Israel 7/3-13/3 2010

7/3

Got our cars at 0530 and headed straight towards Ashdod where we were going to meet up with Yoav Perlman for some gulling. Common Myna and Ring-necked Parakeet were both easy on the drive from Tel Aviv to Ashdod. Ashdod is situated right at the Mediterranean Sea and offers very close views of different gull species/subspecies that are very rare in north-western Europe (cachinans, barabensis, heuglini, fuscus and armenicus). We definitely got our gulls on! At the coast we saw the only Pallas Gull of the trip, an adult in summer plumage at sea off Ashdod. Other birds of interest included 2K Pallid Harrier, Rüppels Warbler and Syrian Woodpeckers. Mountain Gazelle and several Harduns were other gems.

From Ashdod we vent to Hulda Reservoir were White-headed Ducks are numerous during the winter. The Reservoir is fairly small and packed with ducks. Other birds of interest included 2 males of Ferruginous Duck and some passage of White Storks. A European Chameleon was a first for everybody except Yoav!

We left Hulda and headed towards Lahar Reserve making a short stop at a local Falaffel Bar recommended by Yoav (it was great). The place was also good for the local race of Jay.

Lahar Reserve is breeding site for Long-billed Pipit and an overwintering site for Finsch’s Wheatear. The pipits are quite easily found on the slopes of the hills – we had 3-4 singing individuals. A male and a female Finch’s Wheatear were seen along the rocky road to the hills. Remember to keep your car in sight during a visit to this area. Yoav told us that cars often get robbed her, so look out for the local shepherd. It is fairly easy to tick of the pipit and have the car in sight though. At Lahar Reserve we also saw our first Golden Jackals (4) of the trip.

It was now late afternoon and we had to get going if we were to see any Nightjars at Neot Hakikar. A small detour to a cliff near the Goral Junction with breeding Lesser Kestrel was successful. 

At Neot Hakikar Yoav gave a short introduction to the miserable situation of the Nubian Nightjar which is one of the rarest breeding birds in Israel. Spotlighting along the roads and over the fields gave good views of 4 Nubian Nightjars including two seen on ground. Unfortunately they did not stay long enough for us to take any photographs.

We spend the night at the Cycle Inn in the local kibbutz. A short spotlighting walk within the kibbutz produced nothing of interest though everyone agreed that it had been a perfect day to the begin our tour of Israel.

Armenian Gull (Larus armenicus).

Gulling Ashdod.

Ashdod. The crime scene.

Indiana Jones, Lala and Po.

Lahar Reserve. Good location for Finsch’s Wheatear (Oenanthe finschii).

European Chameleon. A stunning beauty!

2K Pallid Harrier (Circus macrourus)

papilio machaon

Caspian Gull 3CY (Larus cachinnans)

Gulls!

Caspian Gull 2CY (Larus Cachinnans)

Text RDN and photos SSL

Kenya, Watamu

After the initial four day tour of the central part of Kenya one day was reserved for relaxing in Nairobi. After that a short flight took us to Malindi on the coast. From here we went to Watamu, a tourist area about 30 km south of Malindi. Watamu is very good if you want to combine birding with family time. Mida Creek is nearby and is home to good numbers of shorebirds with Crab Plovers being the star attraction and Arabuko-Sokoke forest is only a 10 minutes drive away (several endemics possible here).

We stayed at the A Rocha field centre, about two kilometres south of Watamu. We discovered later on that it was religous foundation doing biological research in the area. The people there were really nice and it was not a problem that we were not exactly religous. They have several small huts that one can rent quite cheap. There is bird ringing in the garden and only a two minute walk down to the beach! Birds were numerous with Eastern Bearded Scrub-Robin, Eastern Nicator, Purple-breasted Sunbird and Northern Carmine Bee-eater all seen in the garden (got 10 new species on the first day). The first night I heard a strange call which I at first presumed to be an owl. I put on my head lamb and went for the sound. It turned out to be a Lesser Galago, very nice.

The next day I got invited to do a night session ringing shorebirds at Mida Creek on the night before our departure!  I gladly accepted. Ringing of shore birds at Mida Creek is best when high tide is during the night when birds fly in to roost without being able to see the nets put out on the mudflats.

