-minute drive from Lauren's farm to the park, however was a scenic one. Winding through foothills valleys of rural southwestern Virginia, small family farms with modest, early-century farmhouses were not an uncommon sight. American Kestrels occasionally dotted the powerpoles, and Eastern Bluebirds were a constant fixture along powerlines. Tomorrow we will likely spend the morning birding around Winston-Salem, NC before I depart tomorrow afternoon to head back to Georgia.

Birding west

Another summer living the life of a bird bum, counting birds for a living for the Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory (RMBO). I'll be heading up to BCR17 in the Dakotas again this year, but first it's to Fort Collins to work in the office for a couple weeks doing landowner contacts and field season prep. So I packed up my car and hit the road west from NC. I had four days to make the drive, enough time to hit several good birding areas on the way west. So, I decided to do something different this year and head out through Arkansas and Oklahoma before cutting up into Colorado. From Chattanooga, i took US72 down through northern Alabama and Mississippi before hitting Memphis. A few quick stops here and there netted me some state birds in both: now it's AL 81 and MS 63! A ways to go still. I thoroughly enjoy "state birding" on road trips, as it gets me to places I likely wouldn't go otherwise and gives me something to occupy myself with: important if you are going at it solo. I made it all the way past Little Rock, AR that first day where I found a comfy interstate rest area to park my car at for the night that was near my first destination for the following morning: Holla Bend NWR.

What a great place it was. Located in a bend in the Arkansas River, the refuge contains a wealth of habitats including bottomland forest, agricultural, second-growth, and ponds. So as a result, you can imagine that bird diversity would be quite high, particularly in spring. I had 95 species in about 4 1/2 hours of birding, which made for a dang good morning of birding! Breeders were mostly back here, with Kentucky Warblers stealing the show- there were so many of them singing in bottomland areas that I just couldn't get away from them! Transient species were coming through as well, with Nashville Warblers being numerous and Tennessee Warblers here and there as well. I left here around 10:30 or so and decided to visit Mount Magazine State Park, which is about an hour or so west of the refuge. Mount Magazine State Park is home to the highest point in Arkansas, Signal Hill at 2753 feet, as well as an isolated population of Rufous-crowned Sparrows that make their living in the arid, rocky slopes above the bluffs. The wind was killer during my visit, and the sparrows didn't show for me. But was a great place to visit nevertheless, and they have some cabins at the top which would make for a nice weekend getaway.

View from Overlook Dr. at Mount Magazine State Park (note the people on top of the bluffs for scale)

I picked up I-40 again in Fort Smith, where I picked up my state Missisippi Kite before crossing the border into Oklahoma. It wasn't long before I had a run-in with an Oklahoma state trooper, who wasn't a fan of my "I'd rather be birding" license plate frame. Actually, he didn't care what it said- just that it covered up too much of my license plate. He was nice about it and was interested in my work, and simply asked me to remove the frame before being on his way. I then stopped at nearby Sequoyah NWR where Blue-winged Teal seemingly blanketed every wetland. The wind was high, and it was mid-afternoon so songbirds weren't really all that obvious. A couple of photogenic Scissor-tailed Flycatchers entertained me for a while though, and some of the taller trees in riparian areas were hosting some vocalizing Warbling Vireos and Great Crested Flycatchers.  A Cooper's Hawk made a quick buzz-by too.

 Scissor-tailed Flycatcher in a swarm of gnats

One of hundreds of Blue-winged Teal present in the wetlands of Sequoyah NWR

From here, heading west on I-40 through one Indian Nation after another, I passed through Carrie Underwood's hometown of Checotah, OK and turned south to Lake Eufala State Park. I was hoping for a good selection of passerines here but with the wind still whipping and it being so late in the day, I didn't find much. I was excited about birding some areas around Oklahoma City the following morning and dozed off into a deep slumber as soon as I parked at the next rest area off I-40.

I was planning on birding Lake Overholser in Oklahoma City the next morning, and I arrived before dawn. But as soon as it starts to get light and the first robins and mockingbirds start to sing the skies just open up as if an act of God. Lightning constantly surrounding, and a torrential downpour- needless to say, i wasn't going to be finding any songbirds in this. What i did however, was bird my way around the lake while scanning and scoping from the car. A wet scope and binoculars was a small price to pay for the thousands of ducks, gulls, and shorebirds I found along the North side of the lake! Good shorebird diversity considering the conditions, with Least, Semipalmated, Western, Bairds, and Pectoral sandpipers along with a couple spotties. Around a hundred American Avocets were a treat. A big flock of roosting Snowy Egrets, a flock of Franklin's Gulls numbering in the thousands, and a scattered raft of a variety of waterfowl rounded out the highlights from here. I was cutting through on a nearby gravel county road when I spied a small flock of Harris's Sparrows playing along the fenceline. This is a bird that I don't get a chance to see very often, as I am seldom in their range, so I had fun watching and photographing these guys for a few minutes in the rain.

