Birding in Egypt

back in Wales

2011-01-02T01:03:00.000-08:00

Little white egret eating breakfast on board one of the vessels that pollute its environment in the cultural centre of the world

http://wildaboutwales.blogspot.com

http://newtownpowys.wordpress.com/ whats happening in my hometown in Wales
http://wildaboutwales.wordpress.com/ wild life around Wales the nilelife blogs are /1/2/3/ 4 and nilelife
http://www.nilelife5.blogspot.com/ http://www.nilelife.blogspot.com/

http://skywatchegypt.blogspot.com/
http://egyptplants.blogspot.com/
http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/ myegypt bird blog
http://egyptwildlife.blogspot.com/ birds of Egypt
http://egyptswildlife2.blogspot.com/ birds of Egypt
http://www.nilelife.blogspot.com/ photos from around Luxor Egypt
http://www.nilelife2.blogspot.com/ photos from around Luxor Egypt
http://egyptdragonflies.blogspot.com/ Dragons and damsels
http://insectsonwings.blogspot.com/ butterflies and bugs

common tern

2010-12-20T20:03:00.000-08:00

nile life in luxor is on www.nilelife.blog.co.uk
birds and wildlife is on, www.nilelife.blog.com

common snipe

2010-12-14T09:51:00.000-08:00

given up with google blogspot,
my new blog home is on
http://nilelife.blog.co.uk/
This is a very small bird and a rare visitor to the upper delta of the Nile, if you want to see the rest of today's bird photos. go to my new blog posts on
http://nilelife.blog.co.uk/

bird blog

2010-12-07T02:14:00.000-08:00

my post's are now on http://nilelife5.blogspot.com/2010/12/6th-december-birds-along-nile.html,

Glossy Ibis, Plegadis falcinellus.

2010-09-25T11:34:00.001-07:00

The Glossy Ibis, Plegadis falcinellus. I set off very early on the morning of the 24 September 2010. hoping to catch the sunrise over the reed beds, but out of all the days of cloudless skies. we had a lovely cloudy sky. had some good shots of the fog on the Nile then watched the balloons rising out of the mist,
the reason we have both mist and fog. it sounds better than clouds of smoke made by the fires; the locals tend to make fires early morning;- God knows why But we are in Egypt and another God knows why,
Maybe its so he can show me another one of his creation the Ibis, and what a wonderfull sight it is seeing them coming in out of the clouds, and circling the area they are about to land on,

they tend to land where the Little white Egrets have already started to hunt . knowing thats a safe place to land no humans about, they feed around cattle but first sight of a human they are off they get spooked by the egrets flying off .

here I managed to get a bit closer about 50yards because they where on their own;-no egrets in the group,

12 out of 100 photos

23 September 2010, birds, new sighting, Common Snipe ,Gallinago gallinago ,

2010-09-23T13:11:00.000-07:00

23 September 2010, birds, new sighting, Common Snipe ,Gallinago gallinago ,

todays new sighting was a Common Snipe ,Gallinago gallinago ,

Squacco Heron(Ardeola ralloides)

2010-09-01T04:32:00.000-07:00

No one around so Use the gangplank as a hunting post.

The Squacco Heron this is a migrating bird to these parts of the Nile all through the winter from around October up until end of march, last week I saw one, today I saw many not sure which is the male but the one in flight is a bit larger than the one with the blue beak. both are in full breeding plumage.

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Not sure if they are being inquisitive about this big camera, I have never got this close to them before.

The Squacco herons are back now the Nile has come up on depth and covered what is left of the inlet. the heron is here in the upper delta all year, but is usually a loner seeking its food along the banks of the Nile river in what is normally a fast flowing river, here on the banana island inlet. the water comes in and is now stopped by the landfill some 100 yards from the flowing Nile. as the photos show there id a lot of floating debris most of this is normal from the last years growth of reeds and plants along the Nile, it is also what the fish feed on often I see a reed movement where a fish is feeding on whatever on the stem of the reed below water. and this is what the squacco heron watches before it dives in for the kill today where normally I only see one Squacco I saw 25 today and they where quite near to each other often having squabbles who should be where.

Three Squacco and a Little egret.

A young Squacco heron,
all the breeds of young herons seem to have green legs, even the Little Egret
who have black legs and yellow feet in adults.

This is the adult Squacco heron young have a more orange plumage and the beak has an aqua tinge.
Eyes too big for its beak but eventually after getting the fish in the right position down it went.

Three Squacco and a Little egret.

Bulbul egrets and a few other flyers.