We drove down to Mida Creek in the afternoon seeing Wahlbergs Eagle and Böhm's Spinetail on the way. An initial look out over the mudflats at Mida revealed a lot waders including several Crab Plovers. We had to deploy the nets quickly (see video) as the tide was coming in. It turned out to be really good ringing session! We caught Crab Plover (20), Lesser Sandplover (20+), Greater Sandplover (20+), Grey Plover (10+), Terek Sandpiper (20+), Little Stint (25+), Curlew Sandpiper (20+), Whimbrel (5+) and Saunders Tern 1. I got ten new ringing species!! Unfortunately I could not bring my camera (big one) as theft done by local fishermen had been causing problems.  The session lasted from 1630-0530. We had to leave at 0730 to catch the bus from Malindi-Lamu the following day so I did not get a lot of sleep... 

Kenya part 4

24/3

Early morning the compound and Lake Naivasha produced Black Heron, Pink-backed Pelican, Fischer’s Lovebird, Long-toed Lapwing, Horus Swift and Nuanza Swift. Left Lake Naivasha and headed south towards Kinangop Grasslands. Kinangop Grassland is the easiest place to see the endemic Sharpe’s Longclaw. The birds breed on grazed grasslands in the highland. We quickly found one Longclaw and ended up seeing at least three different birds one of them offering extremely good views after 20 metres of crawling in the grass and some good pushing by Joseph. Other good birds at the site included a group of 15 migrating Lesser Kestrels, Capped Wheatear and Levaillant’s Cisticola. In the afternoon we birded the southern most part of the forest in the Aberdares. We arrived at the site at 1200 after some challenging driving. Highlights included Mountain Buzzard, Hartlaub’s Turaco (a total of seven birds heard but unfortunately none seen), Bar-tailed Trogon (male seen good though always posing with the back towards us), Silvery-cheeked Hornbill, Mountain Greenbul, White-starred Robin, Brown Woodland Warbler, Hunter’s Cisticola (one bird singing at a nearby stream), Grey Apalis (only heard), Chestnut-throated Apalis (common, with two birds seen and another 8 birds heard), Eastern Double-collared Sunbird and Olive Sunbird. Mammals included an unidentified Duiker, Colobus and Sykes Monkey. A visit to the forest in the early morning would definitely have proved more fruitful, next time… Arrived back in Nairobi at 1630 after four days of high speed birding/mammaling

Sharpes Longclaw at Kinangop Grassland. Eastafrican Endemic and globally threatened. Extreme good views.

Capped Wheatear at Kinangop Grassland. Only place we saw the species.

Bartailed Trogon, Aberdares. The uncommen trogon in Kenya became my first but not last.

Golden-winged Sunbird, Aberdares. Extremely attractive sunbird.

Silvery-cheeked Hornbill, Aberdares.

RDN

Kenya part 3

23/3
Picked up at the hotel at 0700 for a short drive to Lake Nakuro National Park. Rüppell’s Long-tailed Blue Starling was picked up by the entrance to the park where the local Vervet Monkeys were trying to break into our van. Lake Nakuro National Park consists of a big lake with forest all around and an area with savannah in the southern part. Birds were everywhere and birders could certainly use more than one day here. The amazing numbers of Great White Pelicans and Lesser/Greater Flamingoes makes this national park a must for any birder visiting Kenya. The spectacle is simply amazing. Birding highlights included Hildebrandt’s Francolin, Coqui Francolin, Bateleur, Broad-billed Roller, Yellow-throated Longclaw, Grey-Crested Helmet Shrike, Little Rock Thrush, African Thrush and displaying Wing-snapping Cisticola. Mammals included White Rhino, Lion (one male and three females relaxing in an open part of the forest), Rothschild’s Giraffe and Guereza Colobus. After lunch we headed for Naivasha adding another Secretary Bird on the way. A short stop searching for Schalow’s Wheatear proved fruitless but we did find a Slender Mongoose which was the only mongoose of the trip. To be certain of getting the wheatear one should add a half day in the nearby Hell’s Gate National Park where other high lights could include Verraux’s Eagle. Unfortunately I did not have the time to do this. Stayed at Naivasha Lake Resort and one hour birding the private compound in the evening produced Goliath Heron, Hottentot Teal, Buff-bellied Warbler, Yellow-breasted Apalis, Diederik Cuckoo and Winding Cisticola. Hippos are easily seen from the private shore line and they feed on the grassy area on the shore at night. The hotel has an electrical fence around it to stop Hippoes from entering and smashing the area!

