Walk back down the upper valley (owl) road

Fennel/ Wild licorice flower head.

18.5-30 degrees C. ~6.30 p.m. ~27 degrees C, humidity:~60%, wind: W/WSW 6-9 kt

Today we headed to the centre of our neighbourhood to get a treat for Moshe and then headed down the hill by the public park to a road which heads back north to the lower part of our neighbourhood. This is the stretch where the Little Owl lives - pic back in the archives a couple of months ago.

Heading down the hill: plenty capers in bloom as well as some Echium and some pretty impressive wild licorice/fennel, some standing about 8 feet high, towering over husband! We've hardly seen any fennel below about 650 m altitude in the area. Moshe likes to break off the fresh pale green stems and suck the sap, tastes just like licorice.

Husband found a nice gazelle dropping site roughly half way down the hill, quite fresh, which is great news. Probably another territory holding male up this way, at least a half kilometer south of the gazelle field individual and roughly 100 m higher. This could expand population estimates of gazelle in the area if we assume that there are probably another half dozen females and young at least up that way in and around the forest south of the pumping station.

The owl was not in view anywhere along the bluff along the west side of that road, sadly, though we scanned for him and kept watch. We did get a nice view of a male kestrel fly up to some tall buildings up the hill, it wheeled round, almost settled on some window bars then took off and wheeled around again, female or young was somewhere around there and we heard some multinote cries. Greenfinches were around as well as a number of Eurasian jays, vocal and foraging, feral pigeons and hooded crows. House sparrows and Laughing doves around the buildings as usual.

On the road back Moshe found a nicely marked praying mantis.. seems there are quite a lot about right now, he's found a number in the last week or so, and they're quite camouflaged.
We also noticed hyraxes , various ages, foraging just down from a neighbourhood road, a different colony from any I've mentioned, this one is slightly higher elevation and a little farther south.

Praying mantis on Moshe's hand.

Mullein and other beautiful sights

Verbascum (galilaeum? or similar) Mullein.

Weather today: Range 18.5-26.5 degrees C, quite a drop since yesterday. Sky mostly clear. We went out about 6 p.m. temp 23.5 degrees C, humidity: already 80%, wind: westerly 13-18 kt.

No luck on gazelles, there was a pack of feral dogs I had not seen before toward the north end of gazelle field just beyond the almonds. One was the biggest I'd seen and seemed to have some mastiff blood, heavy square head though his tail was curled up, Canaani style, tawny yellow/brown. Two were patched brown and white and the fourth mostly dark on the back and flanks, brown and white face and legs. Husband pointed out the big one which was standing, the others were resting on the ground.. he said there was something to see over there, jokingly, a lion. I looked at that big hound and my first reaction was 'what the f**!' because from a distance it really did have quite a lion look about him! We had quite a laugh over that! I guess why that would explain no gazelles in sight over that way!

However there were still plenty birds. Stone curlews very vocal and a few seen over north gazelle field. A group of at least 15 bee-eaters hawking above canopy level, moving up and down north valley. Eurasian jays active and foraging everywhere, some Syrian woodpecker calls, Hoopoe down near north dry watercourse, hoodies about as usual, Collared doves cooing and flight calling and generally active. Blackbird calls, great tit calls, and around the houses, house sparrows, laughing doves and feral pigeons.

The xerophytic plant by valley road finally decided to bloom and this was interesting since it forced me to completely revise my I.D. of a plant that I'd been calling Eremostachys. (desert spike) This looked similar but matched most closely Verbascum galilaeum, a mullein that normally grows farther north. It may have been artificially introduced or another similar plant in the same genus. As I scanned flowers in that genus it struck me that my 'Eremostachys' looked similar to some of the others, in particular V. fruticosum Common desert mullein. This forced me back to the books (and websites) to reassess my earlier I.D. and to see that the flower form of Eremostachys is really quite different, much more like that of Phlomis, whereas the mullein has a more simple 5 petal arrangement.