Harris's Sparrow (Oklahoma City, OK). Unfortunately, my camera doesn't do so well in the rain at 1600 ISO.

 

 It was then that I decided to get off the interstate for the rest of the day and cut up through rural OK and the panhandle so that I could see some new country and do some panhandle birding around Black Mesa, the summit of which highest point in Oklahoma at 4,973 feet. It is around Black Mesa that a number of western mountain birds inhabit their only location within Oklahoma. 

Driving for hours through central and western Oklahoma, I thought it fitting to listen to classical country radio with Johnny Cash playing as I pass through the scattered small cattle and farm town. The panhandle of Oklahoma is generally a whole lot of nothing. In fact, it is nicknamed "No Man's Land" since it was one of the last places to be homesteaded and settled during westward expansion. I made it to Boise City in relatively good time, although it didn't quite seem that way as I was driving along desolate highways that went 20 miles without a curve. Boise City is 22 miles southeast of Black Mesa State Park and the closest town to the park. When I arrived here, I stopped by the water treatment plant holding ponds where a few ducks and Wilson's Phalropes were piddling as well as a single Bonaparte's Gull. The town cemetary is an oasis of a few big trees in the middle of open space, and thus has potential to hold a few migrant songbirds. Here I found a handful of Yellow-rumped Warblers as well as an Orange-crowned Warbler and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher among the House Finches and random group of House Sparrows. 

Decrepit interpretive sign at a roadside picnic table along rural US270 in the OK panhandle

As I drive west from town, I began to climb ever so slightly and see less agricultural fields and more yucca, sage, and high prairie. Not surprisingly, the birdlife began to change as well. Loggerhead Shrikes became regular fixtures on telephone lines, and a kestrel would grace me with it's presence every few miles. A beautiful light phase Ferruginous Hawk perched on a power pole signaled that I was getting into the sort of habitat I was looking for. When I arrived in the park, I first went to the campground which is along a lush riparian corridor adjoining Lake Carl Etling. Canyons and bluffs, grassy with scattered brush, border the campground on its other sides. The campground area was very birdy, with a big flock of harlequin Lark Sparrows feeding in a lawn and a huge flock of noisy finches feeding in the area as well. They were mostly House Finches (at least one or two yellow variants) and American Goldfinches, but a handful of Lesser Goldfinches were sprinkled in as well. Other southwestern species present here were Vermillion Flycatcher, Say's Phoebe, and Ash-throated Flycatcher. Lake Carl Etling was equally full of birds- scattered waterfowl and grebes, a flock of White-faced Ibis roosting in the lake, Red-winged and Yellow-headed Blackbirds feeding in the mud, and a nice group of shorebirds containing some Western Willets. 

Afterwards, I went up to the actual Black Mesa (NW of the state park) Nature Reserve, passing by the booming metropolis of Kenton- home to a one-room museum, a somehow-still-standing one room post office, and a few houses. Birds were quiet at Black Mesa, with a Canyon Wren and Golden Eagle being of the highest interest. It was late afternoon now and I needed to get on into Colorado, for I needed to be all the way up in Fort Collins around midday the next day. Looking at Google Maps, it appeared that caddy-cornering New Mexico along State Road 456 and cutting up to Branson Colorado would be quickest and easiest. Instead, that road turned out to be 17 miles of driving along a wet-in-places red dirt road down an entire canyon, and another 30 miles or so of paved nothingness. In 48 miles of driving, I saw exactly one other vehicle on the road. The clouds were ominous, and I was concerned that it would start raining and my little Corolla would become mired in the clay. I got lucky though, and eventually made it into Colorado. Branson seems like a renmant Dust Bowl community in the middle of absolutely nowhere (not sure how many people still actually live here)- it was another 45-50 miles to Trinidad from there. The next morning, I birded a couple spots around the south end of Colorado Springs before heading onto Fort Collins to begin another few months of work for RMBO. Here's to more birds and more adventures.

