egypt wildlife 2

grey heron

2010-12-20T20:01:00.000-08:00

nile life in luxor is on www.nilelife.blog.co.uk
birds and wildlife is on, www.nilelife.blog.com

nilelfe has a new home

2010-12-14T09:52:00.000-08:00

given up with google blogspot,

my blogs have a new home.
nile life in luxor is on www.nilelife.blog.co.uk
birds and wildlife is on, www.nilelife.blog.com
This is a very small bird and a rare visitor to the upper delta of the Nile, if you want to see the rest of today's bird photos. go to my new blog posts on
http://nilelife.blog.co.uk/

blogspot.

2010-12-07T02:11:00.000-08:00

my post's are now on http://nilelife5.blogspot.com/2010/12/6th-december-birds-along-nile.html,

fan-tailed cisticola. cisticola juncidis, Black-winged kite(elanus caeruleus),

2010-12-01T01:13:00.000-08:00

http://nilelife5.blogspot.com/2010/12/fan-tailed-cisticola-cisticola-juncidis.html
Black-winged kite(elanus caeruleus), http://nilelife5.blogspot.com/2010/11/black-winged-kiteelanus-caeruleus.html,
all my latest adventure photos are on
http://tonymyegypt.blogspot.com/

This week photos from port said Oct 2010

2010-11-29T11:03:00.000-08:00

all my latest adventure photos are on
http://tonymyegypt.blogspot.com/

nile valley sun bird

2010-11-17T20:55:00.000-08:00

nile valley sun bird female juvenile.

my blogspot is now on.
http://nilelife5.blogspot.com/

black head

2010-09-25T00:16:00.000-07:00

the old farmer

In the 80s I had bought a pre 1600s farm house to renovate along with the old farm I bought a few acres of land where we ;- me and my wife decided to do a bit of farming first came a couple of pigs good rooters as long as they come with no rings in the nose, they cleared the land of unwanted weeds such as nettles dock etc, then we bought a guilt in pig this was a rare breed oxford and sandy. but she was all black and the reason we got her at a reduced price, we named her dolly and she had several litters of 12 piglets and she only lost one the reason!! dolly decided she did not lik being inside from the day she had her first litter, we as her adopted parents went by the book and made here a very comfortable furrowing shed with a rail so the piglets as the book said had somewhere to escape to when mummy lay down to feed, but dolly after 2 days of looking after her brood wanted to go out. one reason was she had already made her litter bed in what we called the shelter. this consisted of a few bales of straw and hay and an old oak beam across the ground entrance and this is where dolly spent her day with head resting on the oak beam . surveing all she owned when not digging up what she owned, and this beam was the blame of dolly loosing one piglet her second litter the first one out was against the wood it was too deep for such a little thing to climb back in to the forrowing nest and the evening frost killed her, now we humans think our piggies and other creatures have no think brain., dolly never laid back to the beam again while furrowing, neither did she eat her dead offspring.
the shelter had a fine view of the fields. and mum and dad when it was feed time, we had goats, wild mallards that we inherited with the farm, and all manor of breeds of hens geese and ducks. that all needed feed, dolly would wait until after the goat milking when her meal of home ground corn and ground maze was mixed with the milk. and she had taken her litter to her own made home. and nothing we did made her go back to the fancy furrowing shed, the piglets had the run of the farm untill they became to big to get between the gate bars, much to their disslike. and they would squeal" stuck in here" anyway the reason for this blog post. our first xmas on the farm we bought a turkey from one of our pig breeding freinds, a rather expensive bronze turkey but very nice it was too lasted all the festive season and only too right at 26 lb in oven weight.
in spring we had all manor of poultry chicks for sale, and was offered a swap of 3 bronze turkeys for some harlequin ducks. ooh yes we said with glee. thinking how much we paid for our festive turkey,
What a mistake we made   knew nothing about the turkeys upbringing ready for the xmas ahead and sell the others. one drowned itself   in the drinking water tray, did not know that did you said the vet, they are proned to commiting suicide have to have a special water feeder. and he said yo had better get The drug Dimetridazole to be used in the drinking water or feed,   black head my freind Histomoniasis,
bloody hell we said . as they already had the desease as chicks, and died within a few weeks,
and here in Egypt the bloody things are everywhere, what about histomoniasis I ask ,?   what ?
black heads.    you think my turkey has got zits?

an all male group no wonder they all came flocking over to me

the face of a dragonfly

2010-09-21T07:05:00.000-07:00

google blog probs,

2010-09-19T13:44:00.000-07:00

I am having to upload my pics on another google account, publish then cut and paste on to this post, seem a bit farsicle but its the way google play things,
http://www.nilelife.blogspot.com/
eastern long tailed butterfly.

You maybe asking what is this guy doing in a dumping ground??
well all I can say is where there are flies and strange pongs there are spiders dragonflies
etc, and today I am not carrying any weight all I have is my new Olympus pocket camera,
as I had no intention of birding today , just a walkabout around town but one thing led to another and I found myself on the outskirts of the city the photos up to this point are on the
me and my camera blogspot

this is a dry irrigation channel well overgrown and a good place for the spiders

known as the Wasp Spider. That zig-zag ribbon of silk is called the stabilimentum - there are several theories as to its purpose.

grasshoppers are everywhere and all sizes

this one was about 3 1/2" but was playing shy in the sugar cane leaves,

only bird photo of the day the little green bee-eater,

blue chaser

green and brown chaser not so easy to take photos of where I was deep in the scrub,
But I am quite content with today's photos of our wonderful wildlife.

praying mantis,Archimantis latistyla

2010-09-18T00:33:00.000-07:00

fly having a ride on the praying mantis,Archimantis latistyla

A recently laid mantis ootheca

nilelife4.blogspot.com/

2010-09-17T01:22:00.000-07:00

photo from the new posts on http://nilelife4.blogspot.com/
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on bugs in egypt,
fly having a ride on the praying mantis,Archimantis latistyla

12 sept walk to the welands

2010-09-12T09:47:00.000-07:00

females.... nile valley sun bird

A new sighting for me today The southern Grey Shrike bringing my birds species photos to 77.
the rest of the birds are on http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/

the little white egret hunting

blue tailed damsel all 6 species and the dragons can be seen on the http://egyptdragonflies.blogspot.com/

grasshopper

whoopoe bird

Argiope bruennichi, wasp spider web

sedge warbler.

another new find looks like a tiny wasp

no steam engines on the nile

2010-09-03T17:30:00.000-07:00

Village life part 3

Making foul the best tasting (fool) is made this way cooked slowly overnight in the household rubbish including what waste comes from the animals backsides. Beans mixed with herbs and spices.

another salesman in the village.
m
This guy is the tree cleaner the matting from the tree has many uses, used as a cloth to wash . made into all types of brushes brooms paint Etc the branches also have a number of uses first to make chairs and tables crates for fruit and vegetables, folds (pens) for the animals wattling for wall etc, etc,
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The old pump house chimney as you get closer it looks like a forgotten relic in the middle of the village now a place for dumping the rubbish that's if the village people can be bothered to step out of the front door to tip their rubbish, a place that houses snakes rats and other wildlife inside, gone has any piece of metal that would have any monitory value, only the steel bends are left just incase someone will need them and therefore will have more value than scrap iron.

l

p
the opening seen in the base of the chimney
this a shot looking up the inside of the chimney and it took all my will power to stop me climbing up there to get a surrounding areal view A few years ago I would not have even thought about it but I know my back would have given in half way up and unlike a ladder with poles each side of the rungs if I did get stuck
I could have slid down to safety . we must grow old gracefully and give in. such is life.
,
The whole of this buildings windows and doors have been bricked up not that this will hinder the thieves of Egypt .. the seem to have the God given right to take anything, Ah its a gift from Allah.
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Looking up from what was the grand entrance into the pump house,
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The villagers view of the Building.

Not sure if this is the older of the two pump houses but its in bad disrepair
the land around and inside has been filled in and we are now looking at what was the first floor

k
Inside the floor has been filled with rubbish so none of the old plinths etc that the old machines stood on are visable the brickwork with the hole in it is the chimney base and the opening for the fire is another 2 metres down in the infill. this building dates back to the mid 1800s and has I would think been derelict since the late 20s when mechanical pumps came into use.. I do not know what these steam engines where fired up with but wood is not ready available in Egypt never has been even the Pharaos brought timber in from Lebanon and other countries. And I have not heard that coal has been mined here but the coals could have been brought by barge down the Nile as all these pump houses just like the Temples were built by the Nile.

Even the roof timbers are made from palm trees these are not a good burner the tend to smoke not heat up and would not have been any use to heat up the huge boilers to drive the beam engine pumps that could lift up to 200 gallons of water into the canals in one stroke these pump houses only had one use and that was for irrigation of the land. the people used the Nile for everything they came to the Nile for drinking water, ablutions and bathing. everything was washed in the Nile including the domestic animals, the water was always clean because it flows so fast. that was before they built the Dams te regulate its waters,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aswan_Dam
they say themselves NO NILE NO EGYPT. and its a pity the mentality has gone to keep the Nile Clean.

Half filled in is the pit where once the pipes lay just a trap now for snakes and the children that wish to piss in it

Views from the old pump house of the Nile

View of what was the ramp or loading area from the Nile

A new born Donkey foal

A second view at the bread oven its sole purpose is to cook bread not to burn rubbish even though they use plastic and whatever the can find to heat these ovens up. the worst thing they use now is polystyrene from packages that foul acrid smell and black pieces hovering in the air and getting on peoples chests, but no thought of that here these are simple people and this stuff makes good quick heat . hooray for polystyrene coming to Egypt they say?%$&"

The front door an excelent bit of craftmanship using local materials
one side of the door the wall has sunk 4"

The scenery here on the outscirts of Luxor City is supperb and one of the reasons I chose to live here and
its simple way of life, back in 2002 I did not know or realize how simple the people are,

the fruit and veg man

l
No we are not on the riviera this is the Nile at Luxor the Nile is at its lowest and dirtiest
no swimming for us foreigners unless we need a dose of dysentery or a mouth infection,

I could be on a tropical Island

Or even a deserted Island

Or crossing the Atlantic watching the wake from the propellers of a huge ocean liner

but here I am in Luxor Egypt cropping photos to show you how Nice this place is
and its a shame because this place I chose to live has so much going for it but the culture of the natives spoil its beauty, but I can find Quiet places and have my dreams.

the heronry.May 2010

2010-09-01T04:36:00.000-07:00

latest nile birds are on http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/
Another wonderful half day on Banana Island heronry, so many fledglings trying their wings today also many few day old chicks one of the trees with the nests at eye level the tree is growing from the base of the Nile river bank so I am standing twenty foot up to tree level. so a few of the baby chicks are only maybe 15ft away from the camera, no need for any more commentary just enjoy the young Little white Egrets and the Cattle egrets chicks. click on the photos to enlarge,

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the heronry one week before 22/4/10
As promised I went to the heronry today and it was a nice day out real nice breeze too cool things down.
I sat down near my usual spot to watch the kingfishers a bit too windy for them all they did was perch and have squabbles with the offspring i suppose the young did not understand why there was no fish today. and I shall explain for what I think. The Nile was a bit choppy and the mud was being churned up making the waters murky the Kingfishers hover at about 20ft above the water and dive as soon as a fish comes to surface for air. so the kingfisher has to watch it come up. then dive hitting the water at the same time the fish takes air. now the herons have no such problems. most times they wade in the water or perch on flotsam. and wait for a fish to come in striking range like today this Little white egret dived from a perch and caught its prey.

seeing there are a lot of young Little white egrets about one might think this fish was going to feed one of them, It seems the Little white Egret is a cuckoo from what I saw at the heronry. not only do the Cattle egrets build the nests but it seems they sit on the cuckoo's eggs

this is a large white heron chick so all three of the White egrets are nesting in this area,

I saw one or two chicks foraging around on the ground on my way through the fruit tree grove so this was a sure indication that the trees of the heronry will be very active .

I have not been to this part before this is the roof of the pump house that pumps water for the banana island plantation its about 20 ft down to the Nile River and it pumps about 8ft up to the plantation water level this tree in the Nile has about 50 nests most with chicks as I clambered down to the entrance of the pump house I was about 6ft away from some of the nests on the top of the tree. I could almost touch the Cattle egrets.

This nest has a white egret chick.

You all shut up the kids are trying to sleep

Ats all a hassle.

2010-08-25T18:37:00.000-07:00

egyptswildlife2.blogspot.com has moved to /http://egyptwildlife2.blogspot.com/
Hard to understand when I have in the past few days taken 500 pics off here I do not have picasa web
even though its a good programe but not for us bloggers, as it keeps every photo downloaded to the computer,
and stores them sometimes in triplicate, 1 photo from the camera is 4,500x 3250 , one cut for web is 1000x750, the n blogged another 1000x750. so one photo in picasa album becomes 6.500x4.750.

I had to cut and paste this one photo img_7461.jpg to show wats on the next post
,
this is what shows on photo upload on this account,, in a few months it will be back to normal and I can put 500 more photos on.

[failed] IMG_7461.JPG
You have exceeded your total photo upload quota.
How can I get more storage for my images?
Images and photos that are uploaded through Blogger get stored in your Picasa Web Albums, which are part of your Google Account. The number of images you can upload is therefore dependent on the amount of space you are using on Picasa Web Albums. To find out how much space you have available, please see these instructions.
Note: If you have recently upgraded your quota limit, you may have to login to your PWA account, in order for the new storage quota to be reflected on Blogger.

Egrets and freinds

2010-08-17T09:29:00.000-07:00

Some of todays pics, all of the days pics are taken on the west bank of luxor. go to my other blogs to see the bugs, dragonflies and birds.

http://insectsonwings.blogspot.com/2009/12/wrapping-up_30.html

This that and some people

2010-08-15T11:57:00.000-07:00

Now first I would like to say, its nice when people ask if they can use a photo I know that my photos must be ok! but personally if I want to use a photo, I link to that photo. I think its a bit of a cheek when I go to all the trouble of getting good photos to put on MY blog to show those of you who have no chance of seeing what I see. some are in wheelchairs some housebound and others just do not have the time or money to go holidays in Egypt. to those of you who do ask!! no I do not mind you using a photo. but not so you can make money out of it.I also am getting a bit pissed off with the chinks, that comment using our sites to do your porno. next person to comment gets a load of spam. Joan S A P e-mailed me to say she will not be commenting again on my blog because of this problem.
Ok thats the moan out of the way. lets get back to the other kind of bugs and wildlife.
One more thing My wife has made a complaint, " oh no" the photo comments should be under the Photo. and as her wish is my command I shall be doing so in future.
so photo first then the story.

The only other passenger to use the upper deck on the Nile ferry today. I guess he was kind of nervious as to the water worthyness of this vessel as he sat in the bouy all the way accross the river.

I guess its safer to use the ferry than this police launch.

Looking back at the Temple of Luxor and my flat In a few months all this promenadewill have changed
and here is a link to that story with photos of the construction http://nilelife2.blogspot.com/2010/08/new-promenade-in-luxor.html

I was on my way to see the swallows when I noticed a bit of splashing in the Nile its seems the fish are guarding the spawn They have made a hollow in the sand, laid the spawn and are attacking any thing that comes near. great to watch real nile nife better than any movie. problem is the action is so fast that its impossible to get a shot even with a dvd camera there is all the silt movement making the water murky.

This is the area where I saw all the dragonflies 2 days ago its Ramadan and its very hot so a good excuse for a drink is a dip in the Nile, Ooh" a bit of water went in my mouth.

Next shots are from the blog 2 days ago

This area was covered with hundreds of dragon flies some on the donkey droppings but most on the sand just perched and all had their tails sticking up it was another experiance I will never forget all these black winged dragonflies flying about my legs as I walked on the sand. not sure what they get from the sand as the Nile is not salt water. its not fresh or clean either.

The next few shots shows the sand littered with them.

This is the same area half an hour later as the boys came for a swim they take no notice of any of the wildlife. its like they share the beach area.

End of part one. the other new bird I saw today is on the birding in Egypt blogspot,

and this rather good shot of todays sunset seeing its got 3 Great white Egrets in it.

Hume's Tawny Owl. Strix butlery

2010-08-14T15:26:00.000-07:00

Hume's Tawny Owl. Strix butlery

bird no 77. 1.00 in the night I was watching the Greco's doing their nightly velcro movements on the opposite wall when the Hume's tried to catch one. then it perched above me on the next balcony I rushed in for the camera. and managed to get this shot before it flew off into the night. sorry I could not get a dcent photo but I saw it and it was just lovely to watch. . .

Ramadan is here again,

2010-08-11T09:27:00.000-07:00

Will not make the slightest bit of difference to the wildlife they will do the same as they have done since time began and we and our beliefs where not even thought of. Like this little water buffalo cleaner
Gets to have its own flotsam where it can eat all day thats as long as the flies are not observing Ramadan.

ooh " there is a fly on my nose, Ah" but Mrs donkey its Ramadan I can not eat the fly, it will have too tickle you to death.

The little white egrets still clearing the land of frogs and anything else thats edible.

The Squacco herron in its natural habitat.

The chicken looks like its got a pair of long johns on

The next few shots shows the sand littered with them.

This is the same area half an hour later as the boys came for a swim they take no notice of any of the wildlife. its like they share the beach area.

This and that

2010-08-11T01:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterdays caterpillar, Elephant hawk moth caterpillar.
The buzzard is keeping way up in the thermals when it does come down its way too fast to get a decent shot,

This is another what at first sight seems to be a white butterfly not sure if its the leaves that make it look green.

The sparrows have found a good place to cool off

The laughing dove watching the sparrows bathing.

The smaller things in Life

2010-08-06T23:49:00.000-07:00

Squacco, bulbul,moorhen, little white egret

2010-08-06T00:34:00.000-07:00

Juveinile and female Squacco heron

Nature trail

2010-08-05T07:13:00.000-07:00

My nature trail today Takes us to an area known as Banana Island and an area that has been my concerrn over the past twelve months of irisponsible Dumping of toxic waste in what was the estuary of Banana island
Today It Is no longer an Island and the first photos show some of the damage the filling of this land is doing to the wildlife. , my website on nile pollution to you the photos may look normal,
The first photo is a normal shot the water buffalo share the shaded areas with the wildlife as I walk down the path that once at this time of year would be full of Nile water and the begining of the reed beds,
the water buffalo would be wallowing in a water hole not put under a shaded area. as it was two years ago on my first visit down this path and had to turn back because I had no intention of

walking in reed bed water, and two years ago I was not into nature photography or dragon hunting walks,

The Buffalo is only 4/5 meters from the next photos, on seeing these at first glance I thought wow another species of dragons or are they grasshopers,, on closser inspection they ar certainly not grass hoppers.

These would have been dragonflies I do not know why they died on these Bullrush reed stems but there was maybe 50 or so in about 50square meters, I took my shoes off and had a look in other areas of the reed beds And I did not see anymore dried up dragons.carcasses.

I am no expert on this . but I have been coming to this place for 18 months. And I have not seen this before also its only in a small area where the toxic waste of the hospital was dumped.
and if anyone knows what they are and if I am wrong please comment. to allay my fears on this ,
Have no intention of going for another walk tomorrow. so todays photos of which there are many. will be kept for another day. birds will be on the birdinginegypt blog, dragons will be on the dragonsand damsel bllog. and the other things I saw on my walk will be on nilelife2 blog. plus a delicious honey melon, grapes and the lemons I rescued from a tree that had been cut down.
Stay cool. from a very hot Luxor Egypt.

Visitor night and day

2010-07-29T15:23:00.000-07:00

The two young doves paid a visit today they have been away for almost 2 weeks, the older doves are always here, so I thought maybe they have found themselves another nesting place. so maybe I will have the pleasure of seeing yet another generation of the Laughing doves,

I got up at 2.00 to make myself a cup of tea and have a shower, this young greco was clinging to the bathroom door suround must have been wondering what this crazy human was doing in water scaring all its food away, it was so cute. its only about 2.1/2 " long

And it stayed in the same place as I walked out of the bathroom 6" under it to get my Camera,

busy bees and things

2010-07-28T07:07:00.000-07:00

Never seen anything as busy as these sand bees see the third picture how much sand it moves in one dig.
first it gets in the hole digs some backs out and moves it again and again until the sand is clear of the hole.

The spider is growing fast even though its still only about 1/4 inch, its almost twice its size in 3 weeks

The dragon and the bug

I have a feeling these are water boatmen male and female so she will be a water boat woman!

they are too small to be a beetle and the legs are too long.

they where on the waters edge

The kissing fish

grasshoppers green and brown. about 1" long

This one is about 4"long

Frogging and fishing

2010-07-22T07:42:00.000-07:00

The frogs do not get a chance to grow I saw quite a few today but they are so small no point in trying to get a photo as I already have a few on another post.

It was great watching the birds hunting I put my hearing aid in today and such a noise the ducklings made slurping through the mud,

But the main focus today was the Egrets fishing,
The first 6 shots are the Little white Egret

Then the Cattle Egret was intent on getting a fes frogs, while minding one of the Bufallo one frog is so much bigger than a fly. especially since it was hopping around the beast.

Not so clever getting frogs, a mouth full of grass.
.

Thats better

Then comes the heavy mob, ok where where them frogs..

This Muskovi could not understand why her two young like the water so much and frogging to boot.

Is three a crowd

2010-07-21T10:54:00.000-07:00

Across the alleyway to my flat there is a lovely victorian dwelling. but just like the egyptians as long as it is standing upright its OK, all the rubbish is dumped on its roof wood etc just in case we get a cold winters day and a fire is needed,
here there is all manor of bugs etc for the doves grecos there is even a cat that comes to make sure the rats are kept in check, even the Kestrel has been seen catching a rat on its roof. much to my enjoyment.

Laughing doves having a chuckle. or is it the mating game

Part 2 of yesterdays walk

2010-07-19T23:25:00.000-07:00

Here the dragons are just about moving in the reed bed never seen so many in one place.

I do not know what makes this kind of hole in the mud banks if I was on a beach i would say a crab of some sorts , It is a perfect circle its also just a few cm above the water line.

the dragon and the butterfly

.the Little green bee eater is back lots of photos of her on the birdinginegypt blog.

Gracful prinia

My first long walk about in over a month.

2010-07-19T05:53:00.000-07:00

at 5.30 I set off on what used to be a regular past time walking and taking photos, it was a real treat for me And the scenes and the wildlife was worth the effort of an early morning rise, it is also much too hot to go walk about between 10.00 and 19.00 . yesterday it was 51c + in my flat . that makes for sunburn weather

or sun stroke. first I will show sunrise and go through my walk showing one of each species If you want to see the whole collection go to the sidebar. and click on the relevant blog, Ie birds will be on birding in egypt. all my blogs have the word Egypt in the blogspot heading.

The bird in the above photo is the Squacco heron and the same Heron as it came to feed on the wetlands'

as soon as it realized I was there it took off again once I was on my way it came back again

the Little white Egret always hunting for the next meal

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The first bird I saw was sitting on a wire Quite high up not a good shot and cannot Identify the species. I thought at first it was the Bulbul, after getting it on the computer I do not think I have seen this one before

The laughing dove, such a pretty bird lots of them around searching for food before it gets too hot,

then this one The Gracful Prinia, So tiny and so active, like me she is hunting for the dragons but they will catch in flight and fly off to eat. she had enough to choose from today Hundreds of dragons about even on the wires close to where this shot was taken. they seem tobe all one species or Maybe its to early and the others are late risers.

A closup of one of the dragons on the wires,

I have got many shots of the black winged darteron the dragons blogspot, they mate with a lighter couler and it seems this is the offspring not seen one this colour before so I took a shot of it.

This beetle was too far in the swamp for me to get a decent photo it would have been nice to have got a macro shot , never seen one of these before, another day maybe. but I know now where to look.

f inish part one with this shot of the Water bufallo calf and her minder the cattle egret

the egret is also this years baby.

Doves, laughing or Turtle doves

2010-07-16T04:57:00.000-07:00

In the evenings the doves sit on the wall opposite my flat, basking in the gentle rays of the evening sun,
and the reason I have been calling these turtle doves, there is only two pairs of doves near my flat one pair being the parents,

Here in the shade or no sun they are Laughing doves being a more gray colour. ,

some of the shots are taken today with no sun

Dragonflies have taken over from the birds

2010-07-15T04:28:00.000-07:00

The past 3 days have been a treat there are hundreds of dragonflies and damsels its strange how , even though there is only a few miles or a stretch of water to devide the species, on the http://egyptdragonflies.blogspot.com/ tuesdays dragons are from a walk to the east of Luxor a place known as El gezira or Banana Island area

tuesdays dragons are from the west bank across the River, and todays are from an area towards the airport. just 2 kilometers from my flat, the only species being the same are the orange and the black winged.

these I will put on here as the first 2 species,

Black winged darter and a damselfly the damsel is common to all 3 areas in Luxor,

I also saw the following birds today all I have photos of on Birding in Egypt

Crested Lark, Hoopoe. ring-necked plovers, white & cattle egrets,

3 falcons, and many of the smaller birds that are the first birds on the bird blog,

While having a cup of tea during making this blog I shot this spider

And it's as big as a pin head,

back to the wetlands

2010-07-13T14:58:00.000-07:00

sparrows playing on dead branch in the wetlands I took about 50 shots all turned out good then it was a decision which ones to blog, the shots where taken about 75 ft from the subject with the 100x400ef lens

Then there was another suprise while photographing a dragonfly.this little bird came to catch flies in the reeds again about 50 ft away, who is she? got to birding in egypt blogspot,

finish this blog in the morning,

dragons,skink,butterfly

2010-07-12T09:42:00.000-07:00

All of the 14 species I saw today are on on http://egyptdragonflies.blogspot.com/

http://insectsonwings.blogspot.com/2010/06/bugs-bees-and-butterflies.html

I think its the Whitethroat Sylvia communis. Juvenile its quite a small bird but it stayed quite still where it had found some shade never bothered about the guy with the camera It had found some shade and thats where it wanted to stay , It was a bonus as I only had my 75x300 lens today for the dragonflies. more photos of this one bird on http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com

what lovely colours on this skink, I was photographing a black winged dragonfly on the steps that led to the old ferry dock.then noticed the skink hoping for a meal I was poised ready for a shot but the dragon flew off when the skink got to close. never mind thinks cannot be planed in Nature. maybe another day I will get a shot of a skink catching its food. the reason it did not catch today , there was a gap between the stone surface and the dragons perch,

,

Testing time

2010-07-10T23:57:00.000-07:00

Today I have been promised a medical examination, I have not been on my walks for almost a month so you guys will have to make do with the wildlife I see from my balcony There are 2 sets of laughing doves that pay me a visit and play on the wall across to my flat,
below my balcony is a Bouganvilia tree where the sparrows play and have a nest.
tomorrow I may get out to see the wildlife again, but you can see all the birds plants and dragonflies http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/ click on the links,http://egyptdragonflies.blogspot.com/

Why am I not going on my normal walks click on here

The Egyptian spider

2010-07-09T20:55:00.000-07:00

Sitting on this sign I saw the spider that wears shades.

Pesky flies

2010-07-07T22:15:00.000-07:00

Flies flies and more flies. Even at 6.00 in the morning.

Caught a glimpse of the young Falcon too far away to get a decent shot.

The young Laughing doves,

The moon at 6.00 in the morning.

Gracefull prinia.

2010-07-02T07:02:00.000-07:00

All of todays photos will be on the links click on the link to go to the post for the species..
One of the smallest birds here in Luxor click on here for Gracfull prinia.

The Little white Egret click here http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2010/05/little-white-egret.html

http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2009/12/hoopoe-upupa-epops.html

Ducklings out frogging and have a real mess of a time

Some days the birds make it very awkward to get a good shot Like this Female Nile valley sun bird

http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2010/05/nile-valley-sun-birdanthreptes.html

Spiders Heaven

2010-07-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

I have not been out on my walks since the assault, much of my time has been taken up in the court or police station, the mentality here is so pathetic. IE, twice I went to the hospital to ask for a report on my loss of hearing and these severe headackes I am now getting, then the Judge has ordered I go for a medical report. and three times I have spent hours inside of a hospital that does not even have a computer, Luxor International Hospital, the only thing international about it, it has spiders, spiders in the thousands who have made webs on the outer and inner walls , the only place I did dot see a spider was in the new hospital entrance lobby this is only here for the tourist who at first glance after an accident will put his mind at ease , ooh nice place??? You can Laugh! I do, here is this guy been battered and bruised and all he can think about is the wildlife, there was a beetle strolling across the entrance to the opperating room but I was in too much pain to bend or get on my hands and knees to get some macro shots, Maybe I should have I may have got some attention in the mental hospital, the past 3 days have been spent sitting outside the judges office to ask why I have not been examined, docs on Vacation come back on the 5/7/10.

the first photo is of a spider and its web just inside the local patients entrance. the rest of the photos are from my usual walks 2009.

I went for my usual walk down the canal hoping to see spiders,
I took a late afternoon walk and saw more cobwebs than usual
and did not have the camera with me so today I went out specifically to see and shoot spiders,
there are always tiny spiders in and around my flat most are too small to get a decent photo of.
the ones I have are already on the blog. there is one that looks like it has four eyes. but in fact only has two. the first photo taken with my pocket camera.
the garden or banana spider, plenty of those here, Bananas that is,
Showing how small the spiders are, here I am holding the grass down to get a decent photo

the ones I did capture today are nothing like what I was expecting to see.the first two photos are the same spider back underside.

Tiny spiders leaving the nest with the parent not too far away.

A few yards up the path there was another with its back to the canal bank
so had to be happy with an under& side shot These spiders are not very big I should say about 2" in full length.

Garden spider

In the bottom corner of this photo you can see how minute these spiders are/
Makes one wonder how they make these huge cotton wool webs.
I never saw one bigger than this.

Todays18/10/09 spiders will be swapped with the older spider shots

Wrapping a dragonfly up in a neat parcel
Another species of spider formed this type of web

This is the species around the flat

Yum yum butterfly for lunch.

and a dragon for dinner.

Spiders nest sack

Spiders are all over the place now.

I took this photo of the daddy long legs it had made a web in my refuse bin
not sure what it thought I threw away?

spiders of Japan.

http://japan-animals.blogspot.com/

Two more photos from the past 2 years

2010-06-27T13:14:00.000-07:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantis
Can you imagine one of these as tall as a human. not sure if this type eat the male after Mating.
well not going to comment any more on this subject, I am sure you will all have your own thoughts on it,

Praying Mantis ,Sphodromantis viridis treat yourself click on this photo'

Little green bee eater

2010-06-25T10:40:00.000-07:00

All the latest photographed birds are on http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com
including the Nile valley sun bird 3 different breeds of bee-eaters

Flying ants

2010-06-24T12:04:00.000-07:00

This is one of the tiny flying ants that has invaded my living area. and they are so tiny about 1/8 of an inch long

This last photo of another one by the side of my index finger nail,

Dragons in Macro

2010-06-14T10:08:00.000-07:00

I am so busy catching up with writing my Biography and a new blog http://nilelife4.blogspot
I was looking through my blogspot dragons and damsels for 2009, and came across these shots taken in macro before I bought the ef 100x400 lens. these shots where taken 6" from the subject Early in the morning while they were drowsy, with the canon efs 60mm ultrasonic lens both subjects have been put on in a horizontal view as they sleep in a vertical position

Where do all the frogs go

2010-06-13T05:53:00.000-07:00

I do not know I do not eat them if they could fly I would eat them, the blue-cheeked bee-eater

Yummee yes says the Ring- necked plover

Me too I like frogs good vitamins for our young feathers. says the Striated heron fledgling.

the Little bittern will hunt for frogs when no one is about.

The striated heron on a frog hunting expedition,

Well can not say anything can I with my beak full of frog says the House sparrow

Don't ask such stupid questions much easier to catch than fish gives us a varied diet to, the squacco and the little white egret. do not know why you are so inquisitive about frogs, you humans eat them,

The frogs do not have much chance of survival with all the birds hunting them.

We do not eat them the male nile valley sun bird and the Laughing dove.

Frogs are no good for nesting material says the reed warbler

All within 200 yards of my flat

2010-06-10T12:50:00.000-07:00

My flat is marked in red opposite the mosque minaret this is the new avenue of the sphinx that will eventually link Karnak and Luxor Temple.

once this is finished they nile will be 300 yards from my flat as I will have to walk past the other end of the Luxor templ

Nile fish, Whats on where

2010-06-08T14:45:00.000-07:00

The blue-cheeked bee-eater
,
All the fish photos have been taken from the West bank the Nile as you can see is much cleaner and no oil patches on the surface, there are some very colourful ones they range from minnow to about 9"

sometimes they will jump and try to get a dragonfly

all the dragons and damsels will be on http://egyptdragonflies.blogspot.com/

all the latest Swallow photos will be on http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/

I saw another tree rat today acted as if it was almost tame,

The monitor Lizard

Myegypt bird rescue,

2010-06-07T02:11:00.000-07:00

The birds have found new material to make their nests I have often watched the sparrows pulling bits off my Clothes line its an easy material as there is an abundance of it about for the birds too use. but the results of string in nest can be a danger to the chicks as this rescued chick shows, two days ago I saw the Swallows perching over the canal so I went back to the area to photograph the inside of the Temple of Medinet Habu
and on my walk back I should catch the swallows. I saw one and and it flew off so I was sitting waiting on the bank waiting or rather hoping for their return, when there was this excitement in the fever tree the sparrows where in a real frenzy. then I saw this chick tied up by its leg on one of the branches in not the easiest of places to reach as the bank dropped direct into the canals murky waters and not a place I fancied bathing in. the fever tree is not the best of trees to get hold of without protection and I caught several pricks from its thorns while trying to rescue the bird. plus the bird did not want to be rescued by a human and put up some fierce resistance the twine had been wrapped around the branch several times in order not to disturb the bird too much I tried to break off the branch but that caused the chick to panic so all I could do was to balance and unwind the bird around the twig. soon the bird was free from the branch but Without a pair of scissors or a knife all I could do was be patient and untie the knotted twine from the tiny leg of my little brave chick. who gave me several encouraging pecks. not sure if it was to encourage me or to say let me go now you have freed me from the tree., with all the twine off its leg. I bade it farewell and the chick flew off , while all this was going on I had a host of sparrows chirping in frenzy leave the baby alone there is no meat on her please go away , the swallows did not come back so I headed for home but not before a walk along the Nile where I had several good dragon shots and even more good shots of the Squacco Heron.

Have you tried photographing a bird with one hand free >

Have you had a kiss from a sparrow chick, its what they say a peck on the nose.

Th temple of Medinet Habu and the point where I was rescuing the chick.

the my blog on The Medet temple with its Hieroglyph reliefs and massif pillars http://myegypttours.blogspot.com/

Swallows in the shade

2010-06-04T14:17:00.000-07:00

The swallows in the shade are on http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2010/06/swallows-in-shade.html
,
This is what I went to photograph today, where and what is it? will be on the Nilelife 2 blog

While sitting in a shaded area near the temple I was watching the sparrows feed the young

Please feed me mum I am soo hungry

open wide

Is that all I get. no go get me some more from down there.

June the 1st walk photos

2010-06-04T00:16:00.000-07:00

The first photo is what happens when I only have my pocket camera. I saw a species of dragonfly that I have not seen before. and it stayed still for me to get this close within 3ft. get it another day .

The purple heron was too far out to get a shot even with the telescopic lens.

Squacco heron and pied kingfisher

Ring-necked plover

the little white Egret

Tree rats and sparrows

2010-06-03T01:34:00.000-07:00

I do not like rats because they carry all kinds of diseases. so the shots you see I have this in Mind not too close just incase one decides to take A bite out of me. now since putting them on the blog and enlarging them I see they are not the garbage rats and if I knew this at the time I would have got closer to get some decent shots, so maybe I will go back there and take some better photos if they decide to show up for a photo shoot, can never tell with wildlife. not that I want to cuddle them just a photo will suffice!
A small area on land used as a farm, if the Nile comes up another few inches this land will be flooded

These are tree rats I have seen them before eating the acacia seed pods and looking closer I see they differ in markings to the rat we all know and love that lives in the garbage and sewers,

this chap lives with the birds even acts like the birds and eats like the birds, and its a vegan,

Here the birds are dust bathing notice the unripe mango. this is what the rat is going for.

Here its chomping away spitting out the fleshy parts to get at the Nut it was quite content until it noticed me then scurried off into the scrub

These feral pigeons have to be content with eating the maze and corn seed that has been sown for the next harvest.

No rats here on my Island no seeds either, Just fish this mound of earth is only yards away from the place where the rats are now the Nile land is flooded,

Photos from home. Wales.

2010-06-02T06:30:00.000-07:00

Saphy our tonkinese, enjoying a bit of sunsine.

Two poppies The yellow ones are the welsh poppy. and the large red one is one I managed to get a seed head from a plant in one of the garden centres. and they have been coming up in the same place outside our breakfast room window every year since 1993.

Sparrow chicks.

2010-06-01T12:49:00.000-07:00

First the Sparrow chicks the sparrows are nesting 30ft from my kitchen window. they only started poking there heads out of the hole yesterday, it will be a few more days before they take first flight,

first today's sparrow chicks ,

31 st May photos

2010-05-31T12:16:00.000-07:00

All today's photos will be on this blog. then moved to their respective blogspots. ie dragons will go to
http://egyptdragonflies.blogspot.com/
.
All today's flowers are on http://egyptplants.blogspot.com/2010/05/last-day-of-may-flowers.html

Sparrows nest opposite my Kitchen window. both male and female feeding the chicks.

Female feeding the chicks

Male feeding.

http://insectsonwings.blogspot.com/2010/04/butterflies.html

House sparrows have been playing in the Nile again.

dragonflies and damsels blogspot http://egyptdragonflies.blogspot.com/

Taking a 360 degree view Nile cruise

See all 76 different breeds of The Nile birds on my blog birding in egypt

http://nilelife2.blogspot.com/ My life living near the Nile in Luxor Egypt

Mosque swallow, hirundo rustica

2010-05-30T08:13:00.000-07:00

And the house sparrow nesting in a Mosque Minaret opposite my kitchen window,

Nile valley sun bird,Anthreptes metallicus, male and female

2010-05-29T10:08:00.000-07:00

Nile valley sun bird http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2010/05/nile-valley-sun-birdanthreptes.html

.

http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2010/05/blue-cheeked-bee-eater-merops.html

any ideas what this plant is.??

The yellow cactus flower plants and botany on http://egyptplants.blogspot.com/

Bean plant flower

Nile River flower

'

http://insectsonwings.blogspot.com/

Dragonflies and damselflies on

http://egyptdragonflies.blogspot.com/

/

http://insectsonwings.blogspot.com/2010/04/butterflies.html

whoopoe bird http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2009/12/hoopoe-upupa-epops.html

http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2010/05/squacco-heron-ardeola-ralloides.html

.

Camel, just love those legs.

Little white egret http://egyptswildlife2.blogspot.com/2010/04/young-white-egrets-are-here.html

Muskovi and a duck never seen a duck afraid if water before,

Female yellow wagtail

Little white Egret.

2010-05-28T11:28:00.000-07:00

Common Bulbul

Nile perch

No bugs around I wonder! Why?

2010-05-27T01:24:00.000-07:00

One of the bugs the skinks do not eat,

they only live where there is garbage or dung and rather than go to a smelly dump. I opted to go to a cleaner environment, or so I thought this being an area where all the tourists have a stroll along the lower walk of the promenade, this is the area already under re construction IE all the cruise ships and the moorings ,fuel pipes etc have been moved ready for the dig where I am walking will eventually be the level of the new prom,
but here there is nothing for the skinks. so I walk on to where the boats are parked sometimes 11 in a row.

One of the juniors with its bright blue tail.

there are a few gardens here But also a dump for kitchen waste from the boats. here the flies gather plus the rats, and its a good feeding area for our bug cleaners, the skinks, and there are hundreds of them here often the run across the walk to get a drink in the Nile, these are about 6" in length Not sure what they are once they grow bigger, if they grow any larger the next size I have seen are over 9" then they are monitor lizards.

Giant monitor lizard found in Egypt

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/as_philippines_giant_lizard
This one I photographed 7/4/10 and is over 9ft long its tail is over a meter
making it bigger than the one found in the Philippines

,

The other little bug eaters are the Grecos last night there was 6 on the wall opposite my balcony, I live watching these move looks like the wall is velcro. and these have velcro pads on the feet. photos taken with flash from 30ft

the Squacco has more interest in the little monitor lizard than me.

Little white egret fishing

2010-05-26T11:14:00.000-07:00

Even photos can be deceiving , watching the egret in the Nile today even thought the river is high and flowing very fast. it is still polluted, here we see a heron at first glance seems to be fishing. first photo She flew under one of the cat walk boards of one of the cruisers the next shot is of it flying with its catch to shallow water,

Not until I saw this shot enlarged on the computer did I see the fish was dead and from the look in the eyes its been dead for a while.

but it is food and its down the throat head first

ok lets see now where did I catch that last fish,

yahoo news saving on toiletries

2010-05-26T07:53:00.000-07:00

Little white Egrets are nesting by the new Mexican border, is it a plant or is it for real.
or are the yanks really running short on bog rolls and having to leave them out to dry?
is this the new Obama way to save money for the taxpayer,

New border plan strikingly similar to Bush's

Then we have Sarah Palin taking a leaf out of Bush's high fence,
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20100527/pl_ynews/ynews_pl2280

Mating Dragonflies

2010-05-25T03:31:00.000-07:00

http://insectsonwings.blogspot.com/
http://egyptplants.blogspot.com/
.http://egyptdragonflies.blogspot.com/2010/05/more-may-dragons.html

Grey Heron kestrel, black-winged kite,little bittern all on http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/

Things on wings in by the Nile River egypt

2010-05-24T21:59:00.000-07:00

Spotted fly catcher the rest of the shots are of it being fed by its parents

Blue_cheeked bee eater

Young barn swallow

Graceful prinia

nile valey sun bird male

Little bittern First photo I have taken of this Small heron

Find out what breed it is on the as with the next birds all are on http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/

http://egyptdragonflies.blogspot.com/

The little white egret

2010-05-24T06:43:00.000-07:00

Now the heronry has hatched most of the eggs the Nile is becoming like a snow patch some are too young to fly and most perish on the first day of falling out of the nest, or even pushed out of the nest, many I saw with broken wings most survive the fall and make for the open waters of the Nile then stand at the waters edge wondering what is next.

some like this little one head out into the murky waters and find a log or flotsam to stand on this one has a broken wing and had to struggle to get to safety.for the rest of the photos click on the link http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2010/05/little-white-egret.html

Moorhen dragons and damsels

2010-05-23T13:29:00.000-07:00

This beauty landed not 5ft from me while I was taking o photo of the fish in the net trap.

The moorhen Normaly this bird stays well away from the camera its never far away in the reed beds but usualy hides in them until I and my camera have gone . but today Because the herons where not afraid she decided to come and play first She came from under the water and frightened the White egret. then decided it was bath time and made out like I was not there, once she had a bath and a good preen it was off to scare the night heron.

Then the fisher boy came to empty the nets

A bit small but enough for one person, half where thrown back in the Nile ,

Next blog will be on the Little white egrets who have left the nursery.

Tony moved us to http://egyptswildlife2.blogspot.com/2010/05/squacco-heron.html

A walk along the bank of the Nile.

2010-05-22T08:06:00.000-07:00

All the photos are in the sequence I saw them its rather a long blog.
I hope you enjoy what I saw on the banks of the Nile today. notice how these skimmers blend in with their surroundings like most of the wildlife they are masters of disguise. each one is different look carefully you will see they have different types of bodies

these are some of the smallest of the skimmers

No rushing or I miss what I want to photo enlarge this one if you can not see it.

some have to move before I can see them then getting the lens adjusted is another problem,

with my 100x400 lens I have no need to change lens only thing is I have to be at least 1and 1/2 meters from the subject any nearer its blurred.

the swallows are on the http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2010/05/barn-swallows-on-rope.html

Corn flower and Mallow

a honey bee hovering near the mallow notice the pollen on the legs

Not sure what was on the mallow leaves but they sure had a good roll on them.

This is a tiny wasp, lots of bugs and stuff on my blog http://insectsonwings.blogspot.com/

The female Nile valley sun bird in its position getting nectar from the flowers

The grasshopper another master of disguise

A squacco Heron

Pigeons lots of them in one flock on the bank of the river .

2 damsel flies today

The black Jack plant if I had long pants on the legs would be covered in the barbed seeds.

View of the largest Temple in Egypt from the banana plantation My blog on tombs and temples of Egypt has over 100 photos of the temple and its precincts, http://myegypttours.blogspot.com/2009/11/karnak-temple.html

today's moon at 19.00

and sunset over the Nile

Did you know.
May 22nd 1813 - Richard Wagner was born , Leipsig Germany, composer (Ring, Flying Dutchman)

Photos from home. Wales.

2010-05-18T10:40:00.000-07:00

Here are the latest photos of our cats they love the sun when they get some. here Saphy our tonkinese sleeping in what is the bird bath she is so photogenic. Sylvester the Maine coone is a another who likes a bit of fuss while the camera is out. these are sent from the ipod camera 18/5/10

You can see more of my cat photos on here

egypt wildlife 2

grey heron

nilelfe has a new home

blogspot.

fan-tailed cisticola. cisticola juncidis, Black-winged kite(elanus caeruleus),

This week photos from port said Oct 2010

nile valley sun bird

black head

the old farmer

the face of a dragonfly

google blog probs,

praying mantis,Archimantis latistyla

nilelife4.blogspot.com/

12 sept walk to the welands

no steam engines on the nile

Village life part 3

the heronry.May 2010

Ats all a hassle.

Egrets and freinds

This that and some people

Hume's Tawny Owl. Strix butlery

Ramadan is here again,

This and that

The smaller things in Life

Squacco, bulbul,moorhen, little white egret

Nature trail

Visitor night and day

busy bees and things

Frogging and fishing

Is three a crowd

Part 2 of yesterdays walk

My first long walk about in over a month.

Doves, laughing or Turtle doves

Dragonflies have taken over from the birds

back to the wetlands

dragons,skink,butterfly

Testing time

The Egyptian spider

Pesky flies

Gracefull prinia.

Spiders Heaven

Two more photos from the past 2 years

Little green bee eater

Flying ants

Dragons in Macro

Where do all the frogs go

All within 200 yards of my flat

Nile fish, Whats on where

Myegypt bird rescue,

Swallows in the shade

June the 1st walk photos

Tree rats and sparrows

Photos from home. Wales.

Sparrow chicks.

31 st May photos

Mosque swallow, hirundo rustica

Nile valley sun bird,Anthreptes metallicus, male and female

Little white Egret.

No bugs around I wonder! Why?

Giant monitor lizard found in Egypt

Little white egret fishing

yahoo news saving on toiletries

New border plan strikingly similar to Bush's

Then we have Sarah Palin taking a leaf out of Bush's high fence,http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20100527/pl_ynews/ynews_pl2280

Mating Dragonflies

Things on wings in by the Nile River egypt

The little white egret

Moorhen dragons and damsels

A walk along the bank of the Nile.

Photos from home. Wales.

Then we have Sarah Palin taking a leaf out of Bush's high fence,
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20100527/pl_ynews/ynews_pl2280