Some more images from the Hula Valley. The Jungle Cat was particularly exciting as we were not expecting to have got such a great view of one.
More shots to follow..
I’ve just got back from a great trip to Israel to attend the Hula Bird Festival near the Syrian border in the north and then spend a day in Jerusalem in the middle of the country before flying back to London. I was the guest of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel and the Israel Government Tourist Office. The idea was for me to sample some of the birding to be had at this amazing migration hotspot.
And what a sample!
I’ve enclosed a list of species that includes my exploits in Jerusalem – for those of you who are interested. Over the next couple of days there will be more words and birds.
Apologies for the paucity of entries in the past couple of weeks. Since my last scribblings I have been to Kenya, Nairobi to be exact and back plus just returned from Israel – but more about that trip tomorrow.
In Kenya I was beautifully looked after by Nature Kenya and the Kenya Tourist Board and stayed in an amazing hotel and apartment and saw tons of birds. And by tons I mean tons. I’m still writing my species list out. I reckon that I must have seen at least 300 species in and around Nairobi with upwards of 100 of them being totally new to me. In fact, some were so new to me that I instantly forgot their names!
The best creatures that I saw were my first wild Ostriches, Giraffes, Water Buffalo and White Rhinos. There was also a multitude of other mammals including zebras and various antelopes including the curious and truly massive Eland. A bull Eland walked past our vehicle whilst we were in the Nairobi National Park. As it strolled past we could hear its leg joints clicking. They are famous for this phenomenon. Bird wise it was the Secretary Bird that stole the show. We saw three of them in the National Park. It is a species that I have dreamt about seeing since I was a little boy. To see this weird looking bird prancing in the grassland was a joy to behold. A dream come true.
During my stay I was asked to launch Being A Bird by Nature Kenya at the Nairobi Natural History Museum. It’s a great little book that will go a long way to encourage kids to notice the urban birds around them in Nairobi. A fabulous effort by the authors and illustrator.
I’ll be writing a piece about my Nairobi experience in a forthcoming issue of Bird Watching Magazine.
More tomorrow. Late for my appointment!
Look what popped out of our grassland at The Scrubs this morning – a beautiful Short-eared Owl!
This bird was almost trodden upon at 0740. It flapped up and glided over the hawthorns to pitch down in the vegetation. It was flushed again 30 minutes later and put on a brilliant flypast display before seemingly heading west. It was later flushed again at the western end of the grassland at 0900 making it our longest staying SEO.
We get them appearing most years although normally as flyovers. This bird was our second for the year. The first flew in from the east in April and proceeded to quarter our small grassland for 15 minutes as if it were in deepest Essex.
Brilliant!!
This area of Scotland was a smashing area to visit and it was only an hour’s drive from Edinburgh.
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After a fairly busy recent schedule today was going to be a down day for me in order to regroup before picking up the baton again for a flight to Scotland tomorrow and a few days of public appearances. I woke up at 6am, as per usual, programmed by the migration season and the usually overwhelming desire to visit The Scrubs in the perennial quest for that unusual migrant.
Instead, I shut my eyes for a further snooze. A text buzzing on my phone interrupted my meeting with the dream weaver. It was from fellow Scrubber Rob Ayers who was quick to tell me that I had just missed a brief visitation from my favourite bird – the Ring Ouzel. The bird, an immature or female, was momentarily seen nervously surveying the scene from the pinnacle of some trees outside the notorious Wormwood Scrubs Prison.
There was little point me rousing from my bed. Why? Rouzels on my patch usually stay for fractions of time, as this bird did. The male that I was lucky enough to glimpse in the grassland one dull April morning this year was in view for all of 50 seconds before it too melted away. We have seen this elusive thrush every year for the past nine and as I had already seen my April bird the urge to steam over to the scene of the crime was easier to resist.
I rolled over. It was time to dream again. This time about white-gorgeted Jailbirds.
I was beautifully looked after and the warm sun shone for most of my stay. If you’re thinking of visiting Portugal don’t just make a beeline for the Algarve. Theres loads to see further north in the Alentajo region in which the Sado Estuary lies.
Why aren’t spiders as easy to recognise as some birds?
I photographed this splendid specimen in my garden today. My money is on it being a Four Spot Orb Weaver.
Thoughts anyone?
Vis migging on Sunday morning did not result in a huge amount of birds. Several Meadow Pipits, an unseen calling Pied/White Wagtail, assorted finches, a Grey Heron being heavily mobbed by Carrion Crows and a few Starlings were the order of the day.
I missed yesterday’s pair of Stonechat and around 1,000 House Martins that temporarily swarmed the grassland.
A couple of shots of me in action in Amsterdam escorted by Jip Louwe Kooijmans.
Thanks to Rob Buiter for the images www.robbuiter.nl
Isn’t it funny that corvids always attack and mob anything bigger than them and or with a hooked bill.
Had a nice r&r weekend in Hastings. I laid down my binoculars for most of the weekend but couldn’t resist a walk along the coast on Sunday. Had loads of migrants overhead heading west including Meadow Pipits, Swallows and ‘alba’ wagtails.
It’s not always about rarity hunting.