The Agamon (Hula) Lake

Okay, so Chanukah week was very much a week of mixed emotions here in Israel. The terrible forest fires up in the north of the country knocked us for six and we were pretty much glued to the television and radio for several days. However, I have long ago learned that life goes on and that you just have to carry on with normal life whatever is happening, and carry on we did.

Before the holiday we had booked an overnight stay in Tel Chai, meaning "Hill of Life" in Hebrew, a town in northern Israel next to the border with Lebanon and the site of an early battle in the Arab–Israeli conflict. Given that it is already mid-December, we were taking a chance with the weather and as we drove north we experienced some rain but also saw some gorgeous scenery and a fabulous rainbow. The weather was going to be good to us. I will write about Tel Chai itself in another post but want to tell you now about our day at the Agamon Lake, a day which turned out to be a day that I expect to remember for a long time to come.

The Agamon Lake is in the Hula Valley (Emek HaHula) an agricultural area in northern Israel. The Hula is bordered on the east by the Golan Heights and to the west by the Naftali mountains, rising 400 to 900 meters above sea level. It is an important route for birds migrating between Africa, Europe and Asia and is home to millions of migrating cranes each winter.

The Hula Lake existed until the 1950s but between 1951 and 1958 draining operations were carried out by the Jewish National Fund in the belief that the country could gain additional arable land and at the same time the breeding ground of the malaria-carrying Anopheles mosquito would be destroyed. Unfortunately what originally seemed like a good idea over time created numerous agricultural and ecological problems and so, beginning in 1980, a programme for the Hula’s rehabilitation was inaugurated. In 1994 a small area in the southern part of the Hula Valley was reflooded to create Agamon HaHula (literally “Little Hula Lake”).

At least 390 different species of birds have been recorded in or around the lake including large flocks of migratory pelicans, storks, cranes and other birds en route between Europe and Africa. New nesting colonies of various species such as herons and plovers have been established, water buffalo and donkeys have been introduced and a small furry rodent called a coypu has made its home there. Native to South America it was brought to Israel in the 1950's by kibbutz workers who intended to breed it for it's fur. However, Israel's warm weather did not result in good quality fur and the animals were released.  They have since become pests in the area, destroying vegetation and irrigation systems, though we found them quite delightful to watch and very easy to photograph. I have many, many others photos of them aside from the one in the mosaic above, if anybody wishes to see them!
The length of the route around the park is 9 kilometres and we chose to ride the perimeter route along the waterside and through the fruit groves on mountain bikes. As usually happens, the kids rode ahead of their slow parents but continued to return and tell us about the kingfishers, coypu, a crab and other wildlife that they had spotted. We rented audio guides and, armed with our bird-watching book, we stopped regularly to listen, read and learn about this incredible area.

A fantastic day was had by all and I can totally understand why the nature reserve has been named one of the most outstanding sites in the world for nature observation and photography. For me it was an experience of a lifetime. The Agamon (Hula) Lake Park is certainly now one of my favorite places in Israel.