For the second year in succession, Port Said Governorate will be holding its Bird Watching Festival. Port said is located 167km northeast Cairo, on the northern tip of the Suez Canal, extending eastward and westward along the Mediterranean coast, and southward through Lake Manzala. This year, the bird watching festival runs from 29 November till 5 December, a season in which migrating birds from Europe come to winter on the land around and the islands in the lake.
Ashtoum al-Gamil Reserve, which lies 7km west of Port Said on the Mediterranean coastal road between the sea and Lake Manzala, constitutes the bird watching festival ground. At the mouth of the Lake is the famed Tanees Island. The entire area is rich with bird life. Lake Manzala is home to more than 200 species of resident, migratory and rare birds. More than 500,000 birds were spotted in the area; these include flamingos, pelicans, wading birds, egrets, starlings, quails and gulls.
The Port Said International Bird Watching and Photography Festival is the first of its kind in Egypt and the Middle East. It extends an open invitation to nature and wildlife lovers, to amateurs and professional photographers to capture photographs in the beautiful Ashtoum Reserve and on the serene Manzala lake.
Watani International
2 October 2023