Morocco - Bird Safari March 2008

Guides : Peter Jones, Michael Richardson and Paul French

Trip Report : Peter Jones

Well, another tour to Morocco and yet another resounding success! It was also the second consecutive March tour were we managed more than 200 species. It really doesn’t matter how many times I visit this remarkable country, I have now led groups here seven times, it has never failed to impress and produce the unexpected. I think the diversity and stark contrasts in landscape add flavour to the tours and of course the diversity in landscape is reflected by an equal diversity in the country’s avifauna. From the north and western tranquil shores of the Atlantic to the hustle and bustle of the city streets of Marrakech, to the stunning ascent and descent of the High Atlas Mountains to the wadi’s of the Sahara, the changes are breathtaking.

As in the previous year during March, we started with a pre-tour visit to the northern coastal areas of Larache and Merga Zerga. Surrounded as these coastal marshes are by cultivation, labour intensive and harkening back to long passed practices in northern Europe, these areas harbour great variety and good numbers of both migrant and rare breeding birds. On the lake at Larache for example we counted in excess of 1000 Red-knobbed Coot and were continually entertained by sightings and the sound of Moustached Warbler! Here we also had singletons of Spotted Crake, Collared Pratincole and Whiskered Tern. Merga Zerga produced Marsh Owl and an almost, not quite, total albino Oystercatcher. Caspian Tern, Great White Egret plus a startling array of waders and wildfowl made for a great pre-tour amble.

Before arriving in Marrakech we visited a small lake north of the city and witnessed a performance of courtship and mating ritual by a pair of Lanner Falcon, all whilst watching Plain Martin, Little Swift, Lesser Kestrel and Crag Martins hawk the surface area of the Lake! The road leading to the lake gave great views of several Lark species, including large numbers of Calandra Lark. Of course House Bunting and Common Bulbul greeted our arrival at our usual hotel on the outskirts of the city.

From Marrakech we journeyed, gently at first and then steeply into the High Atlas Mountains. The scenery here is so dramatic in places and this is complemented by the softer lower reaches of river valleys either side. Horned Lark, Nightingale, Rock Sparrow and Tree Pipit were seen in the high pass, but the real bonus bird for this leg of the tour was Thick-billed Lark seen near to the approach for Ouarzazate. What a strange, but striking bird this species is. We had great views and managed some excellent photos, Trumpeter Finch and Desert Wheatears also made an appearance against a backdrop of flat topped and heavily striated mountains. Evidence of early spring rainfall showed in the form of good plant cover near to the by-now dried riverbed.

Our usual route was enthusiastically followed once more, leading us over high passes until we eventually arrived into the high reaches of the Draa Valley. The Palmeries of this area, plus the dramatic high mountains on either side, made our journey to Zagora a real pleasure. Frequent stops allowed several views of typical species such as Laughing Dove, Blue Rock Thrush, Blue-cheeked Bee Eater, Yellow Wagtail, Booted Eagle and of course the ubiquitous House Bunting. We also managed Barbary Partridge and Fulvous Babbler near to our excellent accommodation on the outskirts of Zagora.

We were able to vary our route to M’Hamid this year and for the largest part we followed a desert track. Under the guidance of our lead (a local from M’hamid) driver, we became lost around halfway and were all made busy finding the correct track! I can remember a similar, although a much worse, incident back in 2006 when a local guide (name withheld) got us completely lost in the desert and we were eventually rescued by a French couple with a decent GPS. After a short while we found our track and soon all was put to rights with fine views of Bonelli’s Eagle. Our journey to our desert camp managed to also give us our first views of Cream-coloured Courser and Brown-necked Raven.

A great favourite among all our tours is the one night camp where we spend time in a remote part of the Sahara west of M’Hamid. We first met these Bedouins three years ago and discovered then a couple of pairs of Desert Sparrows. I managed to convince the manager of the site to feed and encourage these elusive birds and the results have been amazing. On this tour we reckon the camp count of the Desert Sparrow flock numbered somewhere between 30 and 40!!! From the camp we drove into the surrounding desert and among many interesting species we saw Scrub Warbler, Tristram’s Warbler, Crowned Sandgrouse, Hoopoe Lark, Bar-tailed Desert Lark, large numbers of Brown-necked Raven and Cream-coloured Courser.

