Birding was amazing! Birds everywhere and the grounded migrants just kept coming despite it being a poor year for them! Raptors were good, just a bit hard to get your head around a constant stream of 1000's of Steppe Buzzards!
I've decided to be lazy and talk through the trip using the list of birds that I personally saw while there, Ollie is doing a more day by day diary style blog posts here http://olliesbirding.blogspot.co.uk/
| Egyptian Goose- 1 at IBRCE, 4 at K19 |
| Shelduck- upto 10 seen at K20 |
| Mallard- irregular at K20 more frequent further north |
| Pintail- large flocks off North Beach, sev birds at K20 |
| Teal- plenty at Lake Yeruham, scattered sightings at K20 etc |
| Garganey- upto 200 off North Beach, upto 10 at various water bodies |
| Ferruginous Duck- 3 at K19 early on had moved on by end |
| Tufted Duck- upto 8 at K19 just 1 on birdrace day |
| Chukar- plenty seen in wadis 40km+ north of Eliat |
| Sand Partridge- seen regularly, easy in Holland Park several territorial males calling plenty |
| Quail- any random bit of vegetation! no calling birds |
| Little Grebe- scattered at water bodies |
| Brown Booby- single of North Beach seen twice |
| Cormorant- 1 at IBRCE, 5 at K19 on birdrace |
| Night Heron- several flocks in evening moving north, 1 at IBRCE, 10+ Lake Yeroham |
| Striated Heron- single flew across North Beach at dawn |
| Cattle Egret- occasional at K19 etc |
| Squacco Heron- common in ditches water bodies etc |
| Western Reef Heron- single white morph around the ditch at North Beach |
| Grey Heron- several large flocks moved north and on deck at K20 etc |
| Purple Heron- scattered birds on deck at K19, Lake Yeruham |
| White Stork- scattered birds on deck at Yotvata etc some huge migrating flocks at Nizzana and Lahav |
| Black Stork- never the numbers as Whites, upto 6 moving through with raptors none on the deck |
  Glossy Ibis- 2 flocks of c20 birds noted through K20, plenty around Ma'agan Michael |
| Spoonbill- 5 adults at IBRCE/K20 |
| Greater Flamingo- upto 150+ at K20 scattered singles at other saltpans |
| Griffon Vulture- 40+ at Vulture feeding station near Sde Boker |
| Egyptian Vulture- 5 different birds through with the raptors in the mountains, c10 at above site |
| Osprey- about 8 birds seen moving through |
| Lesser Spotted Eagle- 7 birds moving north one morning and a single on birdrace day |
| Steppe Eagle- 'commonest' eagle upto 30 moving through in a morning in the mountains |
   Short-toed Eagle- only about 5 seen moving through |
Booted Eagle- 10+ moving north some cracking pale morphs |
| Black Kite- second most numerous raptor, some interesting eastern looking things |
  Marsh Harrier- commonest harrier seen daily |
| Hen Harrier- 3+ seen around Yotvata occasionally |
| Montagu's Harrier- all 2cy birds at Yotvata, good to see alongside Pallid's |
| Pallid Harrier- 3 males seen first in mountains about 12 birds in total mainly at Yotvata |
| Long-legged Buzzard- single went north in with the Steppe's one morning |
| Steppe Buzzard- 1000's and 1000's seen, constant streams of birds in the mountains! |
| Sparrowhawk- 1-2 seen most days |
| Kestrel- fairly common 5-6 most days |
| Lesser Kestrel- only 1 male as we watched the Caspian Plover, few more female types not easy though! |
| Hobby- single seen over IBRCE one evening |
| Water Rail- 1 at IBRCE |
| Little Crake- upto 3 at Yotvata Sewage Works, 1 at K19 and 3 at Lake Yeruham |
| Moorhen- scattered around water bodies |
| Coot- plenty at K19 and Lake Yeruham |
| Purple Swamphen- 1 seen at Lake Yeruham |
| Crane- very few actually! young birds on deck at Yotvata and Neot Smadar |
| Avocet- 1 at IBRCE |
Black-winged Stilt- good numbers at most water bodies |
| Stone Curlew- seen at Nizzana at Yotvata heard at night at several sites |
| Cream-coloured Courser- cracking flock at Nizzana and random bird at K25 on race day |
 Collared Pratincole- upto 30 seen at Yotvata/K20-19 towards end of trip  |
| Little Ringed Plover- plenty at K20/Sewage ponds |
| Ringed Plover- plenty at K20 |
| Kentish Plover- upto 40 at K20 |
| Greater Sandplover- 3 different birds at K20, 1 stonking sum-plum male |
| Grey Plover- 1 at K20 |
Caspian Plover- stunning male at Yotvata! |
| Spur Winged Plover- pretty much anywhere wet or a bit green, on roundabout in Tel-Aviv! |
| Dunlin- upto 15 at K20 |
| Curlew Sandpiper- 1 at IBRCE |
| Little Stint- commonest 'small' wader at K20 probably 100+ there at any one time |
