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August 15th, 2015: a migrating flock of White Storks that landed on a mobile irrigation line in the Hula Valley.The Storks didn't budge as the line advanced irrigating the field! (Photo: Dror Galili)

Newsletter no. 15Eve of the Jewish New Year,

September 2015

Dan Alon Director of the Israel Ornithological Center

Prof. Yossi LeshemDirector of the International Center for the Study

of Bird Migration and Secretary of the Hoopoe Foundation

Maj. Gen. (Res.) Doron AlmogChairman, The Hoopoe Foundation

Dear friends,

Until today we have been sending out our newsletter once a year in the winter. This newsletter presented some of the activities of the Israel Ornithological Center (IOC), the Hoopoe Foundation and the Army for the Protection of Nature in Israel. The newsletter was distributed in thousands of copies overseas and in Israel, and attracted high interest.

We received hundreds of responses from birdwatchers that this yearly update was of high interest to them, and some of them also gave donations for advancing our activities. At the beginning of 2015 we welcomed a new Chairman to the Hoopoe Foundation, Maj. Gen. (Res.) Doron Almog, known to all as the founder of "ALEH Negev – Nahalat Eran", in memory of his son Eran of blessed memory (see link: https://aleh.org/aleh-facilities/aleh-negev-nahalat-eran/). Doron finished serving in the IDF as GOC (General Officer

Commanding) Southern Command, previously commanded the elite Kingfisher Unit, and, together with his wife Didi, is a nature lover and enthusiastic traveler, and close friends with Racheli and Moshe Yanai, the founders of the Hoopoe Foundation.

Birdwatching activities, the Hoopoe Foundation and the activities of the Army for the Protection of Nature in Israel have gained much momentum in the last three years, and as a result we have decided to produce a newsletter three times a year, instead of once, and to distribute it digitally in Hebrew and in English. The activities with the IDF will also be distributed among the army units, so they can also be updated about the different projects.

We are honored to present you with the English newsletter, on the eve of the Jewish New Year.

We wish all our readers and supporters a happy and blessed New Year, a year of fruitful activities, nature conservation and tightening of the ties with the IDF and its commanders, and we pray for a year of tranquility and peace.

Yours,

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New initiative for collaboration with BirdLife Cyprus – on the subject of Barn Owls and Swifts

The Cypriot team learns about the damages from rodents in the agricultural fields from Dr. Yoav Motro (second from right) and Shauli Aviel (on left)

About two years ago, Dan Alon and Yossi Leshem hosted Mr. Tasso Leventis, previously the treasurer of BirdLife International, in Israel. Mr. Leventis is originally from Cyprus, and a great nature conservation philanthropist, with the emphasis on bird conservation, research and art. As a result of his visit, the Tasso Leventis Conservation Foundation funded a seminar in Israel for a team from Cyprus, from May 29th-June 4th, 2015. The team was headed by Dr. Clairie Papazoglou, Director of BirdLife Cyprus, and the delegation came to learn about the use of Barn Owls as biological control agents in agriculture. They were based at Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu, and the seminar was led by Shauli Aviel from Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu, Dr. Yoav Motro from the Ministry of Agriculture and Yossi Leshem. In addition, one of the team members, Melpo Apostolidou, came to learn about Swifts from Amnonn Hahn, Director of the Friends of the Swift Association and the leader of the Swift project in the Hoopoe Foundation for the nature conservation of nesting Swifts at the Western Wall in Jerusalem and in Tel Aviv. Melpo came to learn about the raising and release back to the wild of young Swifts at the Ramat-Gan Safari Israeli Wildlife Hospital, and about the educational activities with schools as well as at the IDF

From the lecture of Prof. Alexandre Roulin, Lausanne University, Switzerland, and his opinion on the role of the Barn Owl in leading the peace process in the Middle East

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Headquarters as part of a project with the Army for the Protection of Nature.

Yoav Motro, Shauli Aviel and Yossi Leshem, together with Prof. Alexandre Roulin from Lausanne University in Switzerland, flew to Cyprus for a reciprocal visit from June 21st-24th and we presented our national project during two lecture days, field trips with farmers and a meeting with the Israeli Ambassador to Cyprus. At a later stage we met with the incoming Ambassador to Cyprus, Ms. Yael Ravia-Zadok, and with Deputy Minister Ayoob Kara, the

Israeli Minister of Regional Cooperation.

