If you do follow/have seen my observations recently, you can very clearly tell I am trying to start off my 2017 bioblitz on a bang, and find the Southern banded newt, Ommatotriton vittatus, a species believed to be extirpated from Jordan. I have been going to the King talal dam and Ajloun to attempt to find one, but have turned up nothing but a few other amazing species on the bioblitz. Even though I will go back to said localities during spring and summer, it is unlikely I will find a newt at those temperatures. We may go back to the dam tomorrow (And possibly Dibeen forest reserve) and try one last time to find one, but I would still like some pointers of what, when and where to look for said newts, even though I already know a vast majority of their behavior. Thanks for reading, and I'll just leave the photos of each time I went here, so you can see the variety of wildlife there:
Hovering above the dam
It may be the same one I saw attack and kill a Laughing dove
On my list, extremely happy about seeing one
A group of three was flying overhead. You can tell it's a type of stork by the wing shape, and the small amount of head you can see being outstretched by said birds
Killing and eating a Laughing dove. It dramatically flew over my father, landed, and promptly started disabling the dove
Being eaten by an Eurasian sparrowhawk
A feather I collected once the Sparrowhawk flew away with its prey. I have it in a plastic bag so it doesn't get lost
I don't truly know, but this is most likely the species these prints belong to
Perching in front of the river
A male and female. The male is on the left, and the female is directly to the right of the male
I have no clue, either a pair of Rock pigeons, Eurasian collared doves, or Turtle doves
Behind a fence
One of my favorite birds, happy and lucky to see one
Seen on the way to Aljoun forest reserve
Some good outdoor shots
Comments
I am very interested in this. Your profile says that you currently live in the US. Do you still come to Jordan? I had really like for us to do something together, since I live in Amman and I did some wildlife exploration myself.
No, we have moved back to the USA, and I don't think we'd come back other than a day trip to Wadi Rum or the Aqaba Bird Observatory. I do know we likely would visit Israel if that is a possibility. Again, sorry.
-Xavier
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