For the long weekend, my family traveled to Egypt.
I wanted to go birding, and hopefully get a good picture of a Pied Kingfisher.
On the first day we were there, Friday, I explored the Pyramids at Giza with my parents and my younger sister. The next day, we all got up early to go birdwatching at Fayyum Oasis. We stopped along the way at a small canal leading to Quran Lake and the Fayyum Oasis. There was trash covering the ground, including hundreds of flip-flops and plastic bottles. As we continued along the path, I noticed a Pied Kingfisher on a Wire above the canal, occasionally swooping down into the water and quickly coming back up with a fish. There were also two boys on their donkeys with hay on the donkey’s backs heading to the market, with their dogs following behind.
We rode in the car for another hour and a half before eventually getting to the Oasis. When we arrived at Al Fayyum, a local man with traditional tea was waiting for us. My sister was getting restless in the car, so this was a perfect break. After we finished the tea, my mom and I walked down the beach close to the water. There were dozens of Ring-Billed Gulls in the water and in the air. Along with the Ring-Billed Gulls, several Little Ringed Plovers were in the sand, darting back and forth from the water. After about 45 minutes at Fayyum, we decided to head to the Saqqara Necropolis for a few more birds, including Crested Larks and Wheatears.
As we were about to arrive at the Saqqara Necropolis, I noticed at least five Black-Shouldered Kites on the telephone wires, which shows that many species have adapted to the human environment in Egypt. Perched on the statues near the pyramid were dozens of White-Crested and Desert Wheatears.
On our way back from Saqqara, we saw over a hundred Little Egrets in the trees about to go roost. There were also at least 20 Pied Kingfishers on the wires over a small canal that branches off the Nile River.
