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July 3, 2009

#483

Here's one for fans of purple flowers and of bugs. One of the globe thistle beetles, though pic still not quite as sharp as I'd like, does show quite different head form and antennae from the red beetles that are even more numerous on the thistles. I also look out for anything else such as bees and that flower weevil that showed up once, and the crab spider that had caught a wasp which was neat. Always worth looking, never know what will show up next.


I also attempted some busy ant pics.. a trail crossing valley road carrying food and apparently the same large red and black species the boys photographed the other day (that one was close to the north valley dirt road, edge of gazelle field), but was not happy with them- I had wanted to capture their formidable mandibles but didn't manage today. Will try again!


Below, another frequent hunter on the hillslopes, a feral cat. This one has almost completely wild colouration right down to the magnificent barred tail but others, such as the ginger just visible top right, have more typical feral cat patterning. Often it seems the cats are trying their luck catching hyraxes though I've never seen them succeed but in this case I think this was a more 'social gathering'. It was waving its tail ominously and there were several other cats edging down towards a female in a rocky hollow just down from valley road.

Bean like seed pods of an acacia near the east valley water course.


For fans of Prince the jay, another mug shot of him showing a different angle on his 'moustache' . He's eating and drinking but still very quiet, probably not a bad thing given how loud they can screech.

Gazelle: no luck today. Hyrax: Not as active as yesterday. Feral cat, down from valley road, apparently a female in oestrus amongst the boulders.

Bee-eaters: Active over gazelle field, higher, a more closed flock of at least 25 individuals moving about.
Hobbies: Some calls unless it was a sparrowhawk, very similar but less shrill, but call was brief.
Turtle doves: Intermittant quieter coos heard in bunker rubble area.
Blackbirds: Some song.
Collared doves: active, cooing, couple up on the lines over east valley watercourse.
Eurasian Jays: Active in the woods, individuals glimpsed between trees.
Graceful warblers: Some calls.
Greenfinches: Some calls and foraging for thistle seed etc in gazelle field, then return flight to trees.
Hooded crows: Loose flock flying back from forage in the north, heading to windsurfer hill.
House sparrows: Around buildings as were Laughing doves:
Sunbirds: If they were calling in the garden I slept right through it!
Syrian woodpeckers: Numerous calls.
White spectacled Bulbuls: A couple foraging by valley road.


Today's range: 22.5-29.5 ( 72.5 - 85.1 degrees F)

Time of walk, just before 7 p.m. 25.8 degrees ( 78.44 degrees F )

Wind WSW 10.4 kt, humidity 38 %

#482 Summer time, and the living is easy

A favourite posture for hyraxes- totally stretched out, back legs out behind and belly to the ground. They  like to do this on the tarmac of valley road too. Below, two adults in different stages of maturity and a youngster, one of many scampering across valley road.






Bee- eaters over gazelle field, silhouetted. These pics don't do them justice at all in terms of colouration and only a faint tribute in terms of the beautiful aerodynamics. In one you can just make out the elongated central tail feathers, and you can just see the slender curve of the bill.

Today's early birds: (I happened to be awake so made a note of them)
Shortly after 4.50 a.m. caws of hooded crows
4.55 a.m. chirps of house sparrows.
4.57 a.m. melodious calls of white spectacled bulbuls.
5.15 a.m. sunbird short melodious calls.
Later laughing doves added their coos but not sure what time.

Gazelle: No luck.
Hyrax: lots as yesterday in cypress slum area, some quite high in cypresses on the forest side
Reptiles: calls of geckos from buildings.

Bee-eaters: hawking for aerial insects over gazelle field, more NW towards service road area today.

Turtle doves: Coos heard

Blackbirds: Some song heard,   Collared doves,  coos and seen active
Eurasian Jays: calls and seen active,   Greenfinches: twitters in bunker area
Jackdaws: absent,   Hooded crows:  small flock winsurfing up off western slopes of 'windsurfer' hill,  at least double that number on the ground.
Stone curlews: not heard today amongst other quiet birds such as great tits, graceful warblers
Syrian woodpeckers: calls heard frequently through the woods. 


Insects:  Cicadas shrilling till sunset today and yesterday, from eucalyptus all the way to cistern but no luck finding any, may be on upper twigs.  Checked out the green beetles on the globe thistles but didn't get a satisfactory pic today, I want to try again.  Head neck area doesn't look same shape as the red though underparts and underwings red. My question is, same species just different morph or sex, or different species?  Red type much more numerous. 


