Yoav Perlman - birding, science, conservation, photography

Global Birdfair 2026 and more

2026-07-17T11:59:30.303+01:00

I had a brilliant time, as always, at Global Birdfair 2026. It was busy, with lots of people and activities throughout the weekend. Proud to represent Birds of the World/The Cornell Lab of Ornithology again. I was humbled to join the Cornell superstar team - Ian, Alli, Mitch, Iain, Stephen and Alex. We spent all weekend talking to folks about birds, science, conservation and people - so much fun. Of course, most conversations began with 'I use Merlin and it's amazing'. Incredible how popular Merlin is in the UK. Fun fact - on some days, around special birding events, Merlin is the most downloaded app in the UK!

The awesome power couple, Tim and Penny, that run Global Birdfair (with hundreds of fantastic volunteers), came down to our stand for a friendly visit. Note that 60% of the people in this photo are in shorts - the first day was scorching hot; inside the marquees it was steaming. In the next days the weather improved significantly.

Ian looking very professional here (he is), unintimidated by the monstrous Dartford Warbler in the background, threatening to predate him

I gave one presentation, about the present and future of Birds of the World. Thanks Mark for the snap.

Speaking of Mark, Global Birdfair is always special because of the great friends from all over the world. Some of my favourite humans globally were there, for example Amity, and Mark from the internet. So much love to all of my friends - you're the best.

Here they are again with Petra of Swarovski Optik.

Huge thanks to Swarovski Optik for hosting the Cornell stand again. The collaboration between Swarovski Optik and the Cornell Lab is so important and amazing. I was thrilled to use the new Swarovski scope, the AT Endura. It's super sharp, lightweight and compact - launched in September, surely it will be popular.

It was great to meet new friends, legends in this case. First, the mandatory Bonner Black selfie:

Bonner is awesome. We had a chance to hang out together for a bit, which was great fun. She gave a fantastic, albeit short show, playing some of her popular songs. I especially enjoyed her version of The Beatle's 'Blackbird'.

Another legend I had a chance to finally meet in person was Kenn Kaufman. I felt ashamed to ask for a selfie with him... Maybe when he comes to Israel. Here he is with another legend, and friend, Stephen Moss, talking about his birding and his books.

While I was not waving the Israel flag, it was my pleasure to feel part of the BirdLife family at Global Birdfair. There were representatives of 17 BirdLife partners, and I was honoured to join the VIP lunch with some of BirdLife International's most important partners and supporters. Thanks Martin for inviting me.

The conservation cause for Global Birdfair 2026 was the special and threatened birds and habitats of São Tomé and Principe. It was wonderful to meet the dedicated conservationists who came over to talk about their work. The mural created by top talented artists was stunning.

While mid July isn't the most exciting time of year for birding in the UK, birding was done, to enjoy what there is to see, while keeping my eBirding streak. I birded different sections of Rutland Water, and Eyebrook Reservoir. Some early returning shorebirds were nice, and plastic waterfowl are always fun. The most exciting observations I had during GBF were a roding Woodcock that flew over the road one evening on the way back to the accommodation, and a Turtle Dove that flew over the grounds.

Mandarin Duck

Canada X Græylag Goose hybrid

Since my return home I was asked by many people in Israel how did it feel to be an Israeli at Global Birdfair. I can report here that I had zero unfriendly encounters. On the contrary, I felt so much appreciation to what BirdLife Israel is doing. So many birders miss birding in Israel. I am sure that when things calm down over here, international birders will return.

After Global Birdfair I headed over to Norfolk, where I stayed with Mike and Deborah - thank you! I spent two full days visiting friends and birding. I am embarrassed that I twitched the long-staying Black-winged Kite near Sea Palling. I see them in Israel on a daily basis. As this is still such a rare bird in the UK, and I was in the area already, I thought it would be rude no to. It took a bit of searching, until I finally spotted it from a huge distance. Probably more significant observations to the region were two Corn Buntings, and a Western Yellow Wagtail.

Volume up - nice commentary by other twitchers

On my final morning, en route to Stansted Airport, I visiting Cattawade, Manningtree, with Mike, for the Hudsonian Godwit. We found it fairly quickly, feeding on a flooded saltmarsh, locally known as North Marsh. We had great views with an assembling crowd. Light conditions were harsh, and it was a bit distant, but hey ho - super bird.

Hudsonian Godwit was not a global lifer for me - I saw one near Melbourne, Australia in January 2000... Excellent UK and WP bird nevertheless.

And that was that. Great experience both at Global Birdfair and after that. eBird trip report here. Until next time!

My bogey bird

2026-06-28T10:20:47.429+01:00

Every keen birder-lister-twitcher has a bogey bird. This bird that keeps evading, missing it by minutes, dipping on it multiple times, the one that everyone else saw and celebrate. Mine is Great Shearwater. I have seen it outside of Israel, but in Israel not yet. It is not that rare, with 11 records to date. Until this summer, all records came from the Mediterranean coast, typically during January and February. Almost all records came during rough seawatches, often without documentation. Previously, only one hag around for a bit. In 2015, Shahar Alterman found one off Jaffa, that circled in the area for an hour and allowed a handful of local birders to twitch it, and it even got photographed (see photo here). I was living in the UK back then. In January 2026, a moribund individual was picked up north of Tel Aviv (images here). It was taken into care and subsequently died. A couple of twitchers headed to the INPA wildlife hospital to see it before it passed away... That's not my style. For years, I have been going seawatching during westerly storms in January and February with one species on my mind: Great Shearwater. No luck yet, made even more painful by missing it several times by minutes.

Fast forward to Saturday, June 20th. Like almost every Saturday early morning, I circled around Hulda Reservoir, birding peacefully, as appropriate during the cucumber season. I enjoyed a handful of early migrant shorebirds (eBird checklist here). Then at 07:13 my phone starts beeping and my calm birding is disrupted. Shahar Shalev had just found a Great Shearwater in Eilat, showing well, sitting on the water. However, Eilat is about 3.5 hrs drive... I sped back to the car, dropped my dog off at home, picked Rony up and soon we headed down to Eilat. We were on the phone with Shahar and others on the beach. The bird was showing well until 09:30 when the local birders left home. We arrived to North Beach at 11:52 and started scanning like crazy. The weather was awful (42 degrees, horrible wind and dust storm), so conditions weren't great. We scanned and scanned until the evening and couldn't find the bloody bird, despite our best efforts. We did see a couple of OK birds (eBird checklist here) but that didn't make the dip any easier.

Cory's Shearwater

White-eyed Gull

I had to head back home that evening, driving through the dark desert in agony. Rony stayed over with Rami, and next morning (Sunday) they enjoyed fantastic views of the Great Shearwater. Arrrghhh but congratulations to Rami who's the first person to reach 500 species in Israel. I had work I couldn't miss on Sunday and Monday and decided to try again on Tuesday, following a boat-load of happy birders that had an amazing experience with the bird on Monday (see Oz's checklist here for example). I left home with Gal at 02:30 to arrive in Eilat at dawn. We headed out into the bay on a boat of a friend, Itzik. Several birders were scanning from shore. The bird couldn't be located from the boat nor from shore. I was gone. Not see again since Monday. Second dip. Again, good birds were seen from the boat (eBird checklist here), only not the one that I wanted so much. I was a very enjoyable boat trip, thanks Itzik!

Cory's Shearwater flew by close

Many terns were out in the Gulf, often being harassed by skuas/jaegers

Parasitic Jaeger

On Thursday I returned to Eilat, this time for a planned weekend holiday with my family, scuba diving and birding. I was still hoping that the Great Shearwater would make a comeback, but it didn't. My early morning sessions at North beach were nice, but lacked any Great Shearwaters.

Bridled Terns

Plenty of White-cheeked Terns around, this is an immature

This tatty 2cy Mediterranean gull was surprising, as it is out of place and out of time.

Some non-avian action - I think this is a Green Sea Turtle

Unless this bird reappears in Eilat, I will have to wait for another winter of rough seawatching - maybe finally I will get lucky with my bogey bird.

Global Big Day May 2026

2026-05-10T09:08:00.001+01:00

Yesterday it was Global Big Day, plus World Migratory Bird Day. Twice a year, I do my best to see as many bird species as I (reasonably) can in a day. This time, my regular team was disfunctional. Jonathan bunked out completely. Rea was busy with other commitments (?!?) so he joined only for the Agamon Hula part of the day, then left. I birded the full big day with Omer and Shalev (a young keen birder). We birded our 'regular' northern birding route, which isn't regular of course - it's spectacular. Over the years we figured out it provides the best possibilities for great birding in one day and we repeat it almost every Global Big Day.

I left home at 02:00, picked Shalev and Omer up en route, and arrived at the entrance to the Hula Reserve at 03:56. Tawny Owls were properly active as they should:

We drove around in the open fields around Agamon Hula before dusk, in hope for some nightjars that we did not see. We did have however Barn and Scops Owls. We birded the first couple of hours of the morning in and around Agamon Hula. The lake itself hadn't anything special, but the groves and fields surrounding the lake were great. The mulberry trees attracted many migrants, including Olive-tree, Willow and Garden Warblers. The big Eucalyptus trees held nice numbers of Golden Orioles. We heard their fluty vocalisations all over, and saw many briefly, but taking a photo was something else...

Typical view of a Golden Oriole

We left the Hula Valley around 08:30 (and said goodbye to Rea) with 94 species - not bad. We climbed up Mt. Hermon, and swept up mid- and low-elevation specialties efficiently - Western Rock Nuthatch, Sombre Tit, Syrian Serin, Rock Bunting, Eastern Black Redstart, Eastern Bonelli's Warbler. We birded there in typical big day fashion, fast and furious, and none of the birds were showy, so no photos at all.

When we descended to the Golan Heights in the late morning, the temperatures rose up to 37 degrees C (99 F) which made birding unpleasant. We made a few roadside stops to add species but escaped back to the air conditioned car. Valley of Tears was pretty good, with lots of birds singing and being active despite the heat. Black-headed Bunting, Upcher's Warbler, Woodchat and Red-backed Shrikes - good fun. A Eurasian Eagle Owl was scoped sat inside its burrow, our fourth owl species of the day.

Languid Warbler

In the early afternoon we birded some fish ponds in the Bet Shean Valley, braving the extreme heat. Ma'ale Gilboa fishponds had Broad-billed, Curlew and Temminck's Sandpipers, a large flock of Collared Pratincoles, Blue-cheeked Bee-eater and Namaqua Dove. In Kfar Ruppin fishponds we had a nice tern selection including Common, Little, Gull-billed and Whiskered. We also had a few duck species including two Marbled Ducks.

I was under time pressure to return home, plus I was exhausted, and hot, so we called it a day. Arabian Green Bee-eater was our final new bird of the day. We ended the Big Day as a team with 149 species - pretty good I think (I added Lesser Kestrel on the drive back home). Check our eBird trip report here.

Thanks to Omer, Shalev and Rea for a great day - it was very good fun and totally awesome to be out in big day mode.

My Champions of the Flyway 2026

2026-05-07T11:44:00.004+01:00

It’s been a few days since Champions of the Flyway happened. I’ve been super busy and couldn’t find the time to write about this inspiring event until now.

