Harkon Park, Tel Aviv, Sept 2012

Park HaYarkon is a 30 minute walk from the new hotel in Tel Aviv. The route took me past a couple of green spots which brought (white-headed) Eurasian Jays, a Lesser Grey Shrike and my first warblers of the morning. Common White-throats shared a bush near the railway station with Palestine Sunbirds and a White-spectacled Bulbul. Many of the small parks in Tel Aviv are home to groups of homeless people who have made camps and live in the parks. In my experience, they have not caused me any problem further than needing to keep an eye on my foot placement when walking near cover.

 A number of bridges cross the Harkon River and I turned right, heading away from the sports lawns at the Mediterranean end of the park. This took me towards the low sun and next time, I may stay on the southern bank and cross the river at a footbridge further upstream. This will still take me east towards the sun, but changes the angle slightly to ease tired, gritty eyes.

 A Black-crowned Night Heron was seen on a post jutting out across the river and shortly afterwards, I came across the first of around 20 Kingfishers from 3 species.

Pied Kingfishers seem to go out of their way to be obvious. They perch on prominent snags and if that were not enough, they hover flamboyantly over the water before plunging in to catch a fish. The Common Kingfisher rivalled the Pied in number, but were far more discrete which makes me think that they are probably even more common.

The White-throated Kingfisher sits quietly in the shade of a tree and often flushes before you see it. This one was acting out of character by sitting out in the open and allowing me to approach closely.

There is a small reconstructed wetland on the south side of the river as it passes the west end of the lake. A causeway crosses the river here and it proved to be a very prolific spot for kingfishers. A young night heron posed on the concrete here and Palestine Sunbirds chased each other through the reeds.

In an orange grove next to the wetland a pair of Masked Shrikes flushed before I had a chance to get a good look. While I stalked around the small fruit trees, a European Turtle Dove was added to the list.

In the weir pool, a Common Sandpiper was shooed away by the Egyptian Geese that I assume have been introduced along with the Muscovy Ducks.   
 

Monk Parakeets also live in the park on alien visas and have built huge communal nests that can be seen in many of the trees around the exotic bird attraction. By the lake, an insistent call drew me to a Rosy-faced Lovebird, who had probably escaped from the collection.

A single tern flew back and forth across the lake. It could have been any of the Childonis spp until it settled on a post and I decided upon Whiskered Tern.

I had seen a couple of warblers that I had tentatively identified as Eastern Olivaceous Warblers, though they were hard to split from the similar and reportedly common Acrocephalus spp. It was disappointing not to find more warblers which I really had been expecting to see on return migration. The only others being Willow Warblers seen near the lake.
 

One of my target birds for the day however was seen well when a Syrian Woodpecker flew across my path and landed in clear view.

Birds seen;

Egyptian Goose 6, Mallard 60, Little Egret 8, Cattle Egret 3, Black-crowned Night Heron 30, Common Moorhen 4, Spur-winged Plover 8, Common Sandpiper 5, Whiskered Tern 1, Oriental Turtle-dove 1, Eurasian Collared-dove 15, Laughing Dove 30, Rose-ringed Parakeet 20, Common Kingfisher 8, White-throated Kingfisher 4, Pied Kingfisher 8, Eurasian Hoopoe 3, Syrian Woodpecker 1, Red-backed Shrike 1, Lesser Gray Shrike 1, Masked Shrike 5, Eurasian Jay 3, Hooded Crow 50, Barn Swallow 20, Great Tit 6, White-spectacled Bulbul 15, Willow Warbler 2, Eastern Olivaceous Warbler 3, Graceful Prinia 3, Greater Whitethroat 2, Eurasian Blackbird 2, Common Myna 100, Palestine Sunbird 12, House Sparrow 60.

Being the Sabbath, the park was very busy from early morning with joggers and cyclists taking up most of the path. As it became hotter, the more active park users gave way to picnickers and walkers. There was only one refreshment stall in the park, close to the exotic bird exhibit. It was a very hot day and I wished that I had brought more water. Toilets had sinks with tap water, but enquiries led me to believe that the Israelis prefer bottled water to tap water. There may be a few mobile vendors in the week, but don't rely on that presumption.

