The northern Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba are wild and beautiful seascapes; on exposed rocky coasts there are windy, deep blue waters lined with white horses and fringed by a coral reef; elsewhere brown and coffee-coloured sands meet calm, shimmering, turquoise bays. In autumn, the coastline holds a sprinkling of waders, herons and raptors that are free of the breeding season; some are resident but many are moving south. Ospreys are common and soon to breed and sooty falcons now have large young as their breeding season runs late to coincide with the peak of the passing migrants.