I've just got back from a weeks Scuba diving holiday in Marsa Alam. The "Coral beach divers lodge" is an oasis surrounded by desert and sea. This makes it a good spot for birding in the morning before the days diving.
The first bird spotted was one of the many Chiffchaff feeding around the small shrubs. I discovered that our new compact digicam is great for digibinning as well as digiscoping! I couldnt bring the scope on this baggage allowance but with the 12x50 bins, I managed some half decent record shots.
For those who dont know, "Digiscoping" is using a spotting scope as a lens to photograph through, getting a much closer shot of the subject. "Digibinning" is using 1 of the binoculars lenses to shoot through, much more difficult as its shaky and less magnified.
Click on these photos to see larger version
Got this nice shot of one of many osprey in the area, but this one is perched in front of the Emperor divers boat that we were diving from.
It was great to watch the ospreys fishing (very successfully) from the dive boat during our surface intervals. Its must be a much easier life for them here, than in Scotland!
The most numerous bird around the resort was the Pied/White wagtail, most were of the alba variety. Every evening 20+ birds would gather to roost together.
This shot shows the birds nape, best for diagnosing subspecies.
A single female kestrel was seen everyday patrolling the resort grounds. I did wonder what was the main diet with the lack of voles? Beetles? small birds? There werent any lizards arounds.
Rock doves were prolific and the resort buildings provided plenty nestings spots.
Laughing doves were also numerous around the resort.
A pair of brown necked ravens were often riding on the winds over the hotel.
And so on to water birds and waders. Cattle egret were the only species to actually enter the resort. Hadnt quite got to grips with the new camera at this time, a bit out of focus.
The (dark phase) reef egret was very easy to approach in the nearby marina and lagoons.
The first waders found were these greenshank, quite common in pairs on the Red Sea coast.
I was very impressed that the new Fuji f40 is even quick enough to capture reasonable flight shots!
On the (half built) new marina at Port Ghalib, there were plenty sand plovers. 20+ could be found each day, usually with something else hiding amongst them......
....like this Kentish Plover
.......or this redshank
Again, I'm amazed to have gotten sharp flight shots, through the binoculars.
Seems that I've started a bit of a debate on Birdforum on whether these sand plovers (above) are greater or lesser. Click here to see the discussion.
A bird that I didnt manage to capture on camera was Sardinian warbler. Easy to find around the resorts of Egypt, I knew its call from previous visits. I thought I'd found a Lesser whitethroat too, but this turned out to be a sard female.
Jill found the first kingfisher, seen a few times around the marina, but too quick and camera-shy.
I found a single coot in the marina too, not sure how unusual this is. I've never seen one on the red sea coast before but I may have, on the nile.
Out on the reefs terns and gulls are few and far between. Caspian tern and 3 or 4 first winter Lesser black backed gulls were all that I found.
I think I saw 3 grey heron at a distance, I cant think what else they might have been, and a single cormorant flying low up the coast too.
I'm not too good with pipits although there were a few around the grounds, probably mipits.
So the weeks total list was
Chiffchaff
White wagtail
Laughing dove
Kestrel
Sardinian warbler
Pipit sp
Lesser Sand plover
Kentish plover
Greenshank
Kingfisher
Cattle egret
Reef egret (dark phase)
Brown necked raven
Night heron
Caspian tern
LBB gull (1st winter)
Coot
Great cormorant
Grey heron
Redshank
= 20 species
