Day 4
Another early start before breakfast was the plan, visiting the much celebrated Tagdilt Track, well known for it's impressive range of desert species.
It was a fresh old morning as we eagerly awaited the sun to peak above the mountains. We began on the Ikniouen road in an area that has historically held both Houbara Bustard & Dupont's Lark. This is pretty old info, however we thought it was certainly well worth starting there.
It took a little while for anything at all to appear to be honest, but then we were treated to a surprise female Hen Harrier cruising past and gaining height. We're pretty sure these are not too frequent in this area, so a good find it seems!
After lots of fruitless scanning, we popped down the road to a potentially good migrant trap mentioned in Gosney's Morocco guide. It was relatively quiet with just a Tree Pipit & 4 Meadow Pipits.
Back down the road, we veered off and joined the Tagilt Track...or one of them! Going off on a slight tangent here...we used Gosney's Morocco desert guide on and off, which quite a bit of the time, proved very useful, despite being published about eight and a half years ago. However unsurprisingly, places and landscapes had changed quite a bit and where he would mention a key landmark or a single track, there were now 5 tracks and the landmark may have gone. So there is certainly a need for a more up-to-date guide. I guess what I'm saying is Dave, get your arse back over to Morocco and update that gen!!
Anyways back to the birding...we began the Tagilt Track with great anticipation. It wasn't too far along before we enjoyed our first Sandgrouse sighting, again Black-Bellied, with two shooting over. We also encountered a group of 3 smart Temminck's Larks not too far from the track, which proved quite approachable. The song can really sound like Dupont's and it certainly had me excited for a moment.
We got pretty good flyover views of our first Cream-Coloured Courser, which we picked out distantly on the deck too. Then I found another of my must-sees, a very distant Hoopoe Lark, although it was too far away to properly enjoy.
We encountered several Red-Rumped Wheatear and it was great to watch one particular male displaying like mad to a nearby female.
While watching this, I looked down to my right to see a stonking, male Desert Wheatear insanely close. He wandered to within about 5 feet away as I stood there with a beaming smile on my face. WOW!
Further along the track, we gained slightly better views of Hoopoe Lark, some more Black-Bellied Sandgrouse sightings, a few Short-Toed Larks and our best views yet of two thermalling Short-Toed Eagles. We paused at another potential migrant trap consisting of a bit of scrub and fruit trees. Nothing too new here, although we still mustered an elegans Great Grey Shrike, Hoopoe, Chiffchaff, a few Desert Wheatear and a couple of flyby Short-Toed Larks.
We reached the rubbish dumping area nearer town, expecting to see plenty of birds, although it seemed the usual wintering flocks of larks etc had already dispersed and all we saw were a few feral dogs plodding about!
Back at the hotel, we enjoyed a few Crag Martin overhead while having breakfast, together with the sound track of Bulbuls & a Hoopoe. Soon after, we departed on our long drive to the town of Rissani further east.
We paused to try a site for Pharoah Eagle Owl in a big ravine off the N10. No owls here, but we did find a pair of Lanner in the general vicinity of the cliffs.
We had a couple of sites lined up before we got to Rissani. Before we reached these, we stopped at a promising wadi by the N10, with a decent sprinkling of vegetation (at approx 31°44'10.9"N 4°52'39.7"W).
On getting out of the car, we immediately came across a group of around 10 Fulvous Babblers, as well as a pair of elegans Great Grey Shrike. The Babblers were a welcome surprise and meant that we didn't need to try one of the sites we had in mind closer to Rissani. Having watched these for a few minutes, we walked across the road for more of a look.
I'm glad we did as we found two further new additions to the trip, both new birds for me. These were a skulking Bar-Tailed Lark and a beautiful male Western Black-Eared Wheatear. A pair of Desert Wheatear and a Spectacled Warbler, completed a very worthwhile stop indeed!
Around halfway between Goulmima and Errachidia, we stopped again for a about half an hour at a site for Streaked Scrub Warbler (at approx 31°48'12.9"N 4°41'28.1"W), again just off the N10.
We split up and began searching. Dan & I pretty much drew a complete blank with a Woodchat Shrike and a distant singing Hoopoe Lark. We then saw Gareth waving his arms, he had found a pair of saharae Scrub Warblers! We got some lovely views as they went about their business. They were really entertaining to watch, hopping about the low scrub and along the ground, almost wagging their long tail as they went.