Champions of the Flyway 2026 conservation project was to protect falcons in Israel, including from poaching - #letfalconsflyfree

My team at BirdLife Israel and the team of Eilat Birding Center have been working hard for several months on this event, planned for March 26th. Our plans for an international event went up in the air, literally, with the Iran – Israel war. When the war escalated and didn’t end, we considered canceling the event altogether, in fear that no Israeli teams will commit to take part in the project, due to the security threats and instability. However, we decided to postpone the race day to April 27th, in hope that the war will have ended by then. Finally, the war did end, and 17 teams showed up in Eilat for the race. Originally, the date shift to the end of April seemed very promising from a birding point of view. Traditionally, this is one of the busiest periods for migration in Eilat, with huge numbers and diversity of migrants expected.

I arrived in Eilat on April 26th and met with some of the teams that were in Eilat for final briefing. I managed a little bit of birding en route and in Eilat, and was shocked how few migrant passerines were around. This is possibly linked with the exceptional rain in the desert, providing migrants with rich stopover conditions all over the desert, making the traditional stopover sites of Eilat almost redundant.

On race day, April 27th, I was out all day with the teams, making sure everything was working fine and the teams were keeping safe and seeing birds. It was a tough day for birding for all teams, confounded by the lack of migrants. A few teams struggled to find some common migrants. Shorebirds were OK though, as were raptors. It was a big day for Levant Sparrowhawks, with hundreds taking off from the Eilat Birding Center in the morning. One got caught in the nets:

Noam Weiss, director of Eilat Birding Center, appreciating

Plenty of Euro Honey-Buzzards going through too:

There were a few Little Herons at the IBRCE too - are you OK with that new name? Fine bird nevertheless.

Some team members needed some assistance using my scope:

The Black Scrub-Robins in Kibbutz Samar were active as they should be - breeding now:

Sorry for the poor sound recording - noise and wind and haste:

At the entrance to KM20 saltpans, a lone Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse showed very well. Stunning bird.

Supreme camo

This Blue-cheeked Bee-eater was one of quite many that moved through during the day:

So great to see these youth teams racing like pros:

Flyway Generations and IBRCE's Verreaux's Eagles at KM19

Before dusk teams congregated at North beach for the final push of diurnal birding:

Sooty Shearwater

Jonathan Meyrav, the person behind COTF for many years, now competing and leading the way

Proper North Beach photo by Yuval Dax

Personally, I had a good day of birding, despite the lack of migrants. 104 species ain't too shabby.

Next day (April 28th) I had time for early morning birding at Holland Park. It was so empty of migrants that the only bird photo I took was of these Laughing Doves. Nice to have a pair of Striolated Buntings on territory.

We met at North Beach for the traditional group photo. There were some distractions in the process, in the way of this fishing Western Reef-Heron:

Then we spotted a moribund Leopard Torpedo (what a cool name to an amazing fish) stranded in a coastal puddle. One of the guys found a bucket and released it back into open water. Sorry for embedding this X tweet, not the video itself - blogger wouldn't allow me to upload it.

בזמן שמשתתפי תחרות הצפרים באילת המתינו לצילום קבוצתי בחוף, הבחינו בדג החשמלן המנומר, לכוד בבריכה רדודה. הם סייעו לו חזרה לים. @yoavperlman מעדכן כי התחרות הייתה קשה במיוחד השנה, שכן הציפורים לא שכנו באזורים המסורתיים כמו פארק הצפרות אילת ויטבתה. המשמעות היא שהצפרים נאלצו לעבוד pic.twitter.com/sMoYhlrnYW
— ilana curiel (@ilanacuriel) April 28, 2026

The traditional group photo is by Yuval Dax and almost all following wonderful people photos are as well:

Getting ready for the award ceremony at the IBRCE (my humble photo):

Congratulations to the Great Tits - Ido, Ofer, Michael and Gur, a group of teenagers, for scoring 127 species and winning the Champions of the Flyway 2026 award! Huge appreciation to Hadas, their guide and mentor since a very early age, and to Adam, who was the 'responsible adult' of the team.

The Green Champions of the Flyway, Cream-coloured Coursers - Haim, Gabriel and Moshe. G and M are 14 and 16! Birding on foot all day, they are amazing!

Sanctuary Champions of the Flyway, the Ma'agan Michael Sandpipers, represented our Ma'agan Michael Birding Center, birded all day inside the IBRCE and did great!

Team Transitiva, an all-LGBTQ team, Dror, Tahel and Ruhama, won Guardians of the Flyway for raising the largest amount for conservation. They received as a prize for their efforts, three Swarovski Optik CL Companion binoculars.

Knights of the Flyway, the Goldfinches, an all-woman team, including two non-Jewish birders - Doris and Hulud, did a stellar job promoting the conservation cause, and also have been racing at COTF since 2015 without missing a year! You are awesome! Here they are in action at KM20 saltpans:

All COTF26 participants under 18 - the best thing about this race. Watch them - the future birding and conservation leaders of Israel.

Importantly, the substantial funds raised for protecting falcons in Israel will hopefully make a real impact, supporting better applied research, our anti-poaching unit, and outreach activities.

Thanks to Alen, Noam and my entire team at BirdLife Israel for organising Champions of the Flyway so well, once again. Eilat Birding Center hosted the events - thank you to the entire team who make us feel so welcome every year. Thanks to Yuval for photographing the event. Thanks to Swarovski Optik for supporting COTF. See you in Champions of the Flyway 2027.

Go Champions!

Birding in times of war

2026-03-24T19:28:00.013+00:00

It's been a while since my last update here. First, my family and I are safe. So many of my friends worldwide reached out, worried about our situation. I hugely appreciate that. Thankfully, we have a safe room at home. During the 5 to 10 daily missile attack sirens we move quietly to the safe room and wait it out. Those last weeks have been very tough indeed. Sleepless nights, constant explosions, missiles exploding to our left and to our right, alert messages coming it constantly. Not fun. The war disrupts our life - schools are off, many work places are closed. For us at BirdLife Israel the war meant cancellation of many events and activities, including Champions of the Flyway that was supposed to happen tomorrow.

I hope this horrible war ends soon - our endurance is running out. However, not a war nor a pandemic can stop me from birding. The spring and the birds out there lure me, I can't resist. More on this below.

I have a little bit of catching up to do. Since I returned from Uganda in mid December, a succession of family medical cases limited my birding very much. Of course, nothing can stop me completely, but I was much less flexible than normal, missing out on lots of birds. Too many eBird checklists were done en route to a morning shift at the hospital, like this one.

After all, in January and February I did see a few good birds, and take a couple of decent photos, despite all the challenges.

It's Peregrine o'clock, Jaffa, January 14

Greater Scaup at Maayan Zvi, January 19 - my first in Israel since 1998, great find by Uriel Levi

Romanian-ringed Pallas's Gull, Palmachim, January 29

Isabelline Shrike, Dor, 1 February

Tristram's Starlings, Wadi Mishmar, 20 February

I managed to make it down to the Negev for my Asian Houbara point counts, part of a collaborative study with INPA:

Eared/Black-necked Grebe near home, 22 February

In late February I joined an international workshop in Eilat, organised by Noam Weiss, Alen Kacal and the Eilat Birding Center team. This is the fifth year we are holding this workshop, bringing together conservationists and bird people from the Eastern Mediterranean flyway. I really enjoyed my time there, meeting wonderful people, and seeing some good birds in the process. This is what happened when I found an Oriental Honey-Buzzard flying over, and interrupted one of the presentations.

Namaqua Dove

One of the resident Painted Saw-scaled Vipers at Eilat Birding Center

The Negev is in amazing bloom after the generous winter rains.

Astragalus kahiricus

Ovda Valley

Eilat Mts. didn't receive substantial rain, but are stunning nevertheless.

Sinai Rosefinch - female

Loud workshop participants in the background:

A day before the war broke I visited Tel Krayot in the northern Negev to say hello to a fine Kurdish Wheatear:

The morning the war broke, February 28th, I was out birding with Piki not far from home. This was the first time of many that I was caught out by sirens while birding. Trigger warning - sirens in the background.

In the first week of the war I didn't move far away from home. All my birding was done within few minutes distance from our safe room. Even then, I got caught out several times with sirens. As much as I enjoy birding my very local sites, I started to feel somewhat claustrophobic. Slowly slowly, that urge to head out into the great outdoors and explore the beautiful habitats, reunite with the returning migrants, was too powerful. I started travelling to different parts of the country, for work and for birding. Taking unnecessary risks, for sure, but there's nothing I can do about it. Magical March. Birds. Flowers. Desert. Migration. You get it.

AI counted 2000 White Storks in this photo

We adopted recently a new dog, Mocha. She brought much-needed joy and laughter to our household after weeks of tension. On the way to pick her up I heard a familiar call.

On March 14th I travelled down with Arad to the southern Negev to admire the Thick-billed Lark breeding eruption developing. Wonderful habitat.

The weather was actually nasty with crazy winds and rain, but eventually I got some decent photos of the larks. Stunning birds. I like the soft light caused by all the dust in the air.

heading back home we noticed on the Mitzpe Ramon roundabout two leucistic House Sparrows that were mixed in with the 'normal' sparrow flock:

Coastal birding has been good recently, though I missed some peak days and purple patches.

Super smart Desert Wheatear

Typical coastal birding scenes - Rüppell's Warbler, Isabelline and Northern Wheatears

Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush from Tel Krayot - like clockwork

2cy male Citrine Wagtail from today at Maagan Michael - note the moult contrast in GC

I hope that by my next update the war will be over. I suppose I will receive some banter from hypocrites who will accuse me of crime wars committed by Israel and USA, ignoring the suffering of the people of Iran. And how can I go birding and write about it when innocent people are losing their lives and houses. Well, I don't ignore the suffering of any civilians, in Israel, Palestine, Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE and anywhere else. War is horrible for all involved. Also, last time I checked, I am not prime minister of Israel or president of USA. However, I live in Israel, and in this blogpost I describe my personal war experience.

Uganda final blogpost: Kisoro Youth festival and summary

2026-02-15T11:43:00.003+00:00

Our final leg of the FAM trip was perhaps the most meaningful. We drove from Bwindi to Kisoro, where we participated in the Global Youth Festival for the Conservation of Albertine Rift Endemics. The Festival took place in Virunga Hotel in Kisoro on December 12th-13th. It was so amazing to meet many young birders and conservations that flocked to Kisoro for the Festival, from all over Uganda, also from Rwanda and Kenya. Some of the youth travelled for days to reach Kisoro. Our group participated in the first session of the Festival. The few hours spent together were enjoyable, educational and inspiring. I had a opportunity to talk for a few minutes. I focused on the importance of data collected by citizen scientists, using platforms such as eBird, topped up with photos and sound recording uploaded to eBird and Macaulay Library. I also talked about the importance of flyway-scale conservation initiatives, connected through migratory birds. I talked about Champions of the Flyway, and congratulated Patricia our incredible guide who participated in COTF in 2023.

Of course, we birded the Virunga Hotel grounds, and spent quality time on the roof, appreciating the fantastic vista of Kisoro and surroundings. There were a few White-necked Ravens loafing on the roof - awesome beasts.

In Kisoro we stayed at the lovely Ichumbi Hotel. The hotel grounds hosted some cool birds:

Red-throated Crag-Martin

Cape Wagtail

Streaky Seedeater

I especially enjoyed birding the adjacent 'suburban' farmland. This is such an enjoyable aspect of African birding. The bird I appreciated most was MacKinnon's Shrike. We had seen this central African shrike out of the car in previous days, but this was our first proper view, of a pair.