Both seminars were extremely successful, and during concluding discussions it was decided to advance a joint program for expanding the Barn Owl project to Cyprus as well, under the leadership of BirdLife Cyprus in partnership with us. We are hopeful that if the project takes off in Cyprus, it will constitute an important stepping stone towards attaining the goal of significant reduction in illegal hunting and the use of pesticides in Cyprus.

Meeting with the Cypriot team in Nicosia, with Israel's Ambassador to Cyprus, Mr. Michael Harari (with tie); to his right Dr. Clairie Papazoglou and Prof. Alexandre Roulin from Switzerland

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Joint educational activities“Yes to the Bird”

and scientific-technological studies

A wintering Osprey with a fish caught in the fish ponds of Kibbutz Kfar Ruppin, Beit Shean Valley, on the Jordanian border (Photo: Aharon Shimshon)

During the last school year (2014-2015), we organized birding activities with about 90 schools in the northern district of the Ministry of Education for the fifth consecutive year, half of them in the Arab and Druze sectors, led by Dr. Orna Simchon, District Director. The instruction was carried out very successfully by Orna Gemer, and will continue this coming school year as well, with the aim of further nurturing the ties between the school children and the birds in their school environment.

In parallel, an additional 132 schools countrywide, led by the Chief Inspector of Science and Technology Studies, Shoshi Cohen, and assisted by Hadas Katz Sadeh Chen, Yehavit Loria and Shlomit Lipshitz, focused on research questions connected to birds. Eight of these schools studied a new program focusing on joint studies with schools overseas

on the subject of migration and tracking Ospreys, Storks and additional raptors using satellite transmitters and online cameras. These activities are carried out with the support of the Ministry of Education and an anonymous donor in the Hoopoe and Legacy Foundations, and we hope that during the coming year we will succeed in adding additional schools to the circle of those already involved.

The Palestine Sunbird, a species breeding in house and school yards in Israel, was the subject of a research project aided by Prof. Yoram Yom-Tov's book (Photo: Aharon Shimshon)Map showing the joint studying with schools overseas

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Fifth lecture day “The Way of a Vulture in the Sky” in partnership with the Fisher Institute for Air and Space

Strategic Studies, April 27th, 2015

Ran Lapid, "Yasour" and El Al pilot, and birdwatcher

The lecture day took place in Tel Aviv University's Bar Shira Hall, for the fifth consecutive year, and was attended by about 500 people. It presented the IAF legacy and involvement of the public in bird conservation. For the first time the lecture day was in partnership with the Lapid family, in memory of Lt. Col. (Ret.) Ran Lapid, a CH-53 ("Yasour") and El Al pilot, and birdwatcher. Ran was a unique personality, passionate about flying as well as his love for Israel and its scenery, and especially its birds. The family agreed to support the lecture day for five years, and awarded a research scholarship to Dr. Leonid Dinevich, the Russian radar expert at Latrun since 1997.

The lecture day was supported by the Hoopoe and Legacy Foundations, and Lockheed Martin who has supported the holding of this lecture day since the beginning. At the lecture day the navigator Capt. N. talked about his flight experience on February 25th, 2015 above the Sea of Galilee at low altitude and a speed of 550 knots (about 1,000 km/hr) when a Black-headed Gull penetrated the "Sufa" canopy (F-16I) between him and the pilot. Miraculously neither of them was directly hit. The damaged canopy was placed at the entrance to the Life Sciences Faculty's Sherman Building at the Tel Aviv University, with an explanatory sign aimed at raising the students' awareness to the joint research with the IAF.

At this year's lecture day we hosted three guests from overseas: Dr. Steve Kress, the Director of Hog Island, Maine, and Chief Scientist at Audubon, USA, talked about his research and success in the reintroduction of the Atlantic Puffins to breed on the islands of the coast of Maine in the USA; Prof. Gil Bohrer who presented models he developed for predicting migration and movement; Jim Brett from Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, the first nature reserve for raptors worldwide located in Pennsylvania in the USA, talked about the sanctuary which is celebrating 75 years since its establishment.

After the lecture day, the participants went to watch the Common Swifts in south Tel Aviv gathering for their

evening feeding on insects. They also visited Schiff House, renovated by Discount Bank, in which online cameras have been installed to broadcast directly from nesting Swift nests, a project led by Amnonn Hahn, Director of the Friends of the Swift Association, and funded by the Hoopoe Foundation.

