Israel, spring '23 - days eight to ten

Male Rüppell's Warbler, Holland Park. I know....

With the Champions of the Flyway team gathering on North Beach followed by the awards ceremony and lunch at the IBRCE, day eight of our trip (28th) was pretty relaxed - especially with a change of accommodation (from the Soliel to an apartment across town for two nights), and the prospect of more snorkelling....

... which is how we spent several very happy hours in the afternoon and evening, again down at the end of South Beach near the border with Egypt; just an absolute joy. Birding was limited to an early session in Ofira Park before checking out, which was productive (as always) - lots of migrants, including two showy Wrynecks (above), 60 Lesser Whitethroats, four Eastern Olivaceous Warblers and plenty more.

Arabian Babbler

"blame it on the falling sky... blame it on the satellite, that beams me home"* 

A quick stop off at the date palms just north of the IBRCE to check out a Semi-collared Flycatcher was instantly successful:

With the business of the week concluded (more on the climax of a wonderful COTF Race Week to follow), a spare day and evening in Eilat beckoned for day nine (29th), which we exploited to full in the increasingly simmering desert heat. The first stop early doors was a fantastic session in the Eilat mountains, up at the higher of the two raptor migration watchpoints:

The higher Raptor Watchpoint in the Eilat Mountains (and a Lesser Spotted Eagle cruising north)

We had a wonderfully busy time as the trickle became a flow, and the flow became, well, an ever-changing cloud of birds - in less than three hours, we counted 12,250 Steppe Buzzards, 4,800 Black Kites and four eagle species (Lesser Spotted, Booted, Bonelli's and Short-toed) heading north through the beautiful, dramatic terrain.

As the heat increased, we headed a little way up the 90 to Timna (below), a National Park in the desert which I've been wanting to visit for a long time (but, as with all non-birdy adventures here, have always fallen off the foot of the priority list in the past). What a place - stunning doesn't begin to describe it, and we couldn't help staying out in the midday sun a little too long....

Stone-curlew, Timna

The rest of the day? Well, we just had to spend it snorkelling. Mind-blowing!

Easter Bonelli's Warbler and Wryneck in Holland Park

Day ten of the trip (30th) was a mostly a travel day meandering our way back up to Mazkeret Batya, where our dear friends the Perlmans awaited us - but first we had a final session on the edge of the city in Holland Park, which was full of recently-arrived migrants (and, oddly, no birders, after the preceding week of bumping into international friends behind every bush....).

More Rüppell's Warbler? No problem!

An increase in warblers and Wrynecks (at least eight of the latter) provided a fittingly entertaining goodbye to Eilat, not least the stunning Rüppell's Warblers sipping nectar on the magic bushes.

Huge White Stork migration in the middle of the desert

Red-throated Pipit - looking a little different out in the desert to those in the city parks

A leisurely drive through the beautiful Eilat mountains and a couple of stops at Ovda and Neot Smadar provided larks, pipits, masses of White Storks (always a surreal sight in the middle of the desert) and delicious, melt-in-the-mouth dates along the way, and by evening, we were safely ensconsed with the Perlmans for the next couple of days.

Desert Lark and Spotted Sandgrouse, Ovda Plains

*Extremely niche early nineties music reference - bonus points if you got it (listen to 'The Bends' if you didn't....)