Despite all international bird watchers’ cancellation of trips due the nationwide circumstances, Hammana raptor count 2021, proved again that nature prevails against all the elements, through its local team of bord watchers. This year, Hammana raptor count was able to connect bird enthusiasts with nature, while enjoying the pleasant atmosphere Hammana community has to offer. Volunteers from various areas of Lebanon joined, alongside scout groups to learn more about bird watching and nature conservation.
In addition, Hammana has solidified its state a bottleneck for birdwatching through the establishment of another bird observatory. This new location sits directly in front of Kneyse Mountain and close to Kaysamani dam. As such, this new location presented great findings. On the other hand, our primary site showed promising and continuous educational place for providing field trips for bird watching and outdoor activities.
Hammana Raptor Count was able to record the below species, that are visible on Trektellen and EBird, where SPNL was able to record 30786 migrating bird.
|
Species |
Count |
| Alpine Swift |
89 |
| Barn Swallow |
130 |
| Black Kite |
594 |
| Black Stork |
1 |
| Black-winged Kite |
3 |
| Booted Eagle |
9 |
| Common Buzzard |
243 |
| Common Buzzard (Steppe) |
10 |
| Common Crane |
10531 |
| Common Redstart |
1 |
| Common Swift |
20 |
| Eleonora’s Falcon |
1 |
| Eurasian Griffon |
1 |
| Eurasian Hobby |
10 |
| Eurasian Jackdaw |
2 |
| Eurasian Kestrel |
1 |
| Eurasian Marsh-Harrier |
54 |
| Eurasian Sparrowhawk |
320 |
| European Bee-eater |
312 |
| European Honey-buzzard |
5374 |
| Great Cormorant |
16 |
| Great White Pelican |
7854 |
| Greater Spotted Eagle |
2 |
| Hooded Crow |
35 |
| Imperial Eagle |
2 |
| Lesser Spotted Eagle |
3080 |
| Levant Sparrowhawk |
1897 |
| Long-legged Buzzard |
14 |
| Northern Goshawk |
3 |
| Osprey |
1 |
| Pallid Harrier |
7 |
| Peregrine Falcon |
2 |
| Red Kite |
1 |
| Red-footed Falcon |
4 |
| Red-rumped Swallow |
1 |
| Rook |
1 |
| Short-toed Snake-Eagle |
147 |
| Spotted Flycatcher |
1 |
| Steppe Eagle |
11 |
| Willow Warbler |
1 |
|
Grand Total |
30786 |
Moreover, SPNL implemented its SNOW program, to children, during the World Migratory Bird Day to better link nature conservation and trigger a behavioral change. Such activities include bird nest construction, and getting up-close with 4 Egyptian Vultures (EVs) that SPNL Anti-Poaching Unit is taking of, in the rehabilitation center at Keyfoun, within the Luc Hoffman Hima Home.The Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon (SPNL) would like to thank its generous donors CEPF, OSME, MAVA, MSB, Sigrid Rausing Trust and Birdlife Luzern in providing the needed support to make this raptor count resonate on an international level.SPNL would like to present its thankfulness to Hammana municipality for continuous work to make Hammana a real “hima village model”, and the bird observation field team led by Chadi Saad, and amazing photographers and volunteers namely, Gaby Maamary, Philippe Fattal, Majdi AbdulKhalik, Natasha Karam, Sara Chakhtoura, and Leila Rose Mouawad.
#EgyptianVultureNewLIFE
