This spring the Hazeva Field School received word that a large bird of prey had been found impaled upon a wire fence near the Jordanian border. When some of the guides and researchers from the Field School arrived at the site, they were amazed to find that it was a rare nocturnal bird of prey, Bubo ascalaphus, commonly called the desert owl, of which there are perhaps only a few dozen pairs in the entire Negev.

After cutting the wire and freeing the owl, it was handed over to the inspectors of the National Nature and Parks Authority, who brought it to the Safari Park in Ramat Gan for rehabilitation.
  

 In the beginning of July another injured bird of prey was found, this time a honey buzzard, Pernis apivorus, on Moshav Hazeva. No one knows how the buzzard was injured; it was found on the ground with blood on one of its wings. The buzzard was cared for by Oded Keynan (pictured in both photos), who is a senior guide at the Hazeva Field School, and also a teacher at the local Shittim School.

After two months of loving (and professional) care, the children of Hazeva were invited to watch the release of the buzzard, near the moshav's water tower, the highest point for miles around. After the children heard the story of the finding and care of the bird, it was released, soaring above them back into the wilds of the Arava.