Tiger Moth Euprepia oertzeni photographed in our entrance way. Its colouring was black and white, the yellow is due to the lighting

Last few days have been relatively uneventful

Gazelles: Not in the last couple of days, though spoor noticed esp. in east field.

hyrax: Some activity along valley road especially by the cypresses.

feral dogs: A pair has had puppies recently just down from valley road and near the cypress slum colony. The pups must be about a months old or more. They are holed up in a boulder den down there at the base of some cypresses with low branches, giving them very good cover. The local feral cats seemed to have had kittens about the same time and whole family parties are roving around, scavenging, parents out hunting for food now the rains have come while they were relatively much lower profile tail end of the dry season.
Bats quite regular lately, two just after dark fluttering around us along valley road, the other day we watched one fly around the lamppost repeatedly as last year, catching moths, amazing to see it swoop down at the moth when it gets it in its sonar. Or we see them various other parts of the woods, random places, crossroads, look-out corner, every night or every other night just after dark.

reptiles: Quite a number of geckoes about, spotted on valley road and on walls lately, of various sizes.. seems they also had young lately. Anticipation of wet season, food availability.

Bee-eaters: a small group heard a few days ago roughly over the pistaccio orchard area. Haven't seen them in a while

Swifts: husband spotted five alpine swifts, Apus melba, quite high over the buildings. Not unusual this time of year, and another couple of sightings a day or two ago.

Hobbies: Still about, occasional sightings over east valley and calls from the east end of north valley. More kestrels noticed lately, up towards Hizmeh and near our neighbourhood, Brief sparrowhawk glimpse?

House sparrows: very vocally active in the gardens approaching sunset, they have a roost in the cypresses next door and another in a couple of date palms where Elias meets Shadiker. Birds can be seen flying to the roosts in small groups.

laughing doves, feral pigeons : about the street as usual.

Hooded crows: between windsurfer hill and the 'hood as usual.

Jackdaws: nice size flock usually coming and going between hoodie hill and Pisgat Zeev, using the TV aerials of the latter as roost or pre roost gathering.

Eurasian Jays: vocal and plenty seen singly flying between trees and foraging through woods and fields.

Greenfinches: some small groups spotted between pines, flying top canopy level, low level twittering.

Blackbirds: chack chack and tzreet calls various places in the woods

Chukar partridges: group of four spotted on trail up east field toward hoodie hill a couple of days back, others heard clucking down in north valley.

Collared doves: occasionally glimpsed quitting trees but keeping a very low profile, no cooing.

Stone curlews: occasional calls, very few.

Sunbirds: regular in the Bauhinia tree in the garden, not singing in last few days though.

Graceful warblers:calls various places along valley road and around bunker area.

Syrian woodpeckers: a few heard and spotted flying top canopy level between trees and also using posts at top of the bank by valley road.

white spectacled Bulbuls: hoarse chuk chuk calls and melodious calls heard various parts of the woods lately

Great tits:some calls heard from the pines below valley road and off central trail
Still no definite white wagtails.