Friday 19 November 2010

Israel Trip

Just got back from a week in Israel. We saw 172 species, with 15 lifers. The company was great, Sue being the only female in a group of 16. It was hard going at times, especially the climb up to see Sinai Rosefinch and it was a lot hotter than expected. It has to be said that the birds were quite often at a distance. Sue's theory is that as there is little cover in the desert, the birds see you coming before you see them. These are some of the birds we saw and over the weekend we will try to post other non-avian images.










This Brown Booby was obviously a long way out, but was a great lifer for us.












24 comments:

  1. WOW! You were able to get some incredible shots!! Glad you had fun! ~karen

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  3. Excellent post, I saw the word Israel and knew you would come up with some great images. Good to see you both had a good time look forward to your remaining images.

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  4. Wow, saw 172 species in a week! It must be a bird paradise! Lovely captures and look forward to seeing more!

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  5. Beautiful images and looking forward to see the rest. Thank you.

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  6. Superb shots, and what a great selection.

    172 in a week? Took me half the year to see that many here lol

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  7. What a wonderful mix of birds - and some great images! Looks like a very satisfying visit to me!!

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  8. Super selection of images cant pick a winner they are all lovely,look forward to seeing your next post.

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  9. Wow beautiful collection you got and congrats on the 15 lifers. How come you only got 15? Have you already been there before? That's was probably a nice experience seeing all your nice shots!

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  10. Hi Folks Welcome back and glad you had a great holiday. That is some total of birds and congrats on the 15 lifers.
    A really stunning set of images superbly taken. looking forward to the rest.
    CU soon.
    PS did you get any spiders Sue.

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  11. Wow! fab collection of images will look forward to a few more?
    dam Monts got there first with the spider question for Sue, but then she had a few men around to get rid of them by the sound of it!

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  12. A trip to Israel??? How wonderful! You certainly got some excellent images of birds that I've never seen before - and probably never will. Great job!

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  13. A great selection of shots,I agree many of the birds were distant for my camera set up in particular but great fun had by nearly all I think.Once again really nice to meet you both.

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  14. What a post, that is an impressive selection of species well done.

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  15. What an excellent selection of photos, I love them all!! But the Siberian Stonechat on the third line down is a Redstart.

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  16. That is amazing variety. Beautiful shots of the birds. Very colorful.

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  17. Amazing that you saw 172 species in a week! Congrats on the 15 new lifers. Lovely selection of shots.

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  18. Thanks everyone, we had a great time except for one hiccup (see Bob the Birder's Blog).
    Chris: We had seen quite a few of the same birds in Morocco.
    Steve: Thanks for noticing the deliberate mistake!! Have now corrected it.
    Monty and Rachel: Thanks for your concern, we didn't see one Spider.

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  19. A suberb series from your trip and congrats on the lifers. FAB.

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  20. Another great trip. Thanks for sharing. Desert birding is always such great fun!! Love;ly shots

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  21. Hi John and Sue,

    It was a pleasure to have you on the tour. You did well to get such great shots of the two owls and the sparrow-lark.

    Hope to see you again sometime soon!

    Cheers,

    James

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  22. Lovely birds. I wish I could also go to Israel.
    dubai rentals

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