Steve Arlow Birding: Israel : March

Following last years extremely successful and hugely enjoyable trip to Israel I had to return as soon as possible so for the first time I returned to the same overseas destination in consecutive years. I was joined by Lee for this years bout of migration which wasn't anything like last year in terms of shear volume however it made up for this in some real quality birds such as White-tailed Lapwing, Black-bush Robin, Menetries Warbler and Blue-cheeked Bee-eater. I managed four lifers this time around, Hume's Owl, Black Bush Robin, Rufous Bush Robin and the Menetries Warbler.

Despite the lack of migrants in general we still managed around 216 species though in some instances only one of a species was seen, such as Ruppell's Warbler. The lack of migrants was attributed to a very wet winter across the desert regions allowing birds to move on a broader front without having the needed stop overs in the isolated green spots, this years many areas were green.

From a photography perspective sometimes it was hard, light not always being optimum, as you will see in some of my shots, but in other cases the birds were so close that I couldn't fail but get great shots

Great Black-headed Gull : adult, Neve Etan Fish Ponds, Beit She'an Valley