2010-08-17T09:24:00.000-07:00

Who am I?

2010-08-15T12:10:00.000-07:00

I am very small I have not been on this blog before I am not in the birding book so who am I PLEASE.

Hume's Tawny Owl. Strix butlery

2010-08-14T15:33:00.000-07:00

Hume's Tawny Owl. Strix butlery

bird no 77. 1.00 in the night I was watching the Greco's doing their nightly velcro movements on the opposite wall when the Hume's tried to catch one. then it perched above me on the next balcony I rushed in for the camera. and managed to get this shot before it flew off into the night. sorry I could not get a dcent photo but I saw it and it was just lovely to watch. . .

Neglecting my birds

2010-08-11T11:45:00.000-07:00

No not really its just that its been too hot here In Luxor for me and for some of the birds,
I tend to stay indoors they seem to Hide as soon as I do go out, its also too hot to sit around waiting hoping the bird seen will come back . they are also birds I have photos of anyway. but every time I do go out I see numerous birds the little white Squacco Cattle and Large white Egrets are always here as is the Plover Whoopoe, Sparrows and the Nile valley sunbird Not forgetting the Laughing doves and kestrels.

the birds I put on here now will be at random and just from the days sightings.starting with this Water buffalo cleaner the Cattle Egret this Little egret is always in the dry fields especially if the farmer is cutting or turning the fields, it will be near cleaning the land of bugs it is not a water bird. does not seem to like getting its claws wet this shot was taken 5 minutes after the buffalo settled in the water, where it waited on the bank while its fly attractor settled down. the next shot is of the donkey in contentment with its cleaner getting the flies off its face especially around the Eyes this One was running back and forth mother and baby cleaner. soon the baby will have its own cleaner,

As I said before in past blogs the Egret can take a fly from the animals eye without touching the skin of the beast. Here the donkey has a cut on the back leg that is attracting the flies, just watching in a mater of seconds its picked several flies from the wound.

This is one just for Bob Bushel . its on at full frame and size. so if you want to download it Bob first click to Enlarge. then right click and, save image as..

some of the little white egrets prefer to hunt and be on their own. and give a crow like squawk when disturbed. Its like!go away with that camera squawk.

Then there are times they will all go to the fields these fields have been flooded for the past 2 months and only have little water as the Nile recedes. leaving fish trapped in the murky waters . the other times they hunt togeher is when the farmer pumps water ti irugate his fields fish get sucked up in the pump and end up in the field thats being watered.

The Squacco and the little white Egret.

Plover usually they are in Pairs this one was making out it had a nest lots of noise trying to get my attention.

usually this means the female is on a nest somewhere nearby.

look as she settles as if nesting.

Graceful prinia is still here and giving the occasional. chase me. see if you can get a good shot.

Whoopoe bird in full frame. 5 ft away from the camera awkward to adjust if i moved the bird wold fly away

The next frames are of the Juvenile male Nile valley sun bird. it will be another 6 months before he gets his full plumage and long tale.

next frames are the female Nile valley sun bird.

these are very small birds as you can see by the size of the bird next to the wilting mallow flower

30th July birds

2010-07-30T09:01:00.000-07:00

Not all that many different spiecies around today 1 Juvenile scacco Heron, 2/3/4. Little white egrets,
5 plover, 6 female Nile Valley sun Bird, 7 Cockerel just thought would put him on seeing he posed so nice for me, 8 Field of Egrets little and cattle, 9 Male and female whoopoe do not ask silly questions as to how I know.Its a good thing that they know, but the female is the furthest from the camera. I also saw the grey and night heron, the gracefull prinia, scrub warbler. and any amount of sparrows + the black winged Kite

Mid July birds

2010-07-20T11:48:00.000-07:00

There are not so many birds around the ones that are here are the ones who are here for most of the year
apart from the Graceful Prinia
f(1) the little white Egret (2) Squacco Heron (3/12) Whoopoe (4)Laughing dove (5) Spur-winged plover(6/7) moorhen (8/9/10) Graceful prinia. (11) blue-cheeked bee eater,
the last five shots are of the frog hunting expeditions. including the ducklings and whoopoe's.
and the king fishers are having a great time catching the fish caught in the ponds of the receding Nile river,
all these photos where taken at 6.00 with the rising sun hence some discolouration in the shots.

