August 9th, 11th

August 9: Temps 6 pm ~ 24 degrees C and falling, humidity, about 65% and rising, W veering WNW, 10-12 kt,

No Gazelles or hyrax today
Feral dogs pair, seem to be same pair we saw a couple months ago, a brown and white and a white, with new puppy, off white speckled.
Reptiles quite a few young Lacerta lizards around the garden lately

Bee-eaters: several hunting quite high over east valley, eucalyptus grove. Calls heard many times lately, from house early morning and today early aft.
House sparrows: calls house and street
Senegal doves: Several pairs foraging for crumbs, coos.. house and street.
Hooded crows: Flock of at least 50 flying from hill to east over east valley
Jackdaws: Flock of at least 70 over east field
Jays: Several in woods, gazelle field and east field foraging on ground, walls
Feral pigeons: Small flocks over Hizmeh to the east, around buildings and about as usual
Greenfinches: Twittering in eucalyptus by orchard
Collared doves: one flying over east field

Sunbirds: Active in Bauhinia as usual, high pitched excited song of male in there. Looked out for tufts but just silhouette visible
Graceful warblers: relatively quiet
Syrian woodpeckers: alarm calls, active and about
Bulbuls: Parents feeding noisy young, at least three fledgelings in our willow

Some human disturbance, cyclists and hikers.

No sign of great tits, stone curlews, chukars, blackbirds, turtle doves, wheatears, cuckoos or hoopoes

August 11th ~ 6 p.m. - 7.45 p.m. 26 degrees C and falling humidity 50%, wind, 7 knots and falling, west veering WSW


Gazelle - We'd been watching for some time when a young one sprang into view behind the young pomegranate and the large pine behind the cistern. He had the same knobby head I'd seen on the young one from the east field (that group of three) and seen around the fore part of gazelle field before, so I believe it might be him. Apparently he had been grazing where the ground dipped, perhaps in the sunken dry stream bed over there. He ambled over further back, evidently seeming quite secure about grazing all by himself. Calling him 'Knobby'.
hyrax. Some high pitched contact calls around dusk

Bee-eaters: Plenty about, hunting for flies over the dry creek path, over east valley, over the gazelle field .. at least 20 in a group at any one time, probably more scattered

House sparrows, Senegal doves, Feral pigeons: Around buildings, street as usual
Hooded crows, at least a score flocking up on the hill. It's as if they were a self appointed police patrol.. if anything is going on they come to investigate. We heard some jay screeching in the middle of the pine woods for some minutes... presently we started to hear crow caws coming from the same direction.. as if they couldn't resist coming along to see what all the fuss is about.
Jays: Vocal and active as usual in woods and fields
Greenfinches: Small flocks moving between pine trees, twittering.
Collared doves: Some coos and flight calls, pair down by the cistern.
Stone curlews: Sharp calls coming from east field, then we saw one fly from there over gazelle field and on up the hill slopes toward Adam.
Sunbirds: Calls coming from eucalyptus grove near bunker and also from eucalyptus in middle of dry creek path.. two known territories.
Bulbuls: Calls from the garden

Turtle doves, wheatears, cuckoos, hoopoes, jackdaws, chukars, blackbirds, graceful warblers, great tits: not seen or heard