This morning I drove around northeast of Jerusalem with Shachar, the local INPA ranger, to prepare our upcoming effort this spring to map breeding birds in important Batha (open rocky slopes) habitats there.
We didn’t do any point-counting today, just checked access points and point-count routes that we will repeat this spring. It is a beautiful part of the world, especially at this time of year when everything is in flower and birds are in full breeding activity.
It hosts a fascinating mix of Mediterranean and desert breeding species. We found good densities of Calandra Lark on high slopes:
First of a series of frustrating jumpshot fails:
Great Gray Shrike (Arabian)
Mourning Wheatear (Mourning)
It was very nice to hear the familiar ‘Cu-ckoo’ song in many spots, including males displaying territorial behavior.
Habitat shot
Flyby
My first Eastern Black-eared Wheatear of the season:
Other quality species included a flyover Syrian Serin, some Little Swifts, a handful of Rueppell’s Warblers I casually bumped into, Balkan Warbler, and Bonelli’s Eagles.
Yoav Perlman
I have been birding since the age of 9, and from the age of 15 I started working professionally in birding. I have been working for the Israeli Ornithological Center since 1998. I was a member of the Israeli rarities committee between 2001 - 2007. I have an MSc in Ecology from the Ben Gurion University. I did my research on the ecology of Nubian Nightjars in Israel, and spent hundreds of nights with these fascinating birds. I lead tours in Israel, and especially focus on Nubian Nightjars obviously. I traveled and birded Asia extensively, and also Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Africa and North America. I am married to my lovely wife Adva and father to two sons - Uri and Noam, and one daughter - Libby. Currently I live in Norwich, where I am starting a PhD project at UEA.
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