Fan-tailed cisticola.cisticola juncidis,

2010-07-14T12:34:00.000-07:00

Whitethroat Sylvia communis. Juvenile

2010-07-12T10:32:00.000-07:00

Young hoopoe

2010-07-03T14:18:00.000-07:00

Gracefull prinia.prinia gracilis

2010-07-03T13:42:00.000-07:00

Graceful prinia, prinia gracilis.
This is what birding is about this little bird is smaller than a wren almost like trying to get a photo of a large grasshopper, but today this little one decided it would let me get quite close so i could take a photo only problem was, the reed beds are not a good place for a photo session'

and these are what shots I got today, its ok for me I saw these birds out in the open hunting for food, before they dived for cover, in these reeds.

It decided to have a good scrach. then a good preen making sure there was no small wildlife under its wings.

Then it flew off into a more open area by the Nile.

Fan- tailed cisticola, Cisticola juncidis

Fan-tailed warbler (or zitting cisticole) Cisticola juncidis

Now theres a long name for such a Tiny bird this little bird bathes in the dew on the leaves ,
I know , And no! I do not have anything better to do than watch birds bathing.

July birds.

2010-07-02T07:56:00.000-07:00

Not many Squaccos on the Nile today only caught a glimpse of this young one it looks nothing like its parents
at first sight I thought it was a bittern, Squacco herons are on http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2010/06/squacco-heron-ardeola-ralloides_06.html

Little white Egret looking for frogs much easier to catch than fish and are in abundance now the Nile is receding ,

The frog Hunt ducks geese herons and even the House sparrows Join in the hunt.

June 9th todays birds.

2010-06-09T08:06:00.000-07:00

Some of the birds I had to photograph today
The hooded crow perched on the wires

This Laughing dove was perched on the same wire

Kestrel perched on a low wall waiting for a catch.

Kestrel perched on the pylon

A group of fan tailed warblers there was 6 /7 in this group

Ring-necked plover in flight

Great white Egret fledgling

Swallows in the shade

2010-06-04T14:06:00.000-07:00

These swallows had found themselves some reeds over the canal in a shaded area under a date palm tree. At 16.00 the heat was in the 50c and these swallows where panting the first shot is of one just landed and it was panting for breath. I only had my normal lens with me today as I was going to photograph the sun setting behind the temple of Medinet habu and the Valley of the Queens. the swallows just happened to be near the Road I was traveling on to get to the temple. photos of the temple at sunset will be on

http://nilelife2.blogspot.com/

Striated heron, Butorides striatus

2010-06-02T03:22:00.000-07:00

I only managed to get 3 shots of the same bird last year. Today I saw several along one of the canals this is one of the smallest of the herons. according to my bird book it does not often come to this area.

I managed to get a shot of 2. with the new 100x400 ef lens. from the first shot you can almost see how small it is as its next to a discarded child's shoe

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This is an uncut shot to show one next to a liter water bottle , and how much rubbish is in the canals,
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Looks like its day dreaming of a nice clean canal loaded with fish.
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Young Striated heron
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I sat for 2 hours on the waters edge of the Nile photographing the Pied Kingfishers when this Striated heron flew in and landed about 20ft away, it did not show any fear of me while it came to do what it came for as soon as it caught its fish it flew off to a safe distance. then came back and landed on a branch with two young kingfishers.

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Crested Lark, galerida cristata

2010-06-01T23:06:00.000-07:00

The lark having its Christmas lunch.

Crested lark
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Hooded crow, corvus coronecornix,

2010-06-01T21:54:00.000-07:00

This is the scavenger of Egypt, no mater where there is rubbish or food this bird will be in the middle of it. its a great rat catcher and a robber of unattended chicks and eggs,

The cleaners of the garbage lorries parked overnight

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I never thought that crows could catch fish, this one was an expert it only touched the water with its beak

The rat catcher

Clamorous reed warbler , Acrocephalus stentoureus,

2010-06-01T21:33:00.000-07:00

Clamorous reed warbler , Acrocephalus stentoureus, and believe me it is clamorous

After a 3 month seeing and hearing (being taunted) by this aptly named bird with the odd photo either in the reeds or to far away behind a reed to get a good shot, today I finally got one in the open, all shots have been cut the last one is of a full frame from about 30ft away.

Olivacous warbler,Hippolais pallida.

2010-06-01T21:23:00.000-07:00

Laughing dove, Streptopelia senegalensis

2010-05-30T13:41:00.000-07:00

Whoopoe, upupa epops

2010-05-30T13:34:00.000-07:00

honey buzzard ,Pernis apivoris. ?

2010-05-30T13:17:00.000-07:00

Flying Quite high in the morning sun up. I think its the honey buzzard ,

The rat hunter

Night heron,Nycticorax nictycorax.