Back by the car, we came across what looked like a 'Maghreb Lark', the mooted long-billed split from Crested Lark. That was pretty much it for the birding and we pushed on to Rissani, arriving just after dark.
Day 5
Rissani was just 30-35 minutes from our accommodation, near Merzouga, on the edge of the Erg Chebbi sand dune desert. So with not so much driving to do, we could dedicate a bit more time to finding some birds.
After breakfast we checked out the dried up river bed on the edge of Rissani. During the summer, this area is good for 'Saharan' Olivacious Warbler and Blue Cheeked Bee-eater. We were probably a week or two early, for them both, however it was certainly worth a go.
While there were no Bee-eaters or Olivacious, we picked up our first two Western Bonelli's Warblers of the trip, flicking around in the tamarisks. Also here were a Green Sandpiper, several Chiffchaff, 2 Hoopoe & a White-Crowned Black Wheatear.
Next, we slowly make our way towards the Erg Chebbi, birding as we went. We clocked a fly-by Brown-Necked Raven, not long before turning off the main road onto the track across towards Hotel Yasmina. Some way down the track, we parked up by the 'Yasmina 9km' sign. Here we were hoping to find another new bird for us all, African Desert Warbler, in a nearby shallow wadi. It didn't take too long to find a singing bird, which showed well for a minute or so, flicking around on the floor and scrub. They really are exceptionally sandy in colour with a strikingly yellow eye, but are very fidgety in behaviour, rarely stopping for long!
It then vanished into thin air and took a while to relocate, but eventually we found it again, while Gareth also found another further along the wadi. I really enjoyed the warbler, however this was eclipsed by some fabulous views of a Hoopoe Lark that obligingly hopped up on a small, low bush posing brilliantly in front of me. I really hoped to get a good look at one on the trip and I was super pleased to see one as well as this!
A great half-hour, that also included our best views of Bar-Tailed Lark, completing a nice sandy-coloured trio! We then hopped back in the car and carried on along the teeth-rattling track towards Yasmina!
The goat sheds and buildings in the general vicinity of Hotel Yasmina were once one of THE places for Desert Sparrows. We had a good look around this area just in case, finding a couple of migrant Woodchat Shrikes, however it is apparent that the now large population of House Sparrows, have driven the Deserts out into the Erg Chebbi and more remote areas.
We paused at Hotel Yasmina for a coffee and a bit of a mooch about. The lakes here were dry as a bone, in fact speaking with someone there, they have apparently been dry for some 6 years!! Still, the large area of Tamarisks here are a great place to search for migrants, in fact there is regular bird ringing taking place too with plenty of nets about.
It wasn't groaning with birds, but there was a nice selection about including male & female Redstart, Woodchat Shrike, Subalpine Warbler & Hoopoe. Despite the lack of water, 5 Ruddy Shelduck also flew over and landed nearby, looking a bit lost!
Speaking with a guy from the hotel, it became apparent that Seeing Desert Sparrows was a possibility, however would entail an hour-long treck into the desert, following camel tracks to one of the Berber camps. Here quite a few could be found.
This was a teaser...shall we go for it, shall we not. It was well over 30 degrees and we were already pretty hot and tired, so we made the sensible decision to get up early the next day and do it, to avoid the full heat of the day.
So what now? With a couple hours of daylight left, we decided on having a look at the other 'lake' in the area, Lac Dayet Srij west of Merzouga. As it turned out, this too was dry and appeared to have been for some time too.
A first look about in a large area of low scrub produced a potential Maghreb Lark, another African Desert Warbler and Bar-Tailed Lark.
A walk around a larger area of low scrub, on the other side of the 'lake' unearthed a trio of sylvias. Best of these was our first Tristram's Warbler (see if you can spot it below!), a female that proved very difficult to pin down (below). Also here were quite a few Western Subalpine Warblers, a singing Spectacled Warbler, plus a couple of Common Swift over.
The final installment of the day was to try a site for Egyptian Nightjar, east of Rissani, as mentioned in Gosney's guide. Listening and scanning from sunset, I literally heard about a second of song in about 45 minutes. Could barely count it to be honest, but still cool to have heard one at all I guess. By this point, we were knackered. We headed back towards Merzouga, to our hotel for Berber omelette, mint tea and bed, with another early start looming!
