Common crane.
Episode 37 of my podcast
This Birding Life is now available for downloading or streaming over at
Podcast Central. This episode is all about birding in Israel, with a focus on the birds and bird watching in the Hula Valley in the northeastern part of the country.
I visited Israel in November of 2011 for a week of birding and I have to say it was an amazing experience with a super-abundance of birds.
We watched birds in a variety of habitats, including fish ponds on aquaculture farms, where the fish farmers set aside certain ponds for the birds to use. The Hula Valley is like a green, water-rich oasis sitting at the top of a natural migration corridor (the Rift Valley) surrounded by desert. Millions of birds pass through the Hula in spring and fall.
We got out in the field before dawn to watch the common cranes take off to spend the day foraging in the surrounding agricultural fields. And we returned at night to watch them again. The word "spectacle" doesn't quite do the scene justice.
We also birded in remote areas along Israel's borders, where the presence of minefields keeps vast tracts of habitat wild and inhabited only by birds and beasts.
Our hotel courtyard featured several pairs of Palestine sunbird, the nearest thing Middle Eastern bird watchers can get to a hummingbird.
My article about the trip will be in the forthcoming issue of
Bird Watcher's Digest, out in the next few days.
I hope you'll give this new episode of
This Birding Life a listen. Remember, each podcast episode comes in both audio-only (MP3) and enhanced audio with images (M4a) versions. And they are also available for free in the Podcasts section of the iTunes store.
I'd like to thank
Zeiss Sports Optics for sponsoring
TBL and Podcast Central.
Until next time, happy listening!
I visited Israel in November of 2011 for a week of birding and I have to say it was an amazing experience with a super-abundance of birds.
We watched birds in a variety of habitats, including fish ponds on aquaculture farms, where the fish farmers set aside certain ponds for the birds to use. The Hula Valley is like a green, water-rich oasis sitting at the top of a natural migration corridor (the Rift Valley) surrounded by desert. Millions of birds pass through the Hula in spring and fall.
We got out in the field before dawn to watch the common cranes take off to spend the day foraging in the surrounding agricultural fields. And we returned at night to watch them again. The word "spectacle" doesn't quite do the scene justice.
We also birded in remote areas along Israel's borders, where the presence of minefields keeps vast tracts of habitat wild and inhabited only by birds and beasts.
Our hotel courtyard featured several pairs of Palestine sunbird, the nearest thing Middle Eastern bird watchers can get to a hummingbird.
Director David Frankel on the set of "The Big Year" with Steve Martin (left) and Jack Black. ©Murray Close.
The three lead actors in "The Big Year" are, from left: Owen Wilson, Steve Martin, and Jack Black. Photo © Murray Close.
Here's a photo by famous bird photographer David Tipling of the same Philippines eagle you'll hear about in the podcast. And the image below is another one of Dave's. It's a shot of me crossing one of the last rivers on our way back down the mountain on the day after our eagle trek.
I hope you enjoy this new episode. According to our website statistics, our podcast episodes are downloaded many thousands of times each month, so it seems that "This Birding Life" has an audience. If that audience includes you, let us know what you think. Please feel free to add some comments about TBL to this post.