Leaders

James P. Smith & Dominic Mitchell

In May 2005, Wildwings and Birdwatch Magazine joined forces to introduce a tour designed to target the spectacular annual migration of Honey Buzzards through Southern Israel. The prospect of perhaps finding one or two Crested Honey Buzzards amongst them is an intriguing, additional attraction for a mouth-watering tour. The latter has become virtually annual as a scarce passage migrant since 1999 with numbers fluctuating from year to year. The tour also departs at a time when huge numbers of late season migrants can be found in Israel, adding an exciting element to a season that is often overlooked by the many birders that persistently visit Israel in March. It’s fair to say that everyone on this year’s ‘Honey Buzzard’ tour was genuinely impressed by the volume and variety of species recorded on the trip.

Day 1 - The group met at Heathrow Terminal 1 around noon in good time for the typically tight El Al security. After we boarded the plane the flight was about 50 minutes late taking off, departing at 16:20, putting back our arrival time in Tel-Aviv. There was already going to be a two hour time difference between the UK and Israel, but the pilot managed to pull back some time, arriving at the impressive new terminal at Ben Gurion airport just twenty minutes later than scheduled. We breezed through customs and security, collected our comfortable rental vehicle and headed south just after midnight local time. After the passage of a recent cold front, the air was much cooler than one might have expected for Israel in May. In terms of the group acclimatizing, that could only work in our favour in the forthcoming days.

The journey south was extremely smooth. Once we left the main route south and hit the quieter roads, we encountered our first bird of the trip – a Little Owl perched on roadside street lights. It was bright enough to get reasonable views from the vehicle. By the time we’d reached the gates of Kibbutz Gevulot we’d recorded several Stone Curlews on desert roads in the Western Negev and a Barn Owl close to the Kibbutz entrance road, the latter being seen by just two of our party.

On reaching the Kibbutz, it was a little annoying to find the gates locked. There was no guard on duty and no one answering the local phone number. James improvised, and managed to get inside the Kibbutz fence to contact a farmer at the dairy who let us inside the Kibbutz. Twenty minutes later we were in our rooms for a short night and the magic of a morning at Nizzana beckoning for the next day.

Day 2 - Some of our group were up bright and early spurred on by a dawn chorus that included Palm Dove, Eurasian Hoopoe, and Yellow-vented Bulbul strangely mixed with the songs of Eurasian Blackbird, Great Tit. A fly-by Great Spotted Cuckoo performed for a lucky few. As we drove out towards Nizzana, roosting Black Kites, Steppe Buzzards and White Storks could be seen by the road, as well as a probable Long-legged Buzzard. We also had cracking views of two Desert Little Owls (A.n.lilith) and a Hobby at Ashalim.

On reaching Nizzana we tackled the ‘steppe’ like terrain by sweeping binocular scans. The birding here can be difficult since there is so much area to cover and most desert birds are superbly camouflaged. Several flocks of European Bee-eaters were passing through and by careful and patient scanning of several key spots we eventually came up with most of our target birds including; Cream-colored Courser (two), Pin-tailed, Black-bellied and Spotted Sandgrouse (heard only), and Chuckar. We were also very lucky to get two Sand Partridges near Nizzana Castle. A few migrating raptors drifted through during the course of the morning including Steppe Buzzard and Eurasian Sparrowhawk. One of the more frustrating birds of the morning was Scrub Warbler which gave good views certain members of our party, while others struggled to get their bins on the little mite. However, patience rewarded us all with reasonable looks. As for the Desert Little Owls, well we just kept on bumping into them and ended up with an excellent day tally of eight individual birds. Five Southern Grey Shrikes of the form elegans were noteworthy, as were three Masked Shrikes and it was good to find some Arabian Babblers (three) before we reached the south.

A pretty successful morning in Nizzana had been blessed with the aftermath of cold front, leaving us comfortably cool all morning. Bird of the morning for many, but especially Peter, must go the Cream-coloured Courser, a pair of which gave wonderful views. On the downside, despite a huge effort from everyone, we missed Macqueen’s Bustard altogether. These fine birds can especially tricky to see in the post breeding period, even though they’re most certainly present in the area. A return visit to Nizzana on the following morning was already on the cards. We couldn’t leave the western Negev without one more try.

The drive back to Gevulot was a long one after the early morning start but was enlivened half-way through by cries of  “harrier” from the back of the bus. The bird was apparently moving low and fast over the military training grounds near Revivim. By the time we’d stopped the van the harrier was already history. Viewers of the bird were sure that it was a male harrier, and Ken with his previous experience of the species, was certain it was a Pallid Harrier. The date, habitat and location would certainly be appropriate for that species.

