BIRDTRIP REPORT TO ISRAEL

ITINERARY (Times indicate time of arrival in local WINTER TIME)
Sunrise on these days at 6.50 and sunset at 16.30

29.12
10.50-15.20 Maga'an Michael, 16.15-17.20 Tishlovit Reservoir

30.12-1.1
Tel Aviv University, attending a meeting

2.1
07.00-12.00 Mount Arbel
12.30-13.40 Nahal (Wadi) Ammud
14.30-17.00 Hula (14.30-16.30 Private Fishing ponds and 16.40-17.00 Cotton plant road)

3.1
07.00-12.30 Hula (Cotton plant road + fields only)
14.30-16.00 Tishlovit Reservoir

WEATHER

Five main areas were visited during this short trip. For each site an approximate position (Northing and Easting) within 1km in the coordinate grid in the Survey of Israel is given (eg. Ben Gurion Airport (156, 139)).

The sites visited are all located North of Tel Aviv. Of my March 1996 iteneraries only one site, Ma'agan Michael, was revisited. This time the access to the coast was slightly different and the gate was open, enabling birding of all the ponds North of the Kibbutz by the car.

1) MICHAEL MA'AGAN (MM) (221, 143)
Located near the Coastal Highway from Tel Aviv to Haifa, about 100km from Ben Gurion Airport by road. Driving North along the coastal highway (Rte 1) take the exit to Rte 70 towards Zikhron Ya'aqov and Tiberias. Drive East. At first traffic light (2km from coastal highway) take a right (South) on Rte 2 towards Zikhron Ya'aqov. Drive a further 2 km or so. About 200 meters before the intersection to Zikron Yakoov or 50 meters before a police station (on your left) turn right onto what looks like a farm yard area. Exact access to the coast changes from time to time.

Continue west towards the coast along pavement following the powerline just right of the greenhouses. The fields on the right side just before the railroad crossing had about 65 Black Kites. The ponds between the railroad and the bridge over the highway had good numbers of Gulls and Herons, as well as all three Kingfisher species. The gate just after the bridge was open this time, so I

was able to drive into the "fish pond area". Water was being pumped out the ponds, so they had they had very little or no water, but a good bunch of happy gulls and herons. Ducks were almost absent. I checked every pool North of the Kibbutz.

2)TISHLOVIT RESERVOIR (TR) (228, 173)
Lies approximately 6km NW of Afula as the white-headed duck flies. Light is bad at the reservoir between about 9AM and 1PM, so be there early in the morning or after the siesta. Access is from the minor route 73. If you are coming from direction of Haifa (or Ma'agan Michael) on Rte 75, you shouldn't be able to miss Rte 73, because it is the first traffic light intersection for over 10 km. Turn right towards Afula on Rte 73. About 5km along this road you'll see an intersection posted to Kefar-Barukh on your right side.

If you are coming from Afula try to find your way to Rte 60 towards Nazareth. At the last traffic lights continue North on 60 for 4.6 km and take a left onto Rte 73 towards Haifa. Continue West for 5.3 km and turn South towards Kefar-Barukh. At the Kefar-Barukh intersection on Rte 73, you'll see three major powerlines going over the intersection to Southerly Directions. The dirt road following the leftmost one is the one you want to follow. To get there drive 0.15km towards Kefar Barukh, turn left into a truck depot, and following the pylons take a right after 50m just before the gate. During the next 2.6km the road bends slowly left, then turns sharply left following the powerlines and continues East. After a further 1.6km you'll arrive to a small factory area. Take the rightmost dirtroad just right of an embankment. Continue 250m and make a right turn South leaving the powerlines. Continue for 900m. Park your car BEFORE the canal and the gate, even if it is open. If it has been raining a lot, you may want to park your car closer to the factory. The last kilometer can be muddy. Don't block the road. 50 meters after the gate there a telephone pole. Just left of it there is a hole in the fence. From hereon you can walk up to the embankment. The local warden told me that it is OK to bird and photograph birds in the reservoir area despite of a large number of warning signs, just don't go in the water.

There are actually two reservoirs. If it is early morning walk left (east) and if it is afternoon walk right (west) until you reach the second pond. The first reservoir is dirty waste water and the second one is "cleaner" water according to the warden, and that's where all the ducks are. DON'T SCARE THE BIRDS. Note that I did not find a single Marbled Duck (Ana ang), but that White-headed Ducks and Ferruginous Ducks were plentiful among the thousands of Shovelers and other ducks. I did not visit the other reserve (Kefar Barukh) in the area.

3) Slopes of MT ARBEL (MA) (248, 197)
From the traffic light intersection of Rte 77 (To Nazareth) and Rte 90 in Tiberias. Take Rte 90 North towards Qiryat Shemona. After 5.5km, at Migdal Juction, take a left towards Mt Arbel. After 1.2 km turn left, and 0.15km later park your car on the right side of the road. A steep trail takes you up towards the cliffs on the south side of the road. There are several trails paralleling the cliffs, and the highest one follows the very base of the cliffs. The trails can be very slippery even four days after rain and the grass is wet in the morning, when hiking is otherwise pretty comfortable. The site had nice fields of flowring cyclamens and interesting concentration of Stonechats and Black Redstarts. I did not find any Long-billed pipits.

4) NAHAL AMMUD (NA) (253, 197)
From the traffic light intersection of Rte 77 (To Nazareth) and Rte 90 in Tiberias. Take Rte 90 North towards Qiryat Shemona. At 10.4km (Huqoq Junction) take a left. After 2.8km park on the right side just before the bridge. You can walk North along the bottom of the canyon. This is an esthetically pleasing site. The birds can be quite skulky here.

5) HULA (HU) (approx 280, 206)
It takes about 40 minutes of real time to drive in the morning from Tiberias to Hula. In the afternoon traffic the trip takes a full hour. Hula is approximately 40km North of Tiberias. There are several sites worth visiting.

To mark the intersections to the bird sites I have used the Kilometer system of Route 90 (if you have been in Eilat you know what I mean by K 33 -- the same system is valid up here). The kilometer signs are on the right side of the road when driving North. They are small black numbers on a white base. The Tiberias intersection mentioned in previous two sites is about K415.0 on this system.

K450.5 Yessud and Hulata (35.5 km from Tiberias)
Apparently has nothing to do with the actual birding sites despite of the similarity in the name, but it serves as a warning that the the next marked intersection is the one for the reserve.

K453.4 Hamalah Ha Hula (The actual reserve intersection)
I did not visit this site, although I should have. I heard later rumors that the visitor center has a store with bird books and various other items.

K454.5 Private fish ponds
The entrance to the area is near the low point of the road, just before a demolished house. People were friendly. It is worth cheking all the small ponds as well as the large water reservoir. Beware that the gate (close to the entrance) can be closed relatively early in the evening. My main goal on this visit, was to watch for the evening flight of Spotted Eagles, but unfortunately it did not really materialize. Still the place was worth a visit, with good numbers of birds (Night Herons, Cormorants, Pelicans etc).

K457.9 Cotton Plant Road
The cotton plant is difficult to see if you are driving North. It is easier to spot the Eucalytpus trees boardering the road. Keep on driving straight past all the buildings, and you'll end up in the middle of the fields, and I guess the Northernmost parts of the Hula reserve. Here I experienced a marvellous evening flight of hundreds of Black Kites and simultaneously 4 Pallid Harriers, 2 Hen Hariers and a couple of Marsh Harriers within about 50 meters of me within and 1 minute! Unfortunately, the light was too low for photography.

I found roosting eagles in the poplar woods in the North and North East end of the fields. Later some eagles were also seen soaring above the fields at various locations. Plowing tractors attract good numbers of Black Kites and Cattle Egrets.

From this road one can access the large fields North of the Hula reserve all the way to the Kefar Blum Road.

K464.5 Kefar Blum Road
A second access to the large fields according to the Israel Survey maps is some 6km ways along this road. Driving alone it was quite difficult to search for raptors in the Eucalyptus trees because of very heavy traffic. I did not visit the ponds by this road due to my limited time.

