General

The c. 6000 ha valley situated in north-east Israel, within the African Rift Valley, at the crossroads of Eurasia and Africa, possesses a wealth of habitats and diverse wilderness area of fish ponds surrounded by reed beds and agricultural fields.
Two Montana regions overlook the area; in the west, the Galilee Mountains, 0and to the east, the Golan Heights dominated by the permanently snow-capped Mount Hermon. Several freshwater rivers join on the slopes of the latter to feed the Jordan River that is in turn the main water source of the Hula Valley wetlands.
A nature reserve - the first such protected area to be created in Israel and one of the world’s most important national parks, encompasses an ancient area of marsh and papyrus beds, and the last vestiges of the Hula Lake that once covered 1415 ha.
In 1994, in an attempt to restore additional natural habitat within the valley, a relatively large area of poor agricultural land, just north of the existing Hula Reserve, was re-flooded. Not much time elapsed, before this newly created wetland had become the focus for tens of thousands of waterfowl, raptors and waders.

History

Our knowledge of the area before the mid-19th century is comparatively weak, but we do know that the Hula Valley once contained one of the largest (5770 ha) and most diverse wetlands in the Middle East. Tristram, writing in 1864, described it as the most vast and impenetrable swamp he had visited. Until the late 1930s, the human population, kept at a low level by persistent malaria, lived in relative symbiosis with the Hula environment. In the 1830s the population of the area largely consisted of Bedouin (the Ghawarna), Egyptian soldiers, Mesopotamian Arabs and slaves, many of whom had been forced to move to the area by Ibrahim Pasha, the Egyptian governor. These people subsisted through keeping cattle, agriculture (corn, wheat and rice) and principally by harvesting the paper reeds. One potential origin for the name Hula is the talmudic word, hilat, meaning paper reed. Rice-growing contributed to the spread of malaria, requiring as it does large quantities of water. Many of villages established in the area were impermanent, and it was not until 1883 that the first modern Jewish settlement, Yesud Hama’ala, founded by immigrants from Poland and Safed, was established. Further Jewish immigrants, this time from Germany, arrived in the mid-1930s, eventually founding Kibbutz Hulata and subsisting by fishing.
With the creation of the Jewish state, a determination to rid the area of disease and to drain the area was born, and in 1934 the concession to complete this task was assigned to the Jewish National Fund. During the 1930s it was estimated that 60–80% of adults were infected with malaria, and in some villages few, if any, children lived beyond the age of two. Only the constant influx of refugees and new settlers ensured that the human population did not become extinct. From 1940, new measures -irrigation canals were purged of their vegetation and the water dosed with kerosene -coupled with improvements in health care began to take effect, but it was not until 1945, with the introduction of DDT that the war against the swamp really began to go the settlers’ way. However, it was not until 1955 that the work was completed and former wetland could be turned over to agriculture. The scheme also sought to eradicate malaria (achieved during the early 1940s), increase water supplies for human use, mine peat (not implemented), create a new energy source (hydroelectric power, however, did not become a reality until 1992), and to develop new transportation routes; another idea that has not become reality.
Agriculture still dominates the Hula Valley, but some remnant swamp has fortuitously been preserved due to the foresight of the INRPA. With the establishing of Hula Nature Reserve, in 1961, and the construction of many fish ponds, the area continues to be one of the most important marsh habitats in the region.
Several local authorities dedicated to farming, tourism and nature protection are now working cooperatively in order to recreate wetland habitat by flooding parts of the valley for birds, fishing and to renew the aquatic filtering ecosystem that cleans the Jordan river and hence the Sea of Galilee water source (the most significant water supply for both Israel and Jordan). These activities also have the additional benefit of reducing the effect of poisonous gases that emanate deep within the organic soil of the former marsh. As many species in the area, especially wintering cranes and raptors, use open habitats there is still a need for extensive undisturbed open areas to be maintained for birds. The reserve is relatively small in size; its dense vegetation is principally important for some of the breeding species and as an undisturbed roost site for wintering waterfowl.
At present, the forces for nature and tourism in the area are working very positively for the future—extending the area of marsh and creating undisturbed open water and field habitats—and ensuring the Hula Valley continues to be one of the most bird-rich places in the Middle East.

