29th October - Around 5:15am we put up some mist-nets across a well vegetated ditch in the date palms north of Kefar Ruppin. Relatively large numbers of Yellow-vented Bulbul and Blackbird move along this ditch from their roosts in the Jordan valley to feeding places around the kibbutz, and in particular, we were hoping to catch these species.

Only a few birds were caught, but most remarkable was a Clamorous Reed Warbler with two white secondaries in its left wing and a Sedge Warbler.

Our supervising ringer, Kobi Merom, mentioned that this species was much less common than in previous years with only 15 birds caught this autumn, compared to totals of 150-200 birds in a typical year. In the surrounding area were two Black Francolins, an Indian Silverbill and a light overhead migration of Song Trushes (6+).

An afternoon walk to the local cemetery produced an elusive Wryneck while a Little Owl showed itself well while enjoying the last rays of sun.

Vincent opted to bird the turf fields and fishponds west of the kibbutz and 'turned up' a Calandra Lark migrating south. Local birds included Purple Heron, some Ferruginous Ducks, 151 Common Cranes and an Eastern Stonechat (of the Siberian form 'maura').

30th - With a day off from ringing we were able to do birding in the morning hours and decided to check the fields north-west of the kibbutz.

The atmosphere was more reminiscent of a morning in Holland than Israel, with two thermalling Hen Harriers, several groups of migrating Skylarks (70+ in total) along with smaller numbers of Meadow Pipit, Chaffinch, Tree Pipit and other typical north European breeders.

Nonetheless a Booted Eagle, a stunning male Black Francolin, Desert Finch and Isabelline Wheatear were sound reminders of our true location - the Middle East!

An good alfalfa field still held reasonable numbers of birds, the most impressive being Tawny Pipit (25), Richard's Pipit (2), Red-throated Pipit (70+) and Quail (1).

In the afternoon, we checked another alfalfa field next to the border with Jordan which held Chuckar (20+), Water Pipit (1), Eastern Stonechat (1 'maura'),   Penduline Tit (1) and Southern Grey Shrike (3). At least 57 Great Cormorants were counted going to roost.

31st - A much more productive morning of ringing at the Tel Saharon ringing station! In total 51 birds were taken out of the nets, including numbers of Chiffchaff and Palestine Sunbird, but we also we ringed Syrian Woodpecker, White-breasted Kingfisher, Robin, Sardinian Warbler and a fine male Dead Sea Sparrow.

A Whinchat that had an obviously injured right eye was successful in catching some of the (many!) flies around the ringing station during the greater part of the morning.

While checking the fishponds north of Kefar Ruppin we noted a strong movement of White Wagtails going to their roosting place. During just 20 minutes, we counted 570 birds. At that rate, the full scale roost must have looked very impressive but we ran out of time to locate it.

Eurasian Scops Owls remain in the area and still haven't left for the wintering grounds. In the evening we heard 2 or 3 birds calling close to our apartment.

1st November - An average day on the Tel Saharon ringing station. During the morning we caught 40 birds, most of which were Chiffchaffs, Bluethroats and Spanish Sparrows. The injured Whinchat that had been hanging around the station yesterday ended up in one of our nets. Examination revealed that it was completely missing its left eye! Nevertheless, despite the handicap, the bird was doing pretty well and fattening up for migration.

Good birds close to the ringing station included Peregrine, Common Crane (50+), Water Rail, Desert Finch and tens of Skylarks.

2nd - This morning we drove to Ha'on Fishponds, situated on the south-east corner of the Sea of Galilee. We erected our mistnets along a path through extensive reedbeds along the shore of the lake.

It turned out to be a productive site. No less than 88 birds were ringed, amongst them were some quality species such as Great Reed Warbler (2), Moustached Warbler and a very aggressive Southern Grey Shrike. Clamorous Reed Warblers were the most common species with no fewer than 22 birds trapped (including a nice dark morph), enabling us to learn about the aging of this species.

From our ringing site we had good views of the lake and the surrounding reedbeds. The reedbeds were alive with Pygmy Cormorants, Penduline Tits (8+), Little Bitterns (2+), Water Rail and a Citrine Wagtail.

On our way back we drove along the border road with Jordan, checking several groups of fishponds. One of them held an impressive flock of 430 Black Storks. Other roadside birds included Southern Grey Shrikes, Chuckars, Hoopoes, Pygmy Cormorants, Spoonbills and many Stonechats.

In the afternoon we tried the small sewage ponds of Kibbutz Tirat Zvi. Although we only opened the nets for little more than an hour we caught no less than 24 birds, including another Moustached Warbler, a (late) Savi's Warbler, Sedge Warbler and seven Bluethroats. That all looked promising for the following morning! Birds that skilfully avoided our nets included Jack Snipe, Water Rail (3), Citrine Wagtail and Penduline Tit.

3rd - By first light we had opened the nets at the Tirat Zvi sewage ponds, and again this great little site didn't let us down. An impressive 81 individuals of 18 species were caught. Attractive species were ringed such as Snipe, White-breasted Kingfisher, Laughing Dove, Bluethroat (23!), Water Pipit (2), Penduline Tit (even smaller in the hand than in the field!) and Dead Sea Sparrow (2).

During the short moments that we weren't handling birds, five migrating Steppe Buzzards and Skylarks were on the move with at least 200 birds going south.

Another calling Scops Owl was present near our apartment in the evening.

4th - During this morning's ringing session at the Tel Saharon we were visited by two groups of school children. They really enjoyed seeing how a ringing station works although releasing a ringed bird was obviously the most popular part of the trip for them.

With 59 birds caught it was a successful day. Redstart, Zitting Cisticola and Blackbird were unusual birds for this particular station. While working we heard or saw Water Rail, Eastern Stonechat ('maura'), Desert Finch, Serin and Reed Bunting, the latter being a new arrival from the north.

In the afternoon, we saw a male Black Redstart on the roof of our apartment, while Stone Curlew and Scops Owl were heard calling during dusk.

5th  - After a slow morning of ringing at the Tel Saharon Vincent and I had time to check the famous turf fields of Kefar Ruppin.

Large flocks of Starlings (300), Skylarks (500) and Northern Lapwings (70) were feeding on the green fields, looking much like a winter birding scene in Holland.

Amongst these common species were Short-toed Lark (2), Isabelline Wheatear, Water Pipit (20+), Purple Heron and Golden plover (4). Four Merlins were also flushed from a small group of eucalyptus trees, not something we're likely to see in Holland! Other raptors around included a beautiful Long-legged Buzzard and a migrating Steppe Buzzard.

The afternoon found us back at the bird rich sewage ponds of Tirat Zvi where we saw around ten Wood Sandpipers, Spotted Crake, Jack Snipe, about three Citrine Wagtails and 40 Dead Sea Sparrows. Our ringed birds included Moustached Warbler and White-breasted Kingfisher.

The day finished close to our apartment at Kefar Ruppin, where we enjoyed great views of a late Wryneck sitting on the kibbutz fence.

Good birding, Roelf Hovinga on behalf of the BirdingIsrael Team