CAR RENTAL
I rented a car from Hertz through an Israeli Travel Agent for 1+2 days with unlimited mileage for a special price of 66+132 USD. The car was supposed to be the smallest size, but I ended up getting a Suzuki minijeep for the first day, and a 4 door Mazda for the latter two days. The Suzuki was a little pit shaky, and unlockable, but otherwise fine. The Mazda had one of these antisteeling deviced (not a proper alarm), which made a beeping sound EVERY time the engine was turned off or on. Birds clearly were afraid of this sound.

I drove about 280km + 540km. All roads were in excellent condition, but quite often rampacked with traffic, even roads that I thought would be quiet back country highways. General speed limit is 90km/h. Traffic flow followed usually the speed limit, and only one operating radar was noted. I was stopped once because of not having my headlights on. Gasoline price was on average 3.2NIS (=1$/liter), a slightly over a 10% rise in 9 months time.

The maps I used were excellent 1:400 000 maps using the base of the Israel Survey maps, but with Hertz written at various locations.

CURRENCY
During my trip the exchange rate in the hotel was 2.95NIS/USD. I did not look for altenative means of exchange. The official rate was 3.22NIS/USD (excluding commission). The cab drivers used 3NIS/USD.

MILITARY
NO problems what so ever.

ACCOMODATION
I stayed two nights at a friend's place in Tiberias and all other nights in a hotel in Tel Aviv.

Other information regarding car rentals and about entering and leaving Israel, see my previous trip report (March 1996).

NOTES ON SPECIES

SUMS OF SPECIES
MM = Ma'agan Michael, *= Birds seen en route to/from the site
TA= TelAviv, AR = Mount Arbel, NA =Nahal Ammud,
HU= Hula region, Note that on Jan 2, I visited the private fishing ponds and had views over the actual reserve and the fields, whereas on the 3rd of January I birded only the fields.
TR= Tishlovit Reservoir - number refers to the count on Jan 3, unless marked an "a"
a= Tishlovit Reservoir - species recorded only on 29.12.96
b= Tishlovit Reservoir - species recorded only on 3.1.97
sp = unidentified to species
s = sound
+= present, but no number estimate.
* = species seen only en route to or from the bird site.
cy = calendar year, male/female , eg. 1/2 = one male, 2 females.
u = University Campus

