Foto Friday – Jerusalem Bird Observatory
Filed under: education, Environment, Foto Friday, General, History and Culture, Life, Profiles, Social Justice, Travel
Not many seats of government can lay claim to being located on one of the world’s prime birdwatching sites. In fact, Israel’s Knesset may be the only one.
The Jerusalem Bird Observatory (JBO) is a 5,000 sqm (one acre) plot of prime real estate, between the Knesset and the Supreme Court. The site is one of the few traditional birdwatching areas in Jerusalem and houses the Israel national center for bird-ringing (also called banding or tagging). Bird migration patterns are studied throughout the seasons, data collected and analyzed in a comprehensive database.
The JBO has four main goals: 1. environmental education, 2. conservation research, 3. eco-tourism, and 4. creation of a common forum for Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Educational activities include training courses in tagging birds, courses in photographing birds, birdwatching tours, a birdwatching club, lectures , presentations of current research, and education about bird watching for kids.
The JBO website has an active community of members who upload photos from around the country of rare birds that have been sighted and tagged.
So, for example, on July 1 after a busy day of tagging 40 Green finches and Spectacled Bulbuls, JBO volunteers Ora and Avner met a surprise with bird number 41: an Indian silverbill. The report: “It was molting heavily and not at its prettiest! Nonetheless, a darling bird, tiny as can be, with a sharp bill!”
Volunteer Ron Haran, a talented nature photographer, snapped the finches in action…
and a bulbul, too.
And JBO volunteers Yotam and Yosef from the Zora ringing station, outside Jerusalem, report that — despite the summer heat — preparations for the fall migration are already in place: “The little warblers… are getting fatter and beginning to vacate their nests for their northern cousins who will pass our way in a month en route to Africa. This morning there were the first two European warblers… The first group of storks has settled in the alfalfa fields and we’re awaiting the pelicans.”
They also ringed a Red-rumped swallow…
and a wren.
The JBO is an amazing place and the central location can’t be beat but if you can’t visit right away, check out the website. The list of sighted ring recoveries reported by birders all over Israel makes for a fascinating read. It also serves as a glossary of bird names in Hebrew, English and Latin. That’s how I learned that the bulbul is called that in English, too.
Foto Friday – Oded Dayan – Bird Migration Across the Hula
Filed under: Environment, Foto Friday, Travel
The days are getting shorter and bird migration across the Rift Valley — otherwise known as our little corner of the Middle East — is at its height.
Israel is something of a paradise for birdwatchers, with 500 million birds migrating south from Europe to warmer climates in Asia and Africa each fall. The Israel Ornithology Center, which operates three bird watching centers, has recorded more than 540 different species of birds in Israel at various seasons in the year.
Photographer Oded Dayan, who works with the Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael – JNF, produced this series of images documenting Lake Agmon, the heart of the re-flooded Hula Valley in Northern Israel.
Agmon is one of the best-known birding centers with a developed tourist infrastructure. According to the Ministry of Tourism, “approximately 35,000 cranes fill the fields and wetlands during the fall migration, with about 25,000 staying for the winter.”
“Visitors can take advantage of the camouflaged bird observation points and choose to tour the area on foot, by bicycle, golf cart, safari wagon or train. This is also a center for bird research and a station for bird ringing.”
More information about Lake Agmon can be found on the KKL-JNF website, or on the Ministry of Tourism website. And of course, ISRAEL21c has reported extensively on the rehabilitation of the now-flourishing Hula Valley.
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