The ornithological year

The Hula Valley is governed by a typical middle latitude four-season climate; summer, autumn, winter and spring. It is difficult to select one of these periods as being the ornithological highpoint. Autumn migration commences in July with waders returning from their Arctic breeding grounds, but peaks during September - October when, in addition, many species of passerines, raptors and storks occur. Particularly impressive are the huge numbers of water birds that utilize the area - up to 20,000 White Pelican and up to 30,000 Common Crane have been known to occur on a single day in the first half of November. Many winter visitors do not arrive in Hula until late autumn, and spectacular movements of migrants occur well into December.
Winter (December to February) when most species’ numbers stabilize and massive roosts of several species form is a particularly unique and dramatic period of the year in the valley. Approximately 30 minutes prior to sunset, Common Cranes (c.20000), hundreds of White Pelicans and Great Cormorants can be seen flying to roost in the newly created lake. In addition, Night Herons are leaving their daytime roost to be replaced by thousands of Great White and Little Egrets that occupy this area during the night. Black Storks and up to ten species of wildfowl can also be seen at they seek the safety of their roosts.
Of international importance are the raptor roosts found in the valley of Spotted and Imperial Eagles. Separate roosts of Marsh and Hen Harriers form in the Lake Reed beds and 1000's of Black Kites roost in a poplar tree grove to the north of the protected area. Twenty-nine species of raptor have wintered in the Hula Valley, and for some the area is the most important site in Israel and / or the Middle East. Until recently, many wintering raptors were poisoned by agricultural pesticide sprayed on the surrounding fields, but with the development of modern pesticides and stronger controls over their use, the poisoning of wild birds is now scarce in Hula. As the hunting and persecution of raptors is now illegal in Israel, the rich habitat of the valley has especially important for its high numbers of globally endangered species such as Spotted and Imperial Eagles.

Wintering cranes and other waterfowl

Wetland habitats in Hula can be separated into three main types. Open water is usually represented by the new re-flooded area just north of the reserve, fish ponds, with three main groups of ponds These are usually surrounded by reeds and are maintained at differing water-levels providing a range of micro-habitats for a variety of bird species. These are complemented by the Nature Reserve with its extensive marshy habitat, the remains of the Hula Lake. The principal area of open marsh and mud is usually around the re-flooded area and the fishponds, such as along the water channel and in the near-empty fishponds. After heavy rain the fields can become very muddy and when partially flooded provide excellent open wetlands habitat for many waterbirds. The wintering population of Common Cranes has grown enormously from a few 100s in the 1970s to more than 15000 birds.
Hula also provides important winter quarters for the east European and Russian populations of many species of duck -over 20000 Mallard, 10000 Shoveler and 31500 Common Teal have occurred, and the site is internationally recognized for the conservation of these species. Ten other species of duck winter in significant numbers in the valley. They are joined by 100s of Black and White Storks and Glossy Ibis, and 1000s of herons -especially Great White and Little Egrets. Great Cormorants and hundred of Pygmy Cormorants are also very common during the winter.
Approximately 40 species of waders have been recorded overwintering, including several rarities, such as Sociable Plover. Another species, once scarce in Israel, but for which Hula has become an important wintering area in recent years, is Citrine Wagtail. It is also one of the key wintering places in Israel for localised breeding birds, from the north, such as Armenian and Great Black-headed Gulls.
From mid-February wintering birds commence their northward departure, but overall numbers of birds using the area do not significantly decrease due to the massive spring passage that continues into May.
Summer is hot and relatively humid but c.100 breeding species occur, some in large numbers, including rarer species such as Golden Oriole, Pygmy Cormorant and Moustached Warbler. Clamorous Reed Warbler, Black Francolin and White-breasted and Pied Kingfishers are resident in the valley and the area’s heronries—principally consisting of Night Heron and Little Egrets with smaller numbers of species such as Little Bittern and Squacco Heron—are among of the largest in Eurasia.

Endangered species and conservation

Among wintering species, two raptors are regarded as globally threatened: Imperial Eagle (up to 23 birds each winter) and Spotted Eagle (up to 72 birds each winter). This concentration of eagles in such a relatively small area is unique and makes the Hula Valley a key area for their protection. Three endangered ducks winter, two of which also breed in the valley in relatively small numbers. Marbled Teal and Ferruginous Duck both breed but their numbers are augmented substantially in winter, when several hundred of each may be present, while White-headed Duck only appears in the area in winter in varying numbers. Collared Pratincole is currently declining rapidly throughout much of its range, but the Hula Valley maintains a population of a few tens of pairs that breed in fields near the reserve during May–August. Two additional species, seriously threatened at national levels which, in Israel, breed almost solely in Hula, are Black Francolin and Clamorous Reed Warbler.

Birding Sites

Taken from A GUIDE TO THE BIRDING HOT-SPOTS OF NORTHERN ISRAEL

by Hadoram Shirihai, James P. Smith, Guy M. Kirwan and Dan Alon

Gume Junction fish ponds (1), kibbutz Amir fish ponds (2), Lehavot Habashan (3)

All of these locations can easily be accessed to the east of Route 90 north of Rosh Pinna. Gume Junction is just 5 km south of Kiryat Shomna. On approaching the junction you will see signs to Kefar Blum and Lehavot Habashan to the east of Route 90. Take the major turn on Route 977, and drive east along this road (a Eucalyptus avenue) for c.1 km Turn left on the first dirt track that you come to and find a suitable place to park. Scan the fish ponds to the north and the fields to the north-east. This area will should provide an excellent first taste of birding in the Hula Valley.

