The Northern Valleys Soaring Birds Migration Survey

End of August (part 1)

The northern valleys migration survey is well under way. The survey which has been conducted for several years now is run by the IOC (Israeli ornithological center) with the generous support of the IAF (Israeli air force). The fruitful relationship between the IOC and the air force has been going on for several years now and with lots of data being collected to help us learn more about the soaring birds which pass over Israel by the millions every year. The surveyors are based at kibbutz Kfar Rupin. David Glazner and his staff are doing their best so that we enjoy our stay. Cheers!

Who's who

The survey is directed by Barak Granit and some of Israel's leading birders together with birders from overseas spend many hours in the field scanning the skies, identifying and counting the birds as they migrate over the region. Young birders from around Israel come up and join the surveyors for a day in the field. This is an interesting and rewarding experience.

Every morning the birders are spread out into posts covering virtually the whole width of the country. The easternmost post is at Tirat Tzvi and there are many other posts dotted on a westerly route till the Krayot region on the west side of the country, nearly on the Mediterranean cost.

The Survey

The survey has been running for nearly 10 days now and the pace of migration is slowly picking up. During these early weeks of the survey, two species of soaring birds make up the bulk of birds counted. White Storks pass in impressive numbers and over 100,000 birds have already migrated south on their way to their wintering grounds in Africa.

Representing the birds of prey is the Honey Buzzard with most of the world's population migrating through Israel every year. Over 30,000 Honeys have already been counted by the surveyors in the northern valleys, but many more have passed through various other routes, as can be seen by the amazing radar images accessible at the link at the bottom of the page. In these images we can truly get a realistic picture of the bulk of passage over Israel. Besides Honey Buzzards and White Storks other birds are being recorded daily in smaller numbers. Black Storks, White Pelicans, Booted Eagles, Black Kites and many other interesting species migrate over the stations. The surveys first Eleonora's Falcon was observed by Yoav Perlman over the Afula Station on the 29th of August.

Photography

All the images were taken on the 27th of August at Tirat Tzvi. Tirat Tzvi, being the easternmost station receives the bulk of the White Stork Passage as the Storks tend to migrate using the "eastern" Jordan (Rift) valley route, and are only recorded in smaller numbers in the survey area.

The Israel Bird Radar Project

The Israel Bird Radar Project is the work of Dr. Yossi Leshem (@)and his staff and they have kindly let us use their images.

We hope to bring you updates from the survey weekly, together with more accurate totals once calculated and field reports from the bird rich areas of Israel's Northern valleys.

Useful links

• The Israeli Ornithological Center
• The International Center for the Study of Bird Migration,Latrun
• Israel Ministry of Environment
• Israeli Air Force

Jonathan Meyrav and the survey team.

Contact info

Daphna Abell
Program Coordinator
lotan-programs@lotan.ardom.co.il
Tel: +972 8 6356935;
Toll Free: 1800 2000 75 (when in Israel)