Dr. Steve Kress at the lecture day (Photo: Sivan Farag)

Damaged "Sufa" canopy placed at the entrance to the Life Sciences Faculty, Sherman Building, Tel Aviv University

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Birdwatchers salute the “Volunteers from Abroad” (Machal) pilot, Lou Lenart, who passed away at age 94 on

July 22nd, 2015

February 2nd, 2015: Lou Lenart viewing 35,000 Common Cranes at the Agamon Hula (Photo: Yossi Leshem)

The Chief of General Staff, Lieut. Gen. Benny Gantz, and Commander of the Air Division, Brig. Gen. Amikam Norkin, present Lou with a framed collage at the 33rd Annual Birding Lecture Day, whose topic was 30 years of cooperation with the IAF, attended by an audience of 1,100 birding enthusiasts. Lou hung the collage with great pride in his bedroom, and told Yossi that "every morning I wake up proudly with the photos above my head" (Photo: Hagai Aharon)

Yossi Leshem

Lou Lenart became a legend in his lifetime. Lou arrived with his family to the USA in 1930, following the rising antisemitism in his home town on the border between Hungary and Slovakia. He joined the Marine Corps, finished a pilot's course, and fought as a combat pilot against the Japanese during World War II. He was among the first "Volunteers from Abroad" called to arms who arrived in Israel during the War of Independence to help found the IAF.

Lou was among the founders of the first IAF squadron, the lauded 101 Squadron, and in the War of Independence led the quartet of Messerschmitts (together with Modi Alon, Ezer Weizman and Eddie Cohen, a South African "Volunteer from Abroad") that attacked the Egyptian convoy at the Ad Halom ("Till Here") bridge and managed to stop their advance (thus the name of the bridge!). The attack was carried out without two-way radios, and immediately on the arrival of the Messerschmitts to the squadron. The Givati Brigade Commander, Col. Shimon Avidan, arrived by jeep to the squadron, and asked Lou Lenart to take off immediately and attack, otherwise the

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Egyptians could have reached Tel Aviv within a few hours. Lou considered this mission the "mission of his life", and as he said in his lecture, "I was born for this moment…", and enthusiastically retold the events at the Hoopoe Foundation, IOC and IAF lecture day "The Way of a Vulture in the Sky". Lou was very active in his ties with Israel, and in recent years he married Rachel Nir and made Aliya to Israel. After he was discharged from the IAF he was a pilot for El Al, and participated in the airlift of the Iraqi Jews to Israel.

A few years ago, Bob Magnus, a 4-star General in the US Marine Corps and the first Jew to be Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps, held in his honor an official ceremony at the Marine Corps War Memorial, to honor his significant contribution to the USA and the State of Israel. Lou was friendly with Maj. Gen. Yitzhak Sade,

Commander of the Palmach, and many other State leaders.

General Magnus and his wife Meredith came especially from the USA to participate in Lou's funeral in Ra'anana, and gave a eulogy in his memory, together with Maj. Gen. Herzl Bodinger, the President of the IAF Association, and others. Magnus honored Lou in his eulogy when he attended the funeral in his Marines uniform (see photo). General Magnus volunteered to assist the Hoopoe Foundation with its varied activities.

Our condolences to Lou's widow Rachel, and his daughter Michal. We salute Lou Lenart, who was an ardent Zionist to his very core.

See the link to a movie about Lou Lenart:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTSy6VyQlAk.

General Robert Magnus gave a eulogy for Lou Lenart, and salutes him at the cemetery in Ra'anana, July 22nd, 2015

Lou next to the Messerschmitt in which he fought during the War of Independence

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A Steppe Buzzard, one of the 334,529 observed this year during the spring migration over the Eilat Mountains (Photo: Hadoram Shirihai)

Name Latin name No. of birds, spring 2015Honey Buzzard Pernis apivorus 498,090Steppe Buzzard Buteo (buteo) vulpinus 334,529Levant Sparrowhawk Accipiter brevipes 21,856Black Kite Milvus migrans 16,037Steppe Eagle Aquila nipalensis 13,908

Noam Weiss – Director of the International Birding & Research Centre in Eilat (IBRCE)

Israel is located at the meeting point of three continents – Asia, Europe and Africa – and as a result comprises an important thoroughfare for over half a billion birds in each migration season. Most of the birds migrate at night using active flight, and some during the day exploiting the rising hot air currents or thermals. The birds belonging to the Order Falconiformes present an opportunity to peek into the amazing world of migration.

In the spring of 2015, after almost 20 years, the SPNI's Israel Ornithological Center (IOC) resumed the counting of the raptors migrating over the Eilat Mountains, one of the most important areas globally for raptor migration. Teams from the IBRCE, accompanied by professional birders from the USA, Germany, Denmark and England, manned two observation stations in the Eilat Mountains, with the main objective of counting Steppe Eagles, a large and rare species with worrying indications received from its breeding areas regarding its declining numbers.