Here you have a very good chance of seeing large flocks of White Pelican Pelecanus onocrotalus, as well as White-tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicollis, Spotted Eagle Aquila clanga and tens of Black Kites Milvus migrans. If the birds are not soaring, check the fields for pelicans and any likely perching posts for raptors. A quality selection of wildfowl can be seen on these ponds including Ferruginous Duck Aythya nyroca. While birding listen for two important calls coming from the tall Phragmites fringes. The first, a thin, high-pitched and rather drawn-out tsweeee, is given by Penduline Tit Remiz pendulinus, a common wintering bird in this habitat. The second, the ratchet-like grating call of Clamorous Reed Warbler Acrocephalus stentoreus cannot fail to draw your attention. The fish ponds on the opposite side the road (to the south) are also worthy of attention, especially for wintering Moustached Warbler Acrocephalus melanopogon, Red-throated Pipit Anthus cervinus and Citrine Wagtail Motacilla citreola.

From here you can proceed to a number of other productive birding locations, and our recommended accommodation at Kefar Blum. The fish ponds at kibbutz Amir (2) can be reached by turning left onto Route 9778, driving for 5 km and then turning right onto Route 9779. There are ponds on either side of the road c.2 km east of this junction. A similar selection of birds to those at Gume Junction can be found, but may contain larger numbers of wildfowl, including the possibility of small numbers of wintering White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons. White Stork Ciconia ciconia and Black Stork Ciconia nigra can also be found in winter at these pools along with many Night Herons Nycticorax nycticorax. Good numbers of Serin Serinus serinus winter throughout the Hula Valley, the banks of fish ponds are a particularly good place to find them, as they feed on the seeds of thistles and other low vegetation.

Lehavot Habashan fish ponds (3) are c.5 km south-east of kibbutz Amir. Take Route 9779 until it terminates at the junction of Route 918, and turn right, driving for 2 km until you reach a T-junction and return to Route 977. Turn left, and after less than 1 km you will notice kibbutz Lehavot Habshan on your left. The entrance to the fish ponds is directly opposite the main entrance of the kibbutz. We recommend that you park in a suitable place by the ponds, keeping access clear for kibbutz vehicles, and then bird the ponds on foot. The more neglected pools south-west of the kibbutz are usually the most productive and offer very good habitat for birds such as Night Heron, Ferruginous Duck, Spotted Eagle, Osprey Pandion heliatus, Water Rail Rallus aquaticus, Little Crake Porzana parva, Temminck's Stint Calidris temmincki, Marsh Sandpiper Tringa stagnatilis, Great Black-headed Gull Larus ichthyaetus (December- March), Kingfisher Alcedo atthis, White-breasted Kingfisher Halcyon smyrnensis, Pied Kingfisher Ceryle rudis, Moustached Warbler, Clamorous Reed Warbler and, especially, Citrine Wagtail. The latter is reliable at this location and up to 10 have been counted in recent winters. Overhead you may also see Griffon Vulture Gyps fulvus and Peregrine Falco peregrinus, which leave their roost sites on the western slopes of the Golan Heights, an hour or so after dawn.

Kfar Blum kibbutz hotel provides a fine central base for all these locations and is on Route 9778, which can be reached 30 km north of Rosh Pinna via Gume Junction or from Lehavot Habashan along Route 977. Kfar Blum is well signposted from all directions.

Hula Valley re-flooded area (4), Hula Reservoir (5) and Hula Nature Reserve (6)

The re-flooded area is best approached from Route 90, c.10 km south of Kiryat Shomna. While driving south on this road watch for Koakh Junction and Route 899 on your right-hand side. Proceed for a further 1 km watching for a long avenue of Eucalyptus trees on the left. On reaching the line of trees take a left turn toward a cotton plant at the end of the avenue. Drive past the plant (1 km from the junction) noting that the track changes from tarmac to gravel. Continue driving east over a humpback bridge, turning right for a brief distance and left again along a straight dirt track.

You are now in the heart of the Hula Valley. The re-flooded area is a further 800 metres east along this track and can be easily viewed from many angles as a dirt road circuits the entire area. If you are pressed for time you would be advised to proceed directly to the flooded area, however, if not, bird slowly along this track. Between October and April at least, the fields should be full of birds such as: Great White Egret Egretta alba, Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis, Black Kite, Hen Harrier Circus cyaneus, Pallid Harrier Circus macrourus, Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus, Long-legged Buzzard Buteo rufinus, Spotted Eagle, Merlin Falco columbarius, Crane, Spur-winged Plover Vanellus spinosus, Skylark Alauda arvensis, Calandra Lark Melanocorypha calandra and Corn Bunting Milaria calandra.

