Birds of Israel
These are a few of the birds that we saw during a 2012 May trip to Israel. This was more than a month after the peak of the Spring migration, but it was nevertheless a very successful trip. We saw many species that we have been looking for in Europe for many years. In fact, it was one of the easiest and most photography-friendly birding trips that we have ever been on. Still, all of the pictures were taken in a great hurry during a crowded itinerary, so many of them are not technically or aesthetically very good. They constitute our memories of a great trip. I have not had time to process all of the pictures; the rest will be added eventually. Many thanks to Prof. Ofer Bahat for facilitating the trip and to Jonathan Meyrav ( jm2bird@gmail.com ) for organizing it.
For best viewing, widen your browser window until three pictures like the first small one fit side-by-side.
The pictures are copyrighted and should not be used without permission.
White pelican
Little bittern (Grumpy, grumpy)
Cattle egret
Squacco heron
Black-crowned night-heron
Gray heron
Glossy ibis
White stork
Greater flamingo
Marbled teal
Booted eagle (This dark-phase bird shown three times is our life bird.)
Common kestrel (Female)
Chukar at dawn
Sand partridge
Sand partridge (Female)
Water rail (This is our life bird.)
Black-winged stilt
Collared pratincole
Ringed plover
Kentish plover
Spur-winged plover
Spur-winged plover chick
Broad-billed sandpiper
Spotted redshank in full breeding plumage
Slender-billed gull
Whiskered tern
Crowned sand-grouse
Black-bellied sand-grouse
Namaqua dove
Turtle dove
Palm dove
Great spotted cuckoo (Juvenile)
Eaurasian eagle-owl in morning sunlight
Pharaoh's eagle-owl (Bad picture of a superb bird)
Lesser pied kingfisher
Smyrna kingfisher
European bee-eater
Little green bee-eater
Crested lark
Desert lark
Temminck's lark (John could not get close, but this is his life bird.)
Red-rumped swallow
Yellow wagtail
Yellow-vented bulbul
Rufous bushchat
(Left to right) Desert wheatear, Hooded wheatear, Mourning wheatear
Common reed-warbler
Great reed warbler (This is our life bird.)
Graceful prinia
Blackcap
Orphean warbler (This is our life bird.)
Arabian babbler
Red-backed shrike (Female)
Masked shrike (Female and male)
Woodchat shrike (Female and chicks)
Eurasian jay (Garrulus glandarius atricapillus)
Brown-necked raven
Fan-tailed raven
Tristram's grackle
Dead sea sparrow
Linnet
Trumpeter finch (This picture is more interesting for the rock strata than for the bird.)
Corn bunting
Rock bunting
Black-headed bunting
Our bird pictures from around the world follow standard ecozones approximately but not exactly:
Birds from the USA and Canada: our house, Hornsby Bend and greater Austin, Texas, California, Hawaii, Canada,
Neotropic birds from Central America and the Caribbean: Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago
Neotropic birds from South America: Ecuador, Ecuador 2017, Brazil.
Western palearctic birds: Europe: Germany, Finland, Norway, Europe: United Kingdom, Europe: Spain, the Canary Islands, Europe: Lesbos, Greece, Israel
Eastern palearctic birds: China
Birds from Africa: The Gambia, South Africa
Indo-Malayan birds from India: North-west (Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand) India: North-east (Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya) India: Central (Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh)
Birds from Australia, New Zealand.
For our 2014 December trip to India, see this travelog.
For our 2016 May-June trip to India, see this travelog.
For our 2017 April trip to High Island, Texas, see this web site.
For our 2018 March trip to India, see this travelog.
For our 2018 May trip to China, see this travelog.
For our 2018 November trip to China, see this travelog.
For our 2019 April trip to High Island, Texas, see this web site.
For our 2019 July trip to China, see this web site.
For our 2021 April trip to High Island, Texas, see this web site.
For our 2021 December trip to Ecuador, see this web site.
For our 2022 January trip to Peru, see this web site.
For our 2022 July-August trip to Australia and Papua New Guinea, see this web site.
For our 2022 September trip to Bolivia, see this web site.
For our 2022 November-December pre-trip to Argentina (before our Antarctic cruise), see this web site.
For our 2022 November-December cruise to Antarctica, see this web site.
For our 2023 January birding in Chile, see this web site.
For our 2023 January-March cruise from Chile to Antarctica and around South America to Miami, FL, see this web site.
For our 2023 March-April birding in south Florida (after the Seabourn cruise), see this web site.