An American in Haifa: Twitching, Israeli Style

First, for those of you unfamiliar with the term, "twitching" is the British word for "birdwatching." Not that I'm British, or anything like that, but I adore the word, so "twitching" it is.

I didn't think that birding would be high on the list of things to do in Israel. You don't normally think of Israel as a land rich in waterbirds, or any birds at all, but it really is a central stop on the Eurasian migration path. There's even a kibbutz that specializes in birdwatching:
http://www.birdingisrael.com/birdsOfIsrael/
Like so many things in Israel, even the wildlife is surprising.

The Israelis take an interesting approach to wildlife management--take for example the crane migration. Every fall, thousands of cranes flock to the Galilee on their way to better feeding grounds in Africa. They settle in farmer's fields and eat the stubble or whatever remains of the grain harvest. In the California, the sandhill cranes take over the flooded rice fields in the Sacramento River delta. They attract some crowds, but are largely left to their own devices. In Israel they feed the cranes. In order to keep the cranes within the wildlife preserve and out of the other fields where they could destroy real crops, the wildlife managers go out every morning during the migration and spread the preserve with corn. This concentrates the cranes into a nice viewing area and provides the country with the family-friendly tourist attraction of the season. Thousands of cranes flock to Lake Agamon every year and every year they receive the same warm welcome.

The lake itself is "artificial"--a reclamation of habitat aimed at reducing pollution into Lake Kinnereth. It is huge, ringed by 10km of track, which makes it one of the largest preserves on fertile land and very attractive to all sorts of people. When you think "birdwatcher" in the states, the image pops to mind of some nature lover, binoculars in hand, walking at an almost imperceptibly slow pace, trying not to disturb the birds flying about. The Israeli version is somewhat different. They rent golf carts or pedal cars and drive around the lake like they drive along every other road. At each designated viewpoint, they park their cart in the designated lot and disembark to check out the birds. Then, back in the car for the next bit of track. Birds seen or not seen between the viewpoints don't matter.

We walked around the lake (a half day undertaking), but enjoyed the unique birds in the fields and the waterways. Some of the most striking were the european bee-eater (yes, they eat bees) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Bee-eater) and the white-throated kingfisher (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-throated_Kingfisher). Both sport gorgeous iridescent feathers of a turquoise blue color. The pied kingfisher also made an appearance, fishing in the shallow canals. There were herons (night herons and purple herons) and large white storks in the fields. As the storm cleared, hundreds of storks took to the air to ride the updraft enmasse.

One of the more interesting animals was not a bird, but a South American rodent that looks like a muskrat. The coypu runs rampant in the preserve. We saw them near every canal and even saw one's burrow into the bank. They rip plants out by their roots and seemed to be having a grand time in the greenery around the canals. A ranger told us that they had been introduced to Israel in hopes of starting a fur trade, but apparently, in the warm climate of the Galilee, the fur they developed was inferior and unfit for market. At least they kept still long enough for me to take a good picture--unlike the birds!

We really enjoyed the lake and will definitely be back--next time with a better lens and hopefully a good shot of the elusive bee-eater. In the meantime, enjoy some pictures below: