Valley of the Kings, Hot Chicken Soup & The Nile

Another early start up on the sun deck to watch the heron and egret spectacular, with a few Kingfishers thrown in of for good measure!
A much earlier start then yesterday was put on halt as we headed off towards The Valley of the Kings.
Once there we make our way towards the underground tombs which are extremely well preserved.
It is incredibly hot here & water is a rare commodity, so much so that the small cut up carton of Feta cheese filled with water placed on a stone wall is very tempting, However the five Trumpeter Finch drinking till their hearts content were clearly in more need.
They allowed approach to within stroking distance and were full of such character.
Rock Martins are nesting in a small tomb entrance & after exploring some of these remarkable sites we head up to a small seating area.
From here a small raptor flies towards the steep hills and lands briefly, here the sun lights up the blue plumage of a stunning male
Sooty Falcon! Unfortunately I am distracted for a moment and the bird disappears.
Brown Necked Ravens are all around, but look more like crows and are rather disappointing for Ravens.
Other near by historical sites are seen but with very little bird life apart from 3 stunning Striated Herons seen flying down a canal on the return trip back to the boat where we are pleased to set sail at last!
As we set off the river comes to life with Herons, Egrets, Kingfishers, Terns and even a few ducks which include a single drake Garganey!
Further down the Nile and a dark raptor like shape is coming close to the boat, as it approaches I am astonished to see it is a Skua, slowly the pale phase Arctic Skua passes close by the boat, and for a few moments it felt like a pelagic!!
Further down the Nile we come across small parties of Black Winged Stilts which give a Mediterranean feel to the trip.