Day 7

The first site of the day was Capernaum. The area we went to had beautiful gardens, and the temperature was just about perfect. While sitting in the shade and feeling the cool breeze, it was much easier to enjoy my surroundings than pay attention to the site presentations I would be tested over later.

I’m pretty certain that I heard some Pine Warblers in this area. If Pine Warblers aren’t in Israel, then they must have been a close relative because the call was exactly like the one I’ve grown familiar with on the LETU campus. I never did see any of them, even though I was trying my best to spot one the whole time we were there. There were many other kinds of birds in the garden too, but there was so much going on that I never got a good description down for any of the ones I wasn’t already familiar with.

During our boat ride on the Sea of Galilee I saw several different kinds of birds out on the water. Unfortunately, I don’t really know much at all about waterfowl, so I didn’t even know what features to look for to identify them. The most common one was while except for a black face. I think it looked somewhat like a gull, but I’m not absolutely certain what a gull should look like.

The gift shop at the Jesus Boat Exhibit had another copy of the birding guide to Israel that I’d seen a few days earlier. It was even more expensive here, so I didn’t think about buying it, but I did leaf through another similar guide that was beside it. This one wasn’t much better, and once again I didn’t have much time. However, I was at least able to confirm that House Sparrows do exist in Israel. The picture they had wasn’t that great, so I’m still not certain on my identification, but at least now I know it isn’t completely crazy.

On the bus ride to Hazor, I saw what I think were some Cattle Egrets. I remembered from the book at the gift shop that there are Egrets here. I don’t know if Cattle Egrets are one of the varieties that are native to the area, but these egrets were definitely sitting on some cows. So, even if they aren’t ‘Cattle Egrets’ per se, I think I can get away with calling them that.

Day 8

The peak of Gamla had an amazing view. According to Mishi, the area is home to a number of Eagles. There’s even a station not far from where we went that is used specifically for viewing them. I did see three birds circling the area while we were climbing around on the rocks, but without binoculars and a better idea of what I was looking for, there was no way to tell for certain if they were Eagles, Vultures, or something else entirely. They were probably Eagles, though.

The plants of the region were also very beautiful. I’d like to take a whole day and just hike around the area armed with books on the birds and plant life of the area. In particular, there was a waterfall in the distance that we didn’t have time to go see that I’d like to visit.

I really really want to go back to Gamla.

While Mishi was giving an explanation about Tabgha, I got to watch a bird build its nest in the rafters of the atrium. As usual, I’m not sure what kind it was, but I’ve seen quite a few around. It has a blue head with a red neck, black feathers, a white belly, and a split tail.