10,000 Birds

APRIL 16, 2016

I have been back from Eilat, Israel for more than a week but still find myself dreaming about birding in the desert. Migration is always cool to watch but at Eilat, Israel, it is truly a spectacle to behold. In southern Israel, I think of the Hoopoe and bee-eaters. Habitat : As with most places during these modern, heavily populated days, habitats in both Israel and Costa Rica are often threatened with conversion to agricultural landscapes. Nothing like this in Israel.

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Israel Costa Rica 2016 Jordan 50

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

One of those places is the Hula Valley in northern Israel, home to the large Lake Hula which was drained in the 1950s to make way for more agricultural opportunities and prevent malaria. If you look at where Israel is situated in the Middle East and how the area is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea and Arabian Ocean you can see how so many migratory birds get funneled through there. Birding Hula Valley Bird Festival Israel migrationI am a migration junky.

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Israel 2012 Hoarding Nebraska 78

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2016

Today, I am writing about another very birdy place and an event that I was very fortunate to have experienced, the Champions of the Flyway Bird Race in Eilat, Israel. You could try to follow up every lead during a bird race but would end up wasting valuable time because in Eilat, Israel, birds are always on the move and the playing field is big enough to warrant very careful consideration concerning time management.

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2016 Israel Costa Rica Greece 63

10,000 Birds

JUNE 23, 2014

Birding in Israel? News Bird evolution Common Cuckoo Israel Nature News perching Report your sightings to help build an eBird-like database of the country’s avifauna.

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Science 2014 Hawaii Oregon 80

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 2, 2013

Upon the bird’s capture, the band was found to read “24311 Tel Avivunia Israel.” ” Of course, assumed the locals, the bird must be a spy for Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency. The Times of Israel attributes the band to Tel Aviv University ; presumably the bird was part of an ornithological study? News Israel kestrel Turkey This Kestrel may have been carrying bugs, but an X-ray showed they were not of the surveillance type.

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2013 Austin Stray ALA 76

10,000 Birds

MAY 22, 2012

Asides IsraelLast year, vigilant Saudi Arabian officials detained an Israeli spy vulture yet apparently failed to foil the “Zionist espionage plot.” ” How else to explain the highly suspicious European Bee-Eater Turkish authorities are currently investigating. Damning evidence includes an Israeli bird band and unusually large nostrils. Birders of the world: if you see something, say something. ( Hat-tip to Suzie Gilbert ! )

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Investigation 2012 Israel Birds 52

10,000 Birds

APRIL 4, 2015

I’ve just returned from a trip to Israel and I feel like I’ve run 300 miles in a week…in the blazing sun…uphill…with no water…and carrying a one hundred pound sandbag. The 31 teams, 15 of them international and 16 local, set out as the clock struck midnight on March 24th, 2015 to scour the southern part of Israel for as many bird species as possible. The playing field for the race was limited to southern Israel.

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2015 Israel Cyprus Finland 82

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 11, 2016

I will be birding in a brand new place this weekend: Israel ! The 14th day of February marks a moment when we dare not acknowledge the love we should harbor every other day of the year. Forewarned, as they say, is forearmed, so don’t forget to let your Valentine know how much you care. Those birds that you love, on the other hand, don’t need chocolates or roses… just get out there and spend quality time with them!

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2016 Israel Branding Birds 56

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2012

Common Cranes at dawn in Israel’s Hula Valley (Find out how impressed Sharon is by migration there !). Do you love this time of year as much as I do? You may have to be a football-loving, bird-chasing father of schoolchildren to truly understand the attractions of early September in New York, but the season has something exciting for everyone. What do you love best about September?

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2012 Israel New York Birds 56

Animal Ethics

FEBRUARY 13, 2008

An inside look at South American kosher slaughterhouses where Israel gets most of its meat is the subject of a new PETA tape released exclusively to the influential American Jewish newspaper, the Forward. According to the article by Nathaniel Popper, PETA and Israel animal rights group Concern for Helping Animals, have tried to address this “shackle and hoist” process, approved by the Orthodox Union but has made little headway.

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Israel PETA 2008 Meat 40

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 1, 2013

The article cites avian radar proponents in the Netherlands and Israel who suggest that this technology can be quite effective at reducing the risk of birdstrikes. Birds and airplane compete for right-of-way at Sky Harbor Airport and Seaplane Base (image by Donald Emmerich, Wikimedia Commons). For about as long as people have been flying planes, pilots of all type of aircraft have been experiencing birdstrikes. Sometimes the damage is little more than dented panel or cracked windshield.

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2013 Israel Netherlands Illinois 80

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 4, 2020

Ruffs from Israel, the one in Costa Rica kind of looked like the top bird. I write this on the final day of the year, the last bit of 2019. The point of orbit for which the Earth starts and completes its merry-go-round the Sun is subjective but according to eBird, now is the time.

