Eilat - Black Magic

At last a break in the weather with much cooler conditions and noticeable upswing in the tempo of migration beginning with a beautiful young Pallid Harrier at Km19. Yotvata dunes had a flock of 15 wheatears containing three species - Isabelline, Northern and Black-eared. Once again we heard, but did not see, a singing Hoopoe Lark! Whilst at Yotvata we got news of a Black Bush Robin at Neot Smadar sewage pools and found oursleves there just after lunch. The bird, found by a visiting Finnish couple, put on an extra-ordinary show and was in view as soon as we arrived.







After we'd had our fill of the bush robin we headed north to meet up our guide for a night excursion for Nubian Nightjar. Along the way we checked a remote Acacia wadi in the Hiyyon Plains finding a range of desert species and a surprising number of migrants including several Orphean Warblers and Black-eared Wheatears. Totally unexpected here was a male Arabian Warbler, my first in ten years of visits to this particular wadi and not a place where I'd even suspected the species might occur - a nice surprise to the say the least!

Arabian Warbler - Hiyyon Plains, Eilot Region, March 16th, 2013.



We finished off a brilliant day with stunning flight views of Nubian Nightjar at Neot Hakkikar courtesy of our guide Barak Granit.

 

Trumpeter Finch - Neot Smadar, Eilot Region, March 16th, 2013.