Chubb's Cisticola showed very well - too well in fact

Too close for my Swarovski ATX85 scope

Yellow Bishop

Western Citril

The original FAM trip plan had included an overnight stay at Lake Mburo, with plenty of birding time in the national park. The visit to Lake Mburo was highly anticipated by our group, because for every bird we asked Herbert and Patricia Where's the best place to see it, the automatic response was 'Lake Mburo'. Eventually, in the final couple of days our team dispersed, as people had to leave at different times. Yannina and I had an afternoon flight to catch from Entebbe (another six hours drive). Our plan for an early morning boat ride on the lake (for i.e. African Finfoot) drowned in torrential rain that cancelled the boat trip, so we missed Lake Mburo completely. Ah well, next time.

On the way out of the park we drove by Nyakigando Wetland which was actually fantastic, with Rufous-bellied Heron being the highlight, and lots of other wet waterbirds (eBird checklist here).

African Openbill

Malachite Kingfishers - little gems

From there it was a long drive to into Entebbe. Forging Entebbe traffic took some patience.

Eventually we arrived at Entebbe airport, where I submitted my final eBird checklist in Uganda. I said my goodbyes to Patricia, to Shindishi our fantastic driver, and to our group, caught a flight to Addis Ababa (no terminal birding this time - layover was at night) and onward to Tel Aviv.

It was an amazing trip in Uganda, certainly one of my best birding trips ever. Despite being a FAM trip and not a 'proper' birding trip, we did pretty well I think. Check our eBird trip report here. Between the entire group we saw 481 bird species, which isn't bad at all. I assume that during a proper birding trip of the same length and itinerary, the 500 species target is achievable.

I personally had 463 species, 115 of them were lifers, demonstrating how unique is the birding in Uganda, distinctly different from birding in Kenya and Tanzania where I have done lots of birding before. My personal Ugandan birding highlights included Shoebill of course, Papyrus Gonolek, Rock Pratincoles, African Skimmers, Giant Kingfisher, African Wood-Owl, Chocolate-backed Kingfisher and other Royal Mile specialties, Arnot's Chat, Regal Sunbird, Dusky Crimsonwing and other Albertine Rift endemics and Bwindi specialties, and MacKinnon's Shrike.

Check the checklists map above, depicting our classic birding route across western Uganda. These 209 checklists, submitted almost exclusively by myself in real time, required significant effort. As I was not leading this tour, this effort was manageable. It is much more challenging to keep up with eBirding when I'm tour-leading.

Eric kept the mammal list, sort of. Our total is around 35 species, with highlights including Mountain Gorilla, Chimpanzee, Patas and Red-tailed Monkeys, Leopard, and Serval.

I cannot find high enough superlatives to describe the experience of this FAM trip in Uganda. Uganda is a wonderful country. The scenery is simply stunning, people are super friendly, weather is mostly great, food is awesome. The birding infrastructure is excellent, with good local knowledge, and superb accommodation options at prime locations.

Herbert Byaruhanga and his team at Bird Uganda Safaris organized the FAM trip at the highest standards possible. Herbert is such a great guy, and it was a pleasure to spend time with him in the field and also in between field sessions. Thank you Herbert for inviting me to participate in the FAM trip. Thank you also to the Uganda Wildlife Authority, the National Forestry Authority, and selected hotels and lodges, for hosting our group with such generosity and good will.

Patricia Kansiime is an exceptionally amazing guide and person. Thank you so much for your field skills, but also for your friendship and support.

I want to send my deepest gratitude and friendship to our super team - Yousif, Yanina, Uncle Eric, Shawneen, Jim, Rick, Julie, Luis Argentina, Luis Colombia and Penny. You are all awesome and it was a pleasure to share this amazing experience with you. Love you all.

My bottom line - come to Uganda. It's an amazing country with exceptional wildlife, birds and mammals, and a unique wildlife experience. Bird Uganda Safaris are well recommended to help you make the most of your time in Uganda.

Uganda part 6 - Bwindi impenetrable Forest

2026-02-05T21:16:00.002+00:00

The next region we visited during our FAM tour was Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. This extraordinarily biodiverse area was perhaps the highlight of the entire trip. The six-hour road journey from Queen Elizabeth National Park to Bwindi was anything but uneventful. We stopped at several excellent birding sites along the way and, in fact, saw some of the most iconic birds of the entire tour on December 9th—our travel day.

Papyrus Gonolek is one of the most sought-after birds when visiting Uganda, and I certainly gave Herbert a headache about it. Every morning I asked him the same question: “Will we see Papyrus Gonolek today?” We tried our luck at several papyrus swamps during previous days, without visual success (although we did hear them calling on a couple of occasions). Finally, at Orusindura Marsh, luck was on our side. A pair first vocalised, then hopped into view rather briefly, displaying their brilliant colours before melting back into the depths of the papyrus. Wow.

I had unfinished business with Papyrus Gonolek after my 2023 Kenya Rockjumper tour was cut short, when I had to return home due to the October 7th war. So it was both a huge relief and a moment of great excitement to finally set eyes on this stunning bird.

Another special bird we encountered on December 9th was spotted from the main road by our expert guide, Patricia. “Stop!” she shouted to our driver, Shindishi. He slammed the brakes, and we pulled over on a busy main road in the middle of a bustling town, Nyaklgugwe. Arnott’s Chat! Patricia had expertly picked out a male perched on roadside wires, and there was another male there. It was a challenging spot—too much traffic and too many curious onlookers. We stayed for barely nine minutes before moving on (eBird checklist here), but what a bird. Truly beautiful and fascinating. With its patchy and limited distribution in Central Africa, subspecies collaris ('Ruaha Chat') may well deserve full species status.

The main reason for visiting Bwindi, of course, is the Mountain Gorilla experience. I had dreamed of seeing Mountain Gorillas for many years, and finally that moment arrived. Our trek was scheduled for the morning of December 10th. We arrived at the Rushaga Sector headquarters and went through the full ceremony, briefing and formalities before being assigned to track the Kutu gorilla group.

Anticipation built steadily. Eventually, the entire group set off—11 of us in total, including trackers, guides, porters, and security guards. It was quite a procession. We climbed the mountain for over an hour, birding along the way (eBird checklist here) and soaking in the beauty of the forest and scenery (check the habitat photos added to the checklist). I enjoyed the climb immensely—just the right level of effort. When we finally met the trackers who had located the Kutu group, our magical hour with the gorillas began.

I was almost breathless—not from the climb, but from excitement. I could hardly believe I was standing there with them. The gorillas were so close we could smell them; they brushed past us as they moved through the forest. I felt an extraordinary sense of connection—an intimate, deeply moving experience.

When the massive silverback appeared, we all seemed to stop breathing. His sheer power and size, as he walked past me, made me feel suddenly small and fragile.

There were also some wonderfully comical moments. One involved a playful two-year-old clearly having the time of his life.

Another came when the silverback sat down inside a dense bush. One of the guides tried to move a large branch that was blocking our view. The silverback disagreed, calmly pulling the branch back to cover himself again. Perfect.

BTW, you can see in the videos that were lots of flying insects. worry not, they didn't bite, they weren't even that annoying.

Our accommodation in Bwindi was Four Gorillas Lodge, and I cannot praise it highly enough. The rooms, food, and service were excellent, but for birders the real highlight is the setting. The lodge is surrounded by superb habitat, and the management team are keen local birders themselves. There aren’t really “grounds” as such—the lodge is nestled right within the forest. Gorillas are sometimes seen from the balcony. Just outside is a birding trail that we walked several times, including once with a group of young local birders, which was awesome.

Birding along the Four Gorillas trail was outstanding, with many excellent species showing extremely well. This region is especially important for Albertine Rift endemics, and during our short stay we managed to see—and photograph—quite a few of them.

Yellow-eyed Black Flycatcher

Red-faced Woodland Warbler

Dusky Crimsonwing

Blue-headed Sunbird – here with a Kikuyu Mountain Greenbul

Regal Sunbird – spectacular

Purple-breasted Sunbird – breeding at the lodge, their nest visible from the balcony

The nest

We also observed, but didn’t photograph, Strange Weaver and Rwenzori Batis. Other birds I enjoyed there were Brown-capped Weaver - so cool how they crawl along trunks and branches nuthatch-like.

Black-billed Weaver - that glowing yellow head

Mountain Wagtail is such an elegant bird

Gray-headed Nigrita

Black-billed Turaco - I love the habitat and background of this photo

Black-faced Apalis

Many more birds seen along the Four Gorillas Birding Trail - check this eBird checklist for example.

Uganda part 5 - Queen Elizabeth NP

2026-01-19T19:11:00.006+00:00

On December 7th 2025 we headed from Kibale towards Queen Elizabeth NP. En route we stopped at a few places, including a lunch stop at Chimpanzee Forest Lodge. I ate very quickly to leave time for a little bit of birding before heading off. The lodge grounds held excellent birds, including Great Blue Turacos, Green-headed and Olive-bellied Sunbirds, and more (eBird checklist here).

Black-crowned Waxbill

Brimstone Canary

We also did a mandatory stop at the equator crossing spot - thanks Yani for the snap.

We arrived at Queen Elizabeth NP in the afternoon.

We stayed in the national park for two nights (until December 9th). After a few days of neck-wrecking forest birding, it was good to bird in open country again. The beautiful savanna habitat of Queen Elizabeth held so many birds and mammals. Every safari drive was packed with quality birds and offered surprises.

One of the hugest bull Elephants we met

Defasa Waterbuck

Wattled Lapwing looking smart

Senegal Lapwing looking elegant

Black-bellied Bustard looking a bit silly

Small Buttonquail looking weird

Harlequin Quail looking shocked (encountered during a night drive)

The undoubted birding highlight of our stay in QENP was a boat trip along Kazinga Channel. Similar to the boat trip we did in Murchinson Falls NP, this boat trip should not be missed. Despite the midday heat and harsh light, it was fabulous (eBird checklist here).

Woodland Kingfisher

Can you pot the male Greater Painted-Snipe? Here with Spur-winged Lapwing, Common Ringed-Plover, and Wood Sandpiper:

Goliath Heron

Plenty of gulls and terns along the channel, including good numbers of African Skimmers, this is a recently-fledged young, already looking sharp:

Lesser Black-backed Gull of some sort, maybe heuglini? Head is a bit too streaked IMO but mantle isn't jet black enough for fuscus:

Gray-hooded Gulls

There were many mammals by the water, mainly Buffalos, and literally tons and tons of Elephants. Mammals = Yellow-billed Oxpeckers:

We had fantastic luck with cats in QENP. One evening we encountered not one but two Leopards, just before dusk. Super animals.

That pattern

The big surprise happened after dusk, when we spotted a mindblowing SERVAL hiding in tall grass. What an incredible animal and we had fantastic views. Despite many previous visits to Kenya and Tanzania, this was my bimbo Serval. Wow.

Our accommodation in Queen Elizabeth National Park was at Buffalo Safari Lodge. It was wonderful there, the rooms and facilities, and the birding. The only issue was that after dusk walking around is not advised without armed escort. Because of these guys.

As mentioned above, birding was excellent at Buffalo Safari Lodge.

One can never have enough of Black-headed Gonoleks, even when they behave like House Sparrows:

Can you see me?

Nubian Woodpecker

Chasing off an opponent

Swamp Flycatchers were feeding a young just by the restaurant

Gimme that hoverfly!