| Wood Sandpiper- low numbers at K20 and various sewage pools |
| Green Sandpiper- abundant at most water bodies |
| Common Sandpiper- scattered records at Yotvata/North Beach ditch |
| Redshank- common at K20, interesting to see spotshank like eastern race birds |
| Spotted Redshank- 2 at K20 |
| Greenshank- plenty at K20 etc |
| Marsh Sandpiper- upto 40 at K20 |
| Black-tailed Godwit- flock of 6 and a single limosa at K20 |
| Curlew- single disappointingly short billed at K20 one afternoon |
| Snipe- couple noted in ditch at K19 etc |
| Red-necked Phalarope- about 15 seen on and off at K20 as they move through |
| Ruff- loads everywhere! Flock of 300 at Nizzana sewage pools! |
| Black-headed Gull- upto about 20 in with Slender Bills at K20 |
| Slender-billed Gull- most abundant gull, 100's at K20 |
| Med Gull- 1 2w at IBRCE |
| Armenian Gull- 1w on deck at IBRCE, several presumed 2w/3w/ad flying north in evening |
 Caspian Gull- several 1w moving through with large gulls |
| Pallas's Gull- 5 1w seen one evening and a single another at IBRCE, awesome! |
 Baltic Gull- commonest large gulls, plenty of adults moved north in the evening |
| Heuglin's Gull- second commonest large gull, weird looking first winters! |
| White-eyed Gull- upto 10 off North Beach in the evening |
| Sandwich Tern- couple of flocks off North Beach |
| Gull-billed Tern- singles off North Beach also flock at K20 on deck |
| Common Tern- present on buoys most of time off North Beach |
| White-cheeked Tern- 1w off North Beach one morning |
| Whiskered Tern- single adult around IBRCE |
| Pin-tailed Sandgrouse- flock of 4 and 12 seen in flight at Nizzana |
| Crowned Sandgrouse- flock of 6 feeding on ground near Ovda Airport |
| Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse- 3 then 6 came into drink at K19 2 evenings when dark! |
| Rock Dove- about |
| Namaqua Dove- several pairs seen around K19 and Yotvata |
| Collared Dove- abundant |
| Turtle Dove- 3 on birdrace day at Yotvata and just north of Sde Boker |
| Laughing Dove- abundant |
| Great Spotted Cuckoo- 1 in Holland Park and 2 chasing each other and calling near Lahav, mad call! |
| Common Swift- low numbers moving through |
| Pallid Swift- identified birds seen occasionally |
| Alpine Swift- single from from Ben Gurion on birdrace day |
| Hoope- normally several seen each day |
| Ring-necked Parrakeet- plenty in Eliat and Tel Aviv |
| Common Kingfisher- seen at North Beach and Lake Yeruham |
| White-throated Kingfisher- several seen from car on drive to Ma'agan Michael then 2 seen well when we stopped |
| Pied Kingfisher- single several times at North Beach and K19 |
| Bee-eater- started to pick up towards end of trip upto 20 in a flock moving north |
| Blue-cheeked Bee-Eater- single moved north through K20, making all 3 Bee-Eater sp in 3 minutes! |
| Little Green Bee-Eater- stunning birds! pairs seen at various locations |
| Syrian Woodpecker- single female at Lake Yeruham |
| Wryneck- present in nearly every bit of vegetation around! Mega views in Ofira Park one afternoon |
  Oriental Skylark- 3 in the southern circular field at Yotvata |
| Crested Lark- common |
| Short-toed Lark- regularly seen, flock of 400+ near Ovda airport one evening |
| Desert Lark- pairs seen at various desert locations |
| Bimaculated Lark- 2 along birders track at back of K19 one afternoon |
| Hoopoe Lark- single seen at Yotvata, cracking bird, really striking in flight! |
| Sand Martin- a few moving through |
| Crag Martin- single through the mountains |
| Rock Martin- suprisingly common in low numbers seen in most habitats |
| Barn Swallow- most abundant hirrundine moving north |
| Red-rumped Swallow- low numbers mixed in with Barn Swallows |
| House Martin- several seen |
| Tawny Pipit- 4-5 seen at a few different sites |
| Long-billed Pipit- 1 near Lahav |
| Richard's Pipit- 1 over Vulture Feeding site and at Neot Smadar |
Water Pipit- coutelli seen in plenty of locations |
| Meadow Pipit- occasional in pipits flocks |
Tree Pipit- regular moving through and on deck in Ofira Park |
| Red-throated Pipit- not as common as expected, seen well at Yotvata |
| White Wagtail- abundant |
| Yellow Wagtail- plenty around water, variety of races/intergrades, feldegg, supercilliaris, thunbergi, domobrovski, flava/beema? |
Citrine Wagtail- about 6 cracking males between Yotvata and K19 |
| Robin- single in a wadi near Sde Boker |