Weather: 24 degrees C to 33+ degrees C  ( 75.2- 91.4 degrees F )

Time of walk:  shortly before 7 p.m.  29 degrees C and falling.  ( 84.2 degrees F )

Humidity: 22% and rising,  wind NW/W  8-12 kt

Prince the jay is still with us and likes left over breakfast cereal.

#481 Warmer again, and Prince the Jay

A familiar sight now, patches of blooming globe thistles. This one by valley road near the pumping station. Still swarming with the green and red beetles and I must remember to check if head of the greens is just like that of the reds on its long 'neck'

I wanted to find which plant was 'guilty' of being the 'caterpillar burr' plant which I pick up so many every day.  This seems to be it but I must pay closer attention next year to observe which plant it WAS in terms of flowers before it developed burrs.  I'm really not sure!  That and the thorny seed pod, mysteries yet to be solved. 

As for Prince,  the name the boys gave the jay, he seems to be settling in nicely and since our vet is paying a visit soon for the dog I want his advice on the jay too, in terms of worms and such.  He shows no signs of ill health but shows no inclination to fly away.  The boys tried to free him this morning but he was clearly not ready to leave us yet.  I have not examined his wings, I'd rather give him time to settle in and get used to us all first.  He is eating and drinking.  Below, shots the boys took of his fancier wing feathers and his face.. watch out, he will try to peck!



Gazelle:  No luck today.   Hyrax:  Lots and lots all ages.. on valley road scampering down from the slum cypress slopes across the road to the boulders on the forest side where evidently they feel much more secure.
Reptiles: Geckoes heard on buildings after sunset.
 
Bee-eaters:  Lots of bee-eaters whirling and whickering in the air over gazelle field and eucalyptus grove area as yesterday.
Turtle doves: Coos heard various parts of the woods.

Hoopoe also seen flying from gazelle field area towards woods.  Tristram's grackle whistle heard a few times from direction of neighbourhood but we didn't spot the bird or birds.
 
Blackbirds: Some song heard in the pines
Collared doves:  Coos, activity, a few down by the cistern,  flying in to drink (there are some rocks and stones they can perch upon in the large cistern which is why it was a mystery why the jay floundered.
Eurasian Jays: About as usual, and perhaps it was just my imagination but a couple came down to perch within plain view near the bunker and stared at us, curiously? reproachfully? as if they knew we'd taken one of them.
Graceful warblers: Calls heard.    Greenfinches: calls heard, small flock flew from bunker pines to over look out corner
Hooded crows:  I think we saw them, didn't see any jackdaws lately, perhaps they've gone off following goats again. We have seen goat herd activity across to the eastand we know they do follow them.
House sparrows:Around neighbourhood as usual, also seen at bunker rubble.
Laughing doves: Around buildings and street as usual, cooing.
Stone curlews: Brief call around sunset
Sunbirds: short melodious calls just after 5 a.m. in the garden as usual these days.
Syrian woodpeckers: husband glimpsed and heard a couple while I was looking at vegetation near the cistern
White spectacled Bulbuls:  again, started up in the tree just before 5 a.m. this morning.
 
Weather:  Range: 26- 34.5 degrees C.  (78.8 -94.1 degrees F )

Time of walk: ~6.45 p.m. ~31.5 degrees C ( 88.7 degrees F)

Humidity: ~27%, wind NW ~6kt.

#480 Jay rescue

This above - by valley road I noticed the short leguminous shrub growing together with Polygonum (horsetail knotweed) and thought the combination pretty so took some shots- noticed later on the zoom the red and black plant bug, probably Pyrrhocoris apterus, also known as the firebug. (or Scantius aegyptius or related )

Avremi captured this pic of an opened seedpod - magnified, the actual seedpod was barely half a centimetre across. All this kind had three chambers like this and each held at least two seeds.

(As I write I can hear Bauhinia pods bursting out their seeds every few minutes, a disconcerting effect if you don't know what it is! )

These were between valley road and the north valley turn off, we headed off the path under the pines near where we found that carob tree and Moshe always has fun jumping down the limestone shelves and boulders.


Below: Hyrax, eyes lit by the flash. They must have good night vision to have light gathering retinas like this and we have seen them occasionally scampering about well after dark especially in the neighbourhood gardens along the snake path.


The boys found a very busy ant nest, ants of two distinct sizes collecting and milling around industriously. The large ones were quite aggressive and swarmed onto us if we let them, the boys received a few nips. We need a better pic to show their mandibles.

Gazelle: We noticed an adult male today in gazelle field not far from the north valley watercourse, peacefully grazing.
Boys noticed a gazelle up on the hill to the north but couldn't make out definite horns.
Hyrax: A few hyrax noticed at the Shadiker colony.

