Agamon Hula Nature Reserve

While it was still fall here in Israel, we went for a day trip to the Agamon Hula Nature Reserve.  its in the northern part of the country, and migratory birds are using some lakes there as a stop over on their way from europe to africa.  the place has gained in popularity, and there are organized tours on busses with shade’s on them now in order to make less impact on the birds.  Noa’s parents organized the trip for us, and off we went.

we got there about an hour before dusk, and already the area was filled with birds coming in to rest for the evening.

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then we got on the busses and we got driven to a field and we sat there and watched as the birds come in and landed all around us

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then in the fading light, we are faced with one of the more beautiful sun sets i have ever seen.  of course birds are just STREAMING in over us, interfering with my landscape shot.  and i was locked into this stupid bus, with people in front of me, no tripod, no way to steady the camera.  so this was the best i was able to get….

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and then really in the fading light, as we were moving along, we saw these “wild water buffalo’s” known as ??????? samus’s.  i was so excited to see them, and the only reason i would ever post this crappy photo is so that you can see there are really some wild ???????????

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and then it was full night, and the bus took us back.

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overall this was a great experience.  the place is very organized, and the tour worked well for getting to see the birds.  as a photographer, personally i would prefer being able to walk in with a tripod, so that i can get the landscape shots, and be more free with shooting the birds, but i guess there has to be some sort of compromise.  and of course, i just had my 200, so i was not able to get very close up shots either.