My Champions of the Flyway 2026

It’s been a few days since Champions of the Flyway happened. I’ve been super busy and couldn’t find the time to write about this inspiring event until now.

Champions of the Flyway 2026 conservation project was to protect falcons in Israel, including from poaching - #letfalconsflyfree

My team at BirdLife Israel and the team of Eilat Birding Center have been working hard for several months on this event, planned for March 26th. Our plans for an international event went up in the air, literally, with the Iran – Israel war. When the war escalated and didn’t end, we considered canceling the event altogether, in fear that no Israeli teams will commit to take part in the project, due to the security threats and instability. However, we decided to postpone the race day to April 27th, in hope that the war will have ended by then. Finally, the war did end, and 17 teams showed up in Eilat for the race. Originally, the date shift to the end of April seemed very promising from a birding point of view. Traditionally, this is one of the busiest periods for migration in Eilat, with huge numbers and diversity of migrants expected. 

I arrived in Eilat on April 26th and met with some of the teams that were in Eilat for final briefing. I managed a little bit of birding en route and in Eilat, and was shocked how few migrant passerines were around. This is possibly linked with the exceptional rain in the desert, providing migrants with rich stopover conditions all over the desert, making the traditional stopover sites of Eilat almost redundant.

On race day, April 27th, I was out all day with the teams, making sure everything was working fine and the teams were keeping safe and seeing birds. It was a tough day for birding for all teams, confounded by the lack of migrants. A few teams struggled to find some common migrants. Shorebirds were OK though, as were raptors. It was a big day for Levant Sparrowhawks, with hundreds taking off from the Eilat Birding Center in the morning. One got caught in the nets:

Noam Weiss, director of Eilat Birding Center, appreciating

Plenty of Euro Honey-Buzzards going through too:

There were a few Little Herons at the IBRCE too - are you OK with that new name? Fine bird nevertheless.

Some team members needed some assistance using my scope:

The Black Scrub-Robins in Kibbutz Samar were active as they should be - breeding now:

CF

Sorry for the poor sound recording - noise and wind and haste:

At the entrance to KM20 saltpans, a lone Lichtenstein's Sandgrouse showed very well. Stunning bird.

Supreme camo

This Blue-cheeked Bee-eater was one of quite many that moved through during the day:

So great to see these youth teams racing like pros:

Flyway Generations and IBRCE's Verreaux's Eagles at KM19

Before dusk teams congregated at North beach for the final push of diurnal birding:

Sooty Shearwater

Jonathan Meyrav, the person behind COTF for many years, now competing and leading the way

Proper North Beach photo by Yuval Dax

Personally, I had a good day of birding, despite the lack of migrants. 104 species ain't too shabby.

Next day (April 28th) I had time for early morning birding at Holland Park. It was so empty of migrants that the only bird photo I took was of these Laughing Doves. Nice to have a pair of Striolated Buntings on territory.

We met at North Beach for the traditional group photo. There were some distractions in the process, in the way of this fishing Western Reef-Heron:

Then we spotted a moribund Leopard Torpedo (what a cool name to an amazing fish) stranded in a coastal puddle. One of the guys found a bucket and released it back into open water. Sorry for embedding this X tweet, not the video itself - blogger wouldn't allow me to upload it.

בזמן שמשתתפי תחרות הצפרים באילת המתינו לצילום קבוצתי בחוף, הבחינו בדג החשמלן המנומר, לכוד בבריכה רדודה. הם סייעו לו חזרה לים. @yoavperlman מעדכן כי התחרות הייתה קשה במיוחד השנה, שכן הציפורים לא שכנו באזורים המסורתיים כמו פארק הצפרות אילת ויטבתה. המשמעות היא שהצפרים נאלצו לעבוד pic.twitter.com/sMoYhlrnYW

— ilana curiel (@ilanacuriel) April 28, 2026

The traditional group photo is by Yuval Dax and almost all following wonderful people photos are as well:

Getting ready for the award ceremony at the IBRCE (my humble photo):

Congratulations to the Great Tits - Ido, Ofer, Michael and Gur, a group of teenagers, for scoring 127 species and winning the Champions of the Flyway 2026 award! Huge appreciation to Hadas, their guide and mentor since a very early age, and to Adam, who was the 'responsible adult' of the team.

The Green Champions of the Flyway, Cream-coloured Coursers - Haim, Gabriel and Moshe. G and M are 14 and 16! Birding on foot all day, they are amazing!

Sanctuary Champions of the Flyway, the Ma'agan Michael Sandpipers, represented our Ma'agan Michael Birding Center, birded all day inside the IBRCE and did great!

Team Transitiva, an all-LGBTQ team, Dror, Tahel and Ruhama, won Guardians of the Flyway for raising the largest amount for conservation. They received as a prize for their efforts, three Swarovski Optik CL Companion binoculars.

Knights of the Flyway, the Goldfinches, an all-woman team, including two non-Jewish birders - Doris and Hulud, did a stellar job promoting the conservation cause, and also have been racing at COTF since 2015 without missing a year! You are awesome! Here they are in action at KM20 saltpans:

All COTF26 participants under 18 - the best thing about this race. Watch them - the future birding and conservation leaders of Israel.

Importantly, the substantial funds raised for protecting falcons in Israel will hopefully make a real impact, supporting better applied research, our anti-poaching unit, and outreach activities.