I was amazed I hadn't seen that before but other aspects of the plant had attracted my attention and the form was not so obvious in the pictures I had. Also obviously different now was the location of the deep red colouring on the flower (centre rather than petal tips. I'd goofed, they weren't even in the same family! (Mulleins are in Scrophularaceae, the figwort family, whereas Eremostachys is in Lamiaceae with Phlomis and others) It was plain now that *both* were Verbascum (mulleins) though different species. Some of the darker centred mulleins were still blooming over by the pumping station and it was clear that this later flowering Verbascum (in photo above) was similar but markedly different, lacking that red/black centre.
Live and learn. I was glad to get THAT sorted out as I had never been completely settled in my mind about that one. Now I have to go back and add a note on our pic of the other at the quarry!

Hedgehog and other sightings.

Eastern European hedgehog, Erinaceous concolor from a site called Nature Pelion

Today's range: 19-30 degrees C. Not sure exactly when we went out but at 6 p.m. temp ~26 degrees, humidity ~60% already, winds pretty much westerly all day and blew betw. 12-15 kt.

Moshe and Avremi came with us but split off at the cistern northwards to show the bat cave to our Shabbos guest, Adam. I gave yet another routine 'watch out for snakes!' . Moshe thinks he caught a glimpse of an Agama in the bunker ruins.

Three gazelles today, a mother followed by young north west gazelle field/lower hill slopes across the north valley water course. (I was hoping one of the little party would just catch a glimpse of movement and look to their right but ach, they missed them! ) A short while later alpha male buck running through the Pistaccio orchard toward eucalyptus orchard. Fresh prints also found edge of centre trail.

Hyraxes heard.

On our way back along valley road close to sunset found remains of a hedgehog, (most probably Eastern European hedgehog, Erinaceous concolor) no head, just part of the spiny back and skeleton of back leg a foot or so from the edge of the road, likely hit by a vehicle while 'frozen'. When I told Moshe about it later he asked me 'no skull?' 'no skull'. 'No school! yippee!' His joke, he's celebrating just finishing 6th grade. We see them from time to time at night, but this was the first I've seen in ages.

Birds: Watched a hooded crow chase a small raptor north east of gazelle field, a young kestrel? Shortly after saw a falcon, possibly the same kestrel heading south over the bipass road area. Jackdaws heard from somewhere over east on the Hizmeh hillside, there had been a herd of goats there earlier, yep, they were following the goats again! Eurasian Jays active, one visited cistern. The goldfish someone put in there some time back are still doing well though the water looks awful. The smaller cavity has dried up.

Chukar partridges heard south of central trail several times. Laughing doves cooing around the house, several pairs over by breadcrumb corner, collared doves down in the valley and turtle doves also heard. Feral pigeons small groups flying over head. Bee-eaters heard later toward sunset. Graceful warblers, Syrian woodpeckers and White spectacled bulbuls heard near look-out corner. Blackbirds in song here and there in the forest, and active flying about, some alarm calls. House sparrows around the house as usual.

The boys found a nice praying mantis while showing Adam some fossil structures in the limestone, (probably something like crinoids from back where this area was under the sea)

Spines of the dead hedgehog we found. It's amazing that although they are much smaller and apparently more densely packed (and from totally unrelated animals) they are so similar in form and texture and barring to those of the porcupine.. I notice the end tips on porcs are dark and those on the hedgehog are light. (but I suspect it's a more complicated than that in the porc as it seems much thinner white ended spines overly other broader thicker ones. )

Also the darker bars on the hedgehog are shades lighter than those on the porcs. Hedgehog leg bone lower left.

Windsurfer Hill

Moshe's fox hole.

Weather (thursday 26th June): temp range 20-34 degrees C again. By about 6.30 p.m. it was down to just over 26 degrees, 58% humidity and westerly winds almost 14 knots. Yet again winds had veered north, drooped, then east late morning and early afternoon.

Today we walked up 'windsurfer hill' with Moshe and Avremi. We call it that because we've seen hooded crows spend their leisure time 'surfing' the westerly breezes that brush up against the hillside. They seem to really enjoy this pastime.

