Behind the image
Israel has a new migration-season offer for travelling pelicans: a one-night stay at a boutique reservoir, meal included.
When pelicans overstay their welcome
S The park guards arrived, sirens blaring, to move the birds along. In unison, they lifted their heads in alarm, beaks raised like swords. T
The autumn spectacle of thousands of great white pelicans making landfall in Israel, en route to their wintering grounds in Africa, is eagerly anticipated by the country’s wildlife enthusiasts; less so by its fish farmers, including those at Ma’ayan Zvi breeding ponds, 70km north of Tel-Aviv, who are instead bracing themselves for the annual ransacking of their prize stocks of carp, mullet and blue talapia.
Migrating pelicans – flocks of which can number up to 8,000 individuals – usually check in to Ma’ayan Zvi for one or two nights, arriving in the afternoon and continuing south the next morning. From time to time, however, the visitors can get a little too comfortable. In 2011, approximately 5,000 birds settled in at the fishponds for no less than a month, causing two million shekels’ worth of damage (about £425,000).
“Seeing such an enormous flock was incredibly exciting, even though I’ve been watching pelicans here for more than 40 years,” recalls Yossi. “I’d been photographing the spectacle for about half an hour when the pond guards arrived, sirens blaring, to move the birds along. In unison, they lifted their heads in alarm, beaks raised like swords. A minute later, they were gone.”
Feeding time
Today, many commercial fishponds in Israel are netted or covered with cables to prevent flocks of pelicans from landing and pilfering their contents. To compensate, the Israeli Government and various NGOs have established two large feeding stations – one at Mishmar HaSharon Reservoir in the central region (now a weekend tourist attraction); the other at Hula Nature Reserve in the north – ensuring that the birds can refuel without causing damage to fish farmers. So, for travelling pelicans, perhaps there is such a thing as a free lunch.