Israel: A Bit of Urban Birding at HaYarkon Park

Avie and I had been eyeing HaYarkon Park since our arrival to Tel Aviv. It has a river which cuts a swath across the north side of the city, ending with an estuary into the Mediterranean Sea.

We finally made it over to the park the morning of Friday, August 19 and, in spite of being disoriented geographically within the park, were not disappointed.

We went over to the east end of HaYarkon, hoping to be away from the boat/kayak rentals, amusement park, etc. It was busy with bicyclers and a few families, but not enough to be disruptive.



The river itself didn’t appear to have many birds in it.



We meant to go to an inland pond, but were never able to find it. However, we followed a few of the trails, both paved and dirt, to see what we could see.

Advice to future birders at HaYarkon: always take the high trails. The low ones, meant for bicycling, take you through thick vegetation with little viewing of the water. The paved trails, at least for us, yielded many more birds.

Our first sightings weren’t birds at all, but a couple of lizards. We hadn’t seen but one during our time outside Tel Aviv, so we were excited when two turned up in rapid succession.



With no new birds for the day, we were able to use our learning curve and were pleased we were able to identify every bird we saw without using our field guide.

The first was  Spur-winged Lapwing (both an adult and a juvenile). We photographed the adult, a handsomely marked bird.



Common Myna was, well, common throughout the park. These are not native, but introduced (along with Rose-ringed Parakeets). Apparently, the first tree nesting pair of these used date palms in HaYarkon Park. (Holzapfel, Levin, Hatzofe, & Kark)



We were delighted when, toward the end of our walk, we came across a large (maybe a dozen) flock of European Bee Eaters. Some were hawking insects, others were perched together in a tall tree. We couldn’t get a great photo, but managed to get one that shows identifying marks.



All in all, we spent about two hours walking and birding. At that point, the heat of the day got to be a bit much, so we gave up.

May I encourage others to visit this urban oasis. I’m sure we would have come across many more birds had we gone earlier or at a cooler time of the year.

THE LIST:

Cattle Egret
Glossy Ibis
Mallard
Spur-winged Lapwing
Rock Pigeon
Laughing Dove
Common Kingfisher
Pied Kingfisher
European Bee Eater
Rose-ringed Parakeet
Syrian Woodpecker
Barn Swallow
White-spectacled Bulbul
Graceful Prinia
Palestine Sunbird
Eurasian Jay
Eurasian Jackdaw
Hooded Crow
Common Myna
House Sparrow

Israel: Some Time Up North

Alana's friend Na'ama grew up on Kibbutz Ein Gev up on the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee). She invited us to stay on the kibbutz for a couple of nights. She picked us up late Sunday afternoon when she was finished with work and we headed out on the two-hour drive up north.

Along the way we passed several Arab towns with neon minarets and large residential homes. 

Before getting to Ein Gev, Dan, Alana and Na'ama stopped at a Gelateria for some ice cream.

We arrived at the kibbutz around 8 o'clock or so. It was milking time at the dairy so we went in to see how things worked. The milking operation is computerized. Each cow has a bracelet with an identification chip in it and the cows get milked three times a day.

Even though we weren't specifically up north for birding, we still kept an eye out. What better bird to find in a barn than Barn Swallows?

The kids stayed with Na'ama in her parents' house, a beautiful home with three bedrooms. Avi and I stayed in her brother's young adult apt. while he was doing army duty during the week. It was small, but comfortable.

The kitchen was less than basic because the kibbutz has a communal dining hall. Na'ama's mother is one of the workers there for breakfast.

To conclude your tour of our accommodation, this is the exterior of the young adult quarters.

For comparison, this is Na'ama's parents' house:

The next day we took a guided tour of Tzfat (Safed), the Golan Heights, and a stop at one of the wineries in the Golan. We booked Jacob Firsel for the task and it worked out well; he was knowledgeable, fairly neutral in his politics (well, except for the time at the Golan Heights), and had a great air-conditioned vehicle that fits up to seven people.

Our first stop for the day was Tzfat, from whence comes Kabbalah, art, textiles, and many of our current Jewish traditions and prayers.

Tzfat was also an active region during several of Israel's battles. The mortar shell in Jacob's hands was one that fell on a home during the Hezbollah shelling of northern Israel in 2008.

We visited the Ashkenazi Ari Synagogue, built in the 16th century. It was founded by Spanish exiles from Greece, subsequently moving to Tzfat. Its congregants were mostly Kabbalists. In 1570 they were joined by Rabbi Isaac Luria, who is famous for composing the melody for the popular melody to Lecha Dodi for welcoming in the Shabbat.

The stained glass window is a representation of the Tree of Life.

During the 1948 War of Independence, congregants were in the synagogue. One congregant, sitting in a seat by the bima, bent forward in prayer at the exact moment a piece of shrapnel embedded itself exactly where his head would have been. You can see it just above Dan's head. This event is considered one of the many miracles to have occurred in Tzfat.

Not directly related to Tzfat is this plant, which grows in Israel -- it's product is the yummy caper.

