misan@ra.abo.fi (Annika Forsten DC) (04/17/91)
Egypt 6-13.4.91 Ok, so we went back to have a look at the south, particularly Abu Simbel. We also wanted to watch the migration. This time we rented a car (Fiat Regata) because we wanted to be able to photograph more than on the first trip. We drove 2000 km exactly plus 60 km by taxi. The car cost LE 700 + mileage LE 1000 (LE 0.70 / km, 100 km per day free). LE 1 = 1.20 FIM = 0.33 USD. Weather was fine but very windy, about 12-15 m/s (6-7 beaufort) all the time mostly from the north-west but on the last day from the north-east. Temperature by midday 32C and dry. Didn't feel at all hot because of the wind. We were three this time (Tapani Numminen, Heikki Assinen and myself) and fitted nicely into the Regata. I had the back seat which was pretty good for photography (I could use both windows) but bad for viewing. Price for the flight (including hotel in Hurghada) 1990 FIM = 500 USD. Petrol was LE 0.55/litre. At that price it didn't matter that the Regata used 10 litre/ 100 km because of the airconditioning. Traffic was again messy on the Nile, and calm in the desert. The Regata was a bit low, the bottom hit the road at every bump (which there were a lot of). The good thing about them not following traffic rules is that we didn't have to either. In Aswan we drove for several blocks in the wrong direction on a one-way street and nobody really objected, even though the street was very crowded. We were a bit lost, so we wanted to head in the direction we though we needed to go. There was a lot of messup with the flight. First we were told it was two hours late, then suddenly they called the flight anyway to leave in 20 minutes. We changed to a propellerplane in Cairo and the airport guides didn't speak Finnish, didn't have any travelagency signs and there was a lot of confusion before the passports had been collected for the visa stamps, distributed again, flight tickets collected and distributed and luggage collected. When there was still one ticket missing and an elderly lady was discovered to be hiding it, she said, when we took it away from her 'Now I have nothing left'. We were all getting pretty tired (it was past midnight) and when we finally got on the plane to Hurghada and a child said 'Mom, there are no wings on this plane' (the wings were above us), everybody just laughed. We checked in at the hotel sometime after 2 am. 7.4 We had the alarm set at 5.30 which proved to be a little late. Fortunately we woke up earlier and were ready to leave at 5.30. The view from our hotel room 'terrass' on the second floor was pretty good and we saw a few harriers (Marsh, Montagu's and Pallid) flying north. Also some passerines in the garden. Found a Savi's Warbler which had flown into a hotel. Caught it and moved it outside. Visited the beach which was quite empty compared to what it had been in the winter. Finally managed to identify two Levant Sparrowhawks (first lifer). Took a taxi to the rental firm and checked the shore on the way. Second lifer: White-cheeked Tern (S. repressa) one bird flying off shore. Got the car and quarrelled with the taxi driver about the price. Rest of the day spent in the neighbourhood. 8.4 Drove towards the south. Between Qena and Safaga we managed to find some migrating raptors (incl. one Imperial Eagle), but there didn't seem to be an exact point to watch from. Pressed on as we had a long way to drive. Desert and Nile both empty, the Nile much more empty than in the winter, but we had 3 Green Herons (B. striatus). Stopped at Crocodile Island and photographed Nile Valley Sunbirds which were now all over. In the winter we had some trouble finding one. Drove late into Aswan and check into the Abu Simbel hotel (LE 35 for the room). 9.4 First checked the river and then we discovered that the car wouldn't start (electricity problems). We pushed it and got to the hotel where it stopped. We were told that we'd have to wait two hours for the electricity repair man (it was only 6 am), so we hired a taxi and went to see the High Dam. First we had to wait for the ticket man (entrance cost LE 2/ person) and then we discovered that binoculars, cameras and telescopes were not allowed as there had been a terrorist attack (Saddam?) recently. So we didn't really have time to see anything before they told us to leave, but it looked pretty empty. It was Ramadan, so the banks opened at 10 am. Had breakfast while we waited and then also got our passport stamped (which is neccessary). The car was fixed when we went to get it, bill LE 130. Set out towards Abu Simbel. A few migrants seemed to be on the move (Yellow Wagtail (M. flava), Short-toed Larks (C. brachydactyla), harriers) and a Lapped-faced Vulture (T. tracheliotus) glided along the road followed by a Griffon Vulture (G. fulvus). The birds distincly seemed to follow the road on their way north. The desert was dry, but it sure looked like we were surrounded by water. Eerie feeling, first time I've seen a proper mirage. After having arrived in Abu Simbel we found a good place for photographing Black Kites. While doing this a Nubian fellow came along and asked if we wanted to see his Falcon. Well we did, it turned out to be a Lanner (we think). When a translator turned up, we asked him a lot of questions about it. Apparently he had not sold any yet, although he had trapped at least 10 birds (if not 10 species). He was going to sell them to the Saudis, but using a middle man and he wanted to be careful so as not to get cheated. He expected about LE 17.000-20.000 for the Lanner, the middle man would then sell the Lanner to the Saudis for LE 25.000. It seems that this business is getting more common, not the other way around. We later met another who had also just started trapping raptors. We didn't, and don't quite know if we ought to (or can) do anything about this. There is a chapter about hunting in 'The Birds of Egypt', but I don't know about the legality of the whole thing. It's big money of course, it's pretty difficult to just say 'You shouldn't do that, this species is endangered, find another way of earning your living'. He asked us to send him material about identification, I though I'd put in something about conservation matters too. Slept at a Nubian hotel, the 'Novableh Ramses Hotel' which was run by a nice man who spoke good English. About half the price of the other hotel (Nefertari). We paid USD 45 for the room. They served good food too. 10.4 Started at the temple (which was closed). Photographed the statues and found some passerines in the scrub, including lots of Olivaceous Warblers (H. pallida) and a few Bonelli's Warblers (P. bonelli). After breakfast we tried to look for Pink-headed Dove (S. roseogrisea), but no luck. Found a place where somebody had dumped some thrash in the form of fish, etc. Lots of Black Kites, Brown-necked Ravens and Egyptian Vultures present. We photographed these for some time from the car, then suddenly two Lapped-faced Vultures appeared and came quite close a few times. Once one of them came so close it was difficult to fit into the viewfinder sideways and that's when I had to change the film. It took 15 seconds and exactly when I was ready the bird turned and flew off chased by the other birds. Well, that's life. Suddenly Heikki called a Yellow-billed Stork (M. ibis) which was in the sun and so high up I had some trouble locating it. Put up a net between two bushes and caught a Warbler which best fitted the discription of a Blyth's Reed Warbler. The measurments weren't quite right though. But it wasn't an Olivaceous Warbler, nor any other Acrocephalus we are familiar with. According to 'The Birds of Egypt' Blyth's Reed would be a new species for Egypt (there's only one old rejected record). Checked out the deep inlet north of the temple where we hoped to find more Y-b Storks (which we did (3)) and Pelicans, African Pied Wagtails, Skimmers and Kittlitz Plovers which we didn't. They hadn't arrived yet. Went back to the temple to look for Wagtails which we didn't find, nor could we see the temple as it was again closed. It seemed it was open only a few hours in the forenoon and then again in the evening. Had dinner at the hotel and drove back to Aswan where we stayed the night. 11.4 Checked the Nile on our way northwards, but it wasn't really visible from the road more than a few times, nor did we see anything special, very few birds around. Another Green Heron was seen further north. Repeat visit to Crocodile Island for more Sunbird photos. Took the more southerly route to the coast (Qift to Quseir). Just after turning we had a middle-phase Booted Eagle (H. pennatus) the existence of which was still not believed a few years ago. This was the second middle-phase for us, unfortunately it was too far away to be photographed. A few Desert Larks and Trumpeter Finches in the mountains. 30 km west of Quseir we stopped to photograph the scenery and discovered a clear line of raptors going north. They were high up, but clearly visible. Watched for 1.5 hours (15.50 - 17.20) and totalled 36 Black Kite, 4 Egyptian Vultures, 1 Griffon, 710 Buteo, 2 Lesser Spotted Eagles, 36 Steppe and 2 Booted Eagles. Then it seemed to quieten down, but it was surprising that it continued this long, the sun went down at 18.00 and it was dark at 18.20. 12.4 Drove northwards to check the migration. Spent some time photographing at the rubbish-dump (Thick-knee (B. oed), Cream-coloured Cursor (C. cur), Short-toed Larks, different races of Yellow Wagtail, etc. At 8 am 50 km north of Hurghada we could see raptors going north on the top of the ridge. But we couldn't find any road there although there were three on the map. Checked two heads which are known crossing-points (Ras Gemsa and Gebel Zeit), but saw nothing there. Went back to the ridge and managed to find a track which took us to the foot of the ridge. The view wasn't very good (just straight up), but the raptors passed right over our heads, we just didn't have much time to identify them. Unfortunately we were too far down to be able to get photos. We should have climbed up, but the mountains seemed rather difficult to climb and Heikki and Tapani both were troubled by the hot sun anyway. Watched 9.20 - 13.45 (and shared one banana which was the only food we had with us). 3 Black Storks and 200 White, 108 Black Kite, 12 Egyptian Vulture, 1 Griffon, 12 Short-toed Eagle (C. gallicus), 6 Marsh Harrier, 2 Pallid, 4 Montagu's, 11 Sparrowhawks, 8 Levant Sparrowhawks, 23 Sparrowhawk sp., 1310 Buteo, 6 Lesser Spotted Eagle, 106 Steppe, 4 Imperial, 16 Eagle sp., 4 Booted and an Osprey. Checked the Hurghada region again and did some shopping when it got dark. Gave the car away and took a taxi to the hotel. Tapani was burning with fever, but luckily it had passed the following morning. 13.4 Early morning flight back to Finland, saw the Giza pyramids from the plane when we landed in Cairo. Intresting species: Little Bittern, I. minutus 1 Nile Night Heron, N. nycticorax 23 Crocodile Island Green Heron, B. striatus 4 Nile Squacco Heron, A. ralloides 99 Nile, Abu Simbel Great White Egret, E. alba 1 Nile Purple Heron, A. purpurea 7 Nile, Abu Simbel Yellow-billed Stork, M. ibis 4 Abu Simbel Black Stork, C. nigra 42 migrating White Stork, C. ciconia 947 migrating Spoonbill, P. leucorodia 2 Abu Simbel Egyptian Goose, A. aegyptiacus 50 Abu Simbel Black-shouldered Kite, E. caeruleus 34 Nile (clearly much smaller numbers than in january when we saw 351) Black Kite, M. migrans 359 both stationary and on migration Egyptian Vulture, N. percnopterus 51 Abu Simbel and migrating Griffon Vulture, G. fulvus 3 migrating Lapped-faced Vulture, T. tracheliotus 3 Abu Simbel Short-toed Eagle, C. gallicus 13 on migration Marsh Harrier, C. aeruginosus 28 Pallid Harrier, C. macrourus 4 on migration Montagu's Harrier, C. pygargus 11 -"- Circus mac/pyg 1 -"- Sparrowhawk, A. nisus 21 -"- Levant Sparrowhawk, A. brevipes 11 -"- Accipter nis/bre 43 -"- Buzzard, B. buteo + sp 2071 -"- Lesser Spotted Eagle, A. pomarina 9 -"- Steppe Eagle, A. nipalensis 158 -"- Imperial Eagle, A. heliaca 5 -"- Aquila sp. 32 -"- Booted Eagle, H. pennatus 11 -"- Osprey, P. haliaetus 14, mostly stationary Kestrel, F. tinnunculus + sp. 61 Lanner, F. biarmicus 3 Barbary Falcon, F. pelegrinoides 3 Purple Gallinule, P. porphyrio 5 Nile Stone-Curlew, B. oedicnemus 4 at Hurghada Cream-coloured Courser 9 at Hurghada Greater Sand Plover, C. leschenaultii 11 at Hurghada Sooty Gull, L. hemprichii 30 at Hurghada White-eyed Gull, L. leucophtalmus 219 at Hurghada Great Black-headed Gull, L. ichtyaetus 6 at Hurghada Slender-billed Gull, L. genei 8 at Hurghada Gull-billed Tern, S. nilotica 5 at Aswan Caspian Tern, S. caspia 30 at Hurghada Swift Tern, S. bergii 11 at Hurghada Common Tern, S. hirundo 2 at Hurghada White-cheeked Tern, S. repressa 1 at Hurghada Little Tern, S. albifrons 4 at Hurghada Whiskered Tern, C. hybridus 3 Spotted Sandgrouse, P. senegallus 5 Aswan-Abu Simbel Turtle Dove, S. turtur 26 Nile, Abu Simbel Barn Owl, T. alba 1 Luxor Pied Kingfisher, C. rudis 35 Nile Little Green Bee-eater, M. orientalis 19 Nile Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, M. superciliosus 13 Nile European Bee-eater, M. apiaster 257 Nile Wryneck, J. torquilla 1 Hurghada Desert Lark, A. deserti 6 Eastern Desert Bimaculated Lark, M. bimaculata 3 Hurghada Short-toed Lark, C. brachydactyla 315 Pale Crag Martin, H. fuligula 66 Red-rumped Swallow, H. daurica 9 Tawny Pipit, A. campestris 16 Red-throated Pipit, A. cervinus 33 Black-eared Wheatear, O. hispanica 4 White-crowned Black Wheatear, O. leucopyga 28 Aswan, Abu Simbel Savi's Warbler, L. luscinioides 1 Hurghada Sedge Warbler, A. schoenobaenus 1 Hurghada Blyth's Reed Warbler, A. dumetorum? 1 Abu Simbel Reed Warbler, A. scirpaceus 3 Abu Simbel Clamorous Reed Warbler, A. stentoreus 12 Nile Olivaceous Warbler, H. pallida 42 Bonelli's Warbler, P. bonelli 4 Abu Simbel, Hurghada Wood Warbler, P. sibilatrix 1 Abu Simbel Nile Valley Sunbird, A. metallicus 22 Luxor Woodchat Shrike, L. senator 3 Masked Shrike, L. nubicus 4 Spanish Sparrow, P. hispaniolensis 7 Trumpeter Finch, B. githagineus 6 Eastern Desert Altogether 135 (not much compared to 131 in january, but we did not visit the north where the waders and the wildfowl gather, so we did not really see any big numbers). Any comments or questions welcome. Annika Forsten, Finland