Lunch was a delight and the Kibbutz staff made us feel especially welcome. Shortly afterwards, the entire group rested for a while. All of our party looked feisty afterwards ready for more birding. We first birded the Kibbutz grounds finding a couple of Syrian Woodpeckers, a key bird for the trip, and numerous Palestine Sunbirds including a couple of cracking males. On this visit though, the hoped for Long-eared Owls, couldn’t be found though we did find plenty of evidence that they’d been present. There was plenty of pellets and splashings.

As the day began too cool off, our afternoon excursion led us first to the local refuse tip. Despite being quite late in the season, this place still held good numbers of White Storks, Black Kites and Cattle Egrets, and some good views of Graceful Prinia.

Minutes later, we entered Wadi Habasor, a relatively steep sided river bed, heavily vegetated in places. We found some good species here including great looks at a Clamorous Reed Warbler teed up in the scope, plus numerous singing Cetti’s and Eurasian Reed Warblers. Spur-winged Plovers were very common and higher up the wadi we found more shorebirds and a host of good birds – Black Storks, Purple Heron, Glossy Ibis, Booted Eagle, Marsh Harrier, Steppe Buzzard, Garganey, Wood Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Black-winged Stilt and even four Egyptian Geese, all discovered in a matter of minutes as the calls of European Bee-eaters filled the air.

As the sun began to get lower, we noticed a snipe probing in a creek a good distance away. Since it had the potential to be the only snipe of the trip, everyone’s attention was drawn to the bird. It looked big, heavily barred and showed prominent white wing bars. The longer we looked, the more it looked like a Great Snipe. Dominic hiked down to the creek and carefully stalked the bird obtaining some good record shots, and noting the diagnostic white corners to the tail when it flew. It was indeed a confirmed Great Snipe, a species of less than annual occurrence in Israel and a national rarity.

We drove back to the Kibbutz on a real high. It had been a wonderful first day and we wrapped it up with the bird list and a wonderful meal at a restaurant at a nearby Moshav. It was classic Israel.

Day 3 – We were off early once again, noting Great Tit, Eastern Olivaceous Warbler, Eurasian Blackbird, Hooded Crow and Yellow-vented Bulbul as we loaded up the vehicle. The drive out to Nizzana was more focused with fewer stops for birds by the road, and we were soon watching two more Cream-coloured Coursers on the wonderful steppe like plains of Nizzana. Dominic did extremely well to pick out two feeding Bar-tailed Larks which we’d only heard the previous day, and at the same spot we clearly heard the diagnostic flight calls of Crowned Sandgrouse. More good birds followed with Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, Southern Grey and Red-backed Shrikes, and two migrating Levant Sparrowhawks. And then, after a good deal of intensive searching, we finally discovered our main quarry – a wonderful family party of five Macqueen’s Bustards! True, they were a little distant but in this way they were undisturbed and we all enjoyed prolonged views.

Pleased with our success, we left Nizzana in mid-morning and headed for the hills above Beer Sheva. The weather was still unsettled and we drove through squally showers, stopping for some nice birds en route including Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Levant Sparrowhawk and a stunning colony of Lesser Kestrels. The latter site is the southern most known breeding site in Israel for Lesser Kestrel, and whilst watching them we notched up a European Roller and a Pallid Swift.

 Another species at the southern limit of its range was our next target. We had barely arrived at our chosen site in the rolling hills just north of Beer Sheva, when we heard two singing Long-billed Pipits which gave excellent views. The same area gave us fine views of Long-legged Buzzard, Short-toed Eagle, Eurasian Kestrel, Southern Grey Shrike and Graceful Prinia.

A harrier seen close to a roadside café sadly eluded identification, but all enjoyed a well earned coffee break anyhow.  It had been a truly excellent morning and the Negev had lived up to its reputation.

After coffee, the tour headed east dropping down through the Judean Hills towards the Dead Sea. Well before we arrived at the shores of the Dead Sea itself, we’d already found some of the typical birds of the region – Fan-tailed Raven, Tristram’s Grackle, Mourning Wheatear, White-crowned Black Wheatear and Rock Martin. When we arrived at Ein Gedi is was pretty warm but still nowhere near as hot as it can be in May. In fact, the air temperature was ideal for a dip in the ‘surreal’ waters of the Dead Sea which several of our group enjoyed. After all, how could one go to Israel and not try to dip at least a toe in the lowest sea on the planet?

