Wader Time!

21^st of March:

After a shorter ringing session than usual, closing the nets around 11.15 we worked on the broken Heligoland trap and had some progress with the trap. While I did a nap Christian and Roni went to the city to do some things. Afterwards we grabbed all the wader traps and put them in place.

The first waders we ringed were some nice species! In the first trap we found a Marsh Sandpiper, already in summer plumage, awesome! The other traps held a Ringed Plover, 3 Little Stints and two Kentish Plover.

 Little Stint (Calidris minuta)

 Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus)

Marsh Sandpiper (Tringa stagnatilis)

Nothing really of interest this morning, although a Moorhen was a surprising catch in one of the crake traps. Also, we ringed the first Nightingale for the season. The day’s tally was 116 new and 21 retraps.

Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus)

Again, the air was full of dust and there was not much to see; the raptors did decide to migrate a little though with a few tens of Steppe Buzzards and a few Steppe Eagles passing by. While working on the trap of small flock of White Storks flew by. The saltpans near the IBRCE park held some 11 Red-necked Phalaropes and a Greater Sand Plover.

Balkan Warbler 1 -

Barn Swallow 2 -

Blackcap 8 -

Bluethroat 6 – 2

Chiffchaff 13 – 4

Collared Dove 1 -

Common Nightingale 1 -

Common Whitethroat 6 – 2

Cretzchsmar’s Bunting 3 -

Eastern Orphean Warbler 3 – 2

Laughing Dove 1 -

Lesser Whitethroat 49 – 5

Moorhen 1 –

Quail – 1

Red-rumped Swallow 1 -

Redstart 7 – 2

Reed Warbler – 1

Rueppel’s Warbler 1 -

Sardinian Warbler 2 – 1

Spanish Sparrow 1 -

Swift 1 -

White-spectacled Bulbul – 1

TOTAL 116 – 21

Little Stint 3 –
Kentish Plover 2 -
Ringed Plover 1 -
Marsh Sandpiper 1 –

22^nd of March:

The dust had cleared out of the sky and that with the clearance of dust we had a noticeable increase of birds. Quails were flushed often again and there was a lot of Steppe Buzzard migration.

As for the morning’s ringing: I only took part in the ringing session briefly as I started to feel really bad again; for a few days in a row now I’m suffering from sinusitis so I made the wise decision to gave the doctor visit, here in Eilat. I went together with Tzadok. The doctor subscribed me some antibiotics, I have to use three tablets a day. Hopefully things will get better for me soon!

The bird of the morning was a beeeeeeautiful adult male Semi-collared Flycatcher for sure. Marvelous things these flycatchers.  We had quite a good variety of waders this morning with a recapture Marsh Sandpiper, some Ruffs, a Redshank, quite a few Little Stints, Green Sandpiper and Common Sandpiper ringed in the morning. (Quite a few new ones for me in the hand today!)

Semi-collared Flycatcher (Fidecula semitorquata)

 Redshank (Tringa totanus)

 By far the ugliest Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos) I've ever seen.

Ruff (Philomachus pugnax)