And so onwards and upwards, back through the Draa Valley with another night stopover near Zagora and then to our three night stay in Merzouga. The route was studded with gems such as Blue-cheeked Bee Eater, Fulvous Babbler, Montagu’s Harrier, Booted and Short-toed Eagle, Moussier’s Redstart etc., etc. The list kept getting larger! As with the previous year’s tour, the water was up and present once more at Merzouga and this provided some great finds in addition to the local desert specialities. We had the experience here of watching one of two pairs of Houbara Bustard during a fairly hefty sandstorm, undaunted we marveled at the sight and wondered how the brooding female could keep her eyes open with so much sand blowing around! Quite apart from the presence of 1000+ Greater Flamingo at the lake, we also managed 5 Ferruginous Duck and Gull-billed Terns amongst many species of wader and wildfowl. Probably the species which got everyone excited near to the lake edge was Isabelline Wheatear, which added to singletons seen on each one of our previous trips to Morocco in March. Egyptian Nightjar, Desert Warbler, Fulvous Babbler, Wryneck, and a host of other fine species provided the icing on our cake during our stay in the area.

The later part of our tour took us to Boumalne de Dades via Todra Gorge and here there was a noticeable dip in temperatures. In fact it was ruddy cold! We tried our best to locate Mourning Wheatear at a couple of known sites, but were to be thwarted on each occasion. However, at one of our regular sites (now an official secret) we were able to locate a pair of breeding Pharaoh Eagle Owl Bubo ascalaphus the male being particularly obliging on a cliff ledge, the female seen on her nest. Wow, what a find, what great views! We awoke the next day to snow storms, yep snow storms!! Despite this setback we visited the infamous Tagdilt Track and navigated through snow storms and wild dogs. Red-rumped, Northern and Desert Wheatears were seen at very close quarters as were Temminck’s and Short-toed Lark along with Cream-coloured Courser. As the morning progressed so the snow relented and temperatures became a little better. We visited a couple of other sites nearby and managed great views of both Crowned and Black-bellied Sandgrouse. At a local wadi we were entertained by a particularly large female Sparrowhawk and also saw Spanish Sparrow, Stone Curlew, Long-legged Buzzard and a grounded Lanner Falcon.

We spent our last official night of the tour in Ouarzazate and appreciated the improvement in temperatures and general weather conditions. We also managed a few more species which included Red-throated Pipit. Our final day involved driving across the High Atlas once more and descending to Marrakech. During our ascent we saw large numbers of Alpine Chough and Chough, with one flock holding over 60 Alpines. At the top we also had great views of Horned Lark and Northern Seebohmi Wheatear which, with so many defining features and different song, must surely soon be considered a separate species. Also at the high pass we had very good views of Barbary Falcon. Our descent also produced a good number of species including fantastic views of Levaillant's Woodpecker. So our trip ended and I can’t wait for March 2009!

Summary of our Day by Day birding

Day 1-3 - March 9th to 11th, from Spain to Asilah y Larache
Our few days jolly prior to our main tour included the estuaries and marshlands from Asilah to Merga Zerga and provided a sharp contrast to the main experience and purpose of our tour, namely desert species. A couple of highlights standout for me, namely seeing great shows by Marsh Owls and our count of over 1000 Red-knobbed Coot at Larache marshes! Although I am yet to see copies, Paul French managed some excellent photos of Marsh Owl! Great White Egret, Moustached Warbler, Spotted Crake and over 30 Squacco Heron made Larache a real bonus stop for us. We also managed Savi’s, Sedge and Reed Warblers. Little Bittern was heard from the reed beds behind the main lake at Larache and we had several Wood Sandpiper at the same stop. Caspian Tern was seen at each of our stops and we also had Osprey at the main marshland areas. We met-up with more of the group on the 11th and made our way to the reservoir site north of Marrakech. Here we saw a mating pair of Lanner Falcon, plus we had several Plain Martin and Little Swift. Overhead we had our first real show of migrating Black Kite in good numbers, whilst on the approach road we counted several Calandra Lark as well as Short-toed, Crested and Thekla Lar

Day 4 – March 12th, to Marrakech
Our main tour party gathered at our hotel in Marrakech and a number of our party chose to visit the old city and had an officially guided tour of the main areas of interest. Time still allowed us to take a look at some scrubland adjacent to the hotel where we found Common and Moussier’s Redstart, Iberian and Chiffchaff, Sub-alpine, Melodious and Sardinian Warbler, Meadow Pipit, Song Thrush, Lesser Kestrel, Yellow Wagtail and both Red-rumped and Barn Swallow. The hotel gardens attracted House Bunting and Common Bulbul in good numbers, whilst overhead we saw Little Swift and Pallid Swift. Serin was present among the more familiar species of Great and African Blue Tit, and in the lawned garden we regularly saw Robin and White Wagtail. However, we were already looking forward to the next day and the crossing of the Tizi-n-Tichka pass in the High Atlas.

