Hotspots

Egypt is an important travel destination and one of Africa's most visited countries. Many people plan a holiday to Egypt for more than birdwatching and there is much to satisfy their requirements whether their interests are ancient architecture, history, diving or a river cruise. Fortunately for birdwatchers, many of the locations for such activities coincide with good areas for birds. A visit to the pyramids offers the possibility of some desert birding and watching soaring migrants at Suez. The Red Sea is a good place to sea gull and tern species as well as spring migrants. An Upper Nile cruise gives the chance of combining antiquities with waterbirds. Sinai offers the opportunity to see birds unlikely to be found elsewhere in the country.

Birding can be done in Egypt at any time although a key consideration for visiting birders and especially those from more northerly countries are the high temperatures in summer. Spring and autumn migration periods are popular because of the possibility of seeing large numbers of species, and the weather in winter can still be good with the chance of large numbers of waterbirds.

The Ornithological Society of the Middle East has an excellent article about the birdwatching possibilities at Zaranik. Where else is it possible to have almost exclusive use of several miles of a beautiful sandy beach, excellent weather and thousands of birds flying past all day on visible migration? This is autumn at the eastern Mediterranean migration hotspot of Zaranik, Egypt.