Ein Gedi also produced a few birds, namely Griffon Vulture and close up looks at Fan-tailed Ravens and more Tristram’s Grackles. From there we headed south noting large numbers of Pallid Swifts over the road at Sedom, before our next stop at overlooking the salt flats and marshes of the southern Dead Sea. Although the birds were distant, the light was superb and we identified a number of shorebirds including Little Stints, Kentish Plovers and Black-winged Stilts, as well as scattering of Little Egrets. High overhead a migrant Lesser Spotted Eagle drifted north-east into Jordan and European Bee-eaters seemed to grace every stop that we made.

The evening birding at the fishponds at Neot Hakikkar is always a joy and this visit was no exception. The species came thick and fast with Pallid and Common Swifts, and Sand Martins swooping down to drink from the pools and no less than three Little Bitterns skulking in the reeds, including two males in an apparent dispute over territory. A real highlight was exquisite views of several singing Dead Sea Sparrows by their large stick nests. Clamorous Reed Warblers again put on a show for us and Grey and Squacco Herons were also noted.

As the evening began to draw in, we moved to a different spot closer to Ein Tamar and waited for our local guide to meet us. As we waited we had fantastic views of six Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters that were probably looking for a place to roost. A little later, it became clear that our local guide wasn’t going to be able to make it and we made a decision to attempt to search for Nubian Nightjar without him. Remarkably our plan worked out, and just about all of our party had reasonable views of a single Nubian Nightjar in the spotlight. The dusk had turned to near complete darkness by the time the nightjar appeared.

What a day it had been! Beginning in Nizzana with Macqueen’s Bustard, moving onto Beer Sheva for Long-billed Pipit, then down the Dead Sea for Fan-tailed Raven and Tristram’s Grackle, and finishing off with the rarest of them all in Western Palearctic terms – the Nubian Nightjar. With that we headed south for Eilat, breaking at Yotvata along the way, and reaching our rather fancy hotel just after midnight.

Day 4 – There was no plan for an early morning start after the previous evening’s rather late finish. In relaxed mode we began with the first of several spectacular breakfasts at the hotel. The spread of food in the dining room had to be seen to be believed. What’s more we were already seeing birds from the hotel grounds with Steppe Buzzard, Eastern Olivaceous Warbler and House Crow all noted before we began the day’s venture. Concentrating on locations within 15-20 minutes drive from the hotel we notched up an impressive bird list before lunch, beginning with a short jaunt up to the Eilat Mountains. No Honey Buzzards were moving there due to unfavorable winds, and we gathered our thoughts and moved back down into the Arava Valley adding more new species to our ever growing list including Steppe Eagle, Barbary Falcon, Namaqua Dove, Rose-ringed Parakeet, Pied Kingfisher , Little Green Bee-eater, House Martin, Tree Pipit, Redstart, Willow Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat and Rufous Bush Chat just to mention a few.

The southern and northern salt pools, just north of Eilat also gave us a major boost in terms of shorebirds, gulls and terns. It was a real delight to see birds like Collared Pratincole, Curlew Sandpiper (30), Little Stint, Broad-billed Sandpiper (five), Grey Plover, Sanderling and even Red-necked Phalarope (three) in full breeding condition. Immense numbers of Slender-billed Gulls seemed to all over the place, and smaller numbers of black-mantled Baltic Gulls rested on the sand embankments. Gull-billed, White-winged and Whiskered Terns were also found along with a regional scarcity – a Little Gull. An adult Common Crane that literally dropped out of the sky onto the salt pools was also unusual for May and a bonus for us.

The variety of species present in this small area was a little mind boggling at times – outside of the wetland birds mentioned above, there were also many passerines of note including Eastern Orphean and Eastern Bonelli’s Warblers, Red-backed, Woodchat and Masked Shrikes, amazing views of Thrush Nightingale, and local desert residents such as Blackstart.

We finished off an amazing day with seawatching from Eilat’s famous north beach. The wind direction wasn’t great but we were kept busy with Caspian, Sandwich, Common and Little Terns and much needed key species such as Western Reef Heron, Striated Heron (three), and White-eyed Gull (20+). Three Arctic Skuas were the only obvious pelagic species seen on this visit but a flock of about 19 Red-necked Phalaropes resting at sea was quite impressive. However, we intended further repeat visits at Israel’s premier seawatching site and vowed to be back.

It was back the hotel for supper and the log call.

