Mourning Glory

I got back earlier this evening from a week long trip to Egypt with Josh and Staines. There'll be a fair few posts in the near future on bits and bobs that we saw - migration was in full swing on the Red Sea coast (both passers and raptors) and the Nile Valley WP specialities at Abu Simbel were also taken in.

Since I last visited in 2007, the first African Mourning Doves had been found at Abu Simbel by Belgian birders. And these birds had been lingering over the last year or so. I saw a couple, including one bird being particularly vocal and display flighting. They could be found in the gardens just to the north of the temple, and it's tempting to speculate how long they've actually been around, though numbers haven't augmented since they first turned up so perhaps they're not as successful at colonising as Collared Doves!

Also, another new bird for me within the Western Palearctic was Three-banded Plover. In fact, this quality species is now a breeding species and can be easily seen at Tut Amon near Aswan. We found a territorial pair on islands near the shore of Lake Nasser. The area is private so if you go be sure to contact the local birders Haitham (haythamibra@yahoo.com) and Hosny (goodhosny@yahoo.com) if you want a stress free, easy trip to this area. We also had a decent boat ride down at Abu Simbel where, given the time of year, we were happy enough with a couple of nice Yellow-billed Storks and some rather nice African Pied Wagtails along with loads of migrant waterbirds. I'll leave you for now with a few shots...