Undoubtedly the climax was the counting of the 380,000 Honey Buzzards that passed over one of the stations within only two days. Noam Weiss, Director of the IBRCE, wrote the following during this exciting event: "Already with first light streams of Honey Buzzards hovered at low altitude and filled the canyon

of the Shlomo Wadi, like a flowing, living river. By 9 am Johan from Denmark, who was located at the "High Mountain" station in Mount Yehoram, had already counted 40,000 Buzzards and alerted the rest of the teams that they should count what was coming over the areas he couldn’t observe. At 12 pm he'd passed the 100,000 mark, and by 14:30 over 150,000 had been recorded. In the meantime at the IBRCE, thousands of Honey Buzzards had begun to land, come to quench their thirst at the sweet water lakes which had recently been adapted so that raptors could drink from them comfortably. The sight of the Buzzards coming down low over the lakes and covering the lake edges was breathtaking. A team of the IBRCE that had gone to the north beach discovered also there tens of thousands of Buzzards who had shortened their route and crossed the Red Sea directly to Jordan, far from the eyes of the teams at the observation stations. The phone didn't stop ringing from people wanting to help and reporting enormous flocks all over the area. We finished the day with 250,000 Honey Buzzards as well as 11,000 Levant Sparrowhawks, an additional raptor, much smaller and rarer than the Honey Buzzard."

32 species of raptors were observed during the survey. The five main species were: Honey Buzzard, Steppe Buzzard, Levant Sparrowhawk, Black Kite and Steppe Eagle.

The numbers of the five main species in the Eilat 2015 spring raptor survey are detailed in the following table:

For the first time after 20 years, a survey of migrating soaring birds in the Eilat Mountains – spring 2015

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Exciting discovery: Tens of Pallid Scops Owls discovered breeding in the Jordan Valley

An injured Pallid Scops Owl that was brought to the Israel Wildlife Hospital at the Ramat Gan Safari (Photo: Yossi Leshem)

Barak Granit

I am still recovering from a long night of surveying two nights ago, when Yosef Kiat, Kochav Levi and I found no less than 22 – yes, that's right, 22 – territories of nesting Pallid Scops Owl (Otus brucei) in one large date plantation at the northern Dead Sea. It only sounds crazy because it is.

In the light of our flashlight we saw no less than 7-8 Palid Scops Owls, all were calling adults, and we heard another 14 calling. Some of the birds had young which we could only hear. By the time of writing, some 40 territories were found, all in date plantations along the northern Dead Sea and in the Jordan Valley.

Who would believe that?

104 years after renowned zoologist Aharoni found a nest in Wadi Auja north of Jericho and collected the two adults, Pallid Scops Owls were found again breeding in Israel. And I happened to play some part in the finding. On June 2nd, an injured owl fledgling was picked up by Melvin Blow in his kibbutz, the Mitzpe Shalem date palm plantation in the northern Dead Sea region. It was taken for treatment to the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA) and Safari Ramat Gan's Wildlife Hospital, and photos were sent to some birdwatchers who identified it as a Desert Tawny Owl (Strix hadorami).

Fortunately the photos were sent also to Amir Ben Dov who suspected it to be a fledgling of a Pallid Scops Owl. Amir sent the photos to me. Since I was familiar with the appearance of Pallid Scops Owl fledglings (I saw them

in Birecik, east Turkey), I could confirm the identification.

Although it was crystal clear that the species must be breeding here, at first we didn't grasp the scale of the discovery. Two night later, after Amir and Yosef found three territories, and even ringed one adult within that same date plantation, we started to wonder about their distribution and density in the area.

During the next days, teams surveyed similar habitats, mainly date plantations from Kfar Ruppin in the north to Samar and Elifaz in the southern Arava. They found no Pallid Scops Owls at the extreme boundaries of the area checked, but from about 30 km north of Jericho and south almost to Ein Gedi, every date plantation that was checked held Pallid Scops Owls. The date plantations around Hatzeva and Neot Hakikar at the southern Dead Sea are still waiting to be checked, as well as plantations on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea, and Jordanian and Palestinian date plantations on both sides of the Jordan Valley.

As for the density of the population, the only plantation we covered properly was the one in the northern Dead Sea. It is a very large, complex plantation, measuring2 x 2 km, where 20 territories were found which means an average of 315 m2 for each territory. But this is not the whole story, since some of that area as well as the orchards bordering with Road 90 consist of young trees unsuitable for nesting, meaning that the effective nesting territory is smaller and density is much higher. In fact, we had owls calling every 150-200 meters. If we extrapolate this density to all suitable habitats in the region, we are

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A young Pallid Scops Owl in a date plantation in the Jordan Valley (Photo: Amir Ben Dov)

talking about hundreds of breeding pairs. Under our very nose. For years. How come we missed them all these years?We are quite sure this is not a new phenomenon. After all, they were found breeding exactly in the same area 104 years ago. Why did we overlook them? One reason was obvious to any birder who participated in the survey of the last 10 days: the calls of these owls are so quiet that when you hear them you'd think the bird is located 100-200 m away, when actually they are calling from at the most 4-5 trees away. The other reason is that no birder ever thought to go for a night or day birding within this otherwise relatively "dead birding zone". Still, I wonder how come no one (not only birders) has ever found a dead or wounded fledgling before, especially when most of these date plantations are located along Road 90.

There are still plenty of questions to be answered. Do the birds that winter in the Arava belong to the same local population (very short distance migration) or do they come from northern populations as we thought until now? Do they breed here only in date plantations (if not, that means that the local distribution could be larger than found so far)?

But the most frustrating questions are the following: What would have happened if no farmer would have found the fledgling that led to the recent discovery. What if he had found the bird but didn’t bring it to the INPA. And what would have happened if the photo wouldn't have reached Amir Ben Dov. Would the breeding of the Pallid Scops Owl in the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea have remained undiscovered for another 104 years?

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The 2nd Champions of the Flyway – A big day for conservation

31 international and Israeli teams competed in the Champions of the Flyway 2015 (Photo: Yuval Dax)

Jonathan Meyrav

On March 25th, 2015, 135 birders took to the field for the 2nd Champions of the Flyway race. The project, led by the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) together with Birdlife International, is making waves worldwide as one of the most important fundraisers on the bird conservation map, one that addresses amongst the biggest threats birds face today, the illegal killing and trapping of birds along the Flyways.

The 2015 Champions of the Flyway race day was one of the most incredible events that any of us ever took part in. 31 teams from Israel and 13 other nationalities stepped up for the Big Day.

15 teams raced in the international division and 16 teams of Israeli birders competed in the national race. The teams spent the 24 hours side by side; some of the world’s finest field birders shared scopes with 8 year old children, all racing to raise money for conservation.

The Champions of the Flyway “playing field” is a large and challenging one to crack. Spanning from Eilat in the south all the way up to the Negev highlands in the north-west and the Arava junction in the north-east, the teams had to spend a lot of time planning and strategizing. The playing field includes several “critical” areas that teams have to visit if they want a shot at the crown.

The Negev holds around 20 species that cannot be found further south, and there are several desert sites that hold 10 more elusive desert species that need to be chased.

The results

The checklists were handed in to the judges and Itai Shanni, Jonathan Meyrav and Dan Alon moderated the lists. The teams were asked to stick around for a few minutes to answer some questions the judges had. This

was an important process, one that determines the final team standings. Following tedious scrutiny of the lists the final results were in.

2015 Award Winners

The 2015 Champions of the Flyway are the “Cape May Bird Observatory (Leica) American Dippers”.

The Dippers took an opposite approach than most teams, starting in Eilat and heading north to the Negev in the afternoon; they finished with an amazing 168 species and won 3 pairs of incredible Swarovski Binoculars.

The Dippers gallantly chose to donate the binoculars to the Birdlife Cyprus team on the spot. The binoculars will be used to educate children in Cyprus to the value of birds in the field, through excellent binoculars and not through the barrel of a gun. Well done guys on the gesture Dippers, truly big of you and the Birdlife Cyprus team was

The Finnish group, the "Arctic Redpolls" who took second place (Photo: Jonathan Meyrav)

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See you at the 3rd Champions of the Flyway race!Eilat – March 29th 2016

The competition awards ready for handing out to the winners (Photo: Yuval Dax)

speechless!

In extremely close second place were the “Arctic Redpolls” from Finland. The young Finnish team, sponsored by Zeiss Finland, executed an incredible race day and ended up just short with 167 species!

Team “Reservoir birds” from Spain and the Finnish “Northern Lights” team shared third place with 163 species.