| Nightingale- increased towards end of trip, upto 4-5 seen most days in last 3-4 days |
| Rufous Bush Robin- single seen at Neot Smadar Sewage works hoping round with the Wheatears, awesome! |
| Black Bush Robin- after dipping bird that Ollie found at Yotvata then managed to bump into a few Finns watching a/the bird 25km south! Nice views, bigger than I was expecting! |
| Bluethroat- good numbers of red spot in most reedy habitats but also in random wadis, couple white spots as well |
| Redstart- 6-7 seen towards end of trip, no obvious eastern/ehrenberg's |
| Black Redstart- single at Ben Guirion on birdrace day |
| Northern Wheatear- common in most habitats |
| Isabelline Wheatear- common in most habitats |
| Eastern Black-eared Wheatear- singles in various locations, good numbers at Nizzana, including stunning black and white male |
| Mourning Wheatear- 10+ seen by road side in the Ramon crator |
| Hooded Wheatear- 3 (2 male) at Netafim |
| White-crowned Black Wheatear- 20+ seen in various wadis |
| Blackstart- cracking birds pretty common, look blue in certain light! |
| Desert Wheatear- single male at K65 on the 40 upto Sde Boker |
| Whinchat- only 1 at Pied Bushchat |
| Siberian Stonechat- 2 fem types at Yotvata on disappointingly only 1 day! |
Pied Bushchat- male seen at Neot Smadar twice |
| Song Thrush- single in a radom date palm near Eliat, 2 around Ben Gurion and Lake Yeruham |
| Blackbird- plenty around Sde Boker, pretty random to see! |
| Rock Thrush- awesome male at Avrona Palms where the Black Bush Robin was |
| Scrub Warbler- plenty seen in desert habitats |
| Graceful Prinia- common in more lusher areas, nothing graceful about its call/song! |
| Blackcap- second commonest sylvia |
| Whitethroat- very few seen |
| Lesser Whitethroat- commonest migrant by far, loads in any bit of habitat |
| Eastern Orphean Warbler- several in most wadis with migrants |
| Sardinian Warbler- 1 at Avrona Palms, 2 up near Sde Boker and Nizzana |
| Ruppell's Warbler- third commonest sylvia! upto 10 in some of the better wadis |
| Spectacled Warbler- pair seen in Wadi Nekarot |
| Subalpine Warbler- about 5 different females, all really pale eastern things! |
| Sedge Warbler- singles at K19 and Yotvata |
| Savi's Warbler- singing at Yotvata one morning |
| Cetti's Warbler- singing at Lake Yeruham |
| Reed Warbler- plenty singing in reeds |
| Great Reed Warbler- 2 at Lake Yeruham |
| Eastern Olivaceous Warbler- plenty seen in various locations |
| Willow Warbler- single in Holland Park towards end of trip |
| Wood Warbler- 2 on birdrace day at Lake Yeruham and Kibbutz Sde Boker |
| Eastern Bonelli's Warbler- cracking little birds fairly common but only 1 calling at Avrona Palms |
| Chiffchaff- commonest phyllosc |
| Spotted Flycatcher- single at Kittbutz Sde Boker |
| Semi-collared Flycatcher- elusive male at Ofira Park took a few days to get decent views of |
| Great Tit- 2 at Lake Yeruham!!! |
| Penduline Tit- calling at Lake Yeruham |
| Southern Grey Shrike- 1 seen well at Nizzana, elegans? |
Woodchat Shrike- scattered singles at various different sites |
| Masked Shrike- commonest shrike (still think Woodchats are better!) |
| White-spectacled Bulbul- common and annoying varying calls! |
| Palestine Sunbird- not as abundant as expected seen at Yotvata and Holland Park, males are nice in right light! |
| Arabian Babbler- cool birds bumped into at quite a few places, bigger than expected! |
| Jay- distinctive atricapillus race seen around Tel-Aviv |
| Jackdaw- couple kicking round the Long-billed Pipit site |
| Hooded Crow- regular north of Mitzpe Ramon |
| Brown-necked Raven- regular pairs in various locations |
| House Crow- common around Eliat |
| Tristram's Starling- saw quite a few in various wadis/mountains and around Eliat |
| Common Myna- plenty around Tel Aviv |
| House Sparrow- common everywhere |
| Spanish Sparrow- probably most abundant bird recorded? Big flocks at Yotvata K19 etc as well as migs moving north |
| Goldfinch- 2 seen near Ma'gan Michael |
| Greenfinch- several north of Sde Boker |
| Serin- lots singing at Long-billed Pipit site |
| Ortolan Bunting- more seen towards end of trip, quite a few moving north Hope that wasn't too boring, thought I'd do it a little different, will post about the birdrace day soon! Thats a total of 200 species and 70 lifers!!!! See you there next year! |
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