JBO ringing

This morning I operated the ringing at the Jerusalem Bird Observatory. I ring there once a month, to keep my fingers practiced... It was a great morning with lovely weather (a little cold at start, then warmed up) before more winter weather coming up - it's the coldest March on record in Israel! JBO looked fine this morning, with birds, flowers and people (three school groups).

Quality birds came in nicely - there were so many species this morning. Most unexpected was a Moustached Warbler - one of the very few ever in Jerusalem:

This male Rueppell's Warbler was a first for the season at JBO:

Among the hordes of Lesser Whitethroats there was a nice wave of Eastern Orphean Warbler - nine ringed:

Two Common Redstarts - both sammamisicus, soon the nominate subspecies will arrive:

Two Wrynecks - always amazing to handle. Check the stunning fine tail pattern:

Grey Wagtail is another species not often caught at JBO - this male is developing the black summer bib:

eBird checklist here.

Thanks to all the team who helped me this morning - Hanna, Dror, Adam, Avihu, Reva and Gerda.

Break the silence

Suddenly I noticed that it's been a month since I last posted here. Not that I haven't been birding, I certainly have. I felt like there weren't any blog-worthy highlights to report. I don't have very exciting stuff to share here, only some OK-minus photos from yesterday. I had work at Ma'ayan Zvi, just north of Ma'agan Michael. We are joining a large restoration project there, so I wanted to get to know better some spots . It was a great morning with enjoyable activity of migrants, winter visitors and resident birds. Breeding season is upon us! Clamorous Reed Warblers were very vocal, some males singing from tops of reeds:

Moustached Warbler is a winter visitor and migrant, not scarce but not common either. It is a very rare and sporadic breeder too. I had a singing male, that behaved very territorial. I will follow up to check if breeding takes place there.

In this sound recording a Clamorous Reed Warbler is audible in the background:

Reed Bunting is another scarce winter visitor, soon leaving Israel. At one spot I had a small group of six, very shy and mobile. The flock included a stonking male, even prettier than the one I managed to photograph:

All in all I had 92 species in a short session, including several new-for-year (no, I'm not doing another Big Year). eBird checklist here.

After birding I went to marvel at some wild flowers nearby, ahead of a meeting conveniently timed to start at 11:30... March is the wonderfulest month of the year, I must make the most out of it. 

Cold and wet ringing

Went ringing at Ashdod this morning, my monthly CES visit. It was bloody cold, and thanks to a hole in my wellies I got very wet too. I had a larger catch than I expected. Good that I arrived early - at dawn good numbers of Bluethroats got caught, including a returning bird from 2011. Later on more Chiffhcaffs etc. Sexier species included Moustached Warbler, Penduline Tit and a lost Marsh Warbler - I had ringed it in October, don't think it's going to migrate this year - extreme wear on both wings. Interestingly, it hasn't started moulting yet, while at Ngulia this time of year they're already post-moulted.

Moustached Warbler

 Daffodils

While taking a net down one Moustached Warbler was very curious and came to check me out, calling non-stop. Got my phone out and recorded it:

Many thanks to Arad, Shlomo and Miriam.

Hula Festival update day 1 - Rainbow Festival

Just a short one - arrived at noon at the Hula Festival with MG & TR. had a nice drive up north through some serious rain but when we arrived at Hula the sky cleared up nicely. After meeting the group went on a short introductory tour to the Agamon. Very atmospheric afternoon with special light conditions - bright, low sunlight against dark clouds, double rainbow - tens of thousands of cranes going through this beautiful sky. Lots of pelicans raptos, Pygmy Cormorants etc up in the air. In the lake Moustached Warbler, Greater Flamingo etc. One massive bull Wild Boar waded across the lake before dusk. Won't say anything about an Oriental Turtle Dove...

Mud plus mosquitoes equals birds

Woke up outrageously early this morning and went ringing in Ashdod. I wanted to work in the dark for a couple of hours in hope of catching some shorebirds before dawn. Eventually caught only one but a bloody good one - Jack Snipe!

Also caught two of these nasty Egyptian Fruit-bats:

As dawn arrived the rest of my team joined me and we started catching well. At first large numbers of Bluethroats, later on a good mix of Chiffchaffs, Spanish Sparrows, Chaffinches and lots more. 