2010-05-30T12:59:00.000-07:00

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Birding is a very frustrating hobby, just try and get near this night heron out in its natural habbitat Ie the reed beds if the Nile . Its a matter of being in the right place at the right time, these shots were taken at 6,00 in the morning near the cruisers berths, and not a place I would normally look for this shy bird, once the people are about including me it was gone, it most likely saw the white Egret and decided it may be a safe place to fish.

Blue-cheeked bee-eater,merops superciliosus,

2010-05-30T06:15:00.001-07:00

click on the photo to see the bee- eater entering its nest in the mud bank.
I was standing on the built up area that houses the pipes from the pump house to the canal which is about 2 meters above the wetlands the nests are the same level as my holding the camera to take the photo that means the nests are some 3.5 meters above the flooded Nile waters

Blue-cheeked bee-eater.

The bee eaters are the Blue-cheeked bee eaters only in these parts for a few months

click on to see

the european bee eaters they were only here for a few days 2 weeks at the most,

click on to see the little green bee-eaters our winter bird

Nile valley sun bird,Anthreptes metallicus, male and female

2010-05-29T07:41:00.000-07:00

Kestrel hunting in the fields

2010-05-25T11:38:00.000-07:00

Kestrel hunting in the fields

Black-winged Kite ,Elanus caeruleus

2010-05-25T11:30:00.000-07:00

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The next photo is the range of most of these shots about 300 yards then the photo cut of the subject.
if you want to see closer shots go to http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2009/12/kite_09.html

Grey heron, Ardea cinerea.

2010-05-25T10:23:00.000-07:00

Grey heron, Ardea cinerea.

olivacious warbler. hippolais pallida.

2010-05-25T10:11:00.000-07:00

Mum or pop was so busy feeding this chick. it was like I wasn't there. while the parents where off looking for food it was catching its own. then it saw me and away it flew,

Little bittern. ixobrychus minutus.

2010-05-25T09:11:00.000-07:00

Female Little bittern. ixobrychus minutus. the smallest of the heron family and very secretive and rarely seen perched according to the book.
these shots are taken some 70 yards or more from the subject .

Blue-cheeked bee-eater,merops superciliosus,

2010-05-25T08:56:00.000-07:00

lots of sightings today first one was on the Wires near the new avenue of the sphinx the dig is disturbing the bees nesting places usually there is a flock of them here I only saw this one today.

another loner this one was on the mud bank in the flooded Nile.

This wa a great poser but it was far enough away to feel safe and on a tree in the middle of a flooded garden area.

Little white Egret,

2010-05-24T06:51:00.000-07:00

Now the heronry has hatched most of the eggs the Nile is becoming like a snow patch some are too young to fly and most perish on the first day of falling out of the nest, or even pushed out of the nest, many I saw with broken wings most survive the fall and make for the open waters of the Nile then stand at the waters edge wondering what is next.

some like this little one head out into the murky waters and find a log or flotsam to stand on this one has a broken wing and had to struggle to get to safety.

Nature is cruel sometimes, but maybe there are to many at this time of year and mother nature knows what to do.

notice the young of all the herons have greenish legs as they get older they change to black and one of the features of the Little white Egret are its yellow feet

Above, this years chick, below , an adult

Three in a row Sqacco Heron White egret, and night heron.

Squacco Heron, Ardeola ralloides

2010-05-23T12:19:00.000-07:00

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next blog will be on the young Little white egrets now they have found their wings and leaving the heronry.

Barn swallows on a rope

2010-05-22T05:47:00.000-07:00

Sitting still for an hour, they come to me.

2010-05-21T02:01:00.000-07:00

Please take no notice of my ranting on about pollution no one else does.
just enjoy what you see today tomorrow they will not be here, and that is fact.

I went to what used to be my place of quiet last year, this place has been butchered by the powers that be here in Luxor.. gone are the palm, banana and the favorite trees of the birds the fever trees there is 3 date palm left and this is where I sat for half an hour in the shade taking photos today, thankfully we have lazy workers in Luxor and a few branches and one tree that came down the Nile embankment have been left and the birds make full use of them, first the photos of the view with the mountains of Thebes in the background looking across the Nile river from what was banana island , its no more an Island as most of the reed beds have been filled in by this greedy thieving council with help from the 300 million sterling they received for the once Crocodile island, Jolie Ville Maritem hotels,I say polluters of the Nile, have now changed the name to Kings Island, your guess will be as good as mine as to why, doubt if any king has stepped foot on that Island unless Dr Samir Fawak head of Luxor has promoted himself to king of Luxor. certainly acts as if he is stealing all the peoples land, then using it as a dumping ground so he can add more pollution to the Nile River see my website ,

ALL the next shots are from where I sat under the tree and slowly the wildlife started coming closer .
if I moved a muscle the birds flew off and yet across the inlet they where bathing kids playing with boats lots of noise. but me who had some interest in the life had to sit still.

