Tuesday, October 01, 2013

Israel: Day 22

Quality over quantity today. I 'only' counted 1042 Lesser Spotted Eagles, with other stations getting around the same or lower, so nowhere near yesterdays count (which was confirmed at 26,036!!!). However, there was a good mix of species, I managed 6 species of Eagle in the afternoon at Alonim: the usual Short-toed, Booted and Lesser Spotted, a couple of Greater Spotted and Steppe, and finally, a superb juvenile Imperial Eagle, the first of the count. 

Imperial Eagle with LSE
I had spent the first part of the day in the East at Shunem, where c400 LSE's came out from a roost to the North, but the highlight was a male Pallid Harrier drifting low overhead.
Pallid Harrier

Red-footed Falcon
I love Steppe Eagles, that white underwing bar of the juveniles is so striking.
This bird was over 1km away but still stuck out like a sore thumb.

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