2015 - A Retrospective

A year of travel and fieldwork

After a busy Christmas season and one week into a new job, I'm taking advantage of this stormy weekend to look back over 2015 and pick out some highlights.

The year turned out to be one of the busiest I can remember, here is a quick run-down:

January - Australia. The last of a four month position collecting data on Red-winged Fairy-wrens for Australia National University in WA.
169 species seen.

Red-winged Fairy-wren Malurus elegans.Western Australia 2015

February/March - Thailand. Ten days birding in Phetchaburi Province with Kaeng Krachan Nature Reserve on the Burmese border being the highlight.
229 species.
I then worked in Henan Province, China for Beijing Forestry University on Black-throated and Silver-throated Tits.
100 species.

Red-billed Blue-magpie Urocissa erythroryncha. Henan, China 2015 (photo by Josefina Pehrson).

April - UK

May/June/July - USA. I worked the seabird breeding season on the Farallone Islands, California, for Point Blue Conservation Science.
222 species.

Tufted Puffin Fratercula cirrhata. Farallones, California 2015 (photo by Julia Gulka).

August - UK

September/October/November - Eilat, Israel. Worked as a Ringer in one of Europe's greatest migration hot-spots.
283 species.

Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse Pterocles lichtensteinii. Eilat, Israel 2015

December - UK

A fantastic year filled with great people and birds, let's hope 2016 can live up to it!

Total species seen: 769
Total countries visited: 6
Total continents visited: 4
Total blue whales seen in a single hour: 24! (Farallones, California)

Species Focus - Sinai Rosefinch

Searching for a pink bird on a pink mountain

The Sinai Rosefinch Carpodacus synoicus , also known as the Pale Rosefinch, is an evocative species that I was keen to try and find during my time at Eilat, Israel.

An elusive desert-adapted finch, they breed high on mountains in Israel, Sinai, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The terrain they favour is incredibly barren and dominated by exposed rock, a far cry from the more verdant habitat preferred by their relatives the Common Rosefinch in Europe and the House, Purple and Cassin's Finches in the USA. Small numbers spend the winter in Southern Israel where they can be found at lower altitude, arriving in late November in the Eilat Mountains.

After failing to see any at the local spot throughout November, we finally managed to find a flock three days before I left Israel at the end of the month. A location boasting impressive geology called Amram's Pillars, it is around 45 minutes from Eilat and requires a drive into the mountain foothills along an un-surfaced road.

Amram's Pillars, named after this formation. November 2015.

   

Female and juvenile Sinai Rosefinches are dull sandy brown with the distinctive bill of a seed-eater. The flock of 12 birds that we found boasted only one adult male, apparently a common sex and age ratio. Unlike the female, the male is truly stunning, a bright pink bird which brightens to scarlet around the head set off by a white crown. The male kept at a further distance than the majority of the flock and I unfortunately did not manage any good photos.  

Female/juvenile Sinai Rosefinch. Eilat Mountains, November 2015.

Male Sinai Rosefinch. Eilat Mountains, November 2015.

This species has an interesting distribution with four subspecies all geographically isolated from each other. The nominate synoicus is restricted to the Middle East, salimalii to the Hindu Kush in Afghanistan, stoliczkae to West China and beicki to Central China. All tied to their mountainous habitat and presumably separate for some time, questions have been raised as to their current taxonomical placement as subspecies.

Seeing these incredible desert specialists in an atmospheric wadi made of pink rock was a highlight of the trip and a suitable final species for the Eilat region.

 

The moon rises as the last light of the sun illuminates a ridge over the wide wadi where the Sinai Rosefinches visit each day to drink. The flock spent most of its time foraging on the pink mountainside on the right.
November 2015.

Family Focus - The Wheatears of Eilat

Oenanthe

Residing in the Chat subfamily, within the Thrush superfamily, Wheatears Oenanthe are represented by 21-23 species depending on which taxonomical system you follow. Many of these are present in the Western Palaearctic and 15 have been recorded in Israel. It's a real wheatear hotspot and one of the families I was most interested to experience as identification is not always straightforward.

Stocky chats with strong legs and an upright posture, wheatears are all variations on a contrasting black, white and sandy colour scheme. Usually not hard to find, they favour exposed rocks and fence posts and are therefore fairly easy to pick out in the arid habitats they prefer.