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Costa Rica 2020 2019 San Jose 83

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 14, 2016

Mike’s best bird is the Hoopoe , the National Bird of Israel, spotted at the amazing Dor Beach Island Reserve. Valentine’s Day has come and gone. Did you see any birds that you particularly loved this weekend? Here in New York City we suffered through our coldest period of the winter with wind chill values dipping well below zero degrees Fahrenheit. That coupled with my preparations for a departure for Puerto Rico late on Sunday means that I didn’t get much birding done.

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2016 Puerto Rico Israel New York City 40

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 1, 2011

Can you believe Sharon Stiteler captured this gorgeous sunrise over Israel’s Hula Valley using just an iPhone 4S ? Now that American Thanksgiving has passed, we in the States can join the rest of the world in turning our full attention to the upcoming Yule celebration. The impending season of giving can trigger intense anxiety punctuated by bouts of conspicuous consumerism, but you don’t need to succumb to rampant materialism.

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2011 Israel Suffering Birds 59

4 The Love Of Animals

JULY 13, 2009

Bark Busters has grown into the largest and most trusted dog training company in the world with trained therapists helping dogs in Australia, the United States, New Zealand, France, Belgium, the UK, Japan, Israel, Taiwan and Canada. Readers in Canada, this is for you! Do you have the naughtiest dog? Bark Busters , the world’s largest dog training company, announced today its search for Canada’s Naughtiest Dog.

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Canada 2009 Dog Training Dogs 109

10,000 Birds

MAY 20, 2014

The ornithological all-star lineup is dazzling: Pete Dunne, Director of the Cape May Bird Observatory and founder of the World Series of Birding; author/naturalist Scott Weidensaul, whose Living on the Wind was a Pulitzer Prize finalist; Yossi Leshem, Israel’s best-known ornithologist; and Stephen Kress, Director of the Seabird Restoration Program, Founder of Project Puffin, and manager of National Audubon’s Maine Coastal Island Sanctuaries.

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2014 Puffins Israel Vietnam 86

10,000 Birds

MARCH 16, 2016

And so South Africa’s fifth largest park came to be (it’s worth remembering that its largest park, Kruger, is the size of Israel) on marginal land that no one in particular could do much with. Great wildlife preserves, reserves and parks exist for a number of reasons.

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2016 Giraffes Leopards Botswana 63

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2011

I recently went to Israel and though I packed my Nikon D40 SLR camera, I also took along my new iPhone 4s just to see if an opportunity would come up to try out the phone: And boy were the opportunities were endless. I enjoy digiscoping–using a digital camera with my spotting scope to get photos of birds. It’s changed quite a bit over the years.

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2011 Israel ALA Abandon 84

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2012

Until next time, I leave you with the late Israel Ka?ano?i Well, it is nesting season and being a nest box monitor with three Bluebird Trails, I thought I should rectify the blatant lack of coverage on 10000 Birds of one of the most iconic North American birds of our time. Living in California, I am of course speaking of the Western Bluebird ( Sialia mexicana ). The Western Bluebird , like all bluebirds, is a secondary cavity nester (more about cavity nesters in an upcoming post).

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2012 Israel Washington Eggs 77

10,000 Birds

MAY 28, 2016

Looking for terns, White-eyed Gulls , and other seabirds from North Beach, Eilat, Israel during Champions of the Flyway. Spring isn’t just a season of change and renewal. In the realm of birding, it might also be the season for Big Days. With all of those birds singing and showing off their breeding colors, it’s no surprise that we see major bird races like Champions of the Flyway and The World Series of Birding , along with other main birding events like the Global Big Day.

Costa Rica 40

Costa Rica 2016 Israel Research Center 40

10,000 Birds

MARCH 4, 2017

Last year beats were being spotted way beyond their usual habitat with checklists shared from India, Puerto Rico and Israel. The beats have been mostly sedentary during February with only Corey venturing beyond his normal range. Tom has made an altitudinal migration, but stayed within his accepted beat. Redgannet has been wandering aimlessly as is his brief. It might be difficult to increase on last February’s score of 826.

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2017 Australia Sanctuary Sweden 40

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2017

From my poolside viewpoint I can encompass four countries: Egypt where I am and, over the sea, Israel to the far left (there’s a birding mecca of Eilat), Jordan in the middle and finally the endless deserts of Saudi Arabia to the right. East Sinai – Bay of Aqaba, Taba Resort. Morning. Some three dozen migrating Barn Swallows fly above the hotel garden where I am having coffee at the Breeze Bar by the pool.

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Egypt 2017 Saudi Arabia Israel 55