Taken by phone

Double-toothed Barbet

Northern Crombec

Red-chested Sunbird

Rooftop Red-necked Spurfowls

Uganda part 4 - Kibale Chimpanzees

2026-01-04T19:04:00.004+00:00

Our next leg of the Uganda FAM tour took us to Kibale National Park. It was a long drive on December 5th 2025, through spectacular landscape. It was very interesting to watch the habitats change while we climbed up the mountains of the Albertine Rift. There were many birds to be seen en route so we made several birding stops. A stop at Fort Portal wetlands (eBird checklist here) was productive, with several cool weavers seen. Northern Masked-Weaver has a highly restricted range in Uganda, this is the prime location to see it:

Black-headed Weaver

Northern Brown-throated Weaver

A pair of White-collared Olivebacks whizzed through very quickly - too quick for my camera (or for the camera operator) to focus, but such great wee birds:

We arrived to our wonderful accommodation at Guereze Canopy Lodge in the afternoon. It was a pleasure to stay at this beautiful lodge, established and operated by the Ugandan female birding legend Harriet Kimigasha. Soon after our arrival we headed out birding in the lodge grounds and environs. It was spectacular, so many excellent birds just there. Highlights included the rare and patchily-distributed Masked Apalis, that showed pretty well while singing:

Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird and White-breasted Nigrita in the background:

Masked Apalis distribution map from Birds of the World

Wait until the end to see how this male Klaas's Cuckoo stretches his neck while singing:

This stunning Snowy-crowned Robin-Chat was bathing in the lodge garden:

Not a bad way to end the day, with a bottle of Nile. Eric is so huge!

At night, Red-chested Owlet, African Wood-Owl and Fiery-necked Nightjar were calling in the garden.

The main course was on December 6th, our first encounter with great apes. We met up with our guides and armed escorts from Uganda Wildlife Authority, and set off on Robin Hill trail to search for Chimpanzee family groups. It was a nice, long walk through beautiful forest.

We listened out for Chimpanzees, and before not too long heard one family group, high up in trees. Our excitement was peaking, being so close to these incredible animals. But we couldn't see them! We walked around in the forest, trying to locate them, without luck at first. After a good search and bush whacking through the dense undergrowth we finally spotted them, sitting high up in a tall tree. Wow. They stayed high up, hiding in the trees, but eventually we got good views. Admittedly, I failed miserably to photograph them. This is the only half-decent photo I got of a powerful, large male jumping down from a large tree to check us out, so quickly I couldn't get a photo when it was close:

My digiscoping efforts paid off a bit more than my DSLR efforts, I think. Honestly, it was a bit of a schlep to carry my scope everywhere. However, when digiscoping opportunities materialized, my Swarovski ATX85 proved to be so sharp and good and I don't regret carrying it around.

While admiring this Chimpanzee family, another family approached from the forest. The vocal interaction between the two groups is amazing - turn your volume up!

The Chimpanzee experience was outstanding and thrilling. Birding was tough, as it is normally in jungles. We heard lots of birds, and got mainly fleeting views of silhouettes in the canopy, or back sides of shapes flying away... Still, lots of quality in that forest (eBird checklist here), including Blue-breasted Kingfisher, Narina Trogon, White-tailed and Red-tailed Ant-Thrushes. A pair of obliging and beautiful Blue-breasted Rollers waited for us by our vehicles when we returned to the road.

That afternoon we took the Bigodi Community Walk, where we experienced local village life, crafts and coffee making, while enjoying excellent countryside birding (eBird checklist here). I love African countryside birding. Often, on normal bird tours in East Africa, there isn't enough time to appreciate the diversity and quality of birding in typical countryside habitat with heterogenous, extensive cultivation in small plots, rich hedges, and forest patches and edges. Therefore, our time birding in Bigodi village was hugely appreciated, and photo opps were plenty, as birds are very used to human activity.

Human activity

This child was crawling through a wall of skirts during a dance show

Lesser Striped Swallow

Angola Swallow

White-chinned Prinia is an attractive little bird

Brown-throated Wattle-eye is common and stunning.

I love it when bird names are given according to the female plumage - check that beautiful brown throat!

Those red wattles

We obtained better views of African Blue Flycatchers - that little crest is gorgeous:

The cherry on top was a Red-headed Bluebill - super bird!

After dinner we went to Bigodi swamp for a night walk. We saw a few night mammals, including Demidoff's Dwarf Galago and East African Potto, two cool small primates, check their links in iNaturalist. We had good views of them but I failed to get any photos. Luckily Yousif did:

With the use of a thermal we spotted a few night-roosting common birds, including sleepy Collared Sunbirds, and a Green-backed Camaroptera all tucked in, looking like an alien.

Special summary - my birding year in 2025

2025-12-29T22:12:00.004+00:00

It’s that time of year again when I look back on the standout birding and wildlife moments of 2025. It has been a very strange year. From a birding perspective, it was remarkable—both in Israel and abroad. Yet on a national and human level, it was dreadful. I rarely write about politics here, but the situation in Israel is so severe that it touches every part of my life. As my beloved country continues to deteriorate, and life grows harder for a liberal, secular person, birding, nature, and time with like-minded people in the nature and science communities have become a growing beacon of light and hope.

2025 was a year of intensive birding in Israel, complemented by several fantastic trips overseas. In this summary, I’ll revisit the year’s highlights at home and beyond—local and national birding, twitching, fieldwork, photography, travel, and more. Enjoy.

A year of birding in Israel

The year 2025 has been exceptional for birding in Israel, marked by massive migrations during both seasons, and a productive breeding period despite ongoing drought conditions. Throughout the year, I proudly maintained my eBirding streak, recently celebrating seven consecutive years of birding. In 2025, I submitted 870 checklists and uploaded to the Macaulay Library 561 photos, 141 videos, and 72 sound recordings.

A significant portion of my birding consists of local outings. Thankfully, living in Israel offers a wealth of excellent birding opportunities within a 10 km radius of my home, and I take full advantage of local sites. Additionally, I continued my fieldwork with BirdLife Israel, participating in breeding bird surveys, various studies, and migration counts.

As of December 29th, an impressive 415 species have been reported on eBird this year, and I have observed 386 of them, which is quite satisfying. I was so busy towards the end of the year and missed several easy birds. Below are my annual totals for birding in Israel over recent years:

In 2025 I had two Israel ticks (Eastern Red-rumped Swallow in January, and Common Grasshopper-Warbler in May), bringing my eBird Life List in Israel to 493 species. At this rate, 500 isn't unimaginable, in a few years...

January

The year started well with a trip up north that produced several great birds, including Radde's Accentors, and Red-wattled Lapwing.

Close to home, my friend Micha found a Pine Bunting, coupled with a Yellowhammer, enjoyed with Piki.

On the last day of January I travelled down to Eilat, to twitch an Eastern Red-rumped Swallow, found by Noah konopny and Zvi Schwarzfuchs. The swallow showed very well!

February

In February I had some fieldwork duties in the far south, which was good fun. Towards the end of the month, first spring migrants - always fun to find my first Rüppell's Warbler of the season.

Nothing special, just a photo I liked

March

In March migration picked up, and I was all over the place. Early in the month I said goodbye to the overwintering Pied Bushchat before it departed.

I travelled down to Eilat twice during March. On the first visit I was rewarded with brilliant views of this neat Menetries's Warbler in the city.

In late March I headed down to Eilat for the Eilat Birding Festival and Champions of the Flyway. It was a wonderful time of year to be there, so many birds, great people and atmosphere - bliss. Race day was on April 1st.

Caspian Plover

Two long-staying Lesser White-fronted Geese

Black Scrub-Robin

Champions of the Flyway 2025 group photo by Yuval Dax

April

In April, post Champions of the Flyway, despite not seeing any proper rarities, I thoroughly enjoyed massive spring migration.

Blackcaps in the Golan Heights

Semicollared Flycatcher in Yeruham

May

May is always a busy month for migration. May 2025 did not disappoint, in that respect. On May 8th I dipped on Israel's first Sharp-tailed Sandpiper in Eilat. Long drive for a dip. However, there were so many birds down there that we were only a tiny bit disappointed.

Mixed shorebirds

Gull-billed Terns

Terek Sandpiper

On May 11th it was Global Big Day. We had a fantastic day up north, with so many special birds and moments.

Rosy Starlings in Agamon Hula

On May 14th I was delighted to see a Common Grasshopper-warbler at the Jerusalem Bird Observatory. An Israel tick for me, actually it was my bogey bird, laid to rest,

June - July

The summer months were slower, though I enjoyed many breeding birds. A traditional trip up to Mt. Meron to appreciate the Eleonora's Falcons that spend the summer there was enjoyable.

August

In August autumn migration picked up, and good birds pored in. This stonking male White-throated Robin, part of a nice arrival in southern Israel, was a real poser.

September

In September shorebird migration peaked. I enjoyed visiting migration sites to take it all in. The Tel Avivian Pacific Golden-Plover returned for another winter.

This Pectoral Sandpiper I found on September 11th at Ma'agan Michael was well appreciated by many birders.

A pelagic trip off Eilat on the 19th produced a single Swinhoe's Strom-Petrel:

This year we counted raptors, and conducted research at our restoration projects. Phenomenal.

European Honey-Buzzard, one of many that roosted on the 8th at our restoration site in Kfar Ruppin

Levant Sparrowhawks over home, September 23rd

Obliging Red Knot at Ma'agan Michael, 26th

October

In early October I enjoyed counting large numbers of Lesser Spotted Eagles.

And White Pelicans

This fearless young Red-footed Falcon was near home, at Tal Shachar:

November

I enjoyed several morning with excellent active migration during the month. No outstanding photos from these events, but I enjoyed this Rook at Arsuf:

December

I was away in Uganda during the first half of the month, then super busy after my return. My final year bird was Cinereous Vulture - two birds in Haifa on December 24th.

World birding

In April I went with my family to Greece. It was my first visit to this wonderful country. I enjoyed birding the countryside, where Cirl Buntings and Eastern Subalpine Warblers were common. I had one global lifer there, Rock Partridge, that I didn't succeed to photograph.

In late May I flew to California, where I presented at a conference in Stanford University. Before the conference I spent two days of whirlwind birding with my friends Brian and Aaron - thanks guys! those two bird-packed days blew my mind.

Black-footed Albatross

Lawrence's Goldfinch

Mountain Quail

Lazuli Bunting

Wilson's Phalarope

In July I participated in Global Birdfair, representing Birds of the World. Here I am with my Cornell Lab team mates, Iain, Alex, Ali and Ian.

I didn't neglect my role as director of BirdLife Israel, and supported Alen from my team when she shared her experience in a panel on the healing power of nature.

In late November I flew to amazing Uganda, to participate in an exceptionally awesome FAM tour. We saw so many incredible birds and mammals. I am slowly posting about this trip. I took so many photos that it's taking me too long to sort and edit them. Stay tuned for more updates.

Shoebill

Papyrus Gonolek - poor photo of a great bird

Mountain Gorilla

Serval

That's it for 2025, more or less. There's a storm blowing outside now, seawatching tomorrow, so maybe one last good bird tomorrow morning? In the meanwhile, I am so thankful for the opportunities I had in 2025 to be outdoors, to spend time with good people, to experience nature at its best.

My love and appreciation to my family for their support throughout the year and always.

We had an incredible year together, with so many happy moments and also sad periods, including the loss of our beloved dog Lola.

Huge thanks to all my birding mates, who share those wonderful moments with me. Love you all.

I thank my employers at SPNI/BirdLife Israel and Cornell Lab/Birds of the World for enduring my birding. Swarovski Optik have been providing me with the best optics, for which I am grateful.

I thank all my supporters and followers in Israel and worldwide, here on my blog and on my social media platforms. Please, keep on birding, be good to each other an to our world. I wish us all a wonderful 2026!

Uganda part 3 - Royal Mile

2025-12-27T11:33:00.002+00:00

On next day (December 4th) in the Uganda FAM tour we first birded our accommodation at Kabalega Resort. As always, it was good fun. Nothing special, but we enjoyed solid, colourful birding (eBird checklist here). We tried the adjacent wetland for Papyrus Gonolek, no success, so had to make do with its common yet stunning relative, Black-headed Gonolek.

