Day 5

At Tel-Beersheva, I kept seeing what I think is some kind of sparrow. I’ve seen them quite a bit these last few days, but while we were near the well outside the city gates, there was a tree full of them, so I got a better look. They’re fairly small, have a while belly with a black spot on the neck, a black spot on the eye, a short beak, and brown feathers with white and black tips. The only call they were doing at that time was just a single note, sporadically repeated. Could they be House Sparrows? Or maybe something related’

I also got a closer look at the Pigeons I saw earlier. The have shiny green feathers around their necks with darker feathers on the rest of their body. Their wings are swept back, and white underneath, with a black outline.

Day 6

Today was a great day for birding! Most of our site seeing happened outdoors, so there were plenty of opportunities to watch the skies.

During my research for the site presentation on En-gedi, I found that one kind of bird native to this region is the Tristram’s Grackle. I didn’t really think I’d be able to see one while I was here, but I went ahead and looked up a few pictures and descriptions anyway before I left, just in case. Sure enough, while we were at Masada, I saw one! I got a really good look too; it was sitting on a wall at about eye level and let me get very close, maybe just two feet away. These birds aren’t particularly rare to the area, but I still felt a great sense of personal accomplishment. For the first time, I had successfully researched, located and identified a bird completely on my own. Just a few minutes later, Mishi confirmed my identification by mentioning ‘Tristram’s Bird’ in one of his explanations. We saw more at En-gedi as well.

The information pamphlets we picked up at En-gedi contained a very useful guide to the birds of the area. Using it, I was able to once again confirm my Tristram’s Grackle find and also identify a few Fan-tailed Ravens. There was a picture of a Blackstart that I think I’ve seen hopping around with the bird I cautiously identified earlier as a House Sparrow. But, I wasn’t able to get a good enough look to know for sure on the Blackstart, and I still have no idea if a House Sparrow is even a reasonable guess on the other one.