In the first sign of the upcoming autumn in Israel, about 30 flamingos arrived at the Hula Reservoir on Thursday morning, launching the migratory season.

Inbar Shlomit Rubin of KKL-JNF, the director of the reservoir, said: “So although it’s August and it’s hot, the first migratory birds have already started arriving at the Hula reservoir. In addition to flamingos, we’re also beginning to see various types of herons, hummingbirds, egrets, and others.”

The Hula Valley in northern Israel is one of the world’s busiest migration flyaways, with over 500 million birds from 550 species flying over Israel twice a year. The main migratory season is in the fall, with huge flocks of pelicans, herons, storks, cranes, and other species arriving at the valley, resting on their flights between Europe and Africa.

Years ago, the KKL-JNF (Keren Kayemet L’Yisrael-Jewish National Fund) developed an internationally acclaimed bird-watching park in the Hula Valley, which previously was a neglected area full of swamps. In 1951, the KKL-JNF began draining the swamps and over the years, rehabilitated and developed the area into a spectacular tourist site, with bird-watching areas, an observation tower, a floating bridge, waterways full of fish, and natural areas with unique flora and fauna, water buffaloes and wildcats.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)