Thanks to Alen, Noam and my entire team at BirdLife Israel for organising Champions of the Flyway so well, once again. Eilat Birding Center hosted the events - thank you to the entire team who make us feel so welcome every year. Thanks to Yuval for photographing the event. Thanks to Swarovski Optik for supporting COTF. See you in Champions of the Flyway 2027.

Go Champions!

Phenomenal

On Monday (8 September 2025) morning I worked at our restored wetland in Kfar Ruppin, Amud Reservoir. I collected there data for a study we're doing with researchers from Ben Gurion University, looking at the biodiversity impact of our restoration work there, and linking it with environmental attributes of our site. It was a phenomenal morning, one to write home about. I arrived few minutes late, at first light. As soon as I stepped out of the car I witnessed thousands and thousands of birds already leaving their roosts in the reservoir, twirling in the air, flying at all directions - Little Egrets, Pygmy Cormorants, Glossy Ibis, Turtle Doves, Barn Swallows, and Western Yellow Wagtails. It was pretty chaotic. I worked especially hard to count them all - I really needed extra eyes and fingers but I was alone. I hope I did OK. I  had to use estimates for some species. Of course I had no time to document this terrific rush of birds.

After the big numbers had left the roost, there were still thousands of birds in the reservoir. At this time of year, as is natural in Mediterranean wetlands this time of year, water levels are very low, creating large mud expanses and shallow water, that attracted loads of shorebirds, ducks, storks, herons, spoonbills etc. The reedbeds were teaming with warblers. In the following videos (taken through Swarovski Optik ATX85), turn the volume on a listen to all the bird sound in the background:

An Osprey was munching on a large fish it had caught:

As soon as there was enough light, I became aware of a true spectacle. Hundreds of Honey Buzzards roosted inside the reservoir, and several hundreds more in trees along the adjacent Jordan River. Many of them flew out of the vegetation onto the mud, some just loafed around, others drank some water before taking off. 

When it heated up they start taking off, circling low over the reservoir, slowly picking up altitude in thermals as the air temperature rose. I stood there in the middle of their take-off, surrounded by Honey Buzzards of all colours and morphs,  in all directions, some below me inside the reservoir, some above me, some so close I could hear their wingbeats and they flapped by. It was a powerful, almost transcendental experience. 

I think that this male has some Oriental genes, with an orange eye, faint carpals, and broad terminal tail band:

There was one proper Oriental Honey-Buzzard among the 2800 Europeans that took off. It was too low and quick, and I was too slow, so I failed to get a photo of it. 

I left the reservoir with my head buzzing with sooooo many birds. Check my eBird checklist here. One of my best checklists ever. 117 species, 14561 individuals, and this was an underestimate - there was no way to accurately count the countless warblers in the vast reedbed. 

Funny warbler

Just another day in the office

This morning I went out to get some fieldwork done in the northern Negev. We're working there with INPA at a new nature reserve, Loess Plains NR, mapping breeding birds. Most of the reserve is pretty flat Loess plains. My section this morning flanked the Besor River, the main watercourse of the northern Negev, and quite a serious corridor of vegetation in contrast with the barren surroundings. 

I arrived at my section early in the morning, and quickly understood that this morning would be more about migrants than breeding birds. It was a cool and overcast morning after very hot weather yesterday, that must have affected migration. The air was full of birds and bird calls on the move - bee-eaters, hirundines, swifts, pipits, buntings, chats were hopping on tops of bushes - bliss. Down the wadi, the trees were full of birdsong - mainly Eastern Olivaceous Warblers and Turtle Dove. Hundreds of migrant warblers were ticking from the vegetation. Collared Flycatcher, Redstart, Thrush Nightingales, Wryneck - so much good stuff in there. In the distance I spotted a group of falcons hovering over the plains - mixed Red-foots and Lesser Kestrels.

Ortolan

Whinchat

Turtle Dove was present in very high density - there were tens of displaying males parachuting through the air. It was also heartwarming to see many flocks of migrants, some of several tens.

Hundreds of Steppe Buzzards roosted in the reserve by the wadi, especially on the shoulders.

When the air started to heat up they took off, and were joined by other raptors - Lesser Spotted, Short-toed and Booted Eagles, Pallid, Marsh and Montagu's Harriers.

Lesser Spotted Eagle

Booted Eagle

Receiving a warm welcome from the local Brown-necked Ravens:

Lovely 2cy male Montagu's Harrier

After the migrant flocks of European Bee-eaters left, the many breeding pairs became prominent. There was also a pair of Arabian Green Bee-eaters, so beautiful in the soft light.

Then I heard the familiar call of Blue-cheeked Bee-eater. For a few seconds the three species were sat together on the same bush. By the time I picked my camera up the blue-cheeked flew off; later on I relocated it on nearby wires. They have bred in the region in the past - I will follow up.

European (left) and Arabian Green (right) Bee-eaters

Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters

Towards the end a couple of small groups of pelicans went through:

Smaller than the mega flock I had over home on Saturday:

Pelicans migrating over my town yesterday. Commentary by @MartaAcacio
Note the leucistic bird, there were three in this flock @BirdLifeIsrael @SPNI @flywaychampions pic.twitter.com/R9DlPj4nwR

— Yoav Perlman (@yoavperlman) April 17, 2022

What a fantastic morning to be out. Thank you spring.

eBird checklist here.