EILAT, ISRAEL first week of November

Steppe Eagle migration
Chasing migrants is never easy. Even if you know the place and the timing of the migration, there are other variables, which play an important role, such as weather and wind. In late Oct – early Nov the migration of Steppe Eagles peaks, and Eilat is the best place in the world to see them. But you got to get the weather right. The wind in Eilat is normally from the north, which brings the eagle passage close to town. And the wind direction is essential.
In 1992 I came for a week to Eilat, just to study Steppe Eagle plumages. It was the peak time of the migration so it should have been easy, one would think. But not this time. For the whole week we had southerly winds directly from Sahara, and the weather was close to +40 C every day. Despite trying hard, during the whole week we did not see one eagle! In the morning of the day we were flying home the wind had swung back to north, and as we were on the bus to the airport hundreds and hundreds of eagles filled the sky, some so low that the almost hit the roof of the bus! That was a blow which took a long time to get over.

This year, the first morning, on Nov 6th, was promising, with a very strong northerly wind. And indeed, everything worked according to plan. The first eagles appeared at around 0945 against the mountains of Jordan. In active flapping flight they were heading straight towards the Eilat Mountains, where I had placed myself for the day. The gale force wind kept them very low, and many birds actually passed below me, while the majority flew at eye level and many so close they would not fit into the frame of my camera! What a treat. During the first two hours 110 Steppe Eagles passed the point, mostly adults. After this the passage got higher and the stream drifted further south and was soon lost against the hazy sky. During these hours I took some 800 shots of tens of different birds, and the conditions could not have been better.

The next day I was back again at the same spot. The wind had dropped to almost nothing, so changes were to expect. During the same three hours I counted a total of 8 eagles, all very high and distant! Not one picture for the day. And no pictures the next day either, when the wind was in the south and the eagles went high again. So different can the days be.

Amazing fall of Siberian Stonechats
If you’re birding in Eilat at this time of year, you should see a few Siberian Stonechats in a week’s tour. So, understandably I got excited, when I found 5 quite close together on the 6th. But this was only the beginning. The following evening I saw 30 different birds, mostly in the so called S Fields east of the salt pans, while Belgian birder Hugues Dufourny (the only other foreign birder in all of Eilat, it appeared!) had counted 40 between the N Beach and the Bird Sanctuary. The next day (8th Nov) was no good for raptors, so I decided to go and look for Siberian Stonechats instead. I counted every bird I saw between the N Beach and the K20 reservoirs, never checking the same area twice. In the evening tally the number stopped at an amazing 129 Sibe Stonechats! Most of the identified birds showed white tail bases, showing them to be part of the more south westerly variegata/armenica –group. Another indicator of this fall of eastern migrants were the 3 Steppe Grey Shrikes, which were also found close together on the 7th. Over the next days most of the birds disappeared, probably continuing their migration to Africa.