WEEKLY ENGLISH UPDATE: Today I took advantage of the mild weather and a burst of outrageous optimism and travelled up to Ovda in the vain hope of finding some Temmincks Horned or Thick-billed Lark youngsters. I didnt find any of course but it was well worth the trip. It was 20C when I arrived (a winter temp in our region) still green from the unseasonal May rains and covered with locusts and quite a few birds enjoying the free meal. Big groups of Trumpeter Finch were munching on flowers in a number of spots, Blackstarts,White-crested Wheatears,Crested and Desert Larks and Rufous Bush-Robins were absolutely everywhere. Other locals were a little harder to find but we eventually got some Crowned Sandgrouse, Scrub Warblers, a Hooded Wheatear, Mourning Wheatear, with Rock Martins ever present. A Barbary Falcon and 5 Kestrels made up the raptor count and we even had some migrants, a White Stork, 2 Reed Warblers, an Eastern Orphean Warbler and a Bonellis Warbler(something of a rarity for Autumn). On the wildlife front I got some Fat Desert Rats, Dorcas Gazelles and two Wild Asian Asses(No, Im not talking about women from the Phillipines) A couple of Crag Martins on the way home and I was very happy. The beach is very quiet with only a few White-cheeked Terns and White-eyed Gulls milling around. The ponds are warming up though with plenty of Waders arriving, plenty of Sandpipers, first Little Ringed Plover, Turnstone,Gull-billed Terns and a couple of Purple Herons. Bring on the Autumn!
Posted on: Sat, 19 Jul 2014 11:25:25 +0000
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