DATE		29		2	2	2	3	3(&29)
		MM	TA	MA	WA	HU	HU	TR
Little Grebe	Tac ruf	9	-	-	-	40	10	40
Black-N. Grebe	Pod nig	-	-	-	-	-	-	80
Slavonian Grebe	Pod aur	-	-	-	-	-	-	1b
Cormorant	Pha car	800	-	30*	-	1K	100	4b
White Pelican	Pel ono	3	-	-	-	100	25	-
Night Heron	Nyc nyc	-	-	-	-	100	-	One flock, private ponds
Cattle Egret	Bub ibi	35*	-	-	-	50	80	4
Little Egret	Egr gar	110	-	-	-	100	70	4
Great Egret	Egr alb	120	-	-	-	150	250	2
Grey Heron	Ard cin	280	-	-	-	300	120	18
Black Stork	Cic nig	-	-	-	-	2	2	-
White Stork	Cic cic	-	-	-	-	-	8	-
Glossy Ibis	Ple fal	-	-	-	-	2	-	-
Spoonbill	Pla leu	95	-	-	-	-	-	-
Shelduck	Tad tad	-	-	-	-	-	-	15b
Gadwall	Ana str	-	-	-	-	-	-	10b
Common Teal	Ana cre	50	-	-	-	80	+	500
Mallard	Ana pla	2	-	-	-	250	+	300
Pintail	Ana acu	-	-	-	-	-	-	3b
Wigeon	Ana pen	10	-	-	-	50	-	60
Northern Shoveler	Ana cly	-	-	-	-	1000	-	8000
Pochard	Ayt fer	-	-	-	-	-	-	350
Tufted Duck	Ayt ful	-	-	-	-	50	-	120
Ferruginous Duck	Ayt nyr	-	-	-	-	-	-	15b
White-head. Duck	Oxy leu	-	-	-	-	-	-	68
Black Kite	Mil mig	90	-	-	-	800	1000	3a
Marsh Harrier	Cir aer	15	-	-	-	40	20	-
Hen Harrier	Cir cya	-	-	-	-	1/1	1/1	-
Pallid Harrier	Cir mac	-	-	1/	-	5/	1/	-
Sparrowhawk	Acc nis	1*	-	-	1	2	1	-
(Steppe+)Buzzard	But but	-	-	-	-	5	50	40
L. Spotted Eagle	Aqu pom	-	-	-	-	1+1sp	-	3.1: 1ad+one possible 2cy
Spotted Eagle	Aqu cla	-	-	-	-	2(2cy)5	-	3.1:(1ad, 2subad, 2-2cy)
Imperial Eagle	Aqu hel	-	-	-	-	1	-	3.1: 2cy plumage
Eurasian Kestrel	Fal tin	3	4	2	2	8	25	20* 16 MM to TR
Peregrine	Fal per	-	-	-	-	-	-	1 on 29.12
Chukar	Ale chu	-	-	4+2s	s	-	-	-
Moorhen	Gal chl	6	-	-	-	120	40	2a
Eurasian Coot	Ful atr	40	-	-	-	170	60	500
Common Crane	Gru gru	-	-	-	-	1500	1500	-
Black-wi. Stilt	Him him	-	-	-	-	2	-	-
Avocet	Rec avo	-	-	-	-	50	-	-
Stone-curlew	Bur oed	-	-	-	-	-	-	1s
Ringed Plover	Cha hia	12	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kentish Plover	Cha ale	4	-	-	-	-	-	-
Spur-winged Plover	Van spi	40	-	-	-	-	30	20
Lapwing	Van van	45	-	-	-	8	20	-
Temminck's Stint	Cal tem	50	-	-	-	-	-	-
Dunlin	Cal alp	35	-	-	-	-	-	-
Snipe	Cap gal	5	-	-	-	-	1	-
Curlew	Num arq	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
Spotted Redshank	Tri ery	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Redshank	Tri tot	6	-	-	-	1	1	2
Green Sandpiper	Tri och	2	-	-	-	-	-	8
Common Sandpiper	Act hyp	10	-	-	-	2	-	1
Gr.Black-Headed	Lar ich	12	-	-	-	-	-	-
Black-head. Gull	Lar rid	900	200	150*	-	150	10	>50a
Lesser BB Gull	Lar fus	3	-	-	-	-	-	-
Armenian Gull	Lar arm	450	50	10*	-	80	20	-
Rock Dove	Col liv	40	200	8	15	20	200*	-
Collared Dove	Str dec	35	10	30*	50*	50	80	20*+250 MM to TR
Laughing Dove	Str sen	-	20	20*	10	15	15	10*on 29.12
Little Owl	Ath noc	-	-	-	-	-	-	2
WB Kingfisher	Hal smy	6	2	-	-	6	5	2a
Kingfisher	Alc att	6	-	-	-	4	3	-
Pied Kingfisher	Cer rud	12	2	-	-	6	6	2
Hoopoe	Upu epo	3	3	-	-	-	-	-
Syrian Woodpecker	Den syr	-	1u	-	-	-	-	-
Crested Lark	Gal cri	4	-	-	-	5	200	30
Skylark	Ala arv	-	-	-	-	8	40	-
Crag Martin	Pty rup	-	-	25	2	-	-	-
Barn Swallow	Hir rus	30	-	20*	20	-	-	-
Meadow Pipit	Ant pra	4	-	6	-	2	20	6
Red-thr Pipit	Ant cer	9	-	-	-	-	4	-
Water Pipit	Ant spi	3	-	-	-	-	-	-
White Wagtail	Mot alb	8	8	-	-	5	8	5
White- sp.Bulbul	Pyn xan	1	30	8*	15	10	15	4
Wren	Tro tro	-	-	6	-	1	1	-
European Robin	Eri rub	2	2	1	1	1	1	1
Bluethroat	Lus sve	-	-	-	-	1	4	-
Black Redstart	Pho och	-	2	30	15	20	-	-
Redstart	Pho pho	-	-	-	2	-	-	-
Stonechat	Sax tor	6	2	20	10	15	-	-
Blue Rock Thrush	Mon sol	-	-	1	-	-	-	-
Blackbird	Tur mer	-	-	1	-	-	-	-
Cetti's Warbler	Cet cet	2	-	-	1	2	2	2
Graceful Prinia	Pri gra	8	-	10	30	15	20	10
Sardinian Warb.	Syl mel	-	-	2	2	1	-	-
Chiffchaff	Phy col	2	-	3	2	4	2	-
Great Tit	Par maj	-	10	15	4	4	2	-
Penduline Tit	Rem pen	2s	-	-	-	1s	3s	-
Palestine Sunbi.	Nec ose	-	20	20	15	8	4	-
Starling	Stu vul	-	-	-	-	400	250	50
GreatGrey Shrike	Lan exc	-	-	1	-	2	-	-
Jay	Gar gla	2*	-	-	-	-	-	-
Jackdaw	Cor mon	-	-	-	-	700	50	-
Hooded Crow	Cor nix	15	50	4	2	150	30	10
House Sparrow	Pas dom	20	50	3	-	100	20	-
Spanish Sparrow	Pas his	-	-	8	-	-	-	-
Chaffinch	Fri coe	6	50	50	80	150	80	30
Serin	Ser ser	-	-	-	4	-	-	-
Greenfinch	Chl chl	4	-	-	-	-	-	-
Goldfinch	Car car	2	-	3	2	2	3	2
Linnet	Car can	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Reed Bunting	Emb sch	2	-	-	-	-	-	-
Corn Bunting	Mil cal	-	-	2	2	-	2	2a