Beach-front Parks at Tel Aviv. Aug 2012

In anticipation of the route moving to a short-haul agreement, we have moved hotels in Tel Aviv and I needed to start my plans from scratch. Only once we had arrived at the hotel could we pin ourselves on a map and found that we were approximately 2.75 kms from the beach. The hotel provides a scheduled shuttle-bus which runs every 2 hours, but my beach-bound colleague wanted to get there before the sun went down, so we walked. 

If I hadn’t wanted to count these birds on my 10,000 Birds Year List, I could have suggested a cab which might have run to about 60 Shekels. As it was the walk took around 45 minutes, the bus beat us there and I only got to add one bird to the list.

I wanted to take a look at a couple of green patches close to the shoreline, but the sun was already very low in the sky. Hooded Crows were coming in to roost on the aerials of the British Embassy and on the Dr Seuss house nearby.

In Spiegel Park (opposite at Google Earth ref; 32° 5'18.35"N 34°46'13.13"E), a White-throated Kingfisher flew over my head as I watched some Eurasian Hoopoes. It was really too dark to take proper pictures, so I amused myself trying to take pictures of the bats. The moon was showing its second full face of the month and warranted a picture as the celebrated 'Blue Moon'. Against the odds, this was also my second full moon of the day as I had seen it setting that morning as I drove to the airport for an early check in.

I was lining up a shot when I heard an eldritch shriek. I am not familiar enough with the cry of the European Thick-knee to be able to imitate it from memory, but when you hear a weird ghostly call in the night, you are unlikely to mistake it for anything else. It was completely dark now, but I decided to follow the cries and shortly came across a lawn with a street lamp on the far side, about 50 meters away. By crouching down, I was able to see two silhouettes of the Thick-knees against the light. The photo, I am sure you will agree, is hardly worth publishing, but I got covered in dog mess and grass stains to get it so you are going to see it whether you want to or not.

Birds seen; 6

Eurasian Thick-knee 2, Rose-ringed Parakeet 4, White-throated Kingfisher 1, Eurasian Hoopoe 4, Hooded Crow 30, House Sparrow 200. 

For a previous post from Tel Aviv, follow the link below;

http://redgannet.blogspot.co.uk/2009/04/morning-in-tel-aviv.html

Hakovshim Garden, Tel Aviv

It happens from time to time and today it hit me hard. I was in Tel Aviv and had planned a trip to Park Hayarkan, about 4kms north along the coast, but was simply unable to scrape myself out of bed. I can only fall back on a post from my last visit and add the Google Earth ref; 32 06’ 00”N 34 48’ 14”E which is where the river passes beneath the Ayalon Highway. From here, eastwards, the habitat is much more conducive to birds than the sports pitches closer to the sea.

 Spotted Prinia from 2009

Just after we arrived, I had managed a quick walk into Hakovshim Garden, close to the hotel. There was only a few minutes of evening left, but I managed to steal a few pictures of Hoopoes and White-spectacled Bulbuls. I must have been playing with the screen brightness for my camera because all the images appeared horribly over-exposed. I compensated by purposefully under-exposing all the shots only to find that I have had to re-brighten them all to show here.

The garden is only about 2 or 3 acres, but can often produce a good list of birds. A group of men are living rough here and look to have become a permanent fixture. They did not appear to pay me any attention as I walked and I did not feel threatened, they have no facilities though and have made foot placement a priority if looking for birds in the bushes.

The area closest to the parking lot is often the most productive, but also holds the highest incidence of shoe soilers. Graceful Prinias were seen here this evening with Common Bulbuls and Barn Swallows overhead. This is a great spot for migrants as they pass through.

Across the road are lawns and a few mature trees that contained Common Myna, Hoopoe and White-spectacled Bulbul. 

Birds seen; 9


Laughing Dove 4, Eurasian Hoopoe 6, Barn Swallow 25, White-eyed Bulbul 6, Graceful Prinia 3, Great Tit 2, Hooded Crow 8, Common Myna 3, House Sparrow 20.