Day 5 – The day began on Eilat’s north beach with some nice results. A Sooty Shearwater and two Arctic Skuas were notable, as well as Western Reef Heron, Striated Heron, Pied Kingfisher and good views of Caspian and Armenian Gulls. Towards the end of our seawatching session we finally broke our dearth of Honey Buzzards and found several migrants moving north-east behind the beach, some of which gave reasonable views.

We headed north from there and had only been on the road for 15 minutes when we noticed a stunning male Red-footed Falcon perched by the road. We had excellent scope views. This was actually a good cue to stop and have a poke around. Close by, what appeared to be just a manure heap in the desert was actually alive with birds – numbers were difficult to estimate but there were at least 15 Spotted Flycatchers, six Thrush Nightingales, countless Blackcaps and Lesser Whitethroats, Northern and Black-eared Wheatears, Red-backed and Masked Shrikes, and Red-throated Pipit. It was a classic example of how opportunistic migrants utilize artificial feeding areas in these barren surroundings.

Things were going pretty well and with our next stop just a couple of miles off the road, we headed north to some shaded palm groves close to a sewage farm, which again, we found to be loaded with birds. We encountered a similar assortment of species to those at the previous stop but added Common Snipe, Hooded Wheatear (a stunning male), White Wagtail, Garden Warbler, and a Pied Flycatcher. The latter bird, probably a first-summer male, is actually the scarcest of the three black and white flycatchers that pass through the Arava Valley and we were treated to wonderful views. A little later we were also treated to exceptional views of 10+ Indian Silverbills, now a fully established species all along the Rift Valley as far north as the Sea of Galilee.

After lunch we called in at the northern salt pools once again, this time discovering a nice male Garganey, two Black-tailed Godwits and no less than nine Broad-billed Sandpipers, the latter looking quite superb in fresh spring plumage.

By late afternoon, we found ourselves at Yotvata watching a cracking Wood Warbler feeding like an Eastern Bonelli’s Warbler in the Acacia scrub. The same area also produced several Arabian Babblers and Little Green Bee-eaters. Close by, an incredibly large arable field used to grow cattle feed held several species of interest. Marsh Harriers and a Collared Pratincole were hawking above the field. Tree and Richard’s Pipits were feeding in the grasses. The latter was a good find for late spring, being much more frequent as a passage visitor in late autumn. The best bird here though was a Corncrake which we all saw well several times in flight.

After snacks at Yotvata we drove much further north and eventually pulled off road to head into a remote desert canyon for a serious attempt to see Hume’s Owl. The night, the stars and the solitude we all worth savouring in such an outstanding venue but alas, despite out best efforts, there was no sign of the Hume’s Owl. The ride home was a long one, but once again the day had been superb.

Day 6 – After breakfast we headed straight up the Eilat mountains. Once again, unfavourable weather conditions foiled our hopes of seeing some of the famed raptor migration for which these mountain are known. That’s not to say it was birdless. We did see Steppe Buzzard, Honey Buzzard, a nice male Hooded Wheatear and our first Alpine Swifts of the trip. We also enjoyed bumping into some old friends from Kibbutz Lotan on their own raptor quest. They too were having similarly bad luck but reported seeing distant streams of Honey Buzzards passing far to the west of the Eilat mountains over the Egyptian border in Sinai.

Closer to Eilat, birding around the pumping station and a newly landscaped garden proved  fruitful with great views of Egyptian Vulture and more migrants including Thrush Nightingale, Spotted Flycatcher, Lesser Whitetthroat, Blackcap, and Eastern Olivaceous Warbler.

From there we drove north to follow up a reported White-tailed Lapwing that had been in the Eliphaz area. It was not our lucky day. We found the lapwing in the dunes, but in the form of a partially eaten corpse! It had succumbed, probably to a Red Fox, while roosting by a small channel created by a leaking sewer pipe. There was some compensation in the form of a Glossy Ibis, four Arabian Babblers, Little Green Bee-eater and numerous Rufous Scrub Robins but the dead lapwing was definitely a disappointment.

We headed south in need of a boost, probably unlikely in the heat of the day, but our luck was soon to change. Close the main highway just north of Eilat we found an immaculate group of Litchenstien’s Sandgrouse (four) giving exceptional daytime views, and we also had our first Barred Warbler of the trip. With that we settled for a lunch and a siesta back at the hotel and decided to stay in the local area in the afternoon.

