Fall For Nature In The Raw At The Huleh Nature Reserve
North of Tiberias is an ever-changing home to teal, cattle egrets, night herons, mallards, cormorants, glossy scarlet ibises, and thousands of strange-looking ducks.
Ever wonder what it would be like to soar through the sky like a bird? (Isn’t that how the Wright Brothers ended up inventing airplanes?) No problem. Just head for the Huleh Valley Nature Reserve, north of Tiberias, and ask to see the fantastic production called “Euphoria.” Then feel the wind in your wings as you fly.
Fall is a wonderful time to visit the Huleh, for it is chock full of cranes, cormorants, ducks, kites, moorhens, harriers, and even a few spotted eagles. Nature lovers who come in the afternoon and walk as it begins to get dark can enjoy the entrancing spectacle of birds settling down for the night.
Although people have been known to complain that there is nothing to see in the Huleh Reserve, what you view along the Swamp Trail is nature in the raw. True, some of the native water buffalo that inhabit the reserve will be hiding in the marsh. But there is still much to see, an ambiance to absorb, and the opportunity to commune with nature. Late fall and early spring bring thousands upon thousands of birds, while winter is the season for ducks. Spring brings flowers. And in summer, when the entire country is brown and dry, the Reserve’s green foliage is at the height of its beauty.
The single path is such easy walk that you can keep your eyes on both the sky and the water. From the first observation point, there is a lovely view of the reserve’s three natural habitats: swamps, a lake, and the meadows. This is also a great spot from which to view the Golan Heights and Mount Hermon to the east; the Galilee to the west.
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