I managed to observe at least 9 species (probably 10 but could not confirm) in Israel, mostly in the desert habitats of the Southern Aravah near Eilat.

1. Northern Wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe was the only species I was familiar with from the UK and proved the most common, seen throughout September-November.

Northern Wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe. Yotvata, October 2015.

2. Mourning Wheatear Oenanthe lugens breed in Southern Israel in mountainous areas before moving down into the arid plains in winter. The rusty under-tail coverts and white-centered remiges are diagnostic. We saw a handful in the Eilat Mountains during September and many more lower down in November.
 

Mourning Wheatear Oenanthe lugens. Eilat Mountains, November 2015.

3. Hooded Wheatear Oenanthe monacha are an uncommon resident in Southern Israel. Their attenuated shape and method of sallying to catch insects on the wing like a bee-eater are distinctive.

Hooded Wheatear Oenanthe lugens. Yotvata, October 2015.

4. Desert Wheatear Oenanthe deserti are also resident in the South. We started seeing them in late September and by mid October they were common at sites such as Yotvata. Numbers then dropped in November.

Desert Wheatear Oenanthe deserti. Yotvata, October 2015

5. Black-eared Wheatear Oenanthe hispanica one of only two wheatears ringed at the IBRCE this Autumn, this adult male was captured in early September. Seen throughout September to mid-October.

Black-eared Wheatear Oenanthe hispanica. IBRCE, September 2015.

6. Isabelline Wheatear Oenanthe isabellina were common throughout all habitats right through the season. Unfortunately my only decent photo is this bird having its tail photographed after ringing at the IBRCE in early September.

Isabelline Wheatear Oenanthe isabellina. IBRCE, September 2015. 

7. White-crowned Wheatear Oenanthe leucopyga. A large, bulky, tame species that inhabits dry wadis in mountainous areas. Resident through all but the longest droughts, these birds are true desert survivors. Commonly found in suitable habitat, they became my personal favourite wheatear.

White-crowned Wheatear Oenanthe leucopyga. Ramon Crater, September 2015.

8. Finsch's Wheatear Oenanthe finschii. A winter visitor to Northern Israel, this species takes over the recently abandoned summer territories of Black-eared Wheatears. They also breed in small numbers high on Mt. Hermon. I saw one briefly in the hills between Beit She'an and Jerusalem.

9. Blackstart Cercomela melanura. Although not a true Wheatear, these inquisitive, tame birds fill a similar niche and are common where there is some amount of vegetation. They have a habit of flicking their pure black tail down and spreading it at the same time and absolutely hate recorded calls being played!

Blackstart Cercomela melanura. The Dead Sea, November 2015. 

I did also observe a flyover wheatear at the saltpans in Eilat which looked very much like an adult male Pied Wheatear Oenanthe pleshanka but could not confirm the identification.

I am very pleased to have managed to see these 9 species in their natural environment (not on a blustery Autumn day on the East coast of the UK as is the trend with Desert Wheatears in recent years!).

Eilat, Israel. September - November 2015

Overview

I spent the autumn of 2015 at the International Birding and Research Centre in Eilat (IBRCE), Israel. Located on the shores of the Red Sea at the Southernmost tip of Israel, Eilat is a world famous site for migratory birds and my time there did not disappoint.

Political map showing Israel with Eilat highlighted. From the beach at Eilat Israel's three Southern neighbours can be seen at once: Jordan to the East, Saudi Arabia to the South and Egypt to the West.

Working as a ringer and migration monitor, I spent my mornings ringing birds at the constant effort site and my afternoons visiting migration hotspots and recording the diversity and numbers of species.

In total I managed to observe 287 species including 110 new species for me (lifers) and ring 1584 individuals of 63 species. 

Many Afro-Palearctic migrants are declining, some rapidly, so keeping abreast of their population trends and physical condition through monitoring and ringing is crucial to our understanding of them and influences conservation effort elsewhere.

Cyprus warbler Sylvia melanothorax.

This 1cy (first calendar year, a bird hatched this year) male was the only Cyprus warbler captured this autumn. An endemic breeder to Cyprus, they come to wadis in the Eilat Mountains to overwinter. Although still regarded by the IUCN as Red List Category Least Concern (LC), the population is declining. This bird was one of many highlights of the trip.