Gazelles and the "Water Hole"

(creative commons)

22,23 degrees C 12 knots WNW 44% humidity

1st June.. 3.30 p.m. 3 mountain gazelles grazing in field.. Seemed to be family group.. buck, hind, well grown young or another hind.. buck lead to left towards north valley, up slopes a little.

Great to see them!.. we'd seen several vehicles around valley so we thought for sure they'd scared them to the north and also assumed we were way too early but we were happily wrong on both counts. Sometimes it is a joy to be wrong in nature watching.. wildlife is full of surprises and they don't read the books written about them.

There they were, grazing with not a care in the world.

When you see such a beautiful sight you can't help but feel anger at those people who would happily take the life of such lovely animals in order to mount their heads as a trophy. Hunting for subsistence and in order to restore ecological balance (such as when there are so many deer about that they might starve) - is one thing but my feeling is- if you want trophies, get the latest camera equipment and learn wildlife photography! There is no finer testament to skill and patience, as well as a sublimation of the old hunting spirit, than fine wildlife footage and photographs which show the subject in all its full natural beauty, and going about its life in peace.

Beautiful male Wheatear over by gazelle field that had me enthralled and puzzled..had to go home to get guide and confer with husband based on both our observations and still uncertain. It was foraging by ruins of a cistern under second large lone pine.. then flew off to boulders on eastern slopes leading up to the bipass road.

Looked like Black-eared wheatear in terms of the black markings but rest was pure white. Black wings and black face but stark white crown, back and breast, as much contrast as in a Finsch's or Mourning wheatear but definite white collar. There is a whiter race of black- eared wheatear, Oenanthe hispanica melanoleuca (?) but in illustrations even that shows some russet shading on the crown and back in spring. (The black-eareds we know from the orchard and sapling field have much more russet on them, O.h. hispanica. )

brief view on 2nd

house sparrows - foraging everywhere, grassy areas foraging for wild grass seeds and any bugs on them.. really acting like wild weaver finches. We are close to their origin, probably came out of Africa where other members of weaver family live.

senegal doves - foraging and active everywhere.. small flock including juveniles at base of large stand of thistles.

hooded crows - active in many locations. First bird heard today. several caws just before 5 a.m. House sparrows second,

Eurasian jays - foraging, some vocal. Plenty activity over gazelle field on the 2nd

feral pigeons - fly overs, active, small flocks.

greenfinches - some twittering, many calls. Some working on thistle heads , after thistle seeds, a favourite food of this genus.

blackbirds - song here and there, alarm calls, seen around foraging near ground. Alarm call in the garden.

chukars - pair crossing creek path and heading up slopes to east

collared doves - some cooing, foraging on ground, esp over gazelle field. Quite active and vocal on 2nd.. some flight calls and plenty cooing.

Turtle doves - a little cooing on the 2nd

sunbirds - calls in garden and along creek path.

graceful warblers - song, active.. foraging in grasses, pines and cypress

syrian woodpeckers - several calls

yellow vented bulbuls - some calls, vocal, quite active and foraging on the 2nd

On June 2 nd we went out late afternoon with the boys.. who naturally found the agama lizards the 'coolest' part of the walk. They had become a little frustrated at the birds in the forest, most of which made themselves evident by calls rather than sight. After trying to find a greenfinch calling noisily from a tall group of cypresses but staying tantalisingly out of view, they were briefly impressed by a pair of Buteo raptors up high ( probably the same pair of long-legged buzzards we've seen twice before in the area.. lack of bar at the end of the tail also helped confirm that ID) .

Later more hidden great tit families and very not hidden flying insects took their mood in a downward spiral and it didn't help that a eucalyptus was buzzing ominously. We suspect there's a hive up there somewhere. I showed them 'Mr Agama' bouncing his head up and down amusingly on his usual concrete sunbathing block and after that they were delighted to scramble over the bunker ruins (with due care) to see how many they could see.

Meanwhile husband and I checked out the cistern.

We noticed a very nice male Syrian woodpecker land at the edge of the old water cistern near the largest lone pine tree by gazelle field. After calling and looking around cautiously he hopped his way very gingerly down one of the thick cords of steel reaching from the concrete into the water. We assume he drank because he was out of sight for a while before hopping up again and taking off. I realised than in future we could easily use the bunker ruins as cover, they'd break up our outlines nicely, and keep a watch on this 'water hole'.. no doubt more birds drink here. Thanks to the recent rains there was a lot of water in there.. though it looked in awful condition. The cistern was several feet wide each way and hard to tell how deep. There was a tire in there that birds could fly down to and perch on to drink too.

Hyrax and gazelle were a no-show today.. 'cypress slum' was silent and still but evenings of June 1 and June 2 we did hear and see a number of swifts screaming and hunting flies over the buildings at dusk.