A pair of Gray-capped Warblers were vocal

Our main destination for the day was Budongo Forest Reserve, birding the famous trail named Royal Mile. The origin of this name is the use of this stretch of forest for different royal activities by kings (Omukama) of the Bunyoro Kingdom in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Birding on foot (rather than birding from a safari vehicle) is a feature of Ugandan birding that I really enjoyed. Birding on foot allows a better and deeper connection with the habitat and with small birds. Also it allowed me to digiscope, which I enjoy. This opportunity to bird on foot in Uganda is in contrast to birding in Kenya and Tanzania, where almost all birding opportunities along the classic routes are from inside a safari vehicle.

We arrived at Royal Mile, met up with Amos the expert local guide, and his apprentice (sorry I don't remember his name), and started birding the trail. The habitat was beautiful - rich, lush forest:

Local people walked up and down the trail as well. We were told that these women are collecting seeds from the forest.

Birding the forest was pretty challenging.

Warbler neck African style

Davis demonstrating another strategy for canopy birding

We heard so many birds, identified mainly by Amos and our guides Herbert, Patricia and Davis (who joined us for the day). It was much more challenging to view these mobile birds up in the canopy, and even more so to photograph them. Eventually we connected with all of our target birds (eBird checklists here and here), but photo opps were few and difficult. At least I obtained some half-decent sound recordings and videos. This sound recording demonstrates how challenging it it to sound record when birding in a large group...

Ituri Batis up in the canopy

Chestnut-crowned Flycatcher - too mobile for a decent photo

At least White-thighed Hornbills showed well enough:

While most birds didn't cooperate too well, kingfishers actually did. African pygmys showed very well:

We found a pair of African Dwarf Kingfishers, but they were very high in the canopy and pretty mobile - tougher to document.

The icing on the chocolate cake was this Chocolate-backed Kingfisher, that took some effort to find until Davis spotted it - fantastic bird! Yani - your contribution to the soundtrack is most welcome.

While birds were challenging to document, butterflies were super abundant. We were in awe with the huge diversity and sheer beauty of some mega oooooooh-wooooooow butterflies. Here are a few photos, I hope I got the IDs right, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

African Map

Bematistes macarista

Blue Diadem

Danaid Eggfly

Euphaedra uganda

Spotted Ciliate Blue

Huge thanks and appreciation to Amos, he's an amazingly skilled, knowledgeable birder and guide, deeply involved in research and conservation at Budongo forest Reserve. if you visit royal Mile, Amos is your man.

That evening we stayed in Kabalega Resort Hoima. Before dusk we walked the grounds and enjoyed some good birds (eBird checklist here).

Our first African Blue Flycatchers - stunning birds

Magpie Mannikin - our only observation during this tour

After dinner, a pair of African Wood-Owls performed amazingly well in the garden - incredible views of this awesome bird:

Uganda part 2 - Murchinson Falls NP

2025-12-24T18:41:00.003+00:00

The long drive from Entebbe to Murchinson Falls NP on December 1st was enjoyable, as we practiced our collective birding skills spotting and identifying roadside birds. We arrived at Kuchumbanyambo Gate at dusk and were greeted by calling Fiery-necked Nightjars by the gate.

We stayed at the wonderful Sambiya River Lodge. This was the view from my room:

Lots of wildlife inside the lodge, including Warthogs

As always, it was challenging to leave the lodge and head out to the park with so many birds in the carpark.

Our first morning in the park itself (December 2nd) was stunning. Being surrounded by so many mammals and birds, in beautiful habitat, made the safari experience very special. Cool birds seen during the first few hours included:

The delicate Vinaceous Dove

Crazy Blue Malkoha

And the stately Gray Kestrel

Mammals were plentiful, with large herds of Ugandan Kob, Rothchild's Giraffe, and several other ungulates.

Hartebeest

Oribi

1,2,3,4 Rothchild's Giraffes

Interestingly, many of the giraffes had white faces and necks. I don't have a good explanation for this.

My personal highlight in Murchinson Falls NP was the boat trip on the Nile. We did the comprehensive trip, and it was incredible. If you visit Murchinson Falls, don't miss this boat trip. Fantastic birds (eBird checklist here) and wildlife, super photo opps, and unique vistas.

Seeing the riparian habitat from the water was very special

Made even more special with different eyes focused on us...

Nile Crocodile

Nile Hippopotamus

Mantled Guereza

Out of the sky dropped a flock of 140 Abdim's Storks onto a nice sandbar.

A small group of six African Skimmers graced that same sandbar. Amazing birds with an incredible bill.

Several Giant Kingfishers were seen very well - excellent stuff.

Male

Female

We sailed past a breeding colony of Red-throated Bee-eaters - total gems:

An old colony

We sailed up the river as close to the falls as possible. Such a mighty experience.

Not far from the falls we found a lovely flock of 22 Rock Pratincoles. I almost started crying. Beautiful, dream birds.

The bloody camera didn't focus

African Darter

Most of December 3rd was spent safari-driving and birding in the park. So many birds were seen. I like birds that have 'Abyssinian Roller' in their name.

Abyssinian Roller

Abyssinian Ground-Roller

We visited the top of Murchinson Falls which was impressive.

There were several Rock Pratincoles up there too. In this video, the mighty roaring power of the water can be appreciated (volume on):

Back in safari mode, Piapiac is a curious magpie relative. It was quite abundant in the park, often seen associating with herds of mammals.

Patas Monkey - very sweet

Beaudouin's Snake-Eagle with its meal still sticking out of its bill

We had lunch at Pakuba Lodge that was exploding with birds (eBird checklist here), despite the midday heat.

Shelley's Rufous Sparrow

Poor photo of a great bird - Swallow-tailed Bee-eater

This Marabou came in for a chlorinated drink in the swimming pool:

Our FAM tour crew - Julie, Luis and Marabou

Uganda part 1 - Entebbe and Mabamba Swamp - Shoebill!

2025-12-19T10:00:00.000+00:00

I have recently returned for a fantastic trip to Uganda. The trip was organized by Herbert Byaruhanga, in his capacity as Chairman of the Uganda Safari Guides Association, together with members, in collaboration with Bird Uganda Safaris, the Uganda Wildlife Authority, the National Forestry Authority, and selected hotels and lodges. It was a FAM (familiarization) trip for a group of bird people from different parts of the world, to help promote birding tourism in Uganda.

I left Israel on November 30th. In Addis Ababa I met up with my Canuck brother Yousif. We enjoyed every minute of our layover in Bole International Airport, birding through the terminal windows, appreciating every bit of wildlife we spotted. Especially surprising were the Palearctic migrants we saw, including Pied Wheatears, and a poor thrush Nightingale trapped inside the terminal.

My bird photo of the year (not) - phone photo, through bins, through airport window, of a Pied Wheatear

We landed with great excitement in Entebbe, and were driven to our accommodation on the outskirts of the city, at Jet Villas. We quickly headed outside for a first taste of enjoyable farmland birding by our accommodation. Of course, as Mazungus, we attracted considerable attention from the local kids, who escorted us during most of our walk.

We saw lots of great birds just outside our accommodation, including Palm-nut Vultures, African Harrier-Hawk, Lizard Buzzard, and many other cool, common farmland birds.

Juvenile African Harrier-Hawk

Those legs - wow!

Lizard Buzzard

Red-cheeked Cordon-Bleu showing exactly why it's named 'Red-cheeked'

Red-chested Sunbird

White-throated Bee-eater

Next day (December 1st) we met up with the rest of our team - from USA, Colombia, Argentina and Spain. They were staying at the Boma Lodge, where stunning Northern Brown-throated Weavers breed at the carpark.

We took a boat from Vanga Beach, and sailed across Lake Victoria to reach Mabamba Swamp, home of the legendary Shoebill. The boat ride across the lake and through the main channel was actually very good fun with lots of great birds.

Long-toed Lapwing from up close

Malachite Kingfisher

We met up with Innocent the Shoebill expert and the other local guides, hopped onto smaller boats and set off to explore the Mabamba Swamp. Our local guides worked hard!

Soon we arrived at a location where a Shoebill had been spotted earlier that morning. And there it was, in all its glory. The legendary, monstrous, incomprehensible Shoebill. Stood in front of our boat, doing its thing (which wasn't much, mainly preening).

We had a magical time with the Shoebill, keeping a safe distance not to disturb the bird, close enough to enjoy every feather and every move. We all felt very privileged to share space and time with this unbelievable creature. On our first morning in Uganda!

Check that huge tongue inside the bill

When the Shoebill preened the mantle feathers, we noticed it was carrying a satellite tag. Later on we found out that it was one of the young birds tagged by Judith Mirembe / Shoebill Watch Uganda earlier this year.

Eventually the bird took off heavily, displaying its enormous size and huge wings. Wow.

We then continued to explore the swamp, seeing two more Shoebills in flight, and observing Lesser Jacana (no photos unfortunately), Beaudouin's Snake-Eagle, Blue-breasted Bee-eaters and many more great birds.

This boat trip was an unforgettable experience. Innocent and the other guides showed great expertise, and also respect towards the Shoebill, without pushing too hard. I strongly recommend to take this fantastic boat trip in Mabamba Swamp.

Non-stop birding

2025-11-05T20:13:00.005+00:00

In recent weeks I have been trying to make the most of this wonderful time of year for bird migration in Israel. Because of climate change it's still horribly hot here, but late autumn and winter migrants are pouring in following their evolution-imprinted internal clocks. These past few weeks have been packed with birding, every day. Like a birding junkie, I need my daily dose of migration. Most days I bird close to home, sadly without Lola since October 18th. Sometimes I have opportunities to bird in other parts of the country. I have a few weeks of birding to cover in this blogpost; I will do so in chronological order.

Red-footed Falcons are typical October birds here. The region where I live, in central Israel, is quite good for flocks stopping over. They're so popular with photographers here (justly, they're wonderful birds), so I avoided several popular sites and flocks as long as I could. While birding near home on October 14th I bumped into a small group of these elegant little devils.

They're so small that Jackdaws and even Mynas give them a hard time. I wish this pursuit between a Jackdaw and a female Red-foot happened a bit closer to me.

One young Red-foot was super obliging.

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It's been a few good weeks for Willow Warblers

I have been so busy with work in recent weeks that I had to skip several twitches. These included a mega Verreaux's Eagle roaming the Eilat Mts., and a very showy Ring Ouzel in a small park in Mitzpe Ramon. I eventually made it down to Mitzpe Ramon (with Meidad) only after the ouzel had departed, on October 27th, but enjoyed close views of a gorgeous Olive-backed Pipit:

In Nafha farm, a Spotted Crake utilized the malfunctioning water treatment plant that created a wonderful, bird rich sewage wetland. Check all the bird calls in the background:

On October 30th I birded with my mate Frank in the Bet Shean Valley, that was full of birds as always. How miniature Black Storks look, dwarfed by the monster Great White Pelicans:

We spotted an odd raptor on an irrigation line, with white on its neck and belly. It took off, I fired off a few shots, and dismissed it as a funny Black Kite. A couple of days later, when I downloaded and edited the images, conspiratory thoughts infiltrated my mind - I was blown off course by the short, square tail, and the bill looked heavy. But after close inspection, Amir noticed that the tail is clipped. So it is a funny Black Kite eventually, with two off characters (the clipped tail and white regions).