We also visited the Abuhav Sephardic Synagogue. It was first built in the 16th century. It has three Arks. The one on the right holds a Sefer Torah which is nearly 500 years old by Rabbi Isaac Abuhav of Portugal. The Ark on the left used to hold a Koran -- it was part of the law when the Ottomans ruled Tzfat.

The decorations in the synagogue are beautiful and symbolic. In accordance with Kabbalistic tradition, the sysnagogue is designed according to numerical significance: one bima, two stairways up to it, three Arks, etc.

The reason for the rosette at the crossbeams is so the crossbeams would not form a cross.

Jews came to Tzfat as weavers. Sadly, we were told there's only one weaving company left in town. This is one of their looms.

After Tzfat we stopped for lunch at a Druze restaurant serving the best falafel we've ever had. Here we are, surrounded by the selection of salads, pickles, bread, hummus, tehina, etc., etc., etc. I wish I could remember the name of the restaurant, because it was amazing!

The Turkish coffee that followed the meal wasn't too shabby either. Alana didn't have any -- she's just the model for the "ad".

No trip to the north is complete without a stop at the Golan Heights, captured in the 1967 war. The following photos have us looking down into Syria, a strategic position that helped Israel triumph when it was attacked in 1973.

We returned to Ein Gev in time to watch the beautiful sunset over the Kinneret. 

Of course, there were birds here as well. A Hoopoe, poking the soil for its insect meals,

Hooded Crow, sitting on a chair by the water,

and a non-native Peacock, probably kept around for "decoration", although it acts as an effective wake-up alarm in the morning.

Israel: Birding the Northern Negev Desert

Before coming to Israel I looked for someone (with a car) who could take us on a couple of birding days. There weren't any lay birders who were going to be in town. But my favorite travel website, Birdingpal, had a professional guide who was relatively inexpensive and extremely responsive via email: Carmel Zitronblat.

We made arrangements and went birding in the Northern Negev desert with him. Of course, because of the heat in August added to the two-hours it would take us to drive there, we woke at 3:00 a.m. and were picked up a half hour later.

By the time we got to the Desert the sun was beginning to rise.

We spent the first while scanning the rocks and shrubs trying to find a Macqueen's Bustard. Carmel had seen it a couple of days earlier when he was scouting the area for our trip. We had no such luck, dipping on this particular species.

Our first new species of the day was a Mourning Wheatear, a very pretty black and white bird which was fairly ubiquitous throughout the rocky terrain.

After spending a good amount of time scanning the area, we got back in the car and drove to some fish ponds. Life is dependent on the availability of water. In the desert, manmade water sources allow for incredible concentrations of life. Our main focus here was to see the four species of Sandgrouse that come throughout the morning, and we were not disappointed.

First, a view of the habitat, with some of the species visible in the photos:

This is a Little Egret among the reeds growing in this particular pond. There were also many Little Stints, Wood Sandpipers, Green Sandpipers,

Spur-winged Lapwing:

White Stork, and Black-winged Stilt:

We saw all four species of Sandgrouse (see bird list). We even managed to get close enough to these Crowned Sandgrouse (using the car as a blind) to get a decent few photos. This is the best one:

Check out their gorgeous markings! Each species was equally striking. Carmel was also good at pointing out their size differences.

We were also lucky enough to see a herd of Desert Gazelle off in the distance. But they use the ponds as well, evidenced by Dan's excitement over Gazelle scat on the ground nearby.

Israel's ecotourism infrastructure is in its infancy, despite the incredible numbers of birds passing through here in both spring and fall, during Eurasian migration. But accommodations are springing up in a few kibbutzes, as well as these lovely little cottages we passed in the middle of nowhere.

I would love to see more birders from all over start coming here, wearing their birding shirts and binoculars, and spending money in the towns, cities, and kibbutzes. Showing people birding can provide an influx of money might move the ecotourism movement along. My son even came up with a good slogan for the campaign: "Israel: It's Safer Than Detroit!" (Sorry Detroit!)

Carmel took us to a lovely treed area for a field breakfast of fresh vegetables, fruit, cheese, cold cuts, and pita bread (and regular sliced bread as well). He even brought a field stove, in case we wanted Turkish coffee.

While we ate we added Arabian Babbler, Spotted Flycatcher, Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin, and European Bee Eater to our growing list of birds.

After breakfast, we drove to a park with a disappearing wetlands. Carmel told us about a birder who's trying to convince the government to try and reestablish it by bringing in water. One can only hope he has success.

Walking down to the wetlands, we saw a large herd of long-haired goats (Angora?). As we walked down, we saw they were tended by a Bedouin woman and her son, accompanied by a dog and this camel. 

Driving through the desert we saw many Bedouin towns, both small and large. These were not the tents set up for tourists who want to have some coffee and a camel ride. They were shanty towns which reminded me of Native American reservations in the U.S. southwest. The difference was these had camels. I was able to get a photo of one of the larger ones as we drove on the highway back to Tel Aviv.

All in all, it was an incredible birding morning. And now I'll leave you with another vista of the Northern Negev desert.

The bird list: