On the second day in Sharm El Sheikh, I started recorded birds, first from my hotel at Naama Blue Hotel, in Naama Bay. Taking breakfast outdoor, on the terasse allowed me to record few species...
On Wednesday 16 morning, after breakfast, around 7:30, I caught a taxi to visit the new sewage treatment plant of Sharm. The taxi driver initially asked me for 500 £, which I bargained to 300 £. Arrived at proximity, we realized it was a guarded entrance of a place called "safari center", where you can ride camels or quads. After some discussions with the guards, checking my passport and telling i was coming to look for birds, they allowed me to enter, provided that the taxi comes with me and wait for me. The driver renegotiate the price to wait for me an hour and drive me back to my hotel, arguing presumably rightly that it was the time, when most participantsof the COP were converging to the venue, and when he can make the most profit in the day. The price raised to 1000 £, about 150 SAR.
I was surprised to discover that the site is laid out to receive birders, with a paved track reaching a birds observation tower. Walking between the ponds is not allowed. The tower gave a good overview of the ponds, under shade. Only inconvenient was that at 8:30 am, i had the sun in the face.
Staying an hour in the tower provided several good species, amon them 2 black storks, more than a hundred white storks, 1 lesser spotted Eagle, few steppe eagles, 2 black vultures, a species previously unrecorded on this site, and 2 white-headed ducks.
This raises my list for Egypt to 37 species.
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