We took the long way around, passing by the cistern, then heading south through the eucalyptus grove and then up the hill along a dirt trail by a gradual incline. We found a well grown gazelle (female apparently) grazing up in the north west area of gazelle field. In the 'east field', at somewhat higher elevation Moshe spotted a female and one of this years babies (cheer!) head up windsurfer hill ahead of us and then disappear around the west face. We found some gazelle spoor along the way. Three today then, always nice especially when young are seen. Husband found some other spoor but I did not recognize it, about the same size as gazelle spoor but a much smaller pile and each piece a little longer than wide. Not porcupine, I've seen that and it's ridged and peculiar and not piled. Perhaps hyrax.

The cave near the top of the hill is the biggest in the area we know of and was furnished with an old couch and some cooking utensils and other stuff. How about that! It's possible to drive up there from the Pisgat Zeev side and then just haul the stuff across the top of the hill a few dozen yards or so. We wondered who was using it but I instructed the boys to leave it exactly as found. They came out with a dead oval shaped black cave cockroach about 2 cm long but didn't find me any isopods. I didn't take this find home!

We enjoyed the views from the top till after sunset. While they were in the cave I was just flat out wiped and lay down between the blue thyme cushions just resting and this apparently attracted the attention of a local bunch of 'surfers'. 20 or so hooded crows circled a few dozen feet above me, cawing to each other and taking a look. I could imagine what they were 'saying' in crow speak. 'Well, is that carrion down there or isn't it?' 'no, it moved! It's still alive, we shouldn't risk it!' 'But it looks like meat, why don't we go down and investigate', 'no, I saw it move again, it's alive I say!' I was just hoping they wouldn't poop on me! They didn't.

We descended back to the 'east valley' the fastest way, picking out a trail between thyme and boulders and eventually following the north bank of a dry watercourse down the western slope. I love such watercourses, they are always so much lusher in vegetation than the surrounding hillside and have a special cascading charm even when dry. Just off this trail Moshe made a terrific discovery and called me over, wanting to know if this hole was as he suspected. He'd been looking out for holes the entire distance.

Oh yes, this one looked like a fox earth all right! Size was right, apron of untidy dug out earth out in front and even a few incriminating feathers. Moshe was ecstatic! He had dreams of adopting a fox cub as a pet but I had to discourage this idea, sadly. Such a cub would have to be taken shortly after birth and fed with special formula milk to have any chance of attaching itself to a human being. The season was already well advanced, and this was quite apart from the logistics of reaching anything down that hole which could be many feet in depth, and most likely not a breeding hole but a bolt or food storage hole. Still, it was a pretty good find for a fox fan like my son.

Hyraxes were about and active near the pumping station. The boys decided to climb the hill there to connect with the end of our street while we would take the longer and easier way around but of course we arrived back at the same time since they had stopped to watch hyraxes!

I was too bone weary to really look out for birds today. In passing we did notice stone curlews, bee-eaters, blackbirds, collared doves, , syrian woodpeckers. sunbird in the eucalyptus by look-out corner.

White spectacled bulbul in the garden, House sparrows, feral pigeons and laughing doves as usual. The local jackdaws are off foraging farther affield today, probably following goats again, we didn't hear a one.

Bat noticed on the way home, fluttering over valley road. We often see one or more these days at twilight on our way back.

Balmy day walk

Warm day! Range 20-34.5 degrees C. When we headed out at about 6.30 p.m. temp had fallen to 26.6, humidity 64%, wind westerly 18.3 kt, lovely and brisk! Again the wind swung to the east around midday, that boosts temperatures it seems, those winds are often warmer though usually lighter than the westerlies.

(Heard a white spectacled bulbul outside the window at 4.55 a.m)

Now I'm even more confused by that Lycaenid butterfly in the photo in the last entry. Comparing underwings the orange dots most clearly match the female common blue Polyommatus icarus, yet the boys observed that the upper wings were clearly blue, which would not be the case in the female unless it's a local variation. In pretty much all similar species across the board in that family the females have the more extensive orange spots. I have to throw up my hands and admit I really have no clue and take back my previous two IDs esp the former, except that it's in that family (Lycaenidae)!

1 gazelle noticed today grazing in the middle of the far north end of gazelle field. She noticed us, looked up and simply returned to grazing, unfazed. Hyraxes active today and young above ground by the beginning of our short cut down to north valley from the eastward turn of valley road.

