4 gazelle

12 Nov: Range today: 15-18 degrees C

~ 4 p.m. just over 15 degrees, humidity: 46% and rising, wind very light and easterly, skies clear.

Gazelles: no show today ( but sighting on tuesday, see below)

Feral dogs: barks

Redstarts: European, calls east valley? Male black redstart on rebar of bunker ruins, flew off into eucalyptus grove

Stonechats: couple up in scrub by security fence east side of gazelle field, tail flicking like anything but not calling, and a bulbul not far off.

No robin calls or sightings :(

House sparrows: gardens.

Senegal doves: some little coos in the garden, 1 seen on rail near buildings.

Hooded crows: individuals returning to windsurfer hill, flock just south of Hizmeh with jackdaws.

Jackdaws: 70 plus returning to windsurfer hill from some foraging somewhere NNW. Another 10 joined them later, then saw flock by Hizmeh, first merged with hoodie flock, then the two kinds of crow separated into their own flocks which was a really neat effect to see.

Eurasian Jays, graceful warblers, syrian woodpeckers: calls.

Feral pigeons: Top rails of buildings.

Blackbirds: High 'tzeet' calls from garden, (hubby saw one on the lawn yesterday), several 'chakking' in forest at dusk

Collared doves: Sound of them changing perches up in the pines by the bunker but stayed quiet.

Bulbuls: Calls garden. It's come to my attention that there are actually three species of bulbuls called Yellow vented bulbuls. The other two are in east Africa and south east Asia. Spectacled bulbul is also a name given to one of the others. Our Pycnonotus xanthopygos is the only one that has both names apparently! White spectacled bulbul is the name often preferred but I use yellow- vented to differentiate it from the closest other bulbul, P. barbatus, found in Egypt. That has neither spectacles nor yellow vent but the latter is the more obvious feature.

13 Nov: 12-18 degrees C, 4 p.m. ~15.5 degrees C, humidity 58%, wind NNW 4.3 kt

Gazelles: Finally a sighting after missing them for a few days! Group of 4 grazing in the middle of gazelle field by the stone walls and single trees. Shortly after, they sproinged to the pine trees, delightful to watch. They look like they have spring loaded hooves when they move like that. At least two of them had short horns. I'm guessing they were a group of young adults, peers.

White wagtails: some heard

Redstarts: 'Blackjack' on the bunker ruins (male black redstart)

One on a rail back of a building where we took our short cut down to valley road. From its jizz and situation I first took it to be a robin so was very surprised when I got a good view and saw it was a redstart. It wasn't calling. It was interesting seeing one so close to habitation. It looked like an immature bird and seemed too brown to be a black redstart but did have thin white wing markings, and obvious rust on the tail.

Stonechats, robins, senegals: no sight or sound

House sparrows: Vocal in the gardens esp. toward 4 p.m.

Hooded crows: 13, then about 40 returning to windsurfer hill from foraging in the NNW

Jackdaws, jays, Graceful warblers, Syrian woodpeckers: calls

Blackbirds: 'tzeet' and 'chak' calls in the woods approaching dusk

Sunbirds: Some calls from the garden

: some calls

Bulbuls: Vocal in the garden and up on security fence east end of gazelle field where stonechats have been.