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EGYPT
In Search of Western Palearctic Megas!

For the avid Western Palearctic lister, Egypt is a must-visit destination as it can provide nearly 20 species that are impossible anywhere else in the region, plus another 10 you can see in Kuwait. Add to this some fantastic migrants, plenty of other great birds and even a drop of culture and you've got a heady mix towards a classic birding destination. Starting in Cairo we will visit some excellent sites around the city in search of Greater Painted Snipe, Kittlitz's Plover, Senegal Coucal, Nile Valley Sunbird & Red Avadavat. Heading just a couple of hours south we will make an attempt at Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse, here at its only accessible site i the entire Western Palearctic. Continuing south, we will pick up African Green Bee-eater if we haven't already seen it yet, and stop for the night at Luxor. Along the Nile we should see African Swamphen (recently lumped in Purple Gallinule), Senegal Thick-knee, Pied & White-throated Kingfishers amongst others. At Aswan we will make a boat trip out onto Lake Nasser and explore the surrounding area for the mega Three-banded Plover & Streaked Weaver, as well as having our first chance of Yellow-billed Stork & African Pied Wagtail.

At this point we will swing eastwards to a superb all-inclusive resort on the Red Sea where we will target Lappet-faced Vulture, Crab-Plover, White-eyed & Sooty Gulls, and take a boat ride out to the Hamata Islands for Sooty Falcon, White-cheeked, Bridled & Great Crested Terns and Brown Booby. In the mangroves along the cast Goliath Heron occasionally appears, and we also have a slim chance of Yellow Bittern as well. Following a relaxing 3 nights along the coast we will head back inland to the Nile valley once again.

In the far south of the country and a stone's throw from the border with Sudan we will spend a couple of night's at Abu Simbel - THE hotspot for rare African species wandering across the border of the Western Palearctic boundary. here we will look for Reed Cormorant, Yellow-billed Stork, Kittlitz's Plover, Plain Martin & Village Weaver, as well as African Pied Wagtail again.

There's a fine supporting cast of potential species that includes various herons & egrets, Little Bittern, Black-winged Kite, Yellow-billed Kite, Cream-coloured Courser, Pharaoh Eagle Owl, Egyptian Nightjar, Greater Hoopoe-Lark, Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, Streaked Scrub Warbler, Clamorous Reed Warbler, Pallid Swift, Hooded, Mourning, White-crowned Wheatears, Trumpeter Finch and others. Migration can also add some surprises and possibilities include White-tailed Lapwing, Eurasian Wryneck, Masked Shrike, Semicollared Flycatcher, Marsh & Eastern Bonelli's Warblers, Ortolan & Cretzschmar's Buntings & so much more!

Of course there will be some culture as well..!