Israel – Early Spring Migration Special
18 March – 26 March 2012
Price per person: £1050- Deposit per person: £300
- Suggested Flights: Both British Airways and El Al run daily direct flights from London Heathrow to Tel Aviv Ben Gurion airport
Israel, The Holy Land. A tiny country sat on a migration crossroads that has rightly earned itself the reputation of being one of the Western Palearctics true birding hotspots.
Spring migration in southern Israel has become a popular birding pilgrimage and we will be its latest followers! Passerine, raptor and wader migration is truly spectacular and any visit will leave the birder thoroughly satisfied but determined to return. Visiting at different times means seeing different birds.
This tour is designed to coincide with the annual Eilat Spring Migration Festival and during our time based in Eilat there will be the opportunity to join some of the activities the festival offers. These include evening talks and other events which add another dimension to the trip. Being in Eilat at this time also increases observer coverage and we’ll keep tuned in to the local grapevine to ensure we catch up with any rarities that are unearthed.
Our tour isn’t just restricted to Eilat however. It takes us around the southern half of the country from the mountains, canyons and vast plains of the northwest Negev where we’ll search for some truly enigmatic species such as the endangered MacQueen’s Bustard, Lanner, Cream-colured Courser, Pin-tailed, Black-bellied, Crowned and Spotted Sandgrouse, Pallid Harrier and Desert Wheatear before we descend to Eilat for an extended 4 night stay.
Here we’ll explore a variety of habitats from coastal beaches to deep wadis, freshwater lagoons and arid mountains for the resident specialities such as Little Green Bee-eater, Western Reef Heron, Striated Heron, White-eye Gull, Sand Partridge, Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse, Namaqua Dove, Indian Silverbill, House Crow and the rapidly decreasing Arabian Warbler. With luck that beauty of the arid mountains Sinai Rosefinch will still be in residence whilst the list of potential migrants is staggering.
These literally pour through the funnel of the Arava Valley on their way north. Bluethroats, Wrynecks, flava Wagtails of several races, Citrine Wagtails, Cretzschmar’s Buntings, Ortolans, Red-throated Pipits, Black-eared Wheatears, Isabelline Wheatears, Redstarts, Ruppell’s Warblers, Short-toed Larks, Quail – the list goes on and on! Raptor passage will be dominated by thousands of Steppe Buzzards joined by Steppe Eagles, Long-legged Buzzards, Pallid Harriers and Black Kites soaring majestically over the mountains as they continue their perilous journeys.
From Eilat we move northwards to the Dead Sea area for its specialities of Fan-tailed Raven, Tristram’s Grackle, Clamorous Reed Warbler, Dead Sea Sparrow, Rock Martins and the rare Striated Bunting before our final destination in the lush Jordan Valley. Here are extensive areas of fishponds thronging with herons, kingfishers, (including Pied and White-breasted), storks, gulls and waders. Highlights here could include Night Heron, Pygmy Cormorant, a lingering Great Black-headed Gull, Armenian Gulls, Black Francolin, dapper Spur-winged Plovers, Little Crake and patrolling Ospreys.
It will be a tour of superlatives and will leave us all returning home in happy heart.
Accommodation will be in a mixture of small hotels and kibbutzim.
Day 1
We will meet at Ben Gurion airport, Tel Aviv and make our way south to the Negev and arid desert around Nizzana. Here we’ll search for such enigmatic species as MacQueens Bustard (thankfully protected here), Chukar, Cream-coloured Courser, Eastern Mourning Wheatear, Desert Wheatear, Isabelline Wheatear, Desert Lark, Bar-tailed Lark, Lesser Short-toed Lark and Brown-necked Raven. An oasis at a nearby village could turn up any number of migrants. On previous trips these have included Eastern Orphean Warbler, Ruppell’s Warbler, Sardinian Warbler, Wryneck and Arabian Babbler.
Having exhausted the possibilities at Nizzana we’ll move to another area of desert/steppe at Urim. This exciting site should turn up a good selection of raptors with Eastern Imperial Eagle, Long-legged Buzzard, Peregrine, Lanner, Pallid Harrier and Black Kite all likely.
Night at Gvulot
Day 2
Making an early start we’ll head again to Nizzana. Today though our angle of attack will be different. A small complex of pools and settling tanks nearby are the only areas of open water for miles around and therefore a vital water supply for desert species. In the early mornings sandgrouse habitually travel large distances to come here to drink. We could encounter Black-bellied, Pin-tailed, Crowned or Spotted (or maybe even all 4 species!). Any migrant waders and wildfowl in the area are likely to be located here too whilst Bluethroat, Water Pipit, Isabelline Wheatear, Southern Grey Shrike and Trumpeter Finch will also be on our agenda.
Moving slightly south the afternoon will be spent at the delightful Ein Avdat national park. The main attraction here is the spectacular gorge which we’ll explore fully for species such as Bonelli’s Eagle, Egyptian Vulture, Griffon Vulture, Eastern Mourning Wheatear, Scrub Warbler, Little Green Bee-eater, Rock Martin and Alpine Swift. This will be a site at which you’ll most certainly want your camera in order to capture the impossibly deep and narrow ravine!
