2024-09

26th September 2024

There was a lot of aerial activity above us on Tuesday.  From the safety of a town centre café, I watched as the iron dome intercepted Hezbollah missiles aimed at Tiberias.  And yesterday morning there was more unwelcome action - a rocket coming towards us from Syria was taken out by the IDF, while we spent ten minutes in the air raid shelter becoming better acquainted with our neighbours. Not to be deterred, we drove South along the Jordan Valley to a well-known birding location, Kfar Rupin, from where there are great views over the river-valley and beyond into Jordan. En-route we saw aerial activity of the sort that we delight in. Storks were circling high above, accompanied by raptors riding the thermals. We sat in a bird hide at Kfar Rupin, looking out over a very small lake - perhaps pond or mere, or mere puddle, would be more accurate names for it. The birds there seem to understand ‘bird hide’ as an instruction to them, and they remained out of sight for a long time. But after half an hour or so we watched a white-throated kingfisher fly past, as well as some bulbuls, while damsel flies and dragon flies vied with each other for the best resting places on lakeside rushes. A black kite looked down on us from a great height, while swallows skimmed over the lake virtually touching it from time to time, while we were drinking in the peace and quiet, disturbed only by the breeze rustling the reeds. Actually swallows do touch the water surface when they fly over it, and while doing so, drink in a quick beakful of water. I didn't manage to photograph the birds, but the insects and the splendid palm trees were more amenable to a photo shoot.

As we walked along the shadeless path to a further lookout, atop a knoll bearing the name Karpas Hill, I wondered to myself, “Are palm trees really trees?” Their shape and structure are so different from the normal branching varieties we are so used to. Experts are divided in opinion – some say date palms are trees, while others say they are woody herbs. We happened to pass a chaste tree (aka monk's pepper), which I have to say I thought at first was a rosemary bush – as you can see from the photo. But it’s the wrong time of the year for rosemary, so with a bit of research (with Google Lens) I quickly discovered its true identity. It’s presumably called chaste, because apparently mediaeval monks used to eat its berries (chasteberries) to reduce their sexual desire. Not quite sure why it’s also called monk’s pepper – as some people say that pepper is an aphrodisiac, which doesn’t seem to go together with calming their impulses.

Before finishing this blog post, I can’t pass over the opportunity to tell you that from Karpas Hill there are great views in spring of parsley, potato and celery growing in the fields below J. 

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25th September 2024

Earlier this week, we walked by the Alexander River near Netanya. It’s been a good few weeks since Miriam and I and my camera went for a good country walk. During those few weeks I was recovering from a bout of shingles – which, as shingles goes, was quite a mild bout, and the pain wasn’t too intense - but I was very tired and didn’t really have enough energy to exercise my telephoto lens. Fortunately, I feel much better now, and what better way to return to nature than a walk by this beautiful river just a mile or two from the Mediterranean coast.

The Alexander River is most noted for the African softback turtles that frequent its waters. And we weren’t disappointed, as we watched these large (50kg) turtles gracefully swim by and occasionally poke their heads out of the water, basking while gliding along. At the riverbank was a much smaller Caspian turtle (with a hardback shell), basking in the warm sun. There were swallows swooping, rock-martins chattering, parakeets screeching past at speed, and glossy ibises flying overhead, as well as a hovering kestrel that dived down into the grass. As we walked downstream, we saw a large grey heron waiting patiently at the riverside, but it wasn’t that patient and before long flew up to a high tree overlooking the river to gain a bird’s eye view of the fish below. But the highlight of the walk for me, was to see two rather small birds - a red-backed shrike and a wheatear.

Shrikes have bit of a monstrous reputation, which is actually well-deserved. They’re known as butcher birds, because after killing their prey (small mammals) they hang it up to dry on barbed wire, much as butchers do with their carcasses. Anyway, barbaric butcherers they maybe, but they’re rather nice to look at – the one who posed for me was a juvenile, who probably didn’t have too much blood on his hands yet.

Wheatears have an interesting name – but nothing to do with wheat, ears or even ears of wheat. Rather, they get their name from their white rear. They’re little birds that catch flies as they fly – they’re part of the flycatcher family of birds.

The evening before our river walk, we went out for a coffee in a local shopping mall. As we came out, we found a dead bird that appeared to have dropped out of the sky. It was still perfectly formed, and had one wing extended to reveal clearly the beautiful variegated colours of its plumage. Google lens identified it as a common quail, though it looked too attractive to be called common anything. Of course, quail have long been found in these parts – these are the birds that dropped out of the sky and sustained the Children of Israel during their for forty years in the desert as they journeyed, more than three thousand years ago, from Egypt to Israel.  

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3rd September 2024

Some of the most colourful and remarkable little creatures we see are common chameleons. Last week we were walking in woods with our grandchildren and our little granddaughter spotted a tiny little lizard. On closer examination it turned out to be a very small chameleon, about two inches long. She did well to spot it - as well as being tiny it was well-camouflaged - she's got a good eye. And so does the chameleon. In fact, quite remarkably, it can have one of its eyes looking forward and one backwards. There's a photo of mine on Wikipedia showing a backward-looking chameleon - see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_chameleon and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_chameleon#/media/File:Chameleon-LookingBack.jpg. The chameleon has a remarkable tongue too, it’s about one and a half times its own body length. No wonder it gets tongue-tied. But of course, the chameleon is most well-known for its ability to change colour. What is less well-known is that primarily its colour changes are related to its emotions rather than to match its background.

The little chameleon chappie we saw was quite a comedian, as you can see from the video clip. It was barely bigger than a newly hatched infant. They emerge from their eggs some 10 to 12 months after they are laid. And then take a further year or so to reach full size – about 8 to 16 inches.

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 1st September 2024

I keep hearing reports that the migration season has started. Cranes, storks and honey buzzards have been spotted overhead – but not yet by me. I’m keeping my eyes trained on the skies and hope to be able to tell you soon of some successful sightings. But for the moment, I must be content with what I see at ground level.

A couple of weeks ago at Ramat Hanadiv I noticed a hoopoe hopping around an olive grove. I approached trying to hide behind trees to stay out of view. I was rewarded for my game of hoopoe hide and seek with a view of the male hoopoe’s headdress – a fully erect crest – a feather crown. It displays its crown majestically as a mating sign, to show its virility and also when it feels threatened, perhaps to indicate its size and strength.

A few seconds later it fanned its tail and prepared itself for a dust bath or an ant bath. A bird will roll its feathers across dust (dust bathing) as a way of secreting its preening oil to keep its wings well-lubricated and in good shape. Or it will rub its feathers on ants to obtain formic acid from them, which likewise is beneficial to its wings.

As you can see my hoopoe hunting was a happy experience with photos of a hoopoe anting, or perhaps just getting a dusting down.