Israel: A brief summary and wrap-up

Over the rest of the week in Israel, we spent a couple days birding around the Eilat area where we enjoyed more raptor migration up in the mountains, shorebirds at K-20 salt ponds, and more Sylvia warblers then you could shake a stick at. A few notable birds stand out from these couple days, including a Cyprus Wheatear that we were able to refind at the edge of a date palm plantation just North of town. Cyrus Wheatears are very closely related to the more widespread Pied Whetear, but as you can guess they only breed on the island of Cyprus, in the Mediterranean Sea. Their entire population is estimated to be around 700-800 pairs, and since they winter in east Africa there's always a chance you could intercept one in southern Israel on it's way back North. A striking Citrine Wagtail feeding right outside our minibus at the K-20 salt ponds was sure a treat, as was a striking Pied Avocet that was hanging out with a flock of shelducks and three Eurasian Spoonbills on one of the dikes. A trip to the Eilat k-19 sewage ponds to look for Dead Sea Sparrows one morning paid off with a flock of 40 or so in a brushy ditch on the backside of the property.

 Me photographing the Cyprus Wheatear against the Edom Mountains of Jordan in late afternoon light (photo: Jonathan Meyrav)

Cyprus Wheatear

One of the main highlights of the trip for me was an all day trip to the Nizanna area, about 2-3 hours northwest of Eilat. Here, while standing on bed of the old Turkish Railroad, we watched a displaying male MacQueen's Bustard and an interested female for an hour. This is one of the most reliable and accessible spots to see this species in Israel, and we sure weren't disappointing. Bustards sure are funky birds...and we even got to see both birds briefly in flight (something seldom observed). I was lucky to manage some *very* distant photographs, as the birds were probably close to a half mile away. But heck, I'll take it! Cream-coloured Coursers were scattered around the desert here as well. None ever let us approach close, but even observing them from a distance it was clear that they are some of the most dapper looking birds you may encounter out here! In the Nizanna area they are fairly common, but can be very localized and pretty hard to find throughout most other areas in the southern part of the country.

Perhaps the ultimate highlight of the trip was a night trip up to the Dead Sea to look for Desert Tawny (Hume's) Owl and Nubian Nightjar. Both of these birds are quite rare in the region and can be sensitive to excessive disturbance; so organized trips are the best way to view these birds. About 35 of us, including some seasonal volunteers from the SPNI Eilat banding station and hawkwatch, boarded a charter bus for the long drive up. Somehow, I always luck out and get one of the front seats in each bus ride- even when trying to defer the privilege to others. This setup paid off when I was one of only two people to spot a jackal crossing the road. Jonathan Meyrav, the organizer of the Eilat Birding Festival and of the upcoming Champions of the Flyway event (more on that later) met us on-site at the Desert Tawny Owl location, near the village of Kalya. After about ten to fifteen minutes of playing tape, a bird came right in--about 20m from the group! What an experience, especially to happen to a gigantic group of 35. The Nubian Nightjars were about an hour South, and they didn't disappoint either. We got looks at a couple birds, including one sitting in a dirt road 30m away.This location was in the middle of an agricultural operation- but adjacent to one of the largest salt marshes remaining in Israel, which the nightjars require. It so happens that this marsh is also an active minefield- so we were limited to walking the roads adjacent to it and through the neighboring ag area.

Desert Tawny (Hume's) Owl

I rode back to Eilat that night with Jonathan as well as a British birder, Nick, instead of taking the charter bus. We talked birds for a couple hours and I learned a lot about the Champions of the Flyway event coming up the following week- a "big day" competition in southern Israel with over 30 teams participating from all over the world. Teams from locations as diverse as Spain, South Africa, USA, Finland, and Palestine all competed. The event is designed to raise money to fight the illegal slaughter of songbirds in Cyprus, and it's raised ~ $50,000 each of it's first two years. $100,000 USD can certainly go a long way in these conservation efforts!

A fantastic trip with new friends made from the US, Britian, and Israel. I definitely will be back- and when I do, I'll have to make it across the border to Petra. Maybe I will volunteer as a bander or hawkwatcher this coming spring...we'll see what life will hold

An Introduction to Israel

After a long trans-Atlantic flight from Newark to Tel-Aviv, I have now made Israel a reality. My dad and I stayed the first night in the Beachfront Motel, a hostel-type lodging by the Tel-Aviv beachfront promenade, and therefore spent our first afternoon in Israel exploring the Tel-Aviv beaches and walking down to old city Jaffa. Although it was near elbow-to-elbow pedestrian traffic at times, historic Jaffa was remarkable and well worth the walk down. Hooded Crows and Laughing Doves everywhere, and a few Palestinian Sunbirds and Graceful Prinias around the old city of Jaffa. There is a bar and grill next to our motel called Mike's Place, so of course I had to go check it out. After several Israeli beers (Goldstar is a great and cheap lager, and would highly recommend it- reminds me of Yuengling) and some new Israeli friends I hit the sack. Tomorrow morning we are to meet up with a small group to head down to Eilat for the birding festival.

