The air is so wonderful and invigorating after the rain, just makes you want to stay out longer and breathe it all in. Main wild flower out is a LOT of ragweed which has a slightly acrid almost fennel like aroma but the other woodland scents released by the rain made up for that. We walked up into east field and took a look around. The lower parts of east field are divided by dry stone walls.. As with the north field I believe this was a farmed mini alluvial plain which received run off coming down from the south east. The olive tree grove is in one of these walled sections. There is still an occasional surface stream running through the eucalyptus grove but I suspect much of it is underground.

The field slopes upward to a nice patch of upland moorland covering most of 'windsurfer hill', clumps of aromatic heather- like bushes have now died back to cushions of what looks like tangled mini barbed wire, all interspersed with limestone boulders and plenty more fresh mole rat excavations. Instead of continuing on up the hill we turned west and hit an old shepherd track down back into the pines to hit the dry creek trail below. Still dry, last night's rain wasn't enough to make it run into the next day.

Gazelles: 2 by the single trees and dry stone walls, north gazelle field. 1 well horned buck grazing under the pines just down from valley road, only a few dozen metres distant.

Hyrax: Active, youngsters out too. There are at least three colonies along the length of the valley road or just off it. By the pumping station, by the cypresses (cypress slum, the biggest one we believe and probably expanding due to at least three rounds of litters this summer, four or five pups each and several breeding females. A third off the turn on the slopes of north valley and apparently a smaller fourth just down from some school buildings between the turn and the cypress slum colony.

dogs: Some barks down by the fences

Reptiles: Agama lizard on the bunker ruins. Nice size wild tortoise by the old shepherd trail at the tree line coming down into east valley.

House sparrows: Active on street and garden areas as usual

Hooded crows: Flock of at least 60 on windsurfer hill, foraging

Jackdaws: 60 or so on the slopes of hill below Hizmeh, most left and flew to join the crows foraging.

Eurasian Jays: Much activity and squawking in the woods

Feral pigeons: Small flocks and individuals active around the buildings

Greenfinches: Twittering and quite active today down by look-out corner

Blackbirds: 'Chack-chack' around dusk as usual lately

Sunbirds: relatively quiet

Graceful warblers: Quite vocal toward sunset

Syrian woodpeckers: Quiet, in contrast to yesterday's activity

Bulbuls: Active by old orchard and gardens, quite vocal

Great tits: Vocal and active, alarm calls heard various parts of the wood