Northern Israel in October

It is now 27 years since I made my first trip to Israel. Since then 35-40 more trips have followed, but still I’m every time struck by the diversity of the birdlife of this tiny country. The human population has almost doubled since my first visit, but there is still plenty of untouched desert in the south and lots of smaller reserves throughout the country. In fact, many of the best roosting and wintering sites are in farmland and fish-farm areas, as can be expected. But it is the country’s geographical position that makes it so important to migratory birds. It is a bottle-neck, where birds travelling from Europe and Asia to Africa and back, are funnelled in huge concentrations.

This visit was timed to coincide with the migration of the Lesser Spotted Eagles, which go through Israel in big numbers, both autumn and spring. Israel must easily be the best place in the world to study the plumage variation of this species. On a peak day one can see thousands of these eagles and in the best days up to 30 000 or more Lesser Spots have been counted from one station!

a rather average adult Lesser Spotted Eagle

While waiting for the eagles to appear, you will of course see lots of other raptors, like Honey Buzzards, Levant Sparrowhawks, Lesser Kestrels, Short-toed, Booted, Imperial, Steppe and Greater Spotted Eagles, Pallid and Montagu’s Harriers, and many, many more. Or what do you say about 5000 Black Storks roosting in the Bet-Shean valley, or 45 000 cranes, which soon will be counted in the Hula Valley? Or flocks of thousands of pelicans on migration? All unforgettable experiences, well worth a visit each one of them.

The other reason for my tour was to look for Hume’s Tawny Owl, the least known owls species of the western world, I dare say. This also was a resounding success, with memories to last a life time.

But, of course, none of this would have been possible without the help of Israeli friends. Many thanks must go to Jonathan Meyrav, Dan Alon, Itai Shanni and Liron Ziv for helping with many practical details, and to Barak Granit for his expert help with the owl.

Hume's Owl in the desert W of the Dead Sea