The Israeli Champions of the Flyway race was incredible – some of Israel’s top birdwatchers competed alongside amateurs, retired doctors, army generals and over 15 children. The winners of the Israeli Champions of the Flyway race are the “JBO Orioles” from the Jerusalem Bird Observatory. The team led by Avner Rinot and Alen Kacal executed an amazing race and finished with a whopping 179 species.

In close second the “Pied Bushchats” from the Yerucham center for creative ecology scored 176 species. The “Terns” from Ma’agan Michael took third place with 170 species.

Besides the main award for the highest checklist, several more awards were handed out.

The “Knights of the Flyway” award goes to the “Next Generation Birders” team that besides running a great race with 157 species took the time to share valuable

information before and during the race, put other teams on great birds (and mammals) and sacrificed their own time to help others. Well done lads, truly deserved! The “Next Generation Birders” team won a pair of Swarovski Optik SLC’s 10X50 that they will donate to a Birdlife project of their choice.The “Guardians of the Flyway” award was handed to the “Birdwatch-BirdGuides Roadrunners”. The Roadrunners are the team that managed to raise the most money towards the anti-trapping campaign in Cyprus. The team raised over $7,500 out of the $50,000 that was raised so far. Worth mentioning are the “Birding Ecotours” team from South Africa and the “Dutch Knights” that both raised an incredible amount themselves and were the main contenders for the prize.

Indeed the main winners of the 2015 Champions of the Flyway are the birds of Cyprus. Over $50,000 was raised so far and the fundraising continues. The Birdlife Cyprus team ran a great race themselves and they leave Israel with a check for $35,000 that will go directly to education programs on the Island.More information about the race results, images and stories from the field are available on the Champions of the Flyway website www.champions-of-the-flyway.com and on the Israel Birds Portal www.birds.org.il.

View two movies by Birding Adventures broadcast in the USA about Israeli birding:Birds of Eilat and south Israel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9sTvWkTY9cThe "Champions of the Flyway" competition in Eilat:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QEs8TGvOzo

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The 5th Crane Race – November 27th, 2015The next Crane Race will be held on Friday, November 27th, 2015, and will include a half marathon, a competitive 10 km race, and a 5 km race open to everybody, and participation will include groups of professionals, IDF officers and soldiers, youth and a group from Jordan.Registration is via the Crane Race website: http://www.realtiming.co.il/site/531.See a presentation from the 2014 Crane Race: http://bit.ly/1w0Z0vd.

Students from the pre-army preparatory course "Swifter than Vultures" at Ma’agan Michael participated in the race for the fourth year in a row (Photo: Realtiming)

Before the start of the 10 km race, the Jordanian team proudly waves their flag (Photo: Realtiming)

If you are interested in donating to our activities via the SPNI's "Hoopoe Foundation", please access the following link: http://my.israelgives.org/ennew/HoopoeFoundation

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The Army for the Protection of Nature in Israel

We wish all our readers a safe, secure and peaceful year, a year in which the IDF officers and soldiers make a significant contribution to conserving our natural heritage.

Yours sincerely,Management of the Army for the Protection of Nature:

Brig. Gen. (Res.) Baruch Spiegel, Brig. Gen. (Res.) Asaf Agmon, Prof. Yossi Leshem, Raya Shurki, Yaakov Shaharabani, Lieut. Col. Eyal Ezra, Guy Sali

מפקדים לוקחים אחריות על סביבתם

Chief of General Staff, Lieut. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, releases a Swift at the IDF Headquarters (Photo: IDF Spokesperson)

Dear officers, soldiers and civilians,

On the eve of the Jewish New Year 2015-2016, we are publishing for the first time a newsletter that will be distributed three times a year, together with the birding activities of the Hoopoe Foundation.

The project "The Army for the Protection of Nature – Commanders take responsibility for their environment" constitutes a valuable partnership between the IDF and the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) together with the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA), and leads to the fostering of mutual responsibility and the strengthening of the ties between man and his country and the landscapes he grew up in, leading commanders and soldiers to take responsibility and be actively involved in preserving nature, their surroundings and the heritage sites in their army base and training areas. The project is funded by the SPNI's Hoopoe Foundation, and within its framework 16 projects were selected for the first two years of activity (2014, 2015). We believe that via this project the country will be crisscrossed by tens of environmental projects by 2025, led by the IDF and

its commanders who will be empowered to change and improve the environmental reality of nature conservation in the land of Israel.

You may view a movie about the project athttp://youtu.be/OwYf_cUjsEg and read morein the booklet at http://bit.ly/1xOxDrF.