On October 31st we held a big public event in Ma'agan Michael. I started off with a couple of hours of early morning vismigging for the soul. It was amazing, with huge numbers of Chaffinches and Skylarks (eBird checklist here). Wild easterlies squeezed everything towards the shore - migration was really dense. Because of the strong wind I couldn't hear much, but spotted a Bimaculated Lark and a Hawfinch flying by. Many skylarks migrated over the sea, low above the waves. Breathtaking.

On the way out I enjoyed this 1cy male Siberian Stonechat, that could be Armenian (ssp. variegatus), based on the limited white on the base of tail feathers.

During a birding walk I guided, we appreciated this spectacular Citrine Wagtail, as bright as they get.

The continuing easterlies and hot weather created conditions that are rare on the coast, and resulted with fairly decent raptor migration, including this 1cy Bonelli's Eagle:

And a dark-morph Eleonora's Falcon:

Yesterday morning, birding near home, nothing too special, just a nice selection of migrants:

Hen Harrier, one of three

1cy female Siberian Stonechat

Stock Dove is a bit of a thing in Israel:

coutellii Water Pipit - catching a bug:

Goodbye, my dearest Lola

2025-10-19T20:28:00.004+01:00

Yesterday morning, my beloved dog Lola died tragically. We went out for a routine early morning birding walk in some agricultural fields near home. I watched pipits and wagtails and chats, she sniffed around in the bushes. On the way home she developed first signs of distress. By the time we got back home few minutes later, her condition started to deteriorate quickly. By her symptoms it was clear to me that she had been poisoned. With the help of a friend we got her to a vet quickly, but she couldn't be saved and died. Such a horrible, cruel and unnecessary end for the loveliest of dogs.

Lola arrived to our family shortly after October 7th, two years ago. She came from a village close to the Gaza border that was attacked by Hamas. When I picked her up, in the car, the radio played 'Lola' by The Kinks, and I decided to name her Lola.

When she arrived at our house, she made us smile for the first time after October 7th. She brought so much happiness and comfort to our traumatized family. Very quickly she fit into our family, and developed a deep relationship with each one of us. The kids loved her so much. Here she is with my daughter Libby.

Lola learned her role as my birding companion instantly, and enjoyed our birding sessions together very much. She was perfect in the field. She adjusted her behavior to mine when I was birding and was very attentive to me, she stopped when I stopped, walked on when I did. She was so patient and quiet. Since eBird added the option to upload habitat photos, she appeared in my eBird checklists too.

Because she was so perfect in the field, I always took her with me when I was out birding, also with other people. Because of her friendly and calm nature, she was loved by so many people. She enjoyed going with me to my regular birding locations such as the Jerusalem Bird Observatory. Thanks Amir for these photos from Friday, a day before she died. Here she is positioned at her regular spot by the ringing table:

It was the annual ringers meeting, that included food - she was on the lookout for a quick bite:

She loved Piki very much and he loved her back. Thanks Piki for these photos:

With birding friends:

She had a special BFF, Leila. They loved each other so much and spent lots of time together.

Goodbye my dear, beloved dog. I miss you so much. My birding will not be the same without you.

Those ears

Best of autumn

2025-10-10T20:10:00.003+01:00

These past few weeks have been super busy for me. I have been doing more fieldwork than I usually do, especially with a raptor count that we did in northern Israel. It has been an excellent autumn/fall migration, with good numbers of many common migrants. I enjoy this kind of birding very much. Admittedly there have been few proper rarities recently, but I'd rather marvel at spectacular migration every day than go twitching.

On September 11th I was out in Maagan Michael, doing my routine monthly monitoring of our restoration project there. Halfway during a point count, I spotted a Pectoral Sandpiper that walked into view for two seconds, then disappeared from view before the two others with me could see it. I had to wait in agony until the 10-minute point count was over, to walk around the corner and confirm the all-too-brief ID. It was.

This sweet Eastern Black-eared Wheatear was one of many migrants present that day.

On September 16th my organisations (SPNI) has an event for our employees on the beach in Tel Aviv. I co-led one of the free walks we offered our staff, and found this White-tailed Lapwing on the beach - super unusual in urban Tel Aviv, a harbinger of a small influx that brought five birds to Tel Aviv.

On September 19th I led a pelagic trip into the Gulf of Aqaba, on behalf of Eilat Birding Center. Only one bird came into the chum slick, but that bird was a Swinhoe's Storm-Petrel that showed very well for a couple of minutes.

Before the pelagic Piki and I checked the KM20 saltpans that were full of common shorebirds. Among the less common shorebirds was this lovely Broad-billed Sandpiper:

September 23rd was a day of massive raptor migration over Israel. I was not out counting that day, I was busy doing all kinds of things, but the 36 minutes I could spare in my garden, watching the sky, were awesome: 2360 Lesser Spotted Eagle and 1420 Levant Sparrowhawks that went through in several tight flocks like this one:

I enjoyed connecting with two beautiful young Red Knots on Maagan Michael beach on September 26th - scarce birds in Israel, but this is THE place and time for them in our country:

Local birding has been awesome too, with some reservoirs holding large amounts of birds. Check this sweet flock of Whiskered Terns (and a Pied kingfisher):

On Yom Kippur (October 2nd) my birding/checklist streak had to continue, so I walked out of home to check the adjacent fields, unusually carrying my camera. Those were days of big European Bee-eater migration, and this wonderful flock perched on a mulberry looked especially glamorous:

On Cotober 3rd I was counting raptors in Gvat. Take-off was impressive, the Lesser Spotted Eagles struggled to gain altitude, and sailed past me very low, some of them very close.

This one had a metal ring on, I couldn't read the code:

Steppe Eagle

On October 4th I was point-counting at our restoration site in Kfar Ruppin for a study we're doing there. Phenomenal amounts of birds still (eBird checklist here). After the point counts it was getting hot yet the alfalfa fields were full of birds. I found a Richard's Pipit which was a bit nice:

This shrike duo, Great Gray Shrike on left, and Lesser Gray Shrike on right, allowed good comparison. Both are so beautiful.

On October 6th I was counting soaring birds again, this time in Afek National Park, in central Israel. Raptor migration was quieter (eBird checklist here), but pelican migration was awesome:

Finally, a Spotted Flycatcher, one of many seen at Nafha on October 9th. In my eyes, this is a great example of a birds that isn't colourful at all, nevertheless it is so pretty.

May the rest of the autumn continue to be so good!

Phenomenal

2025-09-10T16:50:00.006+01:00

On Monday (8 September 2025) morning I worked at our restored wetland in Kfar Ruppin, Amud Reservoir. I collected there data for a study we're doing with researchers from Ben Gurion University, looking at the biodiversity impact of our restoration work there, and linking it with environmental attributes of our site. It was a phenomenal morning, one to write home about. I arrived few minutes late, at first light. As soon as I stepped out of the car I witnessed thousands and thousands of birds already leaving their roosts in the reservoir, twirling in the air, flying at all directions - Little Egrets, Pygmy Cormorants, Glossy Ibis, Turtle Doves, Barn Swallows, and Western Yellow Wagtails. It was pretty chaotic. I worked especially hard to count them all - I really needed extra eyes and fingers but I was alone. I hope I did OK. I had to use estimates for some species. Of course I had no time to document this terrific rush of birds.

After the big numbers had left the roost, there were still thousands of birds in the reservoir. At this time of year, as is natural in Mediterranean wetlands this time of year, water levels are very low, creating large mud expanses and shallow water, that attracted loads of shorebirds, ducks, storks, herons, spoonbills etc. The reedbeds were teaming with warblers. In the following videos (taken through Swarovski Optik ATX85), turn the volume on a listen to all the bird sound in the background:

An Osprey was munching on a large fish it had caught:

As soon as there was enough light, I became aware of a true spectacle. Hundreds of Honey Buzzards roosted inside the reservoir, and several hundreds more in trees along the adjacent Jordan River. Many of them flew out of the vegetation onto the mud, some just loafed around, others drank some water before taking off.

When it heated up they start taking off, circling low over the reservoir, slowly picking up altitude in thermals as the air temperature rose. I stood there in the middle of their take-off, surrounded by Honey Buzzards of all colours and morphs, in all directions, some below me inside the reservoir, some above me, some so close I could hear their wingbeats and they flapped by. It was a powerful, almost transcendental experience.

I think that this male has some Oriental genes, with an orange eye, faint carpals, and broad terminal tail band:

There was one proper Oriental Honey-Buzzard among the 2800 Europeans that took off. It was too low and quick, and I was too slow, so I failed to get a photo of it.

I left the reservoir with my head buzzing with sooooo many birds. Check my eBird checklist here. One of my best checklists ever. 117 species, 14561 individuals, and this was an underestimate - there was no way to accurately count the countless warblers in the vast reedbed.

Funny warbler

End of summer catch-up

2025-08-26T16:18:00.001+01:00

Since my previous blogpost in late July I have seen lots of great birds, despite the heat and everything else going on here... These are some of the birds I saw during the end of summer and early autumn migration that is well underway now.

Eastern Bonelli's Warbler at the Jerusalem Bird Observatory

'Ehrenberg's' Redstart - Jerusalem Bird Observatory

White-throated Kingfisher - Jerusalem Bird Observatory

Long-eared Owl - Jerusalem Bird Observatory

Our restoration site at Maagan Michael is full of birds

Yavne 1 ponds are somewhat quiet this autumn, but I did find there to leg-flagged shorebirds. This Common Redshank was marked at Atlit on July 1st 2025 by Yosef Kiat. I saw it, 95 km south, on August 1st.

This Wood Sandpiper was marked at HaMaapil by Shai Blitzblau on August 15th 2023. I saw it, 60 km south, on August 16th 2025.

Yavne1 ponds

An unseasonal, surprisingly early Black-winged Pratincole (with a Collared Pratincole), at HaMaapil.

A trip down to Eilat provided some nice terns (without photos). While searching for the hypocolius family, without success, I saw some locally-produced youngsters.

Arabian Babbler

Kentish Plover

Trumpeter Finch kindergarten

White-throated Robin in the Negev, August 20th - stunning bird, part of a small wave mainly in southern Israel

Black Tern at HaMaapil

Greater Painted-Snipe - this individual has been around since 2021 (when it was ringed - can you see the ring?), mainly at HaMaapil

Global Birdfair 2025

2025-07-27T15:58:00.004+01:00

I’m late to the party, but in this case, better late than never.

Over the weekend of 11–13 July, I took part in the world’s largest birding event – Global Birdfair, held in Rutland, UK. You may recall that last year I grumbled about not attending. This year, I decided to go – not because the hostages kidnapped by Hamas on October 7th were released, the war Israel is embroiled in has not ended, and certainly not because Israel is drawing less criticism these days given the horrific outcomes of its actions in Gaza. I went because Global Birdfair is THE place to be.

Anyone who’s experienced it knows the unique power of this event – uniting leading birders, conservationists and nature lovers from around the world. The professional, seamless organisation and inspiring leadership by Tim and Penny – or rather, Penny and Tim – played a huge part in making the experience so enjoyable. On the flip side, the FOMO when you’re not there is real – hence my whining last year.

If you’ve never been to Global Birdfair, I highly recommend this excellent YouTube video by Simon McCabe – it gives a great sense of the atmosphere and scale of the event.

This year brought a new experience for me at Birdfair. For many years, I’ve attended as a representative of BirdLife Israel, promoting birding in Israel, our conservation work, and international events like Champions of the Flyway. This year, I wore a different hat – representing the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, promoting Birds of the World and other brilliant Cornell projects like Merlin, eBird, and the Macaulay Library. If you missed my recent update on Facebook: since January 2025 I’ve been working with Birds of the World, in parallel to my role at BirdLife Israel, helping expand the project’s reach across Europe.

