Daily Round up

A tiny plant growing in gazelle field, looks like a dandelion clock but less than 1 cm across. They were just too cute to pass over:)


Small relative of the cornflower, a composite.. season just about over for them now. 
Crupina crupinastrum   False saw wort   quite common by roadsides.

Today's walk was relatively brief.. busy with Passover preparations but never too busy to smell the flowers. Sometimes the breeze brings me a whiff of the Bauhinia outside and now and again as I sit here at night a gecko calls 'tok tok' from the walls just outside the window.
Temp range: 9-18 degrees C. At about 6 p.m. : some high altitude cloud, ~16 degrees C, humidity ~65%, wind NW veering W, 4-8 kt.

Bee-eaters: Group of about 25 hunting over middle of woods and part of gazelle field.

Turtle doves: again cooing in eucalyptus behind look-out corner.. pretty much same location they were at last year.. probably returned to same nesting site.

House sparrows: active as usual, laughing doves: cooing as usual, even long after darkSunbirds: very vocal and active in the garden, as were white spectacled bulbuls.

Hooded crows: active as usual Jackdaws:some calls Eurasian jays:active as usual

Greenfinches: much activity, twittering around pines by bunker, small groups flying between trees.

Blackbirds:quite a bit of activity, some song, Syrian woodpeckers: some calls

Collared doves: plenty activity, cooing. 3 down by cistern & around pomegranate trees. We were waiting to see if any turtle doves would join them as they did last year but not while we were there.

Stone curlews: Very vocal just after dark from length of hill slopes just north of north valley

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