A fair bit of grass has sprouted up in the charred part of the south end of gazelle field, patches here and there. 2 days ago Avremi, our 10 year old, said the mole rats are 'healing' the charred ground by turning it over. I liked that! Plenty fresh excavated mounds there.

Geckoes noticed this evening by the road (and also two nice big ones on the side of field school building at Beit Meir yesterday evening). They are quite active lately, their sharp distinct 'tuk tuk' calls sounding from buildings and rocks in the late afternoons and evenings.

Bird life.. hooded crows commuting to and fro, stone curlews active over the north end of gazelle field, a couple from just beyond the new pine grove took off and flew to the hill - we often see them there and I suspect they bred this year, flew up the field and landed a few flat rocks up from the bat cave. Bee-eaters heard up overhead, just east of look-out corner area. Turtle doves heard just off centre trail. Collared doves cooing as well as flight call heard. (Laughing dove cooing in the Bauhinia at about 7.45 p.m. ) Blackbirds and Eurasian jays active, Syrian woodpeckers, graceful warblers, greenfinches all heard.
I'm sure house sparrows and feral pigeons active too, we walked past those without really registering them, quite unfair of us, they have very good reasons for their success!

chukar prints apparently in the sandy dust at the very south east tip of the neighbourhood.

In bloom right now, squirting cucumber, capers, ragwort, the low pea family plant.

Fear and Loathing in the Bat Cave

Indian porcupines, (wikipedia) Hystrix indica

Today we left at about 6.40 p.m, but we still had a good amount of time since it doesn't start to get dark till after 8 p.m.

Temp just above 24 degrees C (today's range, 17-28 degrees C), humidity 67%, winds north westerly just over 4 kt

Gazelle sightings :) 6 today. Husband found mother with young near eastern end of the north valley dry watercourse, grazing on the flat. Young quite well grown already. Female retreated toward the pines after she noticed us and the young one sproinged after her shortly after, much to the delight of the boys. A short time later I spotted 4 more grazing in the north eastern end of gazelle field/lower slopes, beyond the charred patch all quite well grown.

The boys wanted to explore the bat cave again, naturally. I hoped they'd find the jaw bone of the dog but they didn't see it, but did bring out a scapula and one of the leg bones, (a tibia?). They didn't manage to catch me any isopods, those were not scuttling about today for some reason. They did find upwards of 20 porcupine quills on the floor indicating that the place is or was a den for them. (The nicest one we brought back measured 23.75 cm and was pied ebony and ivory, light at the point of attachment to the porcupine, dark band, lighter band, darker dark band, lighter band again, then dark all the way down to the sharp tip. )

There are two low recesses that retreat back into the hill, one on the far back left and one over on the right side where the dog bones are located. Either could be dens, hard to tell how far back they go.

I'd been telling them repeatedly to watch out for snakes, not to take any chances, not to put their hands into any dark places they couldn't see etcetera. They both had flashlights and could see well ahead of them. There was some excitement when they could hear something slithering beyond the bones. They were keen to go in over and over again , 'just five more minutes, just five more' till Moshe suddenly came out backwards at speed! (Avremi was already out at that time)

According to his most sincere report he'd just encountered a viper -(most likely Vipera palestinae ) ahead of him along the left side passage, thick, spear head shaped head and nicely marked, and he was so shaken by the experience he swore he was never going to enter the bat cave ever again! He did NOT appreciate my 'cool!' and 'awesome!' . I commented that he must have had the same feeling of adrenaline I had when I saw a lion fish in front of me by the coral at Eilat.
'It wasn't just adrenaline, it was adrenaline flavoured with fear, and also flavoured with panic, and also flavoured with 'get the ... out of here as quickly as possible!' I had to laugh, I did relate to the feeling, not to mention this was after I'd been saying 'watch out for snakes' like a gramophone record for the past half hour.
'They're probably in all the caves, you know', 'Don't tell me that, mom!'
It's one thing knowing about something intellectually, it's something else entirely actually meeting it.

Perhaps a (this) viper had killed that dog?

I'd seen similar vipers in the south of England (Vipera berus) but those were relaxing and sunbathing on a rock and just didn't seem to inspire fear when they look so laid back like that.