Tel-Aviv waterfront

 

 Jaffa waterfront

On the way down to Eilat we drove through new Jerusalem, which was fantastic- unfortunately we had no time to stop and do the usual touristy sightseeing. However, we were able to see across the adjacent border fence into the West Bank as we were just outside of town. Continuing east, we stopped at a rest area across the valley from Jericho, the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, and started picking up the first new birds of the trip- Arabian Babblers, Little Green Bee-eaters, and Black Storks to name a few. Another quick stop around some farm fields produced numerous White and Yellow (feldegg) Wagtails feeding on large compost piles, Spur-winged Lapwings, Desert Finches, and a few Sand Partridges. We then began heading south along the Dead Sea, where the scenery is positively stunning. Looking across the sea, the mountains of neighboring Jordan are easily visible. The Dead Sea is up to 1/3 solid matter and the most saline body of water in the world, where no life can exist. No insects, no fish, no anything. However, the adjoining mountains provide excellent opportunities to view passing raptors as well as resident Fan-tailed Ravens. We stopped along the ride at a mountaintop lookout where we enjoyed some spectacular scenery as well as White-tailed and Isabelline Wheatears and three raven species. As we were on a tight timetable we didn't have long to spend, so we began to continue on South to Eilat through the Great Rift Valley. Passing through a construction zone, we were treated to a Hyrax sitting out on a rock by the road shoulder- if a marmot and a squirrel had offspring, they would look a bit like this!

 Rock Hyrax

We arrived at Eilat early in the afternoon, and were surrounded by mountains while driving through the valley- the Eilat Mountains to the west, and the imposing Edom Mountains to the east in Jordan. Our birding group is based at the Agamim Hotel in Eilat, an upscale hotel with a palm-lined wrap-around pool in the courtyard! The hotel also has a restaurant and two bars (!)- with fantastic food. Eilat is the "Vegas" of Israel, along the edge of the Red Sea with abundant nightlife, an upscale theme park, many diving opportunities, and hordes of tourists- hence the abundance of fancy hotels here. After settling into the hotel we went to the KM20 salt ponds on the north edge of town for some late afternoon birding. Coming in, a small group of Dorca's Gazelles greeted us along the entrance road. A flock of close to 1000 Greater Flamingos spend the winter here in the salt ponds every year, and there were there today as well! What a sight. They look so funky when flying- with their necks and feet outstretched while flapping constantly with their weak-looking wingbeats. Slender-billed Gulls were abundant here, the adults having all dark bills while those of the immatures appear yellowish, as were Black-winged Stilts- reminiscent of the Black-necked Stilts found in the US. A variety of Eurasian shorebirds were hanging around these pools too- Common Redshanks, Common Greenshanks, Common Ringed Plovers, Little Ringed Plovers, a Grey Plover, Marsh Sandpiper, and flocks of Little Stints. Around 50-60 lifers already!

Greater Flamingos flying w/ Jordan in the background

Dorca's Gazelles

The first full day of birding we began at the Eilat Birding Center- a preserve/research station located just outside of town that is ran through the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel and is well-renowned for its diverse birding opportunities. We visited the banding station where we were treated to several different species of old world warblers in the hand for close study- Eurasian Reed-Warbler, Savi's Warbler, Sedge Warbler, and Sardinian Warbler to name a few. This being my first birding trip out of North America, old world warblers are a thing to be reckoned with. Several distinct genera, but those within each genus can look almost identical to the untrained eye. I have a feeling I will still be trying to sort these out from each other by the end of the trip! However, there were other great birds here that weren't as confusing to ID- Eurasian Penduline-tits, two Bluethroats, and a Wryneck! Wryneck was one of the birds I was most looking forward to seeing on this trip- in the woodpecker family, it looks like a cross between a woodpecker and a nuthatch- and strikingly patterned with browns and grays. Good scope views, but only some distant ID-quality photos. They recruit several volunteers, international and local, each year to help out at the banding station here- now that would be fun and a great way to expand my ID skills of a lot of these birds!

Savi's Warbler in-hand

About mid-morning the raptors get up and start to catch thermals so we headed up to the Eilat Mountains to catch some of the migration. The mountains here by Eilat are a crucial passageway for raptors heading north in the spring- the vast majority are Steppe Buzzards, but good numbers of Steppe Eagles, Short-toed Eagles, and Black Kites, among others, are present as well. On a good day in mid to late March, hawk counters here can record over 50,000 Steppe Buzzards passing over in one day. We spent about an hour watching this morning and recorded around 1000 Steppe Buzzards as well as multiple Egyptian Vultures, Steppe and Short-toed Eagles, and Black Kites. White and Black Storks also kettle in the thermals and we saw around a hundred Black Storks passing north here as well.

Common "Steppe" Buzzard migrating

 
Calling this post finished for now- more on Israel coming soon!