At Global Birdfair, I took the opportunity to connect with many key partners – existing, emerging, and potential – including organisations, institutions and individuals. It was a privilege to join the fantastic Cornell team. Our stand, adjacent to Swarovski Optik, was buzzing with activity. Interest in the Lab’s work was immense – and I was truly taken aback by how wildly popular Merlin has become. It seems everyone had it on their phones! It’s inspiring to see how many people are taking their first steps into nature through Merlin – their pocket birding companion.

Iain, Alex, Ali, Ian, and me

Alen Kacal from my team at BirdLife Israel was also at Birdfair. I joined all her events and represented BirdLife Israel at several BirdLife International meetings. I was pleasantly surprised by the widespread warmth and appreciation towards Israel – for its birding and for its people. It gave me a sliver of hope that this horrific war might one day end, that stability may return to our region, and that international birders will once again come to witness the miracle of migration in Israel. Here's Alen participating in a panel discussion on the healing power of nature, brilliantly moderated by Nick Acheson:

For me, Global Birdfair is ultimately about people and friendships. It was wonderful to reconnect with so many old friends – some whom I hadn’t seen in years. In previous years, my phone nearly burst with selfies. This time, for some reason, I didn’t bother – so I don’t have many photos. I also won’t be tagging a million people on Facebook. I’ve become a little less social media-savvy of late. These two fine Yorkshiremen deserved attention:

Mark from the internet

Good luck to Rich Baines with his new book - The Rarity Garden!

As always, given the timing and location, birding wasn’t the main attraction at Global Birdfair – especially in the extreme heat. On Friday, temperatures reached 35°C outdoors, and inside the tents it felt like a stifling 50°C. Still, I had to keep my checklist streak alive, so birding was done!

I enjoy birding Rutland Water, even during the quiet season. It's very pleasent. The volume of birds is impressive. My only notable sighting was a group of Bearded Titlings calling from a reedbed not far from the visitor center. I hadn’t realised how rare they are at Rutland Water, so didn’t attempt a recording or photo – my mistake. I was later contacted by the regional eBird reviewer requesting more details – we’ll see what comes of that.

Another amusing eBird moment involved Feral Pigeons. In Israel, every early morning session at this time of year includes flocks of hundreds, often thousands, of Feral Pigeons flying between cities and surrounding farmland. So, when I was birding in Rutland and noticed a few flocks flying over, I casually logged 300 on eBird. Soon after, a reviewer contacted me – apparently, this isn’t normal in Rutland. They’re likely racing pigeons, which shouldn’t be reported on eBird. Odd, I admit – but I accepted the suggestion and removed them from my checklist. That’s a first – being challenged on Feral Pigeons!

After Birdfair, I made a quick dash to Norwich and Norfolk before flying home. I stayed overnight with good friends in Norwich, and the next morning (July 14th) I birded Cley Marshes. It was quite pleasant, with a few early migrant shorebirds – Curlew Sandpiper and Wood Sandpiper being the most exciting.

The only bird I photographed during the whole trip was a Cattle Egret. Boring?

I am amazed at how rapidly they’ve colonised the UK. I vividly remember a wet August 12th 2008, post-Birdfair (then still called British Birdfair). I was sitting in a hide at Cley with Steve Gantlett and my brother Gidon, when a Cattle Egret dropped out of the grey sky onto the scrape in front of us.

Cattle Egret, Cley, August 12th 2008

Back then, Cattle Egrets were seriously rare in the UK – indeed within minutes dozens of birders twitchers arrived to see them. My brother and I jokingly predicted they’d quickly spread across the country, and even suggested they should be 'stopped' before it was too late – thinking of the ecological damage they’ve caused in Israel’s wetlands and rangelands. Our comments earned a few scowls from grumpy twitchers in the hide. Seventeen years later, that colonisation is well underway. I’m not sure whether the ecological impact of Cattle Egrets – or other expanding herons like Great Egrets – on UK habitats has ever been studied.

Back to 2025, from Cley, I visited friends in Sheringham, then headed to Luton Airport and flew back home.

My full eBird trip report is here.

See you at Global Birdfair 2026!

California part 3 - Stanford and Palo Alto

2025-06-15T20:03:00.001+01:00

I am writing here while missiles are exploding over my head... What else is there to do other than reminisce about better days and hope for better days ahead.

After the first two full days of birding in California, I had to slow down a bit because of the Stanford conference I was taking part in. I had time only for quick pre-breakfast sessions on Stanford Uni campus and in nearby Palo Alto. My initial intention was to see enough birds to maintain my eBird checklist streak. However, urban birding in Palo Alto and Stanford was really enjoyable. I appreciated the common urban birds - good diversity, and several attractive species.

Acorn Woodpecker - this is a female (red rear crown), of ssp. bairdi I presume, with a broad pale forehead, solid black chest, and flank streaks.

American Robin is very common but always cool. This male singing by a main road has some skin infection on its legs (known as 'scaly legs'), likely caused by Cnemidocoptic mites or papillomavirus.

One morning I birded with Marty around Lake Lagunita, at the south side of campus, which was actually very nice. A Virginia Rail was calling from the little remaining wet vegetation, listen to it here, somewhat faint, at ''5 and ''14:

Lake Lagunita

Western Bluebird is a common urban feature too, but this male caught the early morning sun so beautifully that its photo had to be taken:

California Towhee - subtle, fairly range-restricted, but very common

Brown Creeper - superficially similar song to European trecreepers

Arizona Gardens in Stanford Campus - the tall palm hosted a Hooded Oriole

Warblers weren't easy to come by in Stanford and Palo Alto during my stay, so I was pretty pleased to stumble upon this singing Yellow Warbler. Listen to it here, at ''5, ''14 and towards the end (California Towhee in the foreground).

My final morning before heading back was spent at Bayfront Park in Millbrae, by the San Francisco airport. It wasn't easy to hear much with all the aircraft noise, but eventually I had good scope views of a Ridgway's Rail feeding along the saltmarsh edge - nice end to an excellent visit to California.

Check my eBird trip report here - 163 species, 57 checklists (most of them done by Brian and Aaron - thanks again), it was fun and I can't wait to be back and finally catch up with two species I keep missing (because I arrive at the wrong time of year) - Surfbird and Black Turnstone.

California day 2 - San Mateo county

2025-06-10T10:23:00.004+01:00

My second day in California (May 27th) was another full dawn-till-dusk birding day. I had the pleasure of spending the day with Aaron Maizlish. It was spent in San Mateo county, birding from the Pacific coast to the San Francisco Bay area. We met up at Pigeon Point and started off at Gazos beach and Gazos road going inland. The riparian forest was excellent with lots of activity, visual and vocal, and some good stuff.

'Russet-backed' Swainson's Thrush - horrible photo of an insurance tick ahead of a proposed split

Often seen flying up in tree canopies, Band-tailed Pigeon is quite spectacular when seen at eye level.

In more open, grassy areas a few stunning Lazuli Buntings were seen:

As well as equally-stunning Grasshopper Sparrows ;-)

And a tatty-looking Savannah Sparrow

At Pigeon point we had two Wandering Tattlers. We then headed up the coast towards Half Moon Bay, that produced some nice stuff as well. At sea we had lots of alcids including many Pigeon Guillemots:

At Devil's Slide we had one Rock Wren, but it didn't stick around for photos

Across the ridge, we arrived in San Francisco Bay. At Coyote Point the long-staying Harlequin Duck was located resting on distant rocks:

Nob Hill pond in Belmont provided nice urban birding, with Black Skimmers - that bill:

Cinnamon Teal - what it says on the tin:

We were in desperate need for lingering migratory shorebirds for the day list. We checked different mudflats and wetlands - nothing left behind. Finally, while driving on Dumbarton bridge at full speed, we spotted a group of 'brown' shorebirds in Don Edwards NWR saltpans. We pulled over and enjoyed a medium-sized group of Greater Yellowlegs that also contained a marvelous Wilson's Phalarope (my third ever, after two winter-plumaged vagrants, in Israel and in UK):

'Western' Willet

And a beautiful summer-plumaged Long-billed Dowitcher

We ran out of daylight at Coyote Hills Regional Park. Our daily total of 113 species was quite good, I think. Thanks again to Aaron for another great day out. Aaron worked hard all day, including keeping all the eBird lists.

California part 1 - Monterey

2025-06-04T20:08:00.002+01:00

I recently returned from a short visit to California. The main reason to travel there was to take part in a conference that was held in Stanford University. Before the conference I spent two full days of birding in California. The first day, May 26th, was spent in Monterey County with Brian Sullivan. During the day we met up with Paul Fenwick and Brooke Keeney. It was an almost Big Day. Originally Brian had offered me to leave at 2 am and search for owls but I opted for a slightly more 'relaxed' option because I arrived in Carmel Valley close to midnight. It was a fantastic, action-packed day, birding from dawn till dusk non-stop. That's one way to get over a jetlag. We saw so many birds, too many to mention in full here. These were my personal highlights.

We started our day birding along the Tassajara road up the Chews Ridge. The sunrise over the Sierra mountains was breathtaking.

Early in the morning we saw several Mountain Quails running along the road. The light was bad still, so the photos aren't great, but they are super birds.

Later on in the morning we didn't see them anymore but they remained vocal.

Up the top of the ridge it was very beautiful. So lush and green. Flowers in all their glory. According to Brian, the early part of the spring was exceptionally cold and wet, so breeding bird activity was at its peak when we visited.

BTW I uploaded this photo and other habitat photos to eBird - I really like this new feature available. I hope I got the plant names right - California Wild Lilac, Foothill Yuca, Sticky Monkey, Scarlet Bugler:

It was very birdy up the mountain, so much bird song, pretty overwhelming for me with all those unfamiliar calls and songs. We searched and found two very cool Black-chinned Sparrows in open habitat:

Lazuli Buntings were singing up there too - stunning birds aren't they:

Around some conifer stands we had the lovely Lawrence's Goldfinch:

Wrentit is such a cool babbler-thing

So is California Scrub-Jay

We bumped into two California Striped Racers up there. So cool how this individual performed the cobra-like the hooding motion:

When we descended into the foothills, we searched and found California's only true endemic bird, Yellow-billed Magpie. We were on a main road without an option to pull over, so the only photos I took are rubbish, through the window. Sorry for the poor quality.

We then met up with Brooke and headed to Moss Landing and vicinity, including Elkhorn Slough and Zmudowski SB. It was packed with birds, lots of waterbirds and coastal stuff, I enjoyed it.

We spent most of the afternoon on Point Pinos, where we met up with Paul. The wind was blowing properly, complete with snow caps, shaky tripods and tons of seabirds. I was hugely impressed by the constant passage of Sooty Shearwaters, 50-60 per minute, an endless stream. There were fair numbers of Pink-footed Shearwaters as well, we counted 76. I was especially pleased to watch Black-footed Albatrosses from land. What a delight.

Cetacean activity offshore was impressive, with several Humpbacks doing their stuff throughout the session, and a playful pod of Risso's Dolphins entertained us. Getting digiscoped footage of the whales was challenging (for me). It took me many attempts until I eventually got something.

Other cool birds that went through were a single 'Manx' Shearwater (is it actually a Manx Shearwater?), nice numbers of Pacific Loons and Rhinoceros Auklets, Heerman's Gulls - I enjoyed this session very much.

Heerman's Gull

Rhinoceros Auklets

Thanks to Brian, Brooke and Paul for an amazing day. Brian did almost all of the eBirding - hard work! You can check the checklists from May 26th in the Trip Report here.

