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.
Israel is for the birds
Gray cranes flock over the Hula Lake. More than half a billion birds of some 400 hundred species pass through the Jordan Valley to Africa and back to Europe when summer comes. (Getty Images)
Enviro-nerds that we are, we bring a bird-watching book, and over our four visits to the park in recent years, we’ve checked off a good three dozen birds sighted there. The Jewish National Fund-operated Hula Lake is one of the most important bird-watching sites in the world as annually, white cranes on their way to Southern Africa, stop there one last time before they begin the Sahara Desert portion of their flight.
And now, the Hula is getting some international recognition. BBC Wildlife Magazine, the world’s best-selling natural history and environmental magazine, has named it one of the most outstanding sites in the world for nature observation and photography. According to a JNF press release, it was ranked 9th on a list of 20 exceptional nature sites chosen by 300 international experts including scientists, photographers and television producers.
Even though it hosts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year, we’ve never found it too crowded. But that could change with this international recognition. So get there soon. As an incentive, an international arts festival hosted by JNF and the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel will be held at the Hula Lake on March 6-15. The festival will feature crafts workshops, tours, lectures, and meetings with artists from around the world.
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