Night at Gvulot
Days 3/4/5/6
En-route today we’ll take in the massive canyon at Sede Boqer and also Wadi Zin, also rather romantically know as the Wilderness of Zin. Here we should see Blackstart, Eastern Mourning Wheatear, White-crowned Black Wheatear, the perky Scrub Warbler, Arabian Babbler, Rock Martin, Sand Partridge and Brown-necked Raven.
The southern leg of our tour will see us at the resort of Eilat at the southern end of the wide Arava Valley for a 4 night sojourn. The town is ideally situated at the very northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba, itself an extension of the Red Sea. It is therefore ideally positioned for seabirds and we’ll look for White-eyed Gull, Caspian Tern, Armenian Gull and Caspian Gull as well as Striated Heron and Western Reef Heron which habitually frequent the beach and offshore fishing booms. Ship-assisted Indian House Crows have become well-established in and around the town.
To the northwest are the barren but nonetheless dramatic Eilat Mountains. Deep within these mountains and their steep wadis lurk Sinai Rosefinches, White-crowned Black Wheatears, Hooded Wheatears, Sand Partridges, Desert Larks and Trumpeter Finches and we’ll do our very best to find them all. These mountains are also the best place to watch the spectacle of raptor migration and mid mornings should see us enjoying Steppe Buzzards in their thousands accompanied by Black Kites and hopefully smaller numbers of Long-legged Buzzards, Steppe Eagles and Pallid Harriers.
The Arava Valley acts as a magnet for migrant passerines and birders alike. We can expect Bluethroats, Wrynecks, flava Wagtails of several races, Citrine Wagtails, Cretzschmar’s Buntings, Ortolans, Red-throated Pipits, Tree Pipits, Northern Wheatears, Black-eared Wheatears, Isabelline Wheatears, Redstarts, Lesser Whitethroats, Sardinian Warblers, Ruppell’s Warblers, Eastern Orphean Warblers, Short-toed Larks, Quail, Hoopoes, Masked Shrikes, Woodchats, Tawny Pipits and Water Pipits. And that’s just some of the more regular birds!
There are also numerous sites we will expore along the highway to the north of the town. These consist of saltpans, lagoons, acacia scrub and desert areas where we’ll hope for Greater Flamingo, Marsh Sandpiper, Greater Sandplover, Black-winged Stilt, Little Crake, Baillon’s Crake, Citrine Wagtail, Black-headed Wagtail, Desert Finch, Hoopoe Lark, Bar-tailed Lark, Temminck’s Lark, Spectacled Warbler, Arabian Warbler and Scrub Warbler.
The Eilat area often harbours a rarity or two and we’ll obviously take in anything interesting during our rounds. In past years these have included such goodies as Oriental Honey Buzzard, Black Bush Robin, White-throated Robin and Menetries’s Warbler!
Depending on the situation (which changes every year) there may be sites for rare breeders not too far from Eilat to which local birders escort visitors. In past years these have included evening trips for Nubian Nightjar, Egyptian Nightjar and Hume’s Tawny Owl. Needless to say we will be keeping close tabs on the situation through our local contacts and will build these extras into the trip if at all possible.
The annual Eilat Migration Festival will be in full swing during our stay and offers the opportunity for evening talks, slide shows and the obligatory swapping of birding tales.
One of the highlights of our short stay in Eilat will be a dusk vigil at a famous site for the enigmatic Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse. As we wait patiently for them to fly in to drink at their favoured spot we’ll be able to reflect on just how good an area this is while the sun sets turning the mountains in Jordan a warm orange.
Nights near Eilat
Day 7
Today will see us head north to the extremely low-lying Dead Sea depression. This area and in particular the mountains and steep sided wadis to the west have a number of specialities. Fan-tailed Ravens and Tristram’s Starlings are an ever present source of entertainment whilst Arabian Babbler, Blackstart and Little Green Bee-eater should present us with few problems. More tricky will be locating Sand Partridge and the rare Striated (Mountain) Bunting which may require a steep walk.
There will also be the opportunity for a customary float in the Dead Sea for those who wish to.
Night in Kfar Ruppin
Day 8
From our convenient base at Kfar Ruppin we will be right in the thick of things. On our doorstep is a large complex of extremely bird rich fishponds, lakes and marshes which harbour numerous waterbirds. These should include Pygmy Cormorant, Glossy Ibis, White and Black Storks, Spoonbills. The noisy Black Francolin also has its home here.
Other attractions should include Namaqua Dove, Yellow-vented Bulbul, all 3 kingfishers, Night Heron, Spur-winged Plover, Syrian Woodpecker, Laughing Dove, Palestine Sunbird, Bluethroat, Southern Grey Shrike, Zitting Cisticola, Graceful Warbler, Clamorous Reed Warbler, Red-throated Pipit and Dead Sea Sparrow.
We will explore steep hillsides and wadis for the elusive Long-billed Pipit, Chukar, Little Swift, Crag Martin, Blue Rock Thrush and Black Redstart before making our way cross country and back to the Mediterranean coast at Tel Aviv.
Night near Tel Aviv
Day 9
Transport will be provided back to Ben Gurion airport for flights home.
