Tunisia.....So Far (1 Viewer)

Finally got my trip booked to Tunisia and armed with little information on where to watch birds locally I arrived at Sousse. I planned to visit from Sousse Monastir, Mahdia, Kairouan, El Jem and Sebket El Halk Manzel just north of El Kantaoui. As I struggle to write this because of the keyboard layout, I have been overwhelmed by the smell of a very pretty Tunisian Girl with a lot of perfume who has sat at the next computer.

I arrived on Christmas Day and besides the little superficial decorations some businesses have hung up there is no Festive Spirit here, not that I expêcted it of course. It feels a world away from the shorter darker decorated British nights.

On the journey from the airport to the hotel I saw a species Sparrow, Shrike and Starling but none could actually be positively identified. The first positively identified bird was a White Stork in the fields. Before the end of the journey House Spârrow, Spotless Starling, Great Grey Shrike, Black headed Gulls, Laughing Dove were on the list.

Out of the hotel and on my way to the Medina Yellow Legged Gulls soared over. In the Medina I spotted a Blackbird which was singing. Up above soared a number of Swifts.

The next day I headed to Monastir and on the way Little Egret, Grey Heron, Pied Wagtail and Crested Lark appeared. Sardinian Warbler, Black redstart and Serin graced the tomb complex as 2 Lesser Black Backed Gull and what appeared to be a Herring Gull and Audoins Gull flew over. The next stop was Mahdia and 3 Cormorants flew over here.

I headed to Kairoun where a very pale bird reminiscent of a Sparrowhawk flew over. On the way back a group of Cattle Egret 6 minimum hunted in pools created by the recent rains. Back in Sousse and walking near the museum of archaeology the harsh chatter of a Sardinian Warbler electrocutes me. I caught site of it and another Chiffchaff type Warbler and then over flew a Collared Dove. I was surprised I had not seen one earlier.

Today I met a Taxi Driver who spoke English and told him I wanted to visit Sebket Halk el Manzel a salt lake north of El kantaoui and south of Hergla. He was taking me to the louage station from where I was heading to El Jem. In the area of the ruins I saw plenty of Serins, Spotless Starlings, House Sparrows, Collared Dove, Laughing Dove, Sardin Warbler, Blackbird and a pleasant little surprise in the form of 2 African Blue Tits. This has taken ny total to 23 and the latter might just be a life tick.

I may visit Boukornine National Park. Is it allowed§

Sebket Halk el Manzel is a salt lake north of El kantaoui and south of Hergla. As you approach it from Sousse on the right hand side are some fisheries, which are fenced off. We stopped at a group of passerines on the fences which kept moving on and on until finally they stopped and revealed themselves to be none other than Spanish Sparrows. The amount of black on the bird gave them a very striking appearance. I looked to the bank and then saw dozens of Grey Herons, Little Egret, Black-headed Gulls, some Mallards and Cormorants resting on a bank beside a pool. There were in excess of 100 birds. We drove a little further up and 5 Black-necked Grebes swam leisurely but warily close to the bank. A couple of Audoin's Gull flew over as well as the larger Yellow Legged Gulls in much higher numbers.

We could see the lake on the left and in the far distance I picked up big white birds on the water. I thought Swans at first but photographs later on showed them to be Flamingos. I managed to find a patch of dry-ish looking land and I proceeded to walk down to the shoreline. Much to my amazement 7 heads with long bills on long necks looked up. There appeared to be around 3 juveniles in the group. I decided to walk back not wanting to disturb them but they were in the air flying much closer to the lake shore line. Back in the car we drove along the shore line further from Sousse when we came across some flood pools in the fields and here were dozens of Golden Plovers with some Ringed Plovers. A Stonechat and Grey Shrike also loitered in the vicinity. A Common Sandpiper and Green Sandpiper were also on the shoreline. We headed back towards Sousse and then turned right and in the distance we noticed a big flock of dark birds either Coots or Grebes - later identified most likely as Black-necked Grebes. On the shore line were some Redshank, Black-winged Stilt, Sandwich Terns, Caspian Terns, Black-headed Gulls, Little Egrets and Grey Herons.

I decided that we should drive on down the road and then I saw some Olive plantations. I decided to have a look here and I came across Sardinian Warbler - of course!, Blackbird, Great Grey Shrike, Stonechat, Spotless Starling, Laughing and Collared Dove, Linnet, Chiffchaff, Wren Goldfinch and Chaffinches! The sub-species of Chaffinch around here looked different to the ones I had seen in Europe. The last sighting of the day was a flock of Spoonbills soaring over the lake descending in the distance.

The next day I decided to sit on a Louage to Nabeul and from there hire a taxi to Korba, lagoon by Korba town which is famous for its flamingo population. I am sure there must have been some sort of public transport from Nabeul to Korba but I wanted some control over where I stopped. The taxi driver I stopped said he was not allowed out of the city limits but found me one that was. Once at the lagoon I walked along a wooden walk way which had many planks missing. I disturbed a Snipe, some Meadow Pipits, Pied Wagtails and in the distance saw some Flamingos. We drove northwards and saw a large flock very close to the bank where the town was and stopped there. There were hundreds of Flamingos - adults and juveniles stood there gracefully. They looked like very dainty and fragile birds and that beak just looked too heavy for the bird to carry around. Other birds present included Black-winged Stilt, a Ruff, Black-headed Gulls, Yellow-legged Gulls, Grey herons, Little Egrets, Common Sandpiper, Temminck's Stint, Sanderling, Dunlin, Grey Plover, Kentish Plover, Shelduck, Shoveler, Mallard, Stonechat, Greenfinch, Black Redstart, Great Grey Shrike, Chiffchaff, Sardinian Warbler, Serin, a Kestrel and a Black-shouldered Kite.