Meanwhile out in the fresh air husband and I had been enjoying a beautiful swarm of bee-eaters over gazelle field, somewhere between 40 and 50 at a guestimate.. I'd say 'swarm' because of the way they constantly changed places in the flock, moving independently as they hawked, probably keeping up with a similarly moving swarm of flying insects we couldn't see. Stone curlews were vocal and active again and husband spotted a hoopoe.

Syrian woodpeckers, collared doves, greenfinches, laughing doves, house sparrows, hooded crows all active in their regular haunts pretty much as usual today.

The boys also found a tiny preying mantis on a stick, no bigger than my pinky nail, and also a beautiful Lycaenid (blue ) butterfly.

Underwing of Eastern Mazarine blue, Cyaniris antiochena. The back is more vivid blue, pic by Akiva Atwood. See http://www.nature-of-oz.com/lycanidae1.htm

Looking again it may be Pseudophilotes vicrama astabene (Eastern Baton blue) which is found in the Jerusalem hills as opposed to the one above which is found farther north in the country, though the orange spots seem to match Cyaniris better.

Boys in the Cave

Pea family member similar to broom in bloom all over now, grows on soft, hairy leaved shrub which grows barely a foot high

Today's range: Just over 23-30 degrees C. Just after 6.20 p.m. temp ~26.5 degrees C. Winds WNW ~10.5 kt, humidity 28%, skies clear.

Acquired a contour map from the S.P.N.I. for some facts and figures about the area.
Top of 'windsurfer hill' (imm. east of east valley) 671 m, top of north ridge by A- ram 705 m
Gazelle field: (lowest point on my patch) betw 550 and 560 m above Med. Sea level, but this water will drain an additional ~300 m to Jericho.
East valley itself is marked as Wadi el kifa (Arabic, not sure of vowelization) or Eyn Prat/Porat (Hebrew) . North valley is unmarked. Both flow down to Wadi Qelt/Nahal Prat also called Wadi Para.

Today both our younger sons, Avremi (age 10) and Moshe (age 12) came with us to the bat cave, equipped with lights to see deep into the cave's recesses.

Straight away we noticed scurrying of various cave invertebrates. Husband was reasonably sure he saw cockroaches before they scuttled for cover as well as a curious little fellow that looks like some kind of terrestrial isopod crustacean but one I've never seen before, not anything so round and flat. It looked like a grey coat button, round and flat, carapace covered most of the front, back third or so with visible segments. Mostly grey but edge all around (but for head) was darker with light coloured spots. 1 cm diameter at least, sons claimed some they saw were double that, they were all sizes. Upside down numerous legs.. if they're like other isopods I've seen, 14 is a likely number. By the time I decided I wanted one to bring home and photo they'd all scuttled for cover. I've been searching round the net and found nothing quite like it. Another time. Moshe said he's seen that kind in many caves in the area. Unlike crabs and like other terrestrial isopods they can walk forwards.

Avremi discovered a dog's skull which we brought home and cleaned. It would be that of a nice size feral dog, hard to say how long it had been there, just a few months probably based on cobwebby gunk in nasal cavity and under the skull. Length 20 cm, height 8 cm (average), width 9.5 cm (relatively narrow compared to average for domestic dogs)
Upper canine tooth length 2.5 cm, width just over 1 cm. Upper carnassial tooth 2 cm along jaw line. Lower jaw missing.
Did it get sick and crawl into that cave to die? Who knows. Other bones around as well as a couple of short porcupine quills.

Feral dog skull found by Avremi. Bottle cap placed to elevate teeth a little.

Birds: Great tits calling near the cave, 2 hoopoes flew right over us toward the south, heard making a low scratching like call. I also heard a very thin high pitched whistle which also seemed to come from the hoopoes. Plenty bee-eaters were also aloft, at least 20 quite high over gazelle field and slopes of the hill. Plenty stone curlews around in flight back and forth , landing at various spots on the hillside above and below us, calling. Turtle doves calling in the pines, some collared doves, feral pigeons about in flight, Syrian woodpeckers heard often, blackbird song, graceful warblers, some greenfinches. Sunbird by the dry watercourse trail, approx same place we heard one there yesterday, not far from that old porcupine den.