Commanders take responsibility for their environment

The IDF commanders, headed by the Chief of General Staff, Lieut. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, adopted the project as part of their work plans. Lieut. Gen. Eisenkot compared the project to "Road 6" – the central axis for dealing with the subject of environment and nature in the IDF. In the IDF the project is led by Maj. Gen. Kobi Barak, Head of the Technological and Logistics Directorate, via the Environmental Protection Administration under his command.

Commanders from the various IDF commands and branches have expressed their readiness to take part in the project, and together with the professional consultants from the environmental organizations, have

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Nesting boxes adapted from recycled ammunition cases at the IDF Headquarters, prepared at the Nimra Base(Photo: IDF Spokesperson)

A flock of Common Swifts in flight (Photo: Amir Ezer)

The Chief of General Staff and IDF Headquarters Base Commander uncovering the sign in front of the restored building with the nesting boxes (Photo: IDF Spokesperson)

drawn up plans for improving the existing environmental reality in their area while involving their soldiers in the work processes.

Leadership by the IDF commanders was significantly noticeable on the project's climax day "Bringing the Swifts back to the IDF Headquarters and Sarona" on June 1st, 2015. Within its framework, the General Chief of Staff, Lieut. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, Head of the Technological and Logistics Directorate, Maj. Gen. Kobi Barak, Commander of the IDF Headquarters Army Base, Col. Yigal Ben Ami, 11 Generals from the General Staff, the CEOs of the country's leading nature conservation

organizations, the SPNI and INPA, and senior managers in the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) who is a partner in this project, released Common Swifts back to the wild during a moving ceremony. We hope these Swifts will return to nest in the unique nesting boxes made from recycled ammunition cases at Nimra Base, and installed on restored buildings in the IDF Headquarters. The IDF Headquarter soldiers, led by their commanders, also carried out the largest survey of its kind ever performed in Tel Aviv till now, in order to estimate the size of the Swift population and learn more about this amazing bird, as part of the efforts to increase the breeding population in Tel Aviv and the IDF Headquarters.

Common Swifts are migrating birds who come to Israel in the spring to breed. The Swifts are adapted to a life aloft, and spend most of their time airborne - eating, drinking, sleeping and even mating. They can reach a speed of 120 km/hr, and catch their food - aerial insects - in their wide-gaped bill as they fly. During the nesting period a pair of Swifts can catch

about 40,000 insects per day, so they are considered perfect biological control agents. In the Swift survey carried out by the IDF Headquarters commanders and soldiers, together with young birdwatchers from SPNI birdwatching clubs led by Amnonn Hahn, the Tel Aviv population was estimated at 9,000.

Did you know?

מפקדים לוקחים אחריות על סביבתם

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An unusual home for bats in the Jordan Valley

April 2014: General (Ret.) Mansour Abu Rashid, Chairman of the Amman Center for Peace and Development (ACPD) in Jordan, learning about the bats in bunkers project with IDF officers in a bunker near Abdallah Bridge (Photo: Yossi Leshem)

A female Trident Leaf-nosed Bat hanging from the ceiling of a bunker in the Jordan Valley, holding a baby close to her chest (Photo: Eran Levin)

22 abandoned bunkers in the Jordan Valley provide homes for hundreds of bats.

The soldiers of the Rift Valley Brigade joined up with the Home Front Command battalions and have continued to convert these abandoned bunkers to a bat paradise.

Soldiers of the Home Front Command brought in their unique search and rescue skills, using heavy engineering equipment to create new openings into the bunkers for bats to enter. In addition, the ceilings and walls were covered with mesh and other features to provide the bats, hanging upside down, with gripping areas for their legs.

When the summer arrived the bats filled the bunkers, happy with their new abode adapted so successfully to their needs.

The success of this project has crossed the border, and our neighbors in Jordan are planning a similar initiative.

The bats will be leaving soon, so don't delay entering the website where you can view the goings on in the bunkers via online cameras:

http://www.batsinbunkers.org/.

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17

Nimra Base – a hidden nature reserve

Maj. Gen. Kobi Barak visiting the ruins of the ancient synagogue at Nimra Base (Photo: Guy Sali)

Head of the Technological and Logistics Directorate, Maj. Gen. Kobi Barak, learning about the project at Nimra Base (Photo: Guy Sali)

The Nimra Base Ammunition Center, associated with the Technological and Logistics Directorate Command, is located next to the Golani Junction, and oversees an area of 30,000 dunam, a kind of nature reserve. Mammals such as wolves and a herd of gazelles live alongside impressive birds, such as the Eurasian Eagle Owl of which an individual was caught on the base fence, and after a quick search, also its nest. In spring visitors are amazed by the spectacular carpets of flowers covering the area. This wild nature is studded with an ancient heritage – there are two ruins in the base grounds, and the more impressive of the two is located right next to Road 65, the "Column Ruins" National Park, an ancient synagogue from the Byzantine period that served a large community.