We took advantage of what little shade we could find by birding a narrow belt of fields just ten minutes north of Eilat. We had a great time, finding Northern and Black-eared Wheatears, Whinchat, Short-toed Lark, European and Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters (together!), Ortolan and Black-headed Buntings (three males!), Spanish Sparrow and a further three Namaqua Doves. A short visit to the northern salt pools produced a high overhead migration of Honey Buzzards, maybe a little too high for satisfactory identification, plus the usual excellent selection of shorebirds with an impressive total of at least 50 Curlew Sandpipers. Ten Glossy Ibis and over 100 Greater Flamingos were also present.

To finish off the day we again headed for the north beach. The session started well with a female Levant Sparrowhawk coming in off the Red Sea. Shortly afterwards, Dominic spotted an interesting duck quite distant on the Jordanian side of the border. After some discussion with prolonged views it became pretty clear that the duck was a female Red-breasted Merganser, a scarce bird in Israel and a very rare migrant at Eilat in spring. Moments later, Dominic (again!) drew everyone’s attention to a large tern passing just offshore towards Eilat. It was large, rather dark grey on the upperparts, Caspian like in size but with proportionately longer wings and a yellowish bill. Remarkably, it was a Crested (or Swift) Tern, yet another rarity for our tour. Eilat’s north beach is the one and only where this species is likely to be encountered in Israel. What a terrifically exciting end to the day! Sheer justification for our sustained seawatching efforts from the North Beach. Supper and log call were taken back at the hotel.

Day 7 – We departed from Eilat fairly early, passing some spectacular scenery along the Eilat mountains road all the way to the Ovda plateau and the plains of the southern Negev. Along the way we encountered several Brown-necked Ravens and what could only have been a flock of four Trumpeter Finches which flew up from the side of the road near Ovda.

At the end of the drive we settled down at the unlikely setting of an isolated sewage pool in the middle of the desert. Almost immediately some sandgrouse came into view and we enjoyed stunning views of Spotted Sandgrouse, about a dozen in all, and a great opportunity to study the features including the differences between the males and females. Also of interest here were Wood Sandpiper, Little Stint, a single Temminck’s Stint and an amazingly tame male Hooded Wheatear. Not bad for a tiny little sewage pool in the middle of the desert. Just down the road near Kibbutz Neot Semadar we checked another sewage pool with similarly good results including a migrant female Rock Thrush, our first of the trip. Little Green and European Bee-eaters were also present here, but our attention was drawn the skies as we began to notice several flocks of kettling raptors in the distance. We gathered our gear, loaded up the vehicle and headed straight for a lookout point above the drama of the Arava Valley. We were treated to some excellent views of migrating raptors with Steppe Buzzards, Honey Buzzards (plenty), Long-legged Buzzard (two), Levant Sparrowhawk (two), and a Hobby. A migration of 30 Black Storks was a rather nice bonus.

From there we dropped down to Ketura sewage farm where we encountered Barbary Falcon, Temminck’s Stint, Barred Warbler and good views of a Syke’s Wagtail (M.f. beema). Nearby, Ketura’s experimental garden gave us another male Namaqua Dove, and a couple of Thrush Nightingales.

After lunch we birded the Yotvata area once again, which was as productive as always, giving us our first Common Quail of the tour and a host of other good birds such as Namaqua Dove, Isabelline Wheatear, Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, Red-rumped Swallow, Short-toed lark and Tawny Pipit.

We elected to head back south for another evening seawatching noting a fly-over Purple Heron over the road. On this occasion seawatching was relatively quiet, though again we noted two Arctic Skuas. Whilst on the north beach, we bumped into a Beer Sheva birder and photographer Ron Livne who’d seen good numbers of migrants in the vineyards north of Eilat earlier in the day. We decided to check it out, hopeful for at least some of Rony’s fall-out. The vineyards were clearly loaded with migrants but seeing them well was a little more problematic. Dominic was quite radical and walked down the lines of vines coming back with some impressive tallies, most notably almost a thousand Blackcaps! Other migrants in the area included Hoopoe, Thrush Nightingale, Garden Warbler, Black-eared Wheatear, Eurasian Reed Warbler and right at the last minute, a female Golden Oriole. Also, an interesting flock of about 15 Swifts hawking over the vineyards showed some characteristics of the lighter coloured form of Common Swift A.a.pekinensis, not at all easy to separate from Pallid Swift, and and identification issue that we didn’t really resolve with a shower and supper at the back of everyone’s mind.

It had been another fine day and we finished our last evening at our more than comfortable hotel with supper and the log call.

