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Birding without Binos at Petra

10,000 Birds

So, when we competed in BirdLife Israel’s Champions of the Flyway (COTF) in 2023, I knew I had to take my chance to visit Jordan and Petra. The COTF is based in Eilat, Israel, the southernmost edge of Israel along the Red Sea, a very narrow part in which Jordan and Egypt are only a few miles apart.

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Highs and Lows from the Champions of the Flyway Bird Race in Eilat, Israel

10,000 Birds

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. It was pretty clear that birding organizations in Israel have done a fantastic job at promoting birding, especially among young people.

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A Comparison of Birding in Costa Rica and Eilat, Israel

10,000 Birds

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. Nothing like this in Israel.

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This Week in Bird(ing) News: Science, Citizen Science, and Citizen Savagery

10,000 Birds

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. Who knew there was such a thing?). Engineers are trying to mimic the mechanics of how birds perch in hopes of improving drones’ ability to land on wires.

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Secret Agent … Bird?

10,000 Birds

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?

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Champions of the Flyway – the Dakar Rally of Birding

10,000 Birds

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 playing field for the race was limited to southern Israel. And I had it easy.

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A Few Jordanian Birds

10,000 Birds

Bethany-on-the Jordan is literally a stone’s throw from Israel, which is why we were required to stay with the group and keep moving. And it offered up another taxonomic family I had longed to meet, with my first bee-eater , an Arabian Green Bee-eater. Actually, Bee-eaters , as they were quite numerous at the site.

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