Moustached Warblers typically arrive in early November, one this morning:

Moustached Warbler 

A nice flock of about 20 Penduline Tits was feeding in the reedbed, we caught three, including this cracking male:

But for sure the most beautiful bird of the morning was this Palestine Sunbird - a total gem of a bird:

Quite many good birds flying around and moving about - very brief views of a probable Isabelline Shrike, one Spotted Crake, several Hawfinches and Siskins overhead - a very birdy morning.

Many thanks to the hard-working team - Arad, Eli, Shahar, Roei and Ron.

Winteringing

Nice weather yesterday while ringing at Ashdod. Typical winter catch - rather quiet but good quality. Three models in a similar pose:

Moustached Warbler

Reed Bunting

Penduline Tit

Thanks to Ron, Shlomo, Liad and Mordi for their help.

Not an easy shrike!

This morning I was ringing at Ashdod. While opening the nets up in light rain and heavy cloud cover, it was apparent there's a great migrant fall happening in real-time! The were many vocal migrants calling (pipits, wagtails etc.) and I could actually see birds dropping out of the sky and crashing into the reeds a few minutes before first light!
And indeed a busy morning it was, with 170 birds ringed. There was a very strong fall of Willow Warblers (113 birds!). Lots of grey, long-winged birds among them with at least 6 yekutensis! Also good numbers of Bluethroats (19) especially early in the morning, and 16 Chiffchaffs were most welcome too. But star bird of the morning was an 'Isabelline' Shrike - my first for Ashdod, and actually the first good rarity I catch there. As always with Issy Shrikes, this bird bit very hard, much stronger than its sissy red-backed cousins...
This bird shows some pro-phoenicuroides features, including reddish crown contrasting to a greyer mantle, whitish below with bold flank streaks, contrasting pattern to median and greater coverts. But identifying 1cy's is very challenging and I wouldn't stick my neck out for this bird. Would be interested to get some feedback on it. Nevertheless a fine bird it is!

Rea was very happy with it:

After releasing the bird we saw it catch a Willow Warbler and carry it in its talons. What an agressive bird!

Another good bird was this Moustached Warbler - my first for the season:

Ashdod bits and pieces

Sunny and cold morning. Set the nets up in the dark, just to discover that the water level is too high and my wellies are of no help... Ringing was pretty slow, as expected for this time of the year when the reeds are dry. Still some nice stuff around - Long-eared Owl at first light, late Masked Shrike and Lesser Whitehroat, Reed Bunting heard and Moustached Warbler trapped late in the morning.
Later, virtually no gulls at the gull site. Seven minutes of seawatching produced a 1cy Kittiwake, 1 Yelkouan Shearwater sitting on the water, and 15-20 Sandwich Terns. Not bad!
Thanks to Re'a, Miri and Shlomo for the help.

Fieldfares and other bits and pieces

Drove around a bit over the last couple of days and collected some nice stuff along the way. Yesterday at Ashdod not too many gulls or shorebirds, and nothing exciting among them. Single Greater Spotted Eagle and Short-toed Eagle (late!) were nice. These two female Mountain Gazelles showed me their butts as they sped away from my car. Are they being poached in that area? They were very very shy.


Later drove to Segula to look for the Fieldfare trio found by Re'a the previous day. The first look produced nothing, but after a short lunch break found them feeding quite relaxed on the lawn. They really let me approach - I never had such good views in Israel. These guys must have come from a village or town somewhere (in Russia?) - their tame behaviour suggested that. Great to see these Israeli rarities - hopefully we will have a good winter for them (and for their black-throated cousin tooo...)

This morning I was ringing at my local site in Ashdod. It was pretty good with many chiffies, Blackcaps, Bluethroats and Robins. A couple of Spanish Sparrows were nice, and this Moustached Warbler was my first for the season. Other birds about were a Reed Bunting flying around and dodging my nets, and several Water Rails heard calling.

Moustached Warbler

Spanish Sparrow

A short afternoon visit to Tsor'a didn't produce much. This female Stonechat posed nicely against the light:

And this late Isabelline Wheatear was pretty in the warm afternoon light: