Honey Buzzards: up close and personal. (1 Viewer)

Honey Buzzards: Up close and personal. www.birdingisrael.com

Stunning close up photographs of Honey Buzzards.

Right click the blank screen and click play.

Please feel free to post your comments; they would be very welcome.

John Barclay.

stunning is certainly the word John

a flock of Honeys is one of the great birding sights......but I've never seen them in such numbers as pass thru Israel. Must be awesome - I should get round to visiting some time....

I to have seen them Over the eastern Med, thousands of them following storkes on the thermals.

Fantastic pictures and story

Israel is a beautiful country and as long as you keep away from the troubled 'hot spots' you will be fine.

First light in the mountains close to Eilat is breathtaking. The calls and mimickry of the White-crowned Black Wheatear ('the Hill Myna of the desert') ring through the valley's as you walk thru... waiting for the raptors, storks, etc, to lift off or fly over from their roosts in nearby Egypt searching for favourable thermals to take them north.

When the raptor passage has shifted or stopped then is the time to search the melon fields, reservoirs, date palm plantations, sewage works, or visit the ringing station. There is always something 'happening' in and around the skies of Eilat.

One thing that I can guarantee about Eilat and it's surrounding is that you will never have a dull moment. Then there is northern Israel and the fantastic Hula Reserve with close by Ramot Naftali where great bed and breakfasts are easy to come by. Breakfast on the verhanda watching Lesser- spotted Eagles and White Storks drifting north....roll on spring 2005.

John Barclay.

An amazing set of images. It's startling just how different & obvious these close-up HBs are in comparison to Common Buzzard, yet the poor & distant views we get in the UK give the impression that these birds are very similar.

Steve G said:

An amazing set of images. It's startling just how different & obvious these close-up HBs are in comparison to Common Buzzard, yet the poor & distant views we get in the UK give the impression that these birds are very similar.

Click to expand...

From mid April onwards there are thousands of 'Honeys' passing thru the mountains of Eilat..given a north wind that is.

From the begining of May the place is covered in them, and these days there are increasing numbers of Crested Honey Buzzards coming thru with them. The last time I was there, 5th May, 125,000 birds flew past and I was watching this spectacle alone. The scope was useless as the stream upon stream were just too close.

Not only were there HB's but still lots of Steppe Buzzards, Black Kites, the odd Lesser-spotted Eagle, very late Steppe Eagles and lots of Black Storks, Egyptian Vultures, and Bee-eaters.

Many birders think that by early May the main raptor passage is over; strictly speaking they are correct, but every day brings new birding surprises, both in the mountains and around Eilat itself.

John Barclay.

Awesome is but an understatement. I travel a lot but I am always back for the spring migration in the Arava valley and Eilat.
Jonathan

I have had the pleasure of raptor watching from the top of Mount Joash in Eilat Israel. Unfortunately I didn't see honey buzzard as it was a week early, but the spectacle of thousands of Eagles Buzzards Kites hawks and harriers passing over our heads from 10.00 am to 3.00 pm was something etched in my memory forever A wonderful experience and worth the trip to this fantastic migration hot spot alone.
John