The drainage canal that runs parallel with the dirt track often holds Purple Heron Ardea purpurea, Water Rail, Zitting Cisticola Cisticola juncidis, Moustached Warbler, Clamorous Reed Warbler and Penduline Tit, especially at the point where the canal meets a reedbed c.1 km east of the cotton plant. A search of the south-eastern corner of this reedbed regularly produces Siberian Stonechat Saxicola (torquata) maura and Caspian Stonechat S. (torquata) variegata in late autumn and Marsh Warbler Acrocephalus palustris on occasion.

Due south of the reedbed, you will notice the large expanse of water with several places to park near the shore. This is an excellent place to scan the hordes of waterbirds scattered throughout the re-flooded area and from here you may see: Black-necked Grebe Podiceps nigricollis, White Pelican, Little Egret Egretta garzetta, Great White Egret, White and Black Storks, Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus, Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus ruber (scarce), a wide variety of diving and dabbling ducks, Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus, Avocet Recurvirostra avocetta, Curlew Numenius arquata and Marsh Sandpiper; Marbled Teal is occasional here.

Another useful vantage point exists on the south side of the flood and is easily reached by following the dirt track for 0.5 km south-east, then turning sharp right at a T-junction for 300 metres and then due west for a further 400 metres. Here a canal opens out into the south-east bay of the flood offering some fine birding: Glossy Ibis, Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia, Little Crake, Marsh Sandpiper, Temminck's Stint, Water Rail, Citrine Wagtail, Spotted Eagle and vast rafts of waterfowl. Purple Gallinule was regular here in winter 1996- 97 and could occur again. The fields and rough pasture are quartered by Long-legged Buzzard, and harriers especially Pallid. Good views of Crane with some White and Black Storks are also possible from here. In season, overhead Little Swift Apus affinis and Alpine Swift Tachymarptis melba can be found among the hordes of hirundines.

To reach the Hula Nature Reserve and reservoir you must retrace your tracks to Route 90 and then head south. After c.5 km watch for a dip in the road with a bus stop and some sheds on the left (east) side of the road. A dirt track between the sheds affords access to more fish ponds with the raised embankment of Hula Reservoir obvious on your right. Follow the dirt track around the bank of the reservoir checking the fish ponds as you go. The ponds can be productive for Night Heron, crakes Porzana spp. and sometimes Marbled Teal and all three kingfishers. As you continue to drive south watch for a gate in the fence (on the right) and a steep track leading up the bank to an overlook where you can park. Remember to park considerately, the track here is quite narrow.

The views of the Hula Valley from here are superb and you close enough to the birds to enjoy them, but a telescope is recommended. The reservoir to the north-west, fish ponds to the east and south-east, and Hula Nature Reserve are all ornithologically extremely rich, not to mention the sky over the valley which is often full of pelicans, cranes, storks and raptors. Every bird is worthy a of a second glance and some of the species present may include: Ruddy Shelduck Tadorna ferruginea, Marbled Teal, Red-crested Pochard Netta rufina, Ferruginous Duck, Griffon Vulture, Black Vulture Aegypius monachus, White-tailed Eagle, Spotted Eagle, Booted Eagle Hieraaetus pennatus, Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos, Peregrine, Little Crake, Marsh Sandpiper, Temminck's Stint, Great Black-headed Gull, Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybridus, Little Swift, Citrine Wagtail, Water Pipit Anthus spinoletta and Penduline Tit. If you can tear yourself away, retrace your steps back to Route 90 in order to reach the nature reserve.

NB. Use extreme caution when turning left from Route 90 toward the reservoir. Traffic approaches at speed from both directions. It is often easier and safer to pull off onto the hard shoulder and wait for a traffic-free moment. In addition, the gate and barrier across the dirt track, near the sheds, are usually closed c.30 minutes before dusk. The owners of the fish ponds are usually aware of birders presence and will politely ask you to leave at about this time if you are not on your way already.

Hula Nature Reserve

Owned and maintained by the Nature Reserves Authority, this a wonderful pocket of the former swamp that covered most of the Hula Valley. The approach road to the reserve is c.1.5 km south of Hula Reservoir and clearly signposted from Route 90 in both directions, along with signs to Dubrovin Farm. After a pleasant 2 km drive along a Eucalyptus grove you will reach the reserve car park.

Opening hours: 08h00- 16h00 during the week 08h00- 15h00 on Friday.

A walk around this fine reserve is an excellent way to spend a half day and from the hides, towers and boardwalks you should be treated to close-up views of White Pelican, Pygmy Cormorant Phalacrocorax pygmeus, Marbled Teal, various roosting raptors, all three kingfishers and Clamorous Reed Warbler.