Every November and December a small posse of parakeets moves into our neighbourhood in the north of Tel Aviv. I confess to finding their vivid green colour a very cheering sight as the days get shorter and winter moves in. They do a lot of flitting from tree to tree, usually in groups, so it can be quite an eye-catching sight, especially from our fourth floor window.
Since they only stick around for a few months, I naively thought that this was a stop on their migration from north to south. I subsequently learned that they do not migrate, at least not very far. My friend Amy has parakeets around too. They live near her in the summer months in the park by the Hilton Hotel, which is in front of her apartment; and then they migrate to our place in the fall — a distance of about 750 meters.
I have no idea where they go from here, but I have figured our why they come by when they do. They like olives, and we have a very big tree right by our apartment. The olives ripen in November and December, and once they are all eaten, the parakeets move on. Perhaps around the corner to the kumquat trees.
And sadly, it turns out that they are not native to Israel; but were released from captivity some 70 years ago , and this being the Holy Land, they duly followed the injunction to “be fruitful and multiply”. Now they are considered an invasive nuisance — but I still like them.
While they are perhaps the prettiest, and certainly among the boldest, of birds that inhabit Tel Aviv, they are not the only ones that I have admired. Along the Yarkon river there are a variety of multi-coloured ducks; and in the many little parks that are tucked into this “greener than you think” city you can spot other lovely bird species. Not that you can necessarily move fast enough to photograph them.
This one was easy however — a night heron lurking in a little pond — just waiting for the right moment to pounce…
And pounce he did…
Very fresh sushi. That bird fits right into the Tel Aviv vibe.
On the same day, in the same park, there was a beautiful kingfisher that posed long enough for me to catch him on my phone. I had never seen one in the wild before, (if you can call Tel Aviv “the wild”, which I admit is a stretch).
And to add to the magic of the day, there was also a hoopoe, the national bird of Israel, but sadly he flew away too quickly for me to catch him. So instead of the real thing, I give you a lovely rendering of a hoopoe and kingfisher together, by my friend Linda, who stitched this panel for our Torah Stitch by Stitch project.
For anyone reading this post, who might have miraculously missed my many stories of this project, the best review of it can be found at this link: https://www.timesofisrael.com/it-takes-1400-strangers-from-around-the-world-to-cross-stitch-a-torah/
And since I have somehow found my way to this subject, I am happy to advise that after no end of Covid-related delays, our small but incredibly dedicated assembly group have now completed putting the second half of our stitched Torah together, so the whole 100 yards will be ready to show. Now, if only I had a football field…
From parakeets to the Torah — this is what happens to your mind when you live in Israel.