With the coming of January, Israel starts counting its thriving and lively population of seabirds known as great cormorants, which this year has reached more than 14,500.
The great cormorant is a heavyset seabird with a long, thick neck, blocky head, and heavy hooked bill, which has made various locations throughout Israel its home, including on the eucalyptus trees dotting the bank of the Kishon River, near the city of Haifa.
The counting is done at first light, when the seabirds take their first flight of the day from the barren trees into the icy cold water in search of fish.
According to the Nature and Parks Authority, Israel is currently home to some 14,573 great cormorants - about 2,000 less compared to last year, but about 600 more than the last decade’s average.
The Kishon River Authority added that there are currently some 2,484 great cormorants living on the Kishon's bank - about 17% of all cormorants counted in Israel this year - making it one of the biggest colonies of the seabird in the country.
The great cormorant arrives in Israel during winter and fall, and usually stays in the region until the end of March.
A great cormorant colony in the Kishon River
(The Kishon River Authority)
According to the Kishon River Authority, it is currently unknown if the apparent drop in the seabird population is due to the recent outbreak of the avian flu, which has already decimated thousands of poultry as well as other wild species, such as cranes.
"The counting is done early in the morning or evening on trees and from a distance. Also, it is possible that simply fewer cormorants migrated or that they reproduced less,” says Dr. Ohad Hatzofe, Poultry Ecologist of the Nature and Parks Authority.
"They come mainly from the Crimean peninsula, which is probably where the explanation lies."
Sharon Nissim, General Manager at Kishon River Authority, added: “The Kishon River Authority is currently working to establish a national birding park in the Kishon estuary area, in cooperation with the Jewish National Fund and Israel's Open Spaces Protection Fund.
“The park will make a new and unique area available to the public, and will enable visitors to watch the various species of birds that live here on the river, including the great cormorant.”