Northern Israel, Winter 2019 - Hula Valley Raptorama
Eastern Imperial Eagle
One of the many good reasons for staying at the Jordan Valley Birding Center is its strategic location for sites not only on its doorstep but across northern Israel - with, for example, all the famous northern valleys within an hour or so of the JVBC. One such site needs little introduction, and is famous for its diversity and abundance of birdlife - the mighty Hula Valley.
Eastern Imperial Eagle
Eastern Imperial Eagle
I had the pleasure of travelling up with my friend Alen (Director of the Jerusalem Bird Observatory) who had joined me the previous day at the JVBC, and on the way we meandered north via picturesque New Testament country, with the Sea of Gallilee centre stage. We hooked up with Birdlife Israel's director of site operations for the Northern section Nadav, another fine friend I've had the pleasure of making over recent years, and sharp young birder (and Champions of the Flyway winner) Nitay, and the four of us headed into the valley for a very productive and memorable day.
Eastern Imperial Eagle
Pallid Harrier
Getting the special treatment thanks to Nadav meant getting even better and closer views of the abundant birdlife, although to be honest, there's so much to go at it'd be hard to leave the area disappointed. Waterbirds on the wetlands, passerines in the fields, Cranes and raptors everywhere - with the latter the focus of this post (Cranes to follow shortly).
Pallid Harrier
Pallid Harrier
And where raptors were concerned, it was frankly mind-blowing. The numbers and range of species wintering in the valley - a mix of agricultural land, marsh and wetlands, woodlands, plains and mountains - is understandably lauded and for eagles alone it's like nowhere else I've had a pleasure of birding. Great Spotted Eagles were scattered across the area, and would've been quite enough (we'd upwards of 15 different birds), but the stars were the Eastern Imperial Eagles - huge, majestic, ridiculously close beasts drifting by and over us, landing in nearby trees (with the GSEs) and dropping into the fields within flocks of cranes; we'd at least six birds, all of which were showy and impossible to miss.
Black-winged Kite
Black-winged Kite
It wasn't all about about the eagles, with lots of other species to enjoy - Hen, Marsh and Pallid Harriers (plenty of the latter), Common and Long-legged Buzzards (plenty of both), Eurasian Kestrels & Sparrohawks, Peregrine, Merlin, Black-winged Kites and of course numerous Black Kites.