Boys noticed the fox family this morning on their return from their campsite, must have been around 7 a.m. Mom vixen and three cubs making their way quickly up the hidden watercourse and then up its northern banks.

The younger boys also came with us for the walk this afternoon. Avremi likes to use the camera and Moshe wanted to check out the cistern for toads or whatever. Turned out to be a good decision!

Bee-eaters
Lots of activity over gazelle field, eucalyptus grove and the lower part of east field beyond. Scores, hard to estimate numbers because of the way they moved about and that we did not have all of them in view at any one time but something over 60.

Turtle doves: Some coos heard.
Blackbirds: no song but a pair whistling thin alarm call by central trail on the way back.
Chukar partridges: some calls heard as we arrived at the north watercourse dirt road.
Collared doves: coos, flight calls, general activity.
Eurasian Jays: Activity, calls as usual, and a RESCUE! The boys found one that had somehow become waterlogged in the cistern. They rescued it and before they could even ask 'can we keep it" I told them to take it home as at least a temporary pet. Jays are omnivorous and therefore quite easy to feed on table scraps and was already taking pieces of bread by the time Akiva and I arrived home. Soon it was sitting quite calmly on Moshe's hand without restraint. We used an old cage we have for its quarters when not being handled, more to protect it from the dog and other accidents around the home. We must get pics of him when he looks less bedraggled! Aharon was impressed at the beautiful blue barring on his wings.

Greenfinches: Twitters and chaws in the pines as usual.
Hooded crows: A few flying about.
House sparrows: Around the houses as usual and a small flock today at the bunker ruins foraging on grass and apparently also thistle seed.
Laughing doves: around buildings and cooing as usual.
Stone curlews: Calls from fields from about sunset onwards
Sunbirds: melodious short calls in the garden since about 5 a.m.
Syrian woodpeckers: A few in the eucalyptus groves, calling and banging beaks into the eucalyptus trunks.
White spectacled Bulbuls: calling in the garden from about 5 a.m.

Mr. Goldwasser reported a large bird in the valley, from his description most likely a long legged buzzard.

Weather: today's range, 16- almost 30 degrees C, ( 60.8 F - 86 F)
Time of walk, starting about 6.30 p.m. ~27 degrees C. (80.6 degrees F)
humidity ~40%, winds NW/NNW, 7-8 kt.

#479 Sunday stroll in north valley

The hillslopes across north valley watercourse. Below, the stigma (green) and stamens and anthers (white and purple) of a caper flower, still in bloom in many places now.

Young Eryngium- they progressively turn blue/purple and put out tiny indigo flower parts.

Spiny broom, a kind of legume, has finished blooming and fertilized flowers have turned to beanpods, this by central trail. The short softer leaved broom by the roadside continues to bloom yellow flowers.


Gazelle: One spotted running into the trees across north valley watercourse into tree cover.

Bee-eaters: Heard calling over north valley for most of the walk.
Turtle doves: Heard cooing. Blackbirds: heard in song
Collared doves: heard cooing, active between trees.
Eurasian Jays: active about woods, foraging.
Graceful warblers: calls and foraging in gazelle field.
Greenfinches: Twitters and chaws in pines, foraging for thistle seeds in gazelle field.
Hooded crows: Calls, active. House sparrows:calls, active
Laughing doves: coos, active around houses.
Stone curlews: calls around and after sunset
Sunbirds: calls from just before first light.
Syrian woodpeckers: calls in the pines
White spectacled Bulbuls:melodious calls in the garden before first light again, repeated harsh cries of a couple in the Bauhinia late afternoon, making big fuss, possibly one of neighbour's cats around.

green
locust noticed on valley road on the way up. It flew to cover of a caper, already getting dark, unfortunately couldn't find it. I have never seen a swarm on the move here but found individuals many times, usually grey brown, one summer, a few summers ago there were a lot of red ones about for a short while.. would make a great subject if we can find like that again.

Local boys were curious what I was looking for (locus is called
arbeh in Hebrew) so we got into a conversation about the local wildlife. They reported seeing a number of Kukri snakes in the area, or perhaps Dahl's whip snakes, could be either by their description, both small and harmless species. (snake is na'hash in Hebrew )

Our eldest son, Aharon (age 22), took the two youngest boys camping this evening, not sure where they're going to pitch their tent, they may go all the way to the sage vale.. hope they have good reports for us tomorrow!

Weather: 16-26 degrees C, ( 60.8 -78.8 degrees F) - time of walk: 22 degrees C. (71.6 degrees F)
humidity: 65% and rising, wind W/NW, 6-10 kt.