Across to what was the inlet the carriage owners bring the horses for a mid day swim . those that treat the horses well that is not many of Egypt's working animals get treated like this,

The little white egret Squacco heron and pied Kingfishers use this dead branch as a fishing post

Last year there was as many as a hundred herons just in this one place today I counted 20 herons in the whole of the inlet. gone are most of the kingfishers last year they stayed after the young were raised I only saw one pair with one fledgling a few weeks ago there was more than 30 k f birds here, http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2010/04/fishing-on-nile.html

They need trees and branches to rest on

These fish are only a few inches in the water

The nile is rising and in full flood but the water is rancid people have to bathe And drink this polluted water.

First time I have seen a pied kingfisher miss its catch maybe it was hot and went for a dunk?

sparrows and bee eaters on a branch some 50ft away the stayed for about 15 minutes catching flies bees whatever there was in the air,

one caught this dragon fly as it took off not 5 ft from me.

A police patrol boat rushes by I know why but I was staying where I was.

Then this felucca past, no doubt the captain is a bit lighter in the pocket after being stopped by the police, but thats OK the tourists will pay for his loss.

And a bag full of rubbish from one of the cruisers is heading for Cairo.

Ahmed with his biggest net catch of the season he knows that next year this land will have a new road across, the inlet all that we see today will be gone forever,

I am yet to photograph one of these Live.

From where I am sitting by the Nile This is all that is left of the reed beds that went 5 kilometers around the Island

the land is being cleared to make way for gamal mubarak to make another fortune building another hotel/

This little baby white egret has most likely fallen out of the heronry unable to fly it will not servive the day. especially if it goes near the polluted ponds, in the next photo.

and I will leave you with another photo for my Nile pollution page that is on myegypt.co.uk website

5 bags of rubbish from the cruisers, plus another several I saw floating past.

there are no berths on the actual flow of the river from here to Aswan so these bags have been dumped from a moving cruise boat, most likely the same time as they dumped the sewage into the Nile.

photos do not lie.

Thrush Nightingale,Luscinia luscinia

2010-05-13T09:09:00.000-07:00

Thrush Nightingale,Luscinia luscinia. shots taken from 100 yards

That is one of my problems I only have 40% hearing in one year. so I miss a lot on what bird I am looking for I hear a vague sound but I rely mainly on movement. once I see the bird And am looking in the right direction I hear the sound.
I should have heard the Nightingale but that was far off only by chance did I see it on the wires. had to get off the road because two cars where racing. but by their stupidity, I saw the bird. and heard it sing.

Black-winged stork

2010-05-12T09:00:00.000-07:00

the Black-winged stork.First the stork was near the lane. and I had one shot before it took off

and landed in the lower end of the field of clover

it must have landed near a plovers nesting area. as I got half way down the clover field two of the plovers attacked it . and it took off again this time with the

Ring-necked plover chasing after it

Eurpean bee-eater, Merops apiaster.

2010-05-05T11:42:00.000-07:00

This blogspot is part of the 6th May walk. on http://nilelife2.blogspot.com/

More sightings of the European bee-eater.

Crested lark having a good prod in the new mud bank from the canal.

4 bee eaters and a hooded dove,

17 swallows and a bee eater

1 sunbathing

And another

two on a wire

you can count them I took this shot knowing as soon as I get near most will disperse and do some fly catching.

This shot is to show they do not come to close about 100 yds is the closest I have got up to today but things changed.

This one flew directly above me at about 50 ft

clamorous reed warbler one sighting and one shot today this has to be the hardest bird to photograph

The swallows catching bugs in the clover field,with cattle egrets

here I headed back home I am about 7 kilometers out of Luxor or as the crow flies or the bee eater about 3. but I have to zig zag along the canals. the next photos are on my return journey. its 46c and there was no shade in this area. my back was playing up again , I left the house this morning with the intention of just an about town donkey photo day. but got distracted by the sighting of the bee-eater, usually before I come out I take A 400 milligram Ibuprofen tablet. at least they stop the pain. no taxies in this area so I have to walk back, i would not take a taxi anyway incase I miss something ,

the closest photo to date I hid behind the electricity pylon . not that it did not see me as soon as it heard the click it was off

but not without getting this shot.

check out the humming bird on

http://saphotographs.blogspot.com/

3/5/10 birds on the river Nile

2010-05-03T09:03:00.000-07:00

the latest heronry chicks are on http://egyptswildlife2.blogspot.com/
Two sparrows keeping an eye on things in the fever tree,
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Little White Egret and 2 moorhens

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Squacco heron came to join in the log rolling

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Pied Kingfishers male and fledgling.

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Just waiting for a fish to pass by.

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Female juvenile

Not such a good photo just like its back plumage.

Little white Egret

The fish was rather too big and it let it go.

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One of the older Juveniles not sure if this is a large white egret all the juvenile herons have green legs and change colour with age the Cattle egret is easily identified, the little white in adult has yellow feet black legs and black beak . the large white has gray black legs and yellow beak hardly any difference in size despite the names,
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This is one of the rare visitors to the Nile delta according to the book last year I only saw one pair. this year there are quite a few. The Striated Heron, Most of the herons here are quite small the striated being the smallest and the purple heron being the largest

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I have cut most of the photos because of the rubish in the Nile. as you can see in the first heron and moorhen frame.

European bee-eater , Merops apiaster and Blue cheeked bee-eater

2010-05-02T03:19:00.000-07:00

Three of the bee-eaters that visit Luxor Egypt the little green bee-eater is resident here,

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This was my first sighting of the blue- cheeked bee eater.this is another first, I will have to find out where it comes to rest in order to get a decent photo. this bird is larger than the little green bee-eater and twice as fast in flight.
After the first sighting of this colourful bird one week ago I looked all over luxor for its place for perching, on my weekly every other day walk around the wetlands where I first saw it while photographing the little tern, it flew past again and headed off into the farm land and off I went to see if I could get a glimpse of where it landed, and sure enough like all the bee eaters it lands on lecy wires, over looking open land looking for passing bees, its a very shy bird much like the little green bee eater. so another gotcha. and well worth the effort of the chase.
The little green bee-eater more photos on http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2010/01/blog-post_23.html

as it turned out this is another species same size as the first bee eater its the European bee-eater.

little tern

2010-05-02T03:16:00.001-07:00

The Little tern always head down looking for a fish

todays walk along the Nile, May 1st

2010-04-29T12:27:00.000-07:00

The Squacco heron, In full breeding plumage
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Male and female not sure which is which.
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The little white heron

Moorhen
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blue-cheeked bee eater
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The Nile valley sun bird Male. 3/5/10 Today I called into the restaurant called Puddle-ducks, here in Luxor. run by a couple of friends, I hope I am anyway, excellent food, if you are in Luxor call in .
Puddleduck, St Joseph Street, Luxor, Egypt
They live across the river on the west bank of the Nile, and we got talking about the wildlife as usual, she was saying never has she seen so many of the Nile valley sun birds, coincidentally all the following shots where taken on the scrub land next to her house.

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Male and female

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taking nectar from the mallow flower.

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hoopoe bird

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Little stint
.

Not sure what but its warbler ? barred warbler sylvia nisoria?????

Ring necked plover
'

yellow wagtail ( black headed) fledgling.

Night heron
.
There are photos of 70 different species of birds on my blog all have been taken around the Luxor area,

Rufous bush robin , cercotrichas galactotes

2010-04-28T03:47:00.000-07:00

Rufous bush robin , cercotrichas galactotes . first sighting 12/4/10

male and female sighted 27,4/10

Honey Buzzard pernis apivorus,

2010-04-22T11:49:00.000-07:00

I blogged earlier in the day on http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2010/04/heat-and-more-heat.ht
as the day progressed late afternoon a breeze came up and cooled the temperature down somewhat. and I could see it was going to be a time to sit down by the Nile to get a shot of the sunset. got a little more than what I expected as always.
I think this is the Honey Buzzard pernis apivorus, I thought first it was a kite but after watching them ( 3) none made a fan with the tail. not even when fishing I took over 30 shots in the space of 1/2 hour. they were such a joy just to watch especially against the breeze most of the good shots where as if they were hanging in the sky.

Blue-cheeked bee-eater, merops superciliosus.

