European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 29, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse Tuesday october 29. 1985 the stars and stripes Page 17 Israel and the Birds vie for precious air space by Thomas l. Friedman new York times it was a Clear Spring morning. It. A a Youn israeli lighter Pilot recalled. He was lying his a4skyhawk bomber near the dead sea when suddenly an unidentified object came straight at him. I could t Tell what it was he said. As it got closer instinctively i ducked. That s All i remember. I woke up on the ground with a Parachute around me and my neck maj. Last names were withheld by israeli military censors filled in what it. H. Cannot remember. He ran into a Bird that was migrating South. It crashed through his front Windshield and somehow activated the ejection lever next to the Pilot s seat. Fortunately his Parachute opened automatically and he woke up on the ground we sent some of the blood and feathers we found in his cockpit to a police Laboratory in Holland and they told us he was hit by a Honey since the mid-1970s, migrating Buzzards storks pelicans and eagles have done More damage to israeli lighter jets than All the Arab air forces combined. A two Pound Stork hits a fighter Jet flying at about 500 Mph with a Force of 20 tons explained maj. O., the Light safety specialist in the Israel air Force in charge of Bird Protection. In hundreds of Jet Bird collisions each year. Israeli planes sustain millions of dollars of damage in cracked and punctured wings destroyed engines and worse. The severity of the problem derives from Israel s unique geographical and political predicament it is a tiny country with very Little air space maintaining one of the world s biggest air forces in what happens to be the main corridor for storks pelicans and raptors predatory Birds migrating from Europe and Asia to Africa and Back Avery Spring and fall. After it. A s crash the air Force sought assistance from the country s devoted birdwatchers Many of whom Are arabs. Working together the Bird watchers and the air Force Are developing one of the most sophisticated programs Ever produced to reduce Jet Bird collisions. The dimensions of the Bird problem facing israeli air Force pilots were enormous. Every fall As the food Supply dwindles millions of Birds of All species Migrate from their nesting places in Europe and Western Asia to their wintering grounds in Africa. The smaller Active flyers like quails or waders Are so Light they can Cross the Mediterranean by Happing their wings in one tiring Day. However the bigger Bird known As passive flyers primarily raptors and storks and pelicans have to Lake an Overland route for two reasons explained Yossel Leshem. Head of the Israel society Lor the Protection of nature s Raptor information Center and director of the air Force s birdwatching program. First they must land each night to rest and second with their heavy bodies and wide Long wings they Glide their Way to Africa on the Warrn air currents known As thermals which Are produced Only Over land. If the Birds had of beat their wings for the whole 5.000 to 6.000-mile journey they would never make it. The Birds make their Way by gliding into a rising Thermal of warm air and Riding its swirling spiral up to about 2,000 to 4.000 eel where the air cools and the Thermal expires. The Birds Glide Down from the top of one Thermal to the Bottom of the next one and repeal the process All the Way Down to Africa and Back. The narrow valleys flanked by Cliffs running from Northern Israel through the Jordan River and dead sea As Well As along Israel s coastal Plain Are Ideal Hothouse for rising thermals. And they serve As the two main aviation highways for most european and West asian raptors looking for the shortest route around the Mediterranean said Leshem. Since biblical Dayi it has been known that certain Birds pass Over Israel at roughly the same time every year hence the line in Jeremiah 8 7 even the Stork in the heavens knows her appointed times the Turtledove Swallow and Crane observe the time of their Jeremiah notwithstanding no one really knew How Many Birds were migrating Over Israel and through which air corridors. To find out Leshem and his Israel Raptor information Center in 1981 begin training Volunteer Bird watchers at 13 Points All Over the country to count Birds and identify species. One of the Best observation posts turned out to be the Arab Village of Klar Yassem Northeast of Tel Aviv and the local villagers quickly got into the act. An Arab landowner built an observation restaurant Lor the Bird watchers and began inquiring of Leshem whether a could not do something to extend the Bird migration season All year round. What they soon discovered was that More Birds wore coming Over Israel than anyone imagined one million Birds of prey alone during each Spring and fall. More important each species was coming at almost the same time and through the same air corridors every year. For instance on sept. 4, 1984, and on sept. 4. 1985. The Honey Buzzards began their Parade Over Israel an estimated 220,000 of them in two Days. When the Bird Start coming they Are a remarkable sight swirling around in thermals of sometimes 5.000 Birds at a time and then gliding in pairs of three or four across to the next Thermal As though on their Way to Noah s Ark. But the Bird watcher s Delight was a Pilot s Nightmare particularly after Israel returned Sinai to Egypt in 1982 and lost the air Force s Best training area. After the incident with the Honey Buzzard. Maj. Discovered that the Jet Bird collisions since the late 1970s were All happening along two Basic North South corridors. He immediately declared those areas Bird plagued zones and instructed pilots to avoid flying in them below 3,000 feet. Shortly alter in june 1983, Leshem asked the air Force if it could lend him a Light plane to follow the Birds As they pass Over Israel for his own stud. But once he and maj. Started talking they realized that they were both essentially trying to get the same information. We gave them All our data on the migration said Leshem. And we looked at their maps where All the Calli Gions with their pilots were inking place and we realized that they overlapped. Then the air Force checked the dates when their collisions wore happening and they discovered the vast majority were in the Spring and on the basis of these discoveries the air Force agreed to finance Leshem and his birdwatchers in their attempt to discover the exact routes altitudes and dates when the Birds would arrive. With the Early information Leshem s Bird watchers produced aided by radar and observation from a Light aircraft the air Force was Able to greatly refine ils Bird plagued zones called Bird protected zones by the Bird watchers and to activate them on the right Dales at the right altitudes. Since june 1983 Jet Bird collisions have been reduced by roughly half with no serious accidents. Maj. Said. The Bird watchers now Sarve As an Early warning system for the air Force. This Spring for example the Israel air Force had scheduled a major training Mission that needed to Uso part of the . The night before. Leshem received a report from a Bird watcher in the North that a Large number of raptors had settled for the night near my. Tabor. The next morning Leshem went up in a Light plane and spotted the Large flock of Honey Buzzards and lesser spotted eagles. He landed by 9 30 . And alerted the air Force to postpone the Mission Lor another Day. We Are still learning about the air corridors and making and us Treen a from what we thought was the original ." said a. With the help of Leshem and a computerized data base he said the air Force Hopes to refine the information even More. The idea is to ascertain Over time whether the Birds come through the same route every year whether the routes and altitudes change during the Day and what correlation there is Between weather changes in Europe and Africa and the timing of migrations in this Way the air Force will get the most training and flight room from its scarce airspace. For Israel Bird watchers the support of the air Force has enabled them to identify and protect the 475 different species of Birds flying through Israel so Many Birds in act. That he International Council or Bird preservation the leading Bird conservation organization in he world has decided to hold its quadrennial convention in Eilat in March 1987. When the Israel air Force received its f-15 Jet fighters from the american manufacturer. Mcdonnell Douglas they came with Tough talking pamphlets describing the plane s capabilities. The plane s motto built to fight where others fear to the Israel air Force however has Learned from experience just How incorrect that motto could be. It replaced the motto with a slogan of its own which has been printed on a poster that now hangs in every israeli air base. It shows a fighter plane flying next to a Steppe Eagle and says take care. We share the