Day 5 – March 13th, through High Atlas Mountains to Ouarzazate
I think all who have used this route across the High Atlas must been impressed by the dramatic and changing landscape. From Oak forest to high crags, to weathered mountain top and river valley passes the scenery constantly surprises and is stunning. We did our usual stops during our ascent and managed to find the sometimes elusive Levaillant’s Woodpecker, plus we had a small flock of Hawfinch feeding on Hornbeam seeds. Rock Bunting and Cirl Bunting plus Woodchat Shrike gave close views and a solitary Long-legged Buzzard sat proud and upright on a boulder strewn slope. At our lunch stop we added Tree Pipit, Nightingale, Mistle Thrush, Horned Lark and Black Redstart. Near to the café we also had Thekla Lark as Red-billed Chough danced in the up draughts of high slopes and crags, where we also saw Raven. During the high crossing we saw Black Wheatear, which later appeared to be replaced during our descent by White-crowned Wheatear. Later and some 20km from Ouarzazate we made a stop at a good site for Mourning Wheatear, but despite seeing White-crowned, Northern and Desert Wheatears we dipped, as was to prove the case on the whole tour. Fortune was to favour the brave and we spotted Thick-billed Lark feeding near to where we had parked the Land Cruisers and we also saw several Trumpeter Finches. Bonelli’s Eagle, Desert Lark, Hen and Marsh Harrier added to the stop and made everyone feel better for not seeing Mourning Wheatear.

Soon after our departure from Ouarzazate we made our first of many stops and were almost immediately rewarded with great views of male Spectacled Warbler. The area was particularly good for Desert Lark and Trumpeter Finch. Here we tried hard, but without success to locate Tristram’s Warbler. Later on our journey we managed, among many other species, Common Whitethroat, Common Redstart, Moussier’s Redstart, Blue Rock Thrush, Black Wheatear, Short-toed and Booted Eagle. During the lunch stop we were kept well entertained by Laughing Dove, House Bunting and a fabulously coloured male Blue Rock Thrush. Blue-cheeked Bee Eaters put in appearance on our afternoon journey to Zagora and we also had a strangely marked Booted Eagle. Eurasian Bee Eaters were also seen in good numbers. After searching high and low in the High Atlas for Barbary Partridge, it was strange to find the little blighter in the garden area of the wadi next to our hotel!!

Day 7 – March 15th, from Zagora to M’Hamid
Quite an eventful day as we discovered a new route to M’Hamid and also discovered how to get lost! Our local driver showed us the new route, but about halfway we lost the main track and had to search by foot for the correct route as all the main tracks were hidden by recent sandstorms. Phew, well we did find our way and eventually had some interesting species including Bonelli’s Eagle, Cream-coloured Courser, Bar-tailed Desert Lark and Fulvous Babbler. Of course with the promise of a couple of difficult birds awaiting in the desert camp, we were all anticipating our arrival in M’Hamid. Winding our way westward of the village we later came upon our camp, where we would be spending the night. Right on cue we had Desert Sparrow and a number of Brown-necked Raven. We have been cultivating the management of this Bedouin camp to feed the Desert Sparrows and with a flock near to 40 the results have been very encouraging. I think we were all very impressed by the high numbers and who could fail to be taken by the beauty of this rare bird?

Day 8 – March 16th, from M’Hamid to Zagora
From a very relaxed breakfast we reluctantly left our Desert Sparrows behind and headed into the desert. Very soon we had Crowned Sandgrouse, Hoopoe Lark, Bar-tailed Desert Lark and large numbers of warblers in an area of scrub. In these parts the Draa flows beneath the desert, but now and again Tammerisk and other bushes give telltale signs of water not far below the surface. These scrub areas certainly provided good cover and feeding for many migrants so no surprise that Sub-alpine, Chiffchaff and Willow Warblers were around in good numbers. I managed a single Tristram’s and wherever we went Brown-necked Ravens were never very far away. We also managed another flock of Desert Sparrow numbering over 30 individuals! During our sandy journey we saw a few more Cream-coloured Courser and later after arriving back in Zagora an evening trip produced a gang of Fulvous Babblers.

Day 9 – March 17th, from Zagora to Merzouga
Our journey to Merzouga took us northwards, but still in the Draa Valley we soon were having great close-ups of Blue- cheeked Bee Eater and later we found another riverside site for Fulvous Babbler. Whilst next to the river we saw our only Collared Pranticole of the main tour and again I had a male Tristram’s Warbler! Little-ringed Plover, Green Sandpiper and Barbary Partridge plus several warbler species made this site very rewarding. At our lunch stop we had both Common and Moussier’s Redstart. During the afternoon journey to Merzouga we again saw close-ups of Blue-cheeked Bee Eater and later at our hotel we had several migrants in the gardens including Sub-alpine and Bonelli’s Warbler. Trumpeter Finches were breeding in the gardens walls!

