Eurasian Hobbies, a species of Falcons, arrive in Jerusalem in April or May and leave for Africa in mid-October. During their months here, they breed and have their young in crows' nests after the crows have already used them for the season.

The Hobbies can be heard virtually every morning, and for two summers, one of their favorite observation posts has been across the street from me on the TV antenna atop Molcho 3 in Talbiye. Their nest is in the tall pine tree on the northwest side of the circle where Rada"k and Molcho run together.

Soon after daybreak they begin calling, and I am quite certain that one particular call means, "I have breakfast," usually a sparrow or other small bird, as seen below. (I have not checked this factoid with experts, however.) The pictures below were taken from my living room via digiscoping, that is, simply holding my digital camera up against the eyepiece of my birding telescope.

Clicking on the thumbnails below will show low resolution pictures (50 - 150 Kb per image). Clicking on the captions below will show high resolution pictures (250 Kb - 1.1 Mb per image).

Breakfast 1

Breakfast 2

Breakfast 3

Breakfast 4

Breakfast 5

There are two other species of falcons here in town: the Kestrel (בַּז מָצוּי) and the endangered Lesser Kestrel (בַּז אָדוֹם), found in the Musrara neighborhood.

Jeff Finger