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.
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| 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.
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.
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| 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.
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.
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| 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 |
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| 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.
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Schokari Sand Racer Psammophis schokari
ארבע קו מובהק
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Schokari Sand Racer Psammophis schokari
ארבע קו מובהק
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Yael Lehnardt,
Head ringer & Guide, IBRCE.
Edited by Simon Davis.
Pictures by Dénes Laczik and Yael Lehnardt.