 

Black-capped Jay from 2009

Hakovshim Garden, Tel Aviv, TLV

A morning in Tel Aviv

This week Tel Aviv.
Tel Aviv is situated on the shore of the eastern Mediterranean.
The field guides indicate that there is a strong migration route through the area, so I was hoping to see plenty of warblers passing through. There were plenty, but only of a very few species. There are also a few specials from the area.
The Syrian Woodpecker is strikingly similar to our Greater Spotted Woodpecker, but with the addition of some light streaking on the flanks and the lack of the barred tail-sides.
The Palestinian Sunbird is unmistakeable as the only likely sunbird of the region.
The Graceful Prinia is distinctive with dark and light spots at the end of each feather on it’s strongly graduated tail.

So these were 3 targets to look for during a stay which allowed me a very quick outing in the evening when we arrived, and the best part of the next morning.

Across the road from the hotel is a tiny park with a bus rank and childrens’ play area. It is a very unlikely spot to find much bird-life, but it constantly surprises me. I have found Eurasian Wryneck, Bluethroat, Black-capped Jay and the sought-after Syrian Woodpecker here in the past. This evening was only a very quick visit of about 40 minutes before the light began to fade. A group of refugees had made camp in the park and I felt uncomfortable there once the other park users moved on, so I left while the going was still good. I am ashamed to say that I was not able to correctly identify a Willow Warbler. I have plenty of excuses that I used to save face, but that’s all they are excuses. They were actually Lesser Whitethroats who had been feeding in a bottlebrush shrub and had picked up yellow pollen stains on their heads and throats. The next morning became a trial with my camera, freshly back from the menders, misbehaving, my monopod broke, my lens jammed and it took nearly 45 minutes to get to Hayarkan Park, supposedly just 10 minutes from the hotel.
Park Hayarkan, to use it’s correct moniker, runs along the Hayarkan River flowing east to west into the Med. The western stretch is known as the Sportek and is fairly sterile as far as birdlife is concerned. It is mostly sports fields, but with the saving grace of the scant riverside vegetation and a few bushes.
Here there were Pied Kingfishers and Blackcaps. Common Bulbuls, Common Mynas and Roseringed parakeets were noisy and obvious. These were to be expected unlike the flock of Monk Parakeets which I must assume had escaped from a childrens’ play park further upstream. The further upstream I walked, the rougher the park became. By this I mean, the people using the park remained polite and non-threatening, but the vegetation became thicker, ranker and far more birdy.
Now I started to find the prinia and some more of the Lesser Whitethroats. A Black-crowned Night Heron roosting within a couple of meters of a busy pathway seemed oblivious to the joggers, cyclists and road traffic. I do not recall seeing one napping with it’s bill tucked into it’s breast before. I have no reason to suspect it of abberant behaviour, but I am surprised never to have observed it before, after all BCNHs are widespread and common and I have seen them many times. There is a small garden on the north bank of the river and here were the first Palestinian Sunbirds of the day. Flowering trees attracted them in and I sat watching a proud male calling from the top of one of them, his dark plumage flashing with blue and purple as he changed his angle to the sun.
White-throated Kingfishers were very common along the river and their descending call became a very familiar sound. The river forks about 2 miles inland. And I took a bridge across the north fork and found a large area planted with eucalyptus and large yellow daisies. There are plenty of picnic tables, a large children’s adventure area and a cycling circuit. Beware of the cyclists.
This looked promising, but yielded little until I came back to some indigenous habitat back on the north bank by a large lake.
A pair of Egyptian Geese caught my eye at the river crossing, but they were amongst a lot of domesticated mallard-types and Muscovy Ducks. Possibly someone’s idea of an exotic collection. A Pied Wagtail showed beautifully by a water control system and I gave the camera a full workout on it.

Right alongside, a Spur-winged Plover posed graciously for me.
Along the lakeshore, the Lesser Whitethroats were abundant and had a few Chiffchaffs mixed in. A bottlebrush tree held 6 blackcaps and my lens jammed during what should have been a terrific photo of goldfinches on a flowering thistle. Perhaps the purple and green of the thistle with the yellow and red of the bird, overloaded it’s colour capabilities.