Although a rarity in the Western Palearctic, southern Israel in late March or early April is the time and place to connect with Black Bush Robin, the Darth Vader of tail-cocking chats, and we got very lucky indeed during the Terriers meanderings in the area.
As we sipped coffee and slurped freshly-made organic lassis with Bluethroats hopping around the tables at the paradisical Pundak Neot Semadar cafe, news of a bird at the nearby Kibbutz Lotan came through; with the rest of the team keen to catch up with this iconic personal first (I'd been lucky enough to see one last year), we decided to go for it on our way back to Eilat.
Was it still there? Would it show? Was it shy? The photos happily answer those questions, and we were treated to a ridiculously Bolan-esque stray cat strut of a performance as the bird flew out of its bushy bolt-hole straight towards us, landed pretty much at our feet and paraded around as we ooohed and aaahed appreciatively. Quality.