2010-04-22T07:50:00.000-07:00

This was my first sighting of the blue- cheeked bee eater. I will have to find out where it comes to rest in order to get a decent photo. this bird is larger than the little green bee-eater and twice as fast in flight.

heat and more heat

2010-04-21T01:51:00.000-07:00

Its much too hot to go birding , BUT I will go down to the heronry in a few days to see if I can get some shots of the fledgelings. yesterday it was 53c it does not give the true temp on word weather reports. must not scare the tourists must we? for the past 2 weeks we have had no break from the sun (no clouds) only haze in the late afternoon but that does not stop the heat, whats the old song only mad dogs and englishmen By Noel Coward. Even though this song relates to his time in Saigon. it is so very true of Egypt and is of course hotter but we do not get the humidity.

Mad Dogs and Englishmen

Mad Dogs and Englishmen
(Noel Coward)

In tropical climes there are certain times of day
When all the citizens retire,
     to tear their clothes off and perspire.
It's one of those rules that the biggest fools obey,
Because the sun is much too sultry and one must avoid
     its ultry-violet ray --
Papalaka-papalaka-papalaka-boo. (Repeat)
Digariga-digariga-digariga-doo. (Repeat)
The natives grieve when the white men leave their huts,
Because they're obviously, absolutely nuts --

Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.
The Japanese don't care to, the Chinese wouldn't dare to,
Hindus and Argentines sleep firmly from twelve to one,
But Englishmen detest a siesta,
In the Philippines there are lovely screens,
     to protect you from the glare,
In the Malay states there are hats like plates,
     which the Britishers won't wear,
At twelve noon the natives swoon, and
     no further work is done -
But Mad Dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.

It's such a surprise for the Eastern eyes to see,
That though the British are effete,
     they're quite impervious to heat,
When the white man rides, every native hides in glee,
Because the simple creatures hope he will
     impale his solar topee on a tree.
Bolyboly-bolyboly-bolyboly-baa. (Repeat)
Habaninny-habaninny-habaninny-haa. (Repeat)
It seems such a shame that when the English claim the earth
That they give rise to such hilarity and mirth -

Mad Dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.
The toughest Burmese bandit can never understand it.
In Rangoon the heat of noon is just what the natives shun.
They put their scotch or rye down, and lie down.
In the jungle town where the sun beats down,
     to the rage of man or beast,
The English garb of the English sahib merely gets a bit more creased.
In Bangkok, at twelve o'clock, they foam at the mouth and run,
But mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.

Mad Dogs and Englishmen, go out in the midday sun.
The smallest Malay rabbit deplores this stupid habit.
In Hong Kong, they strike a gong, and fire off a noonday gun.
To reprimand each inmate, who's in late.
In the mangrove swamps where the python romps
     there is peace from twelve till two.
Even caribous lie down and snooze, for there's nothing else to do.
In Bengal, to move at all, is seldom if ever done,
But mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.

While on the subject of famous.  while in the process of this blogspot

I made a cup of tea and sat on the balcony

that overlooks the Luxor temple and the Nile river. and what was passing

on its passage down river to Aswan the ss Sudan,

more famous for its part as the ss Karnak in  the film Death on the Nile.

This boat is also featured in the blog on nile pollution.

http://www.myegypt.co.uk/index.php?f=data_home&a=1

fishing on the nile

2010-04-18T12:42:00.000-07:00

http://insectsonwings.blogspot.com/2010/04/butterflies.html

http://egyptdragonflies.blogspot.com/

the lazy heron or clever heron cought this as it was going into the fish trap many of these birds get entangled in the fish traps.

feeding time for the fledgling kingfishers,

Ok where is mine i want one as big as the night heron.

frogs And cattle egret

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Striated heron (butorides striatus),

i sat for 2 hours on the waters edge of the Nile photographing the Pied Kingfishers when this Striated heron flew in and landed about 20ft away, it did not show any fear of me while it came to do what it came for as soon as it caught its fish it flew off to a safe distance. then came back and landed on a branch with two young kingfishers.

Pied King fishers.

King fishers feeding their young the nesting area is in the mud bank there are several nests in this one area known as Banana island Luxor Egypt. this one day I counted 24 in this one area

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Rufous bush robin , cercotrichas galactotes

Rufous bush robin , cercotrichas galactotes . first sighting 12/4/10

I am sorry that my photos are only half the normal size when clicked on. this is due to upload problems now I have deleted google products such as picasa3 and motzilla fire fox. so many probs with the software. its a lot more work now but thats nile life.

Wasp nest made from mud this is on the Bank of the Nile river

Rufous bush robin , cercotrichas galactotes . first sighting 12/4/10

Whoopoe with food for its chicks hidden away in the top of the papya tree.

Little white egret looks a bit wind swept.

Quite a job landing in the wind.