Day 8  - It was with some sadness that we loaded up the vehicle on the last morning, an uneasy combination of being sad to leave but rather happy to be going home. Our birding was far from over though, as we planned to bird several sites on the way north to Ben Gurion airport. Dominic was out early and birded the hotels area for one last time coming back with reports of 50+ Blackcaps, six Thrush Nightingales, six Eastern Olivaceous Warblers, Garden Warbler, Common and Lesser Whitethroats.

Heading north, we hadn’t been journeying for too long when we noticed flocks of low flying Honey Buzzards close to the road near Lotan. The birds were moving surprisingly quickly from the fields and plantations, across the main highway to the escarpment of the valley, and hitting thermals above some of the steep sided wadis. We drove quickly to the best vantage point in the area to catch the last taster of this amazing spectacle. It was just excellent as we enjoyed close views the huge variety of plumages for which this species is known. With the birds drifting west rather quickly, we attempted to follow at least some of the Honey Buzzard stream, finding a Lesser Spotted Eagle migrating with them.

Sadly for us, the stream was drifting too quickly to be followed and we watched huge numbers of Honey Buzzards become distant specs and disappear into the distance. But the party wasn’t over and we made a last ditch stop at Neot Semadar where ultimately we were rewarded with the longed-for close-up and personal looks at Honey Buzzards coming down to drink at the newly created lake. It was an exceptional way to end the trip and one which will last in the memory for a long, long time. As we headed back to the vehicle, we even found a Great Reed Warbler in the crops, our first and only one of the trip.

From Neot Semadar it was a steady drive back to Ben Gurion airport in Tel-Aviv. As the desert slowly gave way to the coastal plain, roadside desert birds such as Brown-necked Raven and Trumpeter Finch, were replaced by Jay and Jackdaw. The last notable bird of the tour was a Glossy Ibis flying over Ben Gurion airport.

Returning the vehicle wasn’t quite as straight forward as it should have been, but security was relatively smooth (though Kevin might not agree) and we boarded the plane at 17:35hrs for an on time departure.

All in all, it had been a hugely successful tour with about 195 species recorded as a group. We said all of our goodbyes at London Heathrow.

James and Dominic would like to thank all the participants for making this year’s tour such easy going and enjoyable experience. We’re already looking forward to a return trip in May 2006.

Leader’s Top 20.

This is a summary of the more interesting observations that James and Dominic have selected from the trip. Needless to say, each member of the tour will have his/her own individual highlights and memories. With a tour total of just under 200 different species, picking out highlights wasn’t at all easy, but these are worth mentioning.

Red-breasted Merganser – 1 female type off Eilat North beach on the evening of 6^th May. Seen on the Aqaba side of the border during our observation.

Red-footed Falcon – 1^st summer male at Km37 on 5^th May.

Honey Buzzard – Stunning views of drinking birds at Neot Semadar on 8^th May.

Macqueen’s Bustard – 5 at Nizzana on 3^rd May.

Corncrake – 1 at Yotvata fields on 5^th May.

Great Snipe – One found on the evening of 2^nd May at Nahal Habasor on a small stream due north of Habasor reservoir. Photographed.

Cream-coloured Courser – 2- 4 at Nizzana on both visits on 2^nd and 3^rd May.

Crested Tern (Sterna bergii) – 1, age uncertain, off Eilat north beach at 19:15hrs on 6^th May. Passed west without stopping with White-eyed Gulls.

Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse – 4  at Eilat  on 6th May. Prolonged views for all the group of these delightful birds.

Nubian Nightjar – 1 at Neot Hakikkar on 3^rd May. Probably the rarest bird seen on the trip with less than ten pairs throughout Israel and an uncertain status in the WP.

Richard’s Pipit – 1 at Yotvata fields on 5^th May.

Long-billed Pipit – 2 singing males in hills near Beer Sheva.

Rock Thrush – 1 female at Shizzafon sewage pools on 7^th May.

Hooded Wheatear – This species can be easily missed, and we did exceptionally well in seeing males at several desert locations.

Clamorous Reed Warbler – Fantastic views at Habasor and Neot Hakikkar. Can be a real skulker.

Wood Warbler – 1 at Yotvata on 5^th May.

Pied Flycatcher – 1 male at Km40 sewage pool on 5^th May. Quite a scarce migrant.

Dead Sea Sparrow – Wonderful views of five singing males at Neot Hakikkar.

Black-headed Bunting – 3 males at Km19 on 6^th May.