This is one of the best places in Israel to see flocks of cranes, pelicans and storks. By road, the site is 7.5km north of the Hula Nature Reserve, and 1.2km off Rte 90.
In the 1990s, the Hula’s cotton fields were converted to growing peanuts – the soil here is ideal and Israel needs a massive supply of peanuts to produce Bamba, Israeli children’s favourite junk food. Unfortunately, cranes love peanuts as much as Israeli kids love Bamba, so conflict between the birds, protected by law, and local farmers was inevitable.
Happily, an elegant solution was found. It turns out that the best way to encourage the birds to continue on their way to Ethiopia and Sudan is to feed them – if they can’t find nibblies, research shows, they stick around longer and end up munching even more peanuts. Or they may stop migrating altogether – 35,000 cranes have already decided to become wintertime couch potatoes. An entire field is now given over to supplying the migrating birds with six to seven tonnes of corn daily, delivered by tractor.
Seeing wild cranes up close is notoriously difficult because under normal circumstances the entire flock will take to the sky en masse if anyone comes near, landing in the safety of a neighbouring (peanut) field. A local farmer noticed that the one moving object that the cranes showed no fear of was their great benefactor, the corn tractor. So he had a brilliant idea: the corn tractor could be used to transport not only corn but also birdwatchers – without the cranes paying the least attention. That’s how the 50-seat Safari Wagon was born. Camouflaged and pulled by an utterly unremarkable (from a crane’s point of view) John Deere tractor, it offers visitors unparalleled crane-watching opportunities – you can see the birds without even having to crane your neck! Reserve ahead if possible.
Other birds that can be seen here seasonally including pelicans (September, October and March to mid-April), 65,000 of which fly between the Danube Delta in Romania and the Blue Nile and Lake Victoria in Africa; and storks (August, September, April and May), a stunning 500,000 of which pass by twice a year.
To cover the 8.5km path around the restored wetlands, you can either walk or rent a mountain bike (50NIS), four-wheeled pedal cart (185NIS for up to five people), seven-seat ‘conference bike’ (50NIS per person) or golf cart (149NIS for two people). Don’t expect to see many birds in the summer. The entire site is wheelchair accessible.
Call ahead to coordinate a visit to the site’s banding (ringing) station.
