Clocks back for winter

The clocks have been turned back for winter.. we are no longer on Israel summer time. Now our regular walk will go from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. though it's pretty much the same time window. The sun has just set by 6 p.m. now which gives us a good activity window in terms of roosting behaviour and last hour foraging.

(Time in Israel is two hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time and seven hours ahead of E.S.T. Since most places in U.S. and U.K. also put clocks ahead an hour in summer the difference remains constant except over a week or so in spring and autumn due to differences in time change conventions. )

Weather: clear skies. Temp: 22 degrees C and falling, humidity, 70% and rising,

wind: NW, ~5 kt. I have not mentioned rainfall since this has been consistent zero since the freak storm I mentioned in May but rainfall figures will feature within the month hopefully:)

Lone gazelle female by the dry stone wall and trees .. pretty much her usual patch. No sign of the buck or the group. We walked out onto gazelle field some dozen or so metres which did not spook her at all, she probably recognizes us by now. She was watching us though. On our return we saw two quite young gazelle in the orchard. One retreated east when it saw us, at a light trot which looked as if it were to break into a run at any moment but didn't. I'm sure it was ready to if we would advance too threateningly. The other crossed the creek path and headed under the eucalyptus behind look-out corner, then crossed centre trail to head under the pines, moving north.

We'd headed into the field to try to get a closer look at an interesting looking bird flitting around behind the field trees. It was hard to make out, long winged , swift, but quite mid to pale brown and lighter underneath. Then I had a slightly better view of it flying into pines of north valley.. from what I could see I'd say it was an immature kestrel. There were also shrike calls from that direction and in the orchard but didn't manage to see any. A couple of hobbies made an appearance and from the calls the other two were probably about. They made circuits over the field, visiting north valley pines and the taller trees around the orchard. The ones that passed over us was so thickly streaked underneath, looked like a young bird. Couldn't make out rusty thigh feathers but very dark there.

Btw when the hobbies were flying a couple of days ago we heard an interesting call we hadn't noticed before during some of their most excited manoevres.. something like "kee krkrk" . Today the call was not the ki-ki-ki-ki-ki-ki we've heard in the past but more of an insistent kieh kieh kieh kieh

Eurasian Jays in woods and foraging singly over the gazelle field as usual. Calls of jackdaws and hooded crows. Syrian woodpecker at look-out corner. Husband thought he glimpsed a hoopoe but I missed it. Pre roost alarm call of blackbird and some calls of great tits and graceful warblers around and in gazelle field. Several collared doves around and visiting the cistern. We listened out for the stone curlews but they were silent today. Family of yellow vented bulbuls over in the orchard from the calls we could hear. Sunbird song in the Bauhinia as usual and activity in the cape honeysuckle in the entrance way.

We're noticing more fallen branches of eucalyptus and a general unhealthy browning of some of the tall eucs on the orchard perimeter. When the branches fall you can smell the rotting eucalyptus oils in the air, almost a camphor odour. Sad. On the flip side the orchard trees are showing a normal pretty range of colours now from green to copper red. Not many trees do this in Israel since many are evergreen as an adaptation to the climate, particularly the pines and cypress. I really don't know what the orchard trees are since they are untended for a long time and we haven't noticed any fruits yet.