The Urban Birder

Saturday, 17 November 2012

Hula Bird Festival

Some of the 30,000 + Common Cranes in the Hula Valley

Common Stonechat

White Pelicans in formation

White-breasted Kingfisher

White Wagtail

Greater Spotted Eagle

Common Kingfisher

Peregrine

Armenian Gull

Black Kite

Greater Spotted Eagle

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.

Little Grebe

White Pelican

Great Cormorant

Pygmy Cormorant

Black-crowned Night Heron

Cattle Egret

Squacco Heron

Little Egret

Great Egret

Grey Heron

Black Stork

Glossy Ibis

Eurasian Spoonbill

Greater Flamingo

White-fronted Goose – 1 immature in the Hula Reserve. Rare here.

Shelduck – 1 in the Hula Reserve.

Mallard

Gadwall

Pintail

Shoveler

Wigeon

Marbled Duck

Teal

Pochard

White-tailed Eagle

Osprey

Eastern Imperial Eagle

Greater Spotted Eagle

Black Kite

Black-shouldered Kite

Marsh Harrier

Hen Harrier

Pallid Harrier

Long-legged Buzzard

(Steppe Buzzard)

Common Buzzard

Eurasian Sparrowhawk

Kestrel

Peregrine

Merlin

Chukar

Sand Partridge

Common Moorhen

Eurasian Coot

Common Crane – c40,000 in the Hula Valley.

Pied Avocet

Black-winged Stilt

Ringed Plover

Lapwing

Spur-winged Plover

Temminck’s Stint

Wood Sandpiper

Green Sandpiper

Common Sandpiper

Redshank

Marsh Sandpiper

Black-tailed Godwit

Woodcock –1 in the jaws of a cat in the Rose Gardens, Jerusalem.

Common Snipe

Ruff

Black-headed Gull

Armenian Gull

Whiskered Tern

Feral Pigeon

Collared Dove

Laughing Dove

Little Swift – outside Jerusalem.

Hoopoe

Common Kingfisher

White-throated Kingfisher

Pied Kingfisher

Syrian Woodpecker – mostly in Jerusalem.

Skylark

Crested Lark

Woodlark

Desert Lark – outside Jerusalem.

Horned Lark – pencillata race.

Sand Martin

Pale Crag Martin

Barn Swallow

Long-billed Pipit – in the semi-desert outside Jerusalem.

Water Pipit – coutellii race.

Meadow Pipit

Red-throated Pipit

White Wagtail

Yellow Wagtail – feldegg & thunbergi winter birds in the Hula.

Citrine Wagtail

Grey Wagtail

European Robin

Bluethroat

Black Redstart

Northern Wheatear

Finsch’s Wheatear

Mourning Wheatear – in the semi-desert outside Jerusalem.

Blackstart – in the semi-desert outside Jerusalem.

(Eastern) Stonechat – quite a few in the Hula Valley.

Common Stonechat

Song Thrush

Blackbird

Blue Rock Thrush

Scrub Warbler – in the semi-desert outside Jerusalem.

Graceful Prinia

Blackcap

Lesser Whitethroat – 1 in the Rose Garden, Jerusalem.

Sardinian Warbler

Zitting Cisticola

Cetti’s Warbler

Reed Warbler

Clamorous Reed Warbler

Common Chiffchaff

Great Tit

Sombre Tit

Penduline Tit

Western Rock Nuthatch

Southern Grey Shrike

Red-backed Shrike

Masked Shrike – an immature in the Rose Garden, Jerusalem.

Common Bulbul

Palestine Sunbird

Eurasian Jay – atricapillus race.

Jackdaw

Rook

Hooded Crow

Tristram’s Starling – in the semi-desert outside Jerusalem.

Common Starling

House Sparrow

Pale Rock Sparrow – in the semi-desert outside Jerusalem.

Chaffinch

Brambling

Linnet

Goldfinch

Greenfinch

European Serin

Syrian Serin

Hawfinch – in Jerusalem.

Crimson-winged Finch

Corn Bunting

Rock Bunting

Friday, 16 November 2012

Out of Africa

'Being A Bird' a fabulous new bird book for kids in Kenya

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.