Hi Nigel, it's about 15 years since I went, and that was in february, but you can pick up stuff just doing the tourist route. The only site mentioned in the Gosney at the time was Crocodile Island, which is where the Movenpik hotel is. It was out of town (10 mins in a taxi I think) and had Nile Valley Sunbird & Common Bulbul in the gardens. The guide mentions the reedbed there as being good for Painted Snipe, but when I visited the reedbed seemed to have disappeared under an extension to the island. A very early morning visit, at about 6.am, produced Purple, Grey & Squacco Herons, & Little Egret, Palm Dove, Hoopoe, Spur-winged Plovers, Pied Kingfisher & Black-winged Stilt, so it wasn't too much of a disappointment I also had Brown-necked Raven nesting at Luxor Temple, Pale Crag Martin at Karnac, Blue Rockthrush on the scree slopes on the opposite side of the Valley of the Kings to the tombs, Desert Wheatear from the coach to the Valley and Trumpeter Finch at the entrance checkpoint. If you travel anywhere along the main road on the east bank of the river look out for Black-shouldered Kites, usually in pairs. I did the Luxor to Aswan cruise and we came back from Aswan up that road in the tourist minibus. My tally for the trip went from 1 to 33! Made up for the suicidal driving of the police escort