Still nest building even though most are now sitting some have even hatched,

Doing a spot of fishing

I give up can't fish with you looking on.

Graceful prinia

2010-04-09T11:44:00.000-07:00

Young Night Heron

2010-04-08T10:36:00.000-07:00

Took me ages to find out what this heron is. its not in the book so I went for the eye colour
they are so completely different to the parent. young night heron are brown with streaked underparts.

,
Night heron adult,
.
Striated Heron in Flight.

.
Pied Kingfisher about to do a left turn

Wryneck, Jynx torquilla

2010-04-08T10:25:00.000-07:00

My first sighting of the Wryneck, Jynx torquilla 8/4/10

'
I see you and I am off.

Herons fishing

2010-04-08T09:24:00.000-07:00

Now then! not too close, and I will show you how its done.

First keep an eye on the target that's if this log keeps still.

as soon as its in striking range dive in.

OK not exactly what I had in mind. but I got it and I very rarely miss.
'
I will be OK once this log stops rolling . i will get it in position and then down in one.

Now I will show you how its done. the Striated heron is about half the size of the Night Heron.
OK you lot make way I will show you how its done
.
Jees" call them fish
.
Look at them two, master fishers eh"
,
There,s one
.
Wow that a big un scariee
.
Whasup that was scarie

.
OK here goes watch this
.
ready steady
.
and here we go. King Pied fisher watch and learn.
.
missed it didn't you. told you I was good. a clean strike
.
Look! I said a clean strike right through the head. dead as a doornail
.

.
Ok now all we have to do is get it in between my beak
.
that's it enough do not mind showing you how to catch your lunch
but i am not going to show you how to eat it.

Tree Pipit

2010-04-07T05:47:00.000-07:00

Tree pipit Anthus trvialis

Water pipit, Anthus spinoletta

2010-04-06T23:16:00.000-07:00

Water pipit, Anthus spinoletta.

Yellow wagtail

2010-04-02T05:31:00.000-07:00

Normally I can not get close to this bird but now I have my new 100x400 lens
he came close enough to take a shot with on ordinary lens. he flew in did a bit of looking about and caught what it came to get and off it flew ,

The making of an egrets nest

2010-03-31T10:13:00.000-07:00

Birding in Egypt

back in Wales

common tern

common snipe

bird blog

Glossy Ibis, Plegadis falcinellus.

23 September 2010, birds, new sighting, Common Snipe ,Gallinago gallinago ,

Squacco Heron(Ardeola ralloides)

Bulbul egrets and a few other flyers.

Who am I?

Hume's Tawny Owl. Strix butlery

Neglecting my birds

30th July birds

Mid July birds

Fan-tailed cisticola.cisticola juncidis,

Whitethroat Sylvia communis. Juvenile

Young hoopoe

Gracefull prinia.prinia gracilis

July birds.

June 9th todays birds.

Swallows in the shade

Striated heron, Butorides striatus

Crested Lark, galerida cristata

Hooded crow, corvus coronecornix,

Clamorous reed warbler , Acrocephalus stentoureus,

Olivacous warbler,Hippolais pallida.

Laughing dove, Streptopelia senegalensis

Whoopoe, upupa epops

honey buzzard ,Pernis apivoris. ?

Night heron,Nycticorax nictycorax.

Blue-cheeked bee-eater,merops superciliosus,

Nile valley sun bird,Anthreptes metallicus, male and female

Kestrel hunting in the fields

Black-winged Kite ,Elanus caeruleus

Grey heron, Ardea cinerea.

olivacious warbler. hippolais pallida.

Little bittern. ixobrychus minutus.

Blue-cheeked bee-eater,merops superciliosus,

Little white Egret,

Squacco Heron, Ardeola ralloides

Barn swallows on a rope

Sitting still for an hour, they come to me.

Thrush Nightingale,Luscinia luscinia

Black-winged stork

Eurpean bee-eater, Merops apiaster.

3/5/10 birds on the river Nile

European bee-eater , Merops apiaster and Blue cheeked bee-eater

little tern

todays walk along the Nile, May 1st

Rufous bush robin , cercotrichas galactotes

Honey Buzzard pernis apivorus,

Blue-cheeked bee-eater, merops superciliosus.

heat and more heat

Mad Dogs and Englishmen

fishing on the nile

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Graceful prinia

Young Night Heron

Wryneck, Jynx torquilla

Herons fishing

Tree Pipit

Water pipit, Anthus spinoletta

Yellow wagtail

The making of an egrets nest

Wednesday, March 31, 2010