SOME COMMENTS ON SOME OBVIOUS RACES, COLORMORPHS AND UNUSUAL BIRDS:

SLAVONIAN GREBE
A winter plumaged bird among the ducks at Tishlovit Reservoir. Direct comparison to Black-necked grebe revealed:-
1) the high contrast between foreneck and hindneck, lacking the duskiness of a BN grebe.
2) general appearance "cleaner colored"
3) head shape rounder, with a gently sloping forehead
4) head and thicker neck made the bird appear bulkier than a BN grebe.
5) bill thicker and appearing straighter.
Good light, 27X Kowa, distance about 300m.

BUZZARD
One very pale individual reminiscent of North American species Ferriginous Hawk (Buteo regalis). Underside very light (wings, belly, head), with dark at wing bend and tips of flight feathers. Detailed coloration to be confirmed from photographs. Upperside: Tail light buff and wing coverts light. Flight feathers darker.

BLACK-HEADED + ARMENIAN GULL
In Tel Aviv. BH Gulls were flying South along the shore every morning while the Armenian Gulls headed SE over Northern TelAviv.

COLLARED DOVE/LAUGHING DOVE
Collared Doves were often in large flocks, where as Lauging Doves trended to be single birds.

BLUETHROAT
One white and one red- spotted bird identified with certainty. Former possible cyanecula and the latter appeared quite bright, could have been svecica.

GREAT GREY SHRIKE
In apppearance quite similar to the Northern races. Possibly L.e. elegans.

JAY
Race: G g. atricapillus.

MAMMALS

Mongoose Spp
2, Ma'agan Michael.

Rock Hyrax
10 (I guess they are these), Nahal Ammud.

FLOWERS

Magaan Michael: Anemone coronaria, Iris sp.
Mount Arbel: Asphodelus lutea, Asphodelus sp, Cyclamen persicum

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks for providing useful info for this and future trips or giving critical assistance: Gilles Balanca, Jean Bickal, Richard Billington, Annika Forsten, Risto Juvaste, Heikki Karhu, Jarmo Komi, Henry Lehto, Matikka Family, Matti Pajunen, Meeri Pallasrinne, Juha Piipponen, Visa Rauste, Liisa Sutinen, Pierre Unge and anybody else, who I left out unintentionally.

Harry Lehto
For more information, email to hlehto@astro.utu.fi