Global Big Day May 2025

2025-05-12T11:27:00.000+01:00

On Saturday May 10th it was Global Big Day, organized by eBird, happening alongside World Migratory Bird Day. Our core team, Jonathan Meyrav, Re'a Shaish and me have been doing these Big Days since 2018. This time, sadly, Jonathan couldn't join us for personal reasons. So we sought for an alternative Jonathan, and came up with the young gun Yonatan Gordon, one of Israel's finest young birders. At the tender age of 16, Yonatan is already proving to be one of the best rarity finders in Israel and is a great guy.

Traditionally, we do the same Big Day route in northern Israel almost every year, with some variations. Overall, it was a great day of birding, though the weather wasn't on our side - it was terribly hot and quite unpleasant around midday.

I picked up Re'a at 03:30 where we had a singing Thrush Nightingale by the bus stop. Our first proper birding stop was at the entrance to the Hula Reserve, where Tawny Owls threw a party.

Driving around pre dawn in the Hula Valley fields produced several Eurasian Nightjars. Early morning birding around Agamon Hula wasn't too busy but actually really enjoyable. Jonathan wasn't there to do the traditional 'early morning wake-up coffee' story, but the photo had to be taken.

The lake itself held stuff including Marbled Ducks. Early on we started seeing small groups of Rosy Starlings flying around. Eventually we located one group on nearby trees - such wonderful birds.

There were several Golden Orioles around - this is how we typically see them in Israel, flying away.

While taking in all the pinks and yellows, we noticed several large acros in a Mulberry tree. Great Reed, Clamorous, but hey what's this one? It's medium sized, it has a long, slender bill (not great reed), long primary projections and short tail (not clamorous), it's olive-grey above with a fine supercilium - Basra Reed Warbler!!! We watched the bird for about a minute jumping in a tree, trying to pick up all the key ID features. We tried to obtain photos but it was very active in the tree and then flew out and away before we succeeded. We searched for it for some time, without seeing it again. We were in Big Day mode so we didn't stay for very long and had to leave. It was seen again in the afternoon at the same spot by others. We left Agamon Hula quite elated with the Basra find - it's a good rarity in Israel, just about annual. It was probably our best ever find on a Big Day.

Fields north of the Agamon held a healthy population of Calandra Larks. It seems that feldegg Western Yellow Wagtails also breed in these fields.

We then climbed up the Golan Heights and birded the excellent habitat along the Petroleum Road. Despite the intensifying heat and wind, there were so many birds around and so much quality. Highlight was of course the now-regular Yellow-throated Sparrows, now back for their fourth breeding season. We had two pairs in breeding action, but they didn't pose for photos. Shrikes were plentiful, we found two pairs of Upcher's Warblers, and Rufous-tailed Scrub Robins are never boring.

Good job to the branch in perfect focus

Distant photo of Red-backed Shrike and Upcher's Warbler - typical Big Day (awful) photo quality

Then we climbed up Mt. Hermon. In 2024, because of the war, Mt. Hermon was closed off and we couldn't visit it. Now it's reopened , and we enjoyed birding there very much, as you can judge by our stupid smiles in this photo:

We 'cleaned up' all expected Hermon specialties rather quickly, and really appreciated the relatively cool weather at 1500 m asl. Syrian Serin, Western Rock Nuthatch, Sombre Tit, Eastern Bonelli's Warbler, Rock Bunting, Rock Sparrow, Eastern Black Redstart were some of the great birds we saw up there and made our time on Mt. Hermon extremely worth our while.

From Mt. Hermon we descended back to the Golan Heights. In the Valley of Tears, Black-headed Buntings were singing in force despite the heat.

We picked up a few more species driving south across the Golan Heights, and arrived at Kfar Ruppin when the heat peaked.

Luckily, shorebirds aren't as affected by the heat as passerines (and humans), so we added an important number of species at the fishponds, in fact at our restoration site: Broad-billed and Curlew Sandpipers, Collared Pratincoles and more. Our final birding stop was in our restored Amud Reservoir near Kfar Ruppin. It was sooooo hot that the local Common Nightingales did not sing.

I had some commitments in the evening so we ended our Big Day in Kfar Ruppin and headed back, adding a couple more species along the way.

Wow, that was intensive and fun. 143 species in total (eBird trip report here), which isn't an enormous list but certainly represents an enjoyable day out. We saw good stuff (Basra Reed Warbler, Rosy Starling), braved the heat, and had a great time. Thanks to Re'a and Yonatan for their partnership - you guys rock. Thanks to Nadav for gen in the Hula Valley. Thanks to Swarovski Optik for their ongoing support.

My favourite mistake

2025-05-09T10:16:00.000+01:00

On Wednesday evening news broke of a first for Israel - Sharp-tailed Sandpiper found by Shachar Shalev at KM20 saltpans in Eilat. Excellent find by Shachar - well done! Shachar sent me breaking news from the field at 18:22, over three hours drive to Eilat, too late...

Few hours later I made my way down south to Eilat with a car full of hopeful twitchers. We arrived in Eilat at dawn, and started working the saltpans. The conditions were harsh, with very strong wind making all the shorebirds very flighty and viewing through telescope challenging. We did our very best, together with few other twitchers (less than 10...). We circled the saltpans for many hours, again and again and again. We kept finding new birds, coming in and shifting between sections, which gave us hope that the sharpie might be hiding somewhere. We also checked other wetlands in the area, but sadly, after half a day of intensive searching we had to give up and admit a dip. There was no sign of the bird - it may have departed overnight.

Thankfully, it was not all gloomy. The KM20 saltpans were full of birds to the brim. They were moving around constantly, and it was clear that new birds were arriving through the morning. Scenes like a tight flock of Wood Sandpipers dropping out of the sky, or a graceful flock of Gull-billed Terns arriving low over the saltpans and resting on the track, are always thrilling.

Gull-billed Terns with lazy Slender-billed Gulls

Closer

A little closer

Not too close (big crop)

Wood Sandpipers fresh in - who knows how many miles they flew nonstop before landing here, seemingly exhausted

In central and northern Israel, Glossy Ibis is a trash bird, resident and often frolicking in horrible sewage ponds and other ugly sites. Down in Eilat I receive a good reminder that in fact part of the population are proper migrants, like this quartet (presumingly) arriving fresh in from Africa.

There were several goodies mixed in with the common species. Terek Sandpiper is always a treat to watch, I love their upcurved bill:

A few Broad-billed Sandpipers were present, some of them with more rufous plumage that this rather monochromatic individual, still very beautiful to my eyes:

Great Sand-Plover, likely a female

Ruddy Turnstone is a bit of a novelty down in Eilat, especially when in such bright breeding plumage

We also had a White-tailed Lapwing at IBRCE, and a Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse at their regular site, KM20 entrance grove. Then it was the long way back home, on the one hand disappointed by the dip, on the other hand quite satisfied after an excellent birding session (eBird checklist here). Philosophical thoughts about the meaning of twitching become even darker after a dip.

A few words about conservation:

KM20 saltpans are a world-famous and globally important stopover site and birding site. This site is well familiar to so many birders who have visited Eilat in recent decades. This fantastic migration hotspot is primarily a commercial salt production facility. Worryingly, the saltpans will go through serious changes in the next few years. We are working together with the salt company and other partners to find sustainable solutions that will maintain the importance of this site for migratory birds, as well as development of alternative solutions for migratory birds near IBRCE. More on this to come.

My first visit to Greece

2025-04-21T12:37:00.008+01:00

Greece is so close to Israel, and such a beautiful country, yet I have never visited it, until last week. I spent the week of Passover with my family in different parts of the country. As it always happens in my family holidays, birding was limited normally to early morning sessions before the rest of the family woke up, and whatever birds I could find during outdoor activities. It was a wonderful trip - I enjoyed the time off and being with my family, Athens was exciting and delicious, the mountains were spectacular, Meteora was unreal.

In Athens, my focus was not quite on birding. The city is wonderful, offering spectacular views of the Acropolis and other world-class landmarks. The food is excellent, too. This is the panoramic view of Acropolis and the Ancient Roman Agora from a rooftop bar near Monastiraki:

I spent three early mornings birding in Athens. The most easily accessible site was Athens National Garden. I was somewhat underwhelmed by birding there. I am used to birding in Israel, where every small garden hosts large numbers of migrants. In Athens I found very few signs of migration whatsoever. The gardens were almost devoid of any migrants. Yet, birding there was sufficient for my checklist streak keeping and enjoyable enough. One morning I climbed up Philopappos Hill which was a bit better. A few Tree Pipits, a Collared Flycatcher, a singing Nightingale made me happy. I heard an unfamiliar song distantly from inside the closed Acropolis gardens - it turned out to be a House Finch (exotic, introduced). I was unaware of the healthy population there - surely they will become a Category C soon?

From Athens we headed north into the mountains. We stayed in Optasia, a nice place near the town of Karpenissi. Nestled under the mighty Tymfristos mountains, along a nice river, walking around our accommodation was fun. Lots of bird song made my birding enjoyable, especially very early in the morning.

Female Cirl Bunting near the accommodation

One day we hiked up the mountains, around Velouchi Snow Center. It was very pretty up there, I enjoy high altitude birding.

Carpets of Crocus scepusiensis (I think)

In fact birding felt very similar to the higher elevations of Mt. Hermon, with plenty of vocal Northern Wheatears, Black Redstarts (with grey rather than orange bellies), Wood Larks and Tawny Pipits.

We also hiked up the trail leading to Black Cave. It was very pretty, lots of water, lush vegetation, and fascinating rock formations.

I was surprised to find a small scorpion (30-35 mm) hiding under a piece of bark. I know nothing about Greek scorpions, I think it belongs to the genus Euscorpius but there are several very similar species so any expert advice is welcome.

We made a day-trip to Meteora. This is a spectacular region, totally unreal.

The main road of Meteora was full of tourists. I deserted my family there and went off birding in quieter sections, especially the nice ridge along the road to Vlachava.

Birding was quite good there, with lots of bird song and a few nice species - lots of singing Eastern Subalpine Warblers and Cirl Buntings, soaring up in the air were Egyptian Vulture, Black Stork and my first Eurasian Hobby in 2025. I had my lifer Rock Partridge there - I flushed three birds while walking down a trail, no photos sadly.

Eastern Subalpine Warbler

Cirl Bunting singing away

Horseshoe Bee Orchid

On my final morning up in the mountains, before heading back to Athens and home, I wanted to climb up again to Velouchi. Thick cloud that covered the mountain top prevented me from doing so. I birded the slopes above Karpenissi, in mixed forest, which was enjoyable and productive, in pretty habitat.

Bird song dominated the experience, which is always fun. Coal Tits, Firecrests, Mistle Thrushes and lots more filled the soundscape with spring atmosphere.

Mr. Coal Tit - The Boss

I didn't remove the wire obstructing the Eastern Subalpine Warbler's face as an expression of Wabi-sabi

Firecrest

Firecrest soundbombed by Chaffinch

Eventually the cloud lifted and I climbed up above the tree line, enjoying more bird song.

Wood Lark singing softly

Male European Stonechats breeding there seemed a bit dark IMO, with large white rumps - maybe some eastern influence?

This stunning Rufous-tailed Rock thrush sang from the top of a tall antenna, and performed amazing song flights; first time for me to witness this.

The second phrase in this recording develops into a buzzing song flight, as he swooped low over me

And then it was back to Athens and home. I managed to see a sweet total of 100 species during the trip - check my eBird trip report here.