As I mentioned yesterday, we are off to see Wadi Rum today, and I have no idea if I’ll be able to get any wildlife pictures for you, but I’ve got a few left over from yesterday, so let me use this post to get you caught up.
Here’s a western yellow wagtail, whom we first saw in cool and rainy South Holland, struttin’ its stuff under the hot desert sun between the ponds at the Aqaba Bird Observatory (ABO).
Meanwhile, four large birds soared high above the ponds, and they turned out to be our first ever black storks (Ciconia nigra). Their range extends from Sweden to South Africa and Spain to Japan, so I’m a little surprise that they have evaded me till now, but better late than never, right? I read that “black storks prefer undisturbed forests near water, white storks live in more open areas like fields and wetlands, and black storks are shy and avoid humans, whereas white storks are more common in urban areas and nest on man-made structures,” so that could explain it.
Ponds full of wading birds would hardly be complete without stilts, so here’s a black-winged stilt to round things out.
That’s it from the ABO, for now at least, but before breakfast and our visit, I stopped by the public beach right in town. I was a bit surprised to find that many vacationers, including whole families with children, appeared to have spent the night on the beach, and many were still sleeping there. Thus, I abandoned my hopes of finding any shorebirds, and focused instead on the small garden patches, perhaps community gardens, between the beach and the street behind it lined with shops and hotels. What a goldmine!
Here’s our best look yet, given the low light conditions, at an adult male red-backed shrike in full plumage. What a handsome devil, eh? We did see one in Malawi, but he kept his red back hidden.
For handy reference, here’s a female who was hunting in the next garden over.
Finally, here’s our first look at a male masked shrike. You may recall that we saw our first individual, a juvenile, just the day before beside the Dead Sea.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 