Week starting Sunday 21 November

Sunday 21st November

temp 13-22 degrees C, cooler, breezier, looks like wind is changing. Looking at weather reports, winds shifted from easterlies to north westerlies about noon time, and picked up. Still light breeze. Also scattered small cumulus noticed coming in.

Gazelle: Adult male grazing in middle of gazelle field, amongst the saplings. Another 2, female and/or well grown young, grazing in ploughed area beyond almond row.

Feral dogs: apparent family group of 4 just north of sapling field near east watercourse, smallest dog with harness, strangely enough, interested in a bitch that seemed to be lactating, alternately trying to get milk and trying to hump her but without success at either. The dominant dog and bitch barked at us, and the dog came quite close to us barking threatengly, clearly wanting us to leave his territory but hesitant to attack as we turned to face him down. Picking up a rock clearly made him more cautious. I only intended to use the rock if he would actually attack but would keep it as a threat as long as he threatened us, basically giving him the message that we would pass through his territory at our own pace. He desisted as, it seemed, we left his borders not far from the Pistacia orchard. I've never seen the feral dogs this aggressive before, could be times are hard with the extended dry season.

No winterers noticed but for white wagtail, some calls heard.

Graceful warblers: calls heard from nearby gardens or across street.

Greenfinches: calls heard from garden next door?

Hooded crows: passing over towards sunset
Jackdaws: calls heard
Sunbirds: song heard in Bauhinia from early, before 9 a.m.but sounded scratchy, younger male practising, not the usual male.

Syrian woodpeckers: calls heard

Monday 22 November

Gazelle: 1 adult male grazing by the large almond and hawthorns, another individual, well grown young or female also by hawthorns.

Reptiles: 1 Lacerta lizard by flowerbeds upper part of neighbourhood, the brown and green kind with thin stripes down the flanks.

Black redstart: none

Chaffinch: several, on cypress tops near pumping station.

Chiffchaff: contact calls in pines, as have been heard every day lately.

White wagtail:many calls all day, and seen flying over

Blackbirds: no calls today

Eurasian Jays: active in pines

Eurasian sparrowhawk:glimpsed over pumping station (?)

Feral pigeons: rooftops

Hooded crows and jackdaws, much milling about and calling of several hundred birds over east woods/Pistacia grove area not long before sunset, more than the usual excitement but cause not seen, no large raptors or anything else unusual noticed. Syrian woodpeckers: calls

House sparrows: chirps in garden early afternoon,

Laughing doves: cooing and foraging on ground midday

White spectacled Bulbuls: calls

Tuesday 23 November

Temps cooler, westerlies. 10-21.5 degrees C

Gazelle: 3 in ploughed area behind almond row.

Foxes: 1 sniffing about near cistern before sunset, probably the regular individual.

White wagtail: calls, around building roofs, chiffchaffs: contact calls in pines.

Great tits, greenfinches, jackdaws, hooded crows, Eurasian jays : active and vocal

Sunbirds: young male outside window

stone curlew: calls

White spectacled Bulbuls: calls?

Wednesday 24th November

Gazelle, hyrax : none noticed

Foxes: 1 on north dirt road, not same individual we have seen around the cistern, this one has darker fur.

Black redstart: still none

Chiffchaff: contact calls, White wagtail:some calls

Eurasian Jays: calls, Blackbirds: alarm calls at dusk

Eurasian sparrowhawk: glimpse

Feral pigeons: some about roofs

Greenfinches: calls, Hooded crows: flying to roost

House sparrows, laughing doves :gardens

Sunbirds: garden subsong

Tristram's starlings: calls from betw neighbourhood and windsurfer hill somewhere, over pumping station or farther south

Thurs 25th November

Gazelle: at least 9: 1 adult buck then 2 groups of three (females and immatures) in sapling field moving gradually to north. Then two adult bucks, one chasing other, came down hill south of pumping station, ran swiftly over dirt road near bridge and on into sapling field. After this saw several individuals as we made our way north but no way to know if these weren't ones already seen.

Hyrax: churring calls from up slope near pumping station

Foxes: none, Feral dogs: barks

Feral cats: 2 on boulders by road cypress slum colony area, possibly trying their luck with the hyraxes

!Black redstart: 1st of season, seen at sunset on concrete blocks of rubble, male, bobbing and a flight

Chiffchaff: ~contact calls

White wagtail:calls heard all day

Blackbirds: alarm calls, Eurasian Jays: seen in pines but quiet

Feral pigeons: rooftops,

White spectacled Bulbuls: calls?

Graceful warblers: calls, gardens

Great tits: calls in pines

Sunbirds: calls, Jackdaws: calls

Syrian woodpeckers: calls and glimpsed

Hooded crows: over, and on windsurfer hill, flock on ground.

Monday 29 November

Felt cooler today but still dry, 16.5-22.5 degrees C

Gazelle: Today, adult male up on skyline viewed from east watercourse dirt road. Yesterday about sunset, adult male crossing valley road from bank, then down into pines. Also a couple grazing in north end gazelle field, backs to me.

Hyrax: some activity lately

Chiffchaff: contact calls in pines

White wagtail:calls flying over and about neighbourhood.

Eurasian Jays: about pines as usual.

Blackbirds: alarm chatters at dusk

Feral pigeons: about roofs

Graceful warblers: some calls.

Hooded crows: flying over, heading to roost, tops of trees, over pisgat zeev, over windsurfer hill

House sparrows:gardens, some chirps heard some days. but relatively quiet lately

Jackdaws: calls from Hizmeh hill, also flying over pisgat zeev and windsurfer hill

Laughing doves: some coos, about gardens.

Sunbirds: song in Bauhinia from mid morning, calls in cape honeysuckle

Syrian woodpeckers: calls in pines and eucs

White spectacled Bulbuls: calls?