We always allow, now into the middle of the tour, for people to have options to either stay around the hotel during the day and relax, or come out either in the morning and/or after lunch for birding. It is or can be a particularly welcome option for the friend/husband/wife who is accompanying the tour for their partner’s enjoyment of birds! Having said that, there were those among us (who shall be nameless) who felt a good siesta was the order of the day after lunch! Our days here began with checking the lake near to Merzouga and what a feast of birds we had, over 1000 Greater Flamingo, 200+ Ruddy Shelduck, 73+ Shoveler, 1 male Pintail, 24 Teal, 300+ Coot, 60+ Common Pochard and several Grey Heron and White Stork. The following day we also had 5 Ferruginous Duck and 28 Marbled Teal. Overhead we had Lanner Falcon on both days together with Marsh, Hen and Montagu’s Harrier, plus good numbers of Black Kite. Among the waders were up to 30 Little Stint, Curlew, Green Sandpiper, Ruff, Black-winged Stilt, Avocet, Kentish and Little-ringed Plover. Over 30 Gull-billed Tern were also present. We travelled through the deserts surrounding the hotel and had several Cream-coloured Courser, Hoopoe Lark, Desert Lark, Crested Lark, Short-toed Lark, Sub-alpine Warbler and Trumpeter Finches. Other main highlights were locating two Houbara Bustard nests, finding Desert Warbler and Egyptian Nightjar. Nearby we also found yet another gang of Fulvous Babbler. What a great two days birding which also included Bluethroat, Sedge and Reed Warbler also Isabelline Wheatear!

Day 12 – March 20th, from Merzouga to Boumalne de Dades
Our morning involved making a slow drive to the Todra Gorge and incorporated many stops to enjoy some fine birding, which included very close and spectacular views of Blue-cheeked Bee Eaters. Not before though seeing a Grasshopper Warbler in the grounds of the hotel! After our lunch we made our way slowly towards Boumalne and along the way saw White-crowned, Black-eared, Desert and Northern Wheatear, Black, Common and Moussier’s Redstart. However, the star of the day was Pharaoh Eagle Owl and we only really found it by accident! At a normal stop for Mourning Wheatear we searched for well over 30 minutes with no luck and with nothing else to do we scanned a nearby cliff face, which not only produced a very relaxed male, but also the female sitting in the nest! Quite a find and one which was duly marked for a return visit next year, but after the apparent desertion of a couple of known sites, we have decided to keep this one a secret (sorry in advance to enquiries, you know we are normally very helpful, but hope folk understand on this occasion).

Day 13 – March 21st, from Boumalne de Dades to Ouarzazate
We awoke this morning to SNOW showers and freezing temperatures! The kind of first experience you would want to avoid whilst in Morocco, but our visit to the Tagdilt Track and the surrounding area produced some excellent birds. It took us a while to locate Red-rumped Wheatear, but of course once you found one then we found lots! It seemed every time we stopped Temminck’s Lark was showing well and we also managed to find both Crowned and Black-bellied Sandgrouse. Tawny and Tree Pipit were also seen, whilst Lanner Falcon gave great views as it perched on the ground. Taking another route of ours we also had Spanish Sparrow, Tree and Meadow Pipit, Moussier’s and Common Redstart plus Iberian Chiffchaff. We finished our day with big numbers of Black Kite 00’s and singletons of Short-toed Eagle and Long-legged Buzzard. Also our stop at the reservoir near to Ouarzazate produced Sedge and Bonelli’s Warbler.

Day 14 – March 22nd, from Ouarzazate back to Marrakech
We set-off on our journey towards Marrakech via the High Atlas, but not before Red-throated Pipit and Kingfisher were added to our growing list of species! During the first stage of our day we made a detour via the river Asif Iriri and very soon had flocks of Sand Martin, House Martin, Red-rumped Swallow, Barn Swallow together with both Common and Little Swift. A couple of Short-toed Eagles soared overhead whilst we were watching Desert Lark and Wheatear. In the high pass we again had Horned Lark and well over 60 Alpine Chough where Red-billed were strangely in the minority. A Barbary Falcon gave excellent views and we also managed Rock Sparrow. Here we were able to watch Seebohmi Wheatear and discuss the differing characteristics which we believed should lead to this species being considered separately from Northern Wheatear! Our descent gave us further opportunities to ‘stop and find’, fabulous views of a Levaillant’s Woodpecker being a real high-point and we also saw Common Cuckoo. Eventually we arrived in Marrakech and luckily some were able stay over for an extra night!