Lake Nakuro, Male Lion relaxing.

Lake Nakuro, White Rhino and Cattle Egret

Lake Nakuro, Coqui Francolin.

Lake Nakuro, Yellow-throated Longclaw a real beauty!

Lake Nakuro. Every birder needs to go there at least once!

Bryn i Midtjylland!

Bryn i Midtjylland! (lør hvidbrynet løvsanger set og hørt linå v. silkeborg 1145- hst). Efter en kort samtale med hst kørte jeg mod Linå. Ingen af birderne i Østjylland har arten på deres liste, så jeg var mere end tilfreds, da den første fugl, jeg så hos Henrik, havde kæmpe bryn og vingebånd. Mit kamera var dog ikke samarbejdsvillig (kunne ikke tænde), så der gik lidt tid før jeg fik et par dokubilleder i kassen. Sendte derefter straks et billeder til KO, som åbenbart var udslagsgivende for, at han kørte til Linå. Et seriøst selvmål da han en time senere krydsede fuglen. :-) Det ændrede dog ikke ved, at fuglen var virkelig fin!      

Bryn i Midtjylland! Fuglen var meget aktiv i og omkring hst´s have.

Fundet er det 7. fund i Østjylland (Dofbasen)

Fuglen var meget stationær i hst´s have. Et lille smørhul til småfugle. Fuglen blev set sammen med tolv gransangere og en løvsanger.

Blåvand 10/9-2011

Vi stod i Blåvand lørdag morgen kl. 6.15 efter en hurtig beslutning fredag aften. Blåvand har produceret et utal af hits de seneste uger, og vi ville have vores bid af kagen. Målet var først og fremmest selv at finde nogle fugle, men sorthovedet sanger og spidshalet ryle skulle også helst i bogen. Vi startede med sorthovedet sanger, som efter kort tids kamp kaldte højt og tydeligt. Vi så desværre aldrig fuglen med sikkerhed.

Herefter gik vi på Hukket, hvor en 1k sorthovedet måge sås i revet, hvorefter den gik til rast på stranden. Vi eftersøgte fuglen og fandt i løbet af et par timer i stedet tre kaspiske (to ad og en 2k) og to middelhavssølvmåger (2k) på stranden. Grønningen og Skallingen gav ikke den forventede steppehøg, så vi kørte mod Værnengene sidst på eftermiddagen. Der var vadefugle overalt! Det var vildt giftigt, og det var kun et spørgsmål om tid, før vi fandt noget dyrt. Desværre forsvandt en lille ubestemt ryle pga. jagt, og herefter blev det ved almindeligheder. En hurtig gennemgang af engene gav: dværgryle 100+, brushane 80+, krumnæbbet ryle 50+, islandsk ryle 40+, almindelig ryle 1000+, odinshane 1k, tinksmed 3, svaleklire, temmincksryle 1k, lille kobbersneppe 30+, hvidklire 10+ og rødben 50+. Hestholm blev tjekket på vej mod Aarhus, og tre islandske kobbersnepper sendte os hjem i seng.

Kaspisk Måge 2k

Kaspisk Måge 2k

Middelhavssølvmåge 2k. To identiske fugle lå ved siden af hinanden på vandet. Den ene lidt større end den anden.

Middelhavssølvmåge 2k

Middelhavssølvmåge 2k

Kaspisk Måge ad. Fuglen er i håndsvingfjersfældning.

Kaspisk Måge ad.

Israel 7/3-13/3 2010

Århusbirderne besøgte Israel i marts 2010. Eftersom vi aldrig har fået lavet en turrapport, vil jeg i den kommende tid ligge tekst og billeder ud på vores blog.

Århusbirderne og KO i Israel

Århusbirderne malker KO for oplysninger.

Sølvhejre i Egå Engsø 12/8-2011

Efter et par meget korte besøg i 2007 og 2008 har Egå Engsø igen besøg af en Sølvhejre. Søen er generelt ikke særlig hejre venlig pga. forstyrrelse, men denne har været på lokaliteten hele dagen. Den står for det meste på den vestligste ø og ses fint fra indløbet af Egåen. Fuglen blev fundet af den altid ihærdige HLL.

Står skjult bag den vestligste ø, så den ses bedst fra vestenden.

Kigger efter rovfugl.

