The British coverage- Simon's update!

22^nd February

            A nice warm morning saw good numbers of birds trapped around the station although migrants were thin on the ground with single Whitethroat Sylvia communis  סבכי קוצים and Lesser Whitethroat Sylvia curruca סבכי טוחנים, two Song Thrushes Turdus philomelos קיכלי רונן and a couple of Chiffchaffs Phylloscopus collybita עלווית חורף of note. Visible migration was also slow with reports of sand-storms in the Sahara undoubtedly holding things up; there was however a good selection of bird to be seen with two Tristram's Starlings Onychognathus tristramii  

טריסטרמיתthe highlight for the visiting ringers as well as a smart, bright male Citrine Wagtail Motacilla citreola נחליאלי לימוני by the pond, a group of 19 Green Sandpipers Tringa ochropus ביצנית שחורת כנף overhead and an immature Imperial Eagle Aquila heliacal עיט שמש of note.

---While Simon and Denes were ringing, on the public side of the IBRCE Park we had a very special event- a birding festival for the local residents of Eilat and Arava. Thanks to a great cooperation with the SPNI we managed to expose over 650 people to the ideas behind ringing and birding and spent 4 incredibly fun hours showing them how birding can be fun and attractive for the whole family! Great thanks to all the amazing people who helped us. (Y.L)---

by Yoav Balaban צילום יואב בלבן

by Yoav Balaban צילום יואב בלבן

by Yoav Balaban צילום יואב בלבן

A walk around Holland Park in the late afternoon produced the local species in good numbers including several Arabian Babbler Turdoides squamiceps זנבן groups with one group nest building and several more coming together to form an incredibly noisy but good natured gang of 17 birds, good numbers of Sand Partridges Ammoperdix heyi קורא with many males fighting and squabbling with each other and a beautiful pair of Little Green Bee-eaters Merops orientalis שרקרק גמדי hawking along the edge of the park; a presumably wintering Black Redstart Phoenicurus ochrurus חכלילית סלעים was also of note.

Walking back past the salt-ponds at dusk saw a good build-up of Gulls including 15 Slender-billed Gulls Chroicocephalus genei שחף צר מקור with c400 Black-headed Gulls Chroicocephalus ridibundus שחף אגמים and c30 Lesser Black-backed Gulls Larus fuscus שחף גדול which included several Baltic Gulls Larus fuscus fuscus שחף שחור.

23^rd February

A trickle of migrants passed through the ringing station in the morning with the first Olivaceous Warbler Iduna pallida שיחנית קטנה of the spring trapped along with 4 Lesser Whitethroats Sylvia curruca סבכי טוחנים and single Whitethroat Sylvia communis סבכי קוצים, Blackcap Sylva atricapilla סבכי שחור כיפה, Reed Warbler Acrocephalus scirpaceus קנית קטנה and Sedge Warbler Acrocephalus schoenobaenus קנית פסים.  

Denes representing a "waiting ringer"
"דנז מדגים "מטבע בהמתנה

Here come our men- Simon, Denes and Shahar
הנה הגברים שלנו- סימון, דנז ושחר

A stunning adult summer Pallas's Gull Larus ichthyaetus שחף עיטי overhead was definitely the highlight of the morning's sightings while 6 Common Swifts Apus apus סיס חומות and a Long-legged Buzzard Buteo rufinus עקב עיטי were also of note.

A late afternoon trip out to the area surrounding Arvona Well produced excellent views of an Asian Desert Warbler Sylvia nana סבכי מדבר scuttling through the scattered bushes, an adorable singing male Scrub Warbler Scotocerca inquieta מדברון a couple of Isabelline Wheatears Oenanthe isabellina סלעית ערבות and lingering Blackbird Turdus merula שחרור and Robin Erithacus rubecula אדום חזה.

watching the Asian Desert Warbler Sylvia nana סבכי מדבר

24^th February

A small influx of 15 new Chiffchaffs Phylloscopus collybita עלווית חורף were caught through the morning along with two Lesser Whitethroats Sylvia curruca סבכי טוחנים and a Whitethroat Sylvia communis סבכי קוצים while the Citrine Wagtail Motacilla citreola נחליאלי לימוני and a Squacco Heron Ardeola ralloides אנפית סוף were around the pond. Migration is still fairly slow although a few hirundines which appeared through the afternoon including c100 Swallows Hirundo rustica סנונית רפתות and a few House Delichon urbica טסית and Sand Martins Riparia riparia כוכית גדות gave us hope that this may change pretty soon!

