One of a group of six emus foraging to the east of Serendip Sanctuary. Observations for some of the other birds can be found here and here.

This immature bird noticed me observing it at a distance and decided to approach. It walked towards me at a leisurely pace until it was about 3 metres away and then made one of those typical emu "thump" noises while looking at me. Not sure if it was feeling threatened or just curious - it didn't seem at all agitated, but I went on my way just in case 😅 I've never had such a large wild animal approach me like that, quite an experience!

Barn swallow roost site in Boje, Cross River state, Nigeria.

Boje is an IBA that witnesses an aggregation of barn swallows from around the world, from November to April/May.

The swallows, in their thousands, roost in elephant grass fields on the surrounding hill tops.

Ornithologists visit annually to perform ringing, which enables research to further understand the swallow migration.

Rescued this Redhead today. It had a fishhook in its bill / face, and the fishing line it was attached to was frozen into the ice and the bird was trapped. Captured the bird, broke the fishing line, and then, with a friend, cut the fishhook in half and removed it from the duck's bill / face. It seemed vigorous and healthy. When we released it, it flew away strong and fast. Good deed done.

We (Karin, Nils, Anja and I) were hiking up Nahal David towards the waterfall when we noticed that 2 people (warden/researcher) were shouting at us 'namer/leopard!" and motioned us to turn back on the trail, we did, but I managed to to look over my shoulder and took this picture. This is a scan of the original slide.

The last leopard in Israel was seen in 2010/11 in the northern Arava. (Granit, B. 2016; https://www.birds.org.il/en/article/id/844)

Most crows seen when visiting this park were either pure Carrion or carried no hybrid traits. A group of 7 hybrids was present on this day however. According to a friend of mine, this hybrid is a nice blend of both parent species.