Under Clear Skies

Empty skies – Luke Tiller

Well almost. I do have a few days left in Israel to do some birding, but my time as an official hawk surveyor is at an end. It ended with not so much a bang (though a last day Imperial Eagle and Greater-spotted Cuckoo were nice) but with something of a whimper, and some (amazing) hummus.

Traveling and meeting new people is always something of a bitter sweet experience. You get to make new friends, but then all too soon you have to get back to your own part of the world and leave them all behind. The regulars at the survey have been a great team to be part of, we’ve shared long hours watching raptors, trying to put each other on some of the better ones and making sure that we didn’t duplicate too many sightings. Over all there are about 20 awesome people who have been part of the team both as watchers and interpretive naturalists but a few: Eli, Shahar, Dudu and Tzoor have been a constant part of my last month – and I think I have finally gotten most of the pronunciations of their names right. Of course they have also had to also translate my rambling English on the walkie-talkie into something that makes sense too – so they were working even harder than I have.

Short-toed Eagle

The thing I love about birding is that it brings together people from across the spectrum of humanity regardless of age, gender or pretty much anything else for that matter. Perhaps it’s just my own personal biases but I also think there is a special camaraderie among hawkwatchers; there is just something particular (and maybe peculiar) about spending eight hours a day sat in the same spot looking for distant specks to identify in temperatures which range from 10-102 degrees.

Though not necessarily overly lucrative, life as a professional hawkwatcher can certainly be richly rewarding. It’s really been a fantastic time here in Israel and I will have many fond memories of this trip: of course the birds but also of the people I’ve met and the places I’ve seen, and I hope I will be back again in the not too distant future.

Long-legged Buzzard – Luke Tiller

Special thanks to Yoav Perlman for inviting me to become part of the Soaring Bird Survey, Jonathan Meyrav for being a great birding host and to Laura Kammermeier for introducing me to both these guys up at Braddock Bay this Spring. Thanks also to Eli Haviv for running such a tight and friendly ship!