The synagogue was adopted by the unit commander, and in August was visited by the Head of the Technological and Logistics Directorate, Maj. Gen. Kobi Barak. As part of his visit to the base, he decided to visit the synagogue ruins as well, and was accompanied by the project consultants, Dr. Dror Ben Yossef and Roei Arad from the INPA, who presented the site history and details.

The synagogue has been cleaned up as part of the project. The Commander Col. Adi Turgeman and the commanders and soldiers of the unit decided to improve the reality of the natural environs of their unit. Besides their work in the synagogue, the soldiers have cleaned up the animal passageways in the base fences, established a sanctuary garden for plants destroyed during infrastructure work, marked a path leading to observation points, and in the future will create a seasonal winter pond for amphibians.

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18

Newts at the Knights of the Center Battalion Base, Beit Naballah

The rare Banded Newt – the soldiers built steps in the pondto make it easier for these amphibians to leave the water(Photo: Boaz Shaham)

People living in the area were involved in the project, here a soldier and student from the Nahshon regional school (Photo: Yael Baron, SPNI)

The Knights of the Center Transport Battalion located at the Beit Naballah Base next to the city of Shoham, under the leadership of its Commander Col. Gil Galron, has adopted the base environs under its care. This includes a path for runners that joins a large network of planned paths in the area. Within the framework of drawing up a work plan for the project, in the middle of the summer a pond was discovered adjacent to the ruins of old buildings. An additional check showed that the structures belonged to a British and Ottoman iron plant once used for building trains, and that the pond is a seasonal winter pond. A further check of the pond carried out by Sara Hayun, an SPNI ecologist and expert on seasonal winter ponds, brought to light that the pond was full of a rare amphibian called the Banded Newt.

Under Sara Hayun's guidance and aided by Yael Baron from the SPNI, the pond was treated and improved. All the garbage was removed, and seating areas constructed around it. Among the piles of garbage a leaking can of oil was found, in all likelihood the source of some of the pollution contaminating the area.

Besides working towards the improvement of the environment, together with the support of the Hoopoe Foundation, the unit brought aboard additional partners: the Modi'in Region Regional Council, the JNF, the Drainage Authority and the Council for Conservation of Heritage Sites in Israel. All these bodies are working together towards one common objective, which is the preservation of the natural environment.

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19

Farewell flyover of the Sandgrouse for the Commander of the Artillery School at Shivta

Sandgrouse in flight(Photo: Meidad Goren)

INPA Inspector, Gal Bismuth, presents the project to Shivta Officers during a farewell excursion in honor of Shivta's outgoing commander (Photo: Meidad Goren)

Col. Yuval Ben Dov is the Commander of the Shivta Base. The Artillery School has adopted the desert area around their base, with their project focusing on the conservation of the populations of the four Sandgrouse species that share the desert with the Artillery Corps.

The Sandgrouse is a desert bird, a ground-breeding species that needs fresh water for drinking at least once a day as its main source of food is seeds. When the chicks hatch, and before they are able to fly, the adults use the specially-adapted feathers on their belly to absorb and retain water, allowing them to carry water to their chicks who straight away suck the water from the feathers.

It became clear that the thousands of Sandgrouse in the Negev were also drinking from oxidation ponds in IDF bases, such as at Shivta, Mifrasit and Bahad 1 Officers School, resulting in the absorption of dangerous materials

into their bodies. Shivta Base decided to develop a natural site within its borders which would provide clean water for the Sandgrouse instead of the polluted water.

In addition, the unit officers and soldiers carried out a survey of the area, guided by Meidad Goren, Head of the SPNI's Birding Center in the Negev Mountains, and Gal Bismuth, the INPA Inspector for the region. The aim of the survey is to locate the Sandgrouse nesting sites in order to take this into account when planning training exercises.

Last July as Col. Yuval Ben Dov was taking his leave from the unit commanders, a flock of tens of calling Sandgrouse flew over low "in his honor" during his farewell speech, in appreciation to his central role and contribution towards their conservation.

Pin-tailed Sandgrouse(Photo: Roni Livne)

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