Simon Davies,
Volunteer-ringer, IBRCE.

Not with feathers but still nice

Egyptian Fruit Bat Rousettus aegyptiacus עטלף פירות

by Dénes Laczik

 On one of the evenings we made an attempt to catch some Scops Owls Otus scopus שעיר מצוי. It didn't come up well.. Instead of ringing an Owl we faced 8 Egyptian Fruit Bats Rousettus aegyptiacus עטלף פירות trapped in our net. All were released quicker than expected, serious relief.

A little more of the local atmosphere

When birding around the Arava valley one can't ignore the incredible sunsets. Picture taken at K19

Pouring Rain-ging!

16/2/2014

I never in my life thought I'll write it in the IBRCE's Blog but…..the first day of ringing for spring 2014 was cancelled due to rain! Lots of rain!  It was probably brought over by the three lovely girls who came all the way from the Jerusalem Bird Observatory to give a hand - rain is rare in Eilat, much more than Sooty Falcons Falco concolor or Western Reef Egrets Egretta gularis, it rained every now and then through the night before stopping just before first light so we opened the nets, refusing to believe it might rain again.  We were definitely wrong - half an hour later, when 17 birds were in the nets, it started raining.  We ran, took them all out and had to close the nets permanently until the rain stopped.  Surprisingly we were able to open them only the next morning since the rain came in short intervals only.

first (darkish) Lesser Whitethroats Sylvia curruca סבכי טוחנים ראשון לעונה

Among the first 17 birds we had the first two Lesser Whitethroats Sylvia curruca סבכי טוחנים for the season together with Chiffchaffs Philloscopus collybita עלוית חורף mainly.

17/2/2014

On the second day we got our compensation- 123 birds of which only 35 were re-traps, species variety was high, especially for our new volunteer-ringer coming all the way from Hungary- Dénes Laczik.  We were not expecting the high variety of Sylvia Warblers- 7 Lesser Whitethroats Sylvia curruca סבכי טוחנים, 4 Blackaps Sylvia atricapilla סבכי שחור כיפה and 3 Common Whitethroats Sylvia communis סבכי קוצים this early in the season.

Two Robins Erithacus rubecula אדום חזה  trapped were on their way back north (we do not have too many un-ringed Robins at the IBRCE during winter, if any) while the first Savi's Warbler Locustella lusinioides חרגולן זמירי of the spring was also caught.

first Savi's Warbler Locustella lusinioides חרגולן זמירי ראשון לעונה

Up high we watched 20 Steppe Eagles Aquila nipalensis עיט ערבות, tens of Pallid Swifts Apus pallidus סיס חוורוור and tens of Swallows heading north.

18/2/2014

The weather returned to normal in February - warm and sunny with a chilly wind.  Thanks to this lovely weather both the already-feeling-at-home team and Simon Davies who joined overnight had a slower yet still varied ringing session with many Asian oriented species including two Palestine Sunbirds Cinnyris osea צופית, Dead-sea Sparrows Passer moabiticus דרור ירדן, some Graceful Prinias Prinia gracilis פשוש, Indian Silverbills Lonchura malabarica כסוף מקור הודי keeping the northern European ringers entertained.

Male Dead-sea SparrowsPasser moabiticus זכר דרור ירדן

Female Dead-sea SparrowsPasser moabiticus נקבת דרור ירדן

 Female Dead-sea Sparrows with interesting coverts pattern- half female half male likePasser moabiticus נקבת דרור ירדן עם דגם סוככות מעניין- חצי נקבי רגיל וחצי המזכיר את הדגם הזכרי

Male Graceful Prinia Prinia gracilis פשוש זכר

Visible migration was also productive as we watched a flow of raptors overhead including: 250 Steppe Eagles Aquila nipalensis עיט ערבות, two Booted Eagles aquila penata עיט גמדי (one of them is wintering around), a Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus זרון סוף (wintering as well) and a Kestrel Falco tinnunculus בז מצוי.

