Hel Hath No Birdies

Hawk Owl. The Best Bird in the Universe. Hawkies are simply the business. No argument can be produced or countenanced to the contrary. Like with Pygmy Owl, their diurnal habits make them a lot more attainable than the nocturnal species, but their size and tendency to sit prominently on wires, treetops etc make them even more obvious than the aforementioned Pygmies. This in no way, however, reduces their desirability or awesomeness. They are simply stunning birds.   Hawk Owl has a range of facial expressions, varying between quizzical and outright menace. It's hard to feel anything, whist watching them, other than that they have utter disdain for you. It's part of their overwhelming charm.  Hawk Owl is often exceptionally tame around the city, at times completely ignoring members of the public who walk up to them and stick even a camera phone directly in their face, as I and visiting friends...

A recent laptop issue prompted a hard drive back up and a trawl through saved photos. Whilst doing so I was reminded of our enjoyable birding trip to Israel a couple of years ago, so decided to post a selection of images from the two weeks spent there. We had chosen to go there in October to connect with juvenile eagles on migration, and were not disappointed.   Juvenile Greater Spotted Eagle - a long wanted plumage for me. A dream of a bird. The fields in the hula valley we're superb for various eagles.   This Yellow Browed Warbler in the humes park, Eilat was the first of the autumn in Israel.   In the desert, scenes like this happen. This on Carnsore point would cause a seizure. Possibly of class A drugs. Cream Colored Courser and Desert Wheatear   Juv Montagu's Harrier.      Black Winged Kite - always stunning   Hooded Wheatears were particularly abundant that autumn, often found out of...