East valley stroll

Today's range: 23-32 degrees C,
late afternoon ~27 degrees (~7 p.m.) 45-50% humidity, W/WNW
light breeze, just 2-6 knots.

Around the houses: some house sparrows heard, laughing dove coos, feral pigeons jackdaws and hooded crows heard, sunbird in the Bauhinia outside my window, singing quite extensively lately though NO other bird singing in this season at all. (A couple of brief chimes that almost sounded like a great tit song but so brief couldn't be sure.. and out of season, no others)

Along valley road dozens of hyrax active esp. the forest side of the road, lots of babies.. larger ones climbing up into the lower branches of the cypresses as they like to do.

Calls of syrian woodpeckers in the pines, great tit calls, collared dove pair, some collared dove coos lately too. Eurasian jays active about, husband glimpsed a hoopoe, we both got nice views of a hobby (a falcon) flying over woods just north of central trail, talons down.. something small in talons? Could have got a small bird or something, stone curlews heard calling from northern edges of the woods as dark fell. Pair of blackbirds seen flying over woods near sapling field. Chukar partridge heard cistern area. Graceful warbler calls.

Three gazelle seen over in east field, two making their way east toward fence, another one there apparently waiting for them.. headed in direction of the olive grove.

Flock of at least 20 hooded crows 'windsurfing' yesterday above upper western slopes of windsurfer hill, as they like to do when conditions are right, hence the name...
I believe there's a strange psittacine in the woods just south of the pumping station. Two days we've heard it now, lately. At first I took it for a ring necked parakeet but calls more singular and lower pitched. Caught a very brief glimpse on a lower bough.. (Eurasian) jay size, dark, green in there.. definitely not ring neck look. Some markings around the eye.. escaped Amazon? about,