 

Swallow-wise we enjoyed hundreds of House Martins Delichon urbicum טסית בתים and Barn Swallows Hirundo rustica סנונית רפתות while the first two Red-rumped Swallows Cecropis daurica סנונית מערות of the spring were also seen.

19-20/2/2014

Slowing down…very few birds were ringed and seen around today (about 50 ringed through the morning). Despite the low quantities of song birds raptor watching saved us as over 350 Steppe Eagles Aquila nipalensis עיט ערבות drifted north joined by two Imperial Eagles Aquila heliaca עיט שמש and the wintering adult Bonelli's Eagle Aquila fasciata עיט ניצי put in an appearance as well.

Not with feathers but still nice- 

The volunteers camp always attract snakes, I have no good explanation for this given fact. The only snake we've seen around so far was found just next to volunteers-room. It is called Schokari Sand Racer Psammophis schokari

ארבע קו מובהק. In Eilat they are in their light coloured morph and not dark gray as seen in northern Israel. 

Schokari Sand Racer Psammophis schokari

ארבע קו מובהק

Schokari Sand Racer Psammophis schokari

ארבע קו מובהק

Yael Lehnardt,

Head ringer & Guide, IBRCE.

Edited by Simon Davis.  

Pictures by Dénes Laczik and Yael Lehnardt.

Spring migration is sneaking in

As we enjoy last week of preparations till the beginning of Spring season 2014, we do lots of maintenance-works. In between, there are groups visiting the IBRCE Park and therefore ringing has to be done! (Don’t worry, we handle this tough situation).

Numbers are still pretty low with no more than 30-40 birds when we do open our nets. Variation, on the other hand, is nice for these earl dates. We already get some migrants, right after crossing Sahara desert, right after escaping from some hunters in Egypt among local species such as House Sparrows Passer domesticus דרור בית, White-spectacled Bulbuls Pycnonotus xanthopygos בולבול צהוב שת, Graceful Prinias Prinia gracilis פשוש and males of Sardinian Warblers Sylvia melanocephala  סבכי שחור ראש that are fighting all the way into the nets.

One of the local species
Arabian Bubbler Turdoides squamiceps זנבן ערבי 

Arabian Bubblers Turdoides squamiceps צמד זנבנים 

The first to come from Africa are the Swallows and Swifts (just as described in our last Blog-post). Usually, during migration we are ringing every morning and also few evenings every week. The evenings are devoted for swallow-roost-ringing mainly. But, on 8/2, even before we had the chance to start with our spring program we had a special catch- Pale Rock Martin Ptyonoprogne obsoleta (wing 119mm) סנונית מדבר.  As they fly high up there is no chance to get these unbelievably fast Martins but this one most likely got into the net since Yoav Perlman and I talked about catching this species only two days before.

Pale Rock Martin Ptyonoprogne obsoleta סנונית מדבר

Pale Rock Martin Ptyonoprogne obsoleta סנונית מדבר

Pale Rock Martin Ptyonoprogne obsoleta סנונית מדבר

Pale Rock Martin Ptyonoprogne obsoleta סנונית מדבר

One round later we were pretty sure we have a big rat at the end of the Heligoland trap (there are usually no rats in the desert so it was weirder than you might think). It wasn't a rat, yet not too different from one: female Little Crake Porzana parva ברודית קטנה.

female Little Crake Porzana parva ברודית קטנה

In addition we had two first Sedge Warblers Acrocephalus schoenabaenus קנית פסים, two Reed Warblers Acrocephalus scirpaceus קנית קטנה and usualties.

Sedge Warblers Acrocephalus schoenabaenus קנית פסים Reed Warbler Acrocephalus scirpaceus קנית קטנה

Sedge Warbler Acrocephalus schoenabaenus קנית פסים     

On the 12^th we had one last ringing before opening the season officially (on Sunday, Feb 16^th we start ringing daily! Stay tuned!). It was a rather short session but we still had two Common whitethroats Sylvia communis סבכי קוצים.

Sunday it is all starting for real!

I don't know what about you, I'm excited about having one more spring at the IBRCE. Just at the edge of north-east Africa, when millions of birds are crossing, rushing towards breeding grounds making one of the toughest journeys on earth.

Yael,

Head ringer and guide, IBRCE