SSL

Spækhugger nu i DK

Aarhusbirderne har held i sprøjten i øjeblikket. Med begrænset arbejde er det lykkedes at producere Balearskråpe, Rosenstær, Sandterne2, Rødrygget Svale, Rovterne, Hvidvinget Korsnæb11 og Hvid Stork 6 gennem de sidste par måneder. Vi har begge været arbejdsramte, så felttimerne har været i bund. De få timer er dog brugt produktivt.En optælling af Marsvin i Nordlige Nordsø var derfor en perfekt mulighed for at få et rigtig hit indenbords. Forhåbningerne gik på Hvidnæse og/eller Vågehval. Begge arter er set flere gange på tidligere tællinger i området. De første transekter nord for Skagen bød på mange Mallemukker, Alkefugle (formentlig lomvier) og en del Marsvin og Storkjover. På Grenen sad der en enlig mand på en bænk og kiggede efter fugle.

2/8 Enlig mand på Grenen.

Hvem er det mon?Frokosten blev indtaget i Sindal Airport uden nogle sjove hvaler på kontoen. Forholdene havde ellers været perfekte, og vi var sgu en smule skuffede. Forventningerne var trods alt skruet helt i vejret. Eftermiddagen skulle vise sig at blive bedre.

Få Marsvin kom i hus på de første transekter efter frokosten og til sidst manglede vi kun Det Gule Rev og Norske Rende umiddelbart nord for. Vi var efterhånden helt smadrede af sol, glare og en uhyrlig høj temperatur i flyveren, så da det sidste transekt begyndte var vi glade for næsten at være færdige. Ib nåede dog lige at minde mig om vores sidste observation af Vågehval. Den blev set på det sidste transekt af en lang tælling forrige år. Området havde givet en del Marsvin, tusinder af Mallemukker og en del alkefugle, men ikke de ventede Hvidnæser. Kort efter starten af transektet (I DK) ser jeg grupper af mallemukker og suler flyvende i samme retning. Tænker, at det nok er mod endnu en fiskekutter, men til min overraskelse kan jeg kun se noget hvidt bølgeskum ved deres destination. Jeg løfter kikkerten og ser tre halvstore dorsal finner. Yes, endelig bid. Vi vender flyveren og finder hurtigt dyrene igen. En lille flok på tre dyr er foran en større flok på syv dyr. Vi ser kun dorsal finner på to af dyrene i den forreste flok og det er først, da en ældre hun kommer til syne, at det med sikkerhed går op for os, hvad vi kigger på. Spækhuggere. Stemingen i den lille flyver stiger helt vildt. Ingen i flyveren har tidligere set arten i DK, selvom alle har utallige timer over Nordsøen i bagagen. Vi får taget nogle få doku-shots, som desværre bliver af noget tvivlsom kvalitet, da vi er i større højde end normalt og dyrene reagerer på flyveren. Man kan dog se, hvad det er! Hermed min 7. (syvende) hvalart i DK.

2/8 Spækhuggere kan også ses under vandet i DK.

2/8 Hun med ungt dyr

2/8 Yngre dyr i den store flok (7 dyr).

RDN

Hvidvinget Korsnæb på Djursland

Projekt Hvidvinget Korsnæb i DOF-Østjylland blev skudt i gang på den sidste dag i juli. Det var selvfølgelig helt oplagt efter Skagens store dag i går. Jeg startede på Gjerrild Nordstrand, hvor jeg håbede på lidt træk af korsnæb. Kort tid efter ankomsten hørte jeg en flok "afvigende" korsnæb og faldt hurtigt en lille flok på ni individer. Det var en ren flok hvidvingede! Lifer, ædel og amtskrydset var i hus.
Herefter fulgte små flokke af lille korsnæb, og efter 2½ time i plantagen uden rastede fugle kørte jeg mod Øerne hvor flere meldinger om rastede fugle lokkede. Jeg gik langs hele den sydlige kyst, og først efter 1½ time faldt jeg en lille flok på 12 individer ved en lille "skovsø". Fuglene kaldte ivrigt og trompet-kaldet blev hørt mange gange. Yderligere to fugle rastede i sommerhus området i den vestlige del af området. Fine fugle!

Jeg kæmpede i lang tid, før jeg fik dette billede. Fuglene blev meget inaktive op af formiddagen, så kom tidligt hvis I vil se dem!

Fuglene badede i en lille skovsø sidst på formiddagen.

Vingebånd!

Våd hvidvinget.