Day 6
We left the hotel in the dark and purposefully drove out to Hotel Yasmina for first light. 'Operation Desert Sparrow' was under way!
We set off in the giant sand pit, following the camel tracks. It didn't take long for our boots to be full to the brim with sand! It was hard work, but thankfully it was lovely and cool and the scenery of the dunes was truly spectacular. Some 35 minutes into our walk, I caught sight of a small, pale passerine landing on the path some 30 feet ahead. BOOM, it was a male Desert Sparrow!! It flicked out of sight a couple of times, but eventually, we all got views before it disappeared. Presumably it was feeding on the endless camel dung knocking around the track.
Relaxed that we had seen one, we bounded along another 15 minutes to the Berber camp where we could already hear the distinctive Desert Sparrow call as we approached.
These calls were coming from a date palm close to the camp and was home to a nesting pair which we sat down to enjoy from a nearby bank of sand. They were busy too, with the male partaking in a mix of singing and nest-building.
After properly enjoying the birds for some time, we decided to get ourselves back to the hotel, before the heat got a bit too much. I'm glad we did, as I was pretty puffed by the time we arrived back at the hotel.
Before grabbing some breakfast, we again checked the tamarisks. There were probably as many as 10 Western Subalpine Warbler, a Western Bonelli's Warbler, a ringed Iberian Chiffchaff (confirmed by the ringers later on) and an LRP.
During breakfast on the hotel patio, we got chatting to the ringers who were in the middle of processing their latest captures. They were a friendly bunch and were more than happy to talk through their studies and show us a couple of Western Subalpine Warblers and a Western Bonelli's Warbler too. While we were eating, one of the guys also brought over a Woodchat Shrike for us to see up close, which was awesome! For more info on what the ringers are doing and what they're finding, see here: https://yasminaprimavera.wordpress.com/
We demolished our breakfast, which pretty much ended up overflowing onto another table there was that much of it! Before we left I got to enjoy a very smart pair of White-Crowned Wheatears by the hotel. We were then ready to begin the three day journey back to Marrakesh!
I took on the driving once again, with our destination the town of Zagora, some 3 and a half hours away. On the way, we had a crack at a traditional site for Pharoah Eagle Owl, west of Rissani. Having read quite a few online trip reports etc, we got the feeling that this was no longer a reliable site for them but it was well worth a try as we were passing.
We had a really thorough search along the cliffs, certainly spotting several likely ledges with poo streaking below, including the ones cited in Gosney's guide. One of which in fact had a Red Fox poking it's head out, not a good sign owl-wise!
Despite our efforts, we had no luck, meaning our chances of these were likely gone for the trip. Birds seen in the general area included better views of Trumpeter Finch, White-Crowned Black Wheatear & a couple of Brown-Necked Raven.
The drive to our accommodation was largely uneventful, apart from numerous White-Crowned Black Wheatears by the roadside. Having seen dry wadi, after dry wadi during the last few days, we were surprised to actually see some water in the River Draa on arrival in Zagora! We had a little explore along here, finding Iberiae Yellow Wagtail and a few common bits and bobs. We tried somewhere else on another side of town and came across a flock of about 10 feeding Bee-eaters. This soon multiplied to around 30, hawking now distantly over the town as the sun set.
Dinner at the hotel had the added bonus of some wine which unsurprisingy went down very nicely!
Day 7
We would return to Ouarzazate today and so not as much driving as the previous day.
We stopped several times along the Draa valley en route. Best birds included several migrant Western Subalpine & Bonelli's Warblers, Green Sand, Black Winged Stilt, a few more Trumpeter Finch, Sedge Warbler & Kingfisher.
We paused near a place called Tamnougalt by the Draa for a quick look. Here there were a couple of small cultivated fields which held quite a few migrants: iberiae, flava & flavissima Yellow Wagtails, our first couple of Tawny Pipits, several Chiffchaff, 2 Bonelli's Warblers, LRP & 2 Laughing Dove.
Next stop was a site high up, 20km west of Agdz, which appears to be one of the only reliable places to see African Rock Martin, the paler relative of the Crag Martin.
We reached the spot and after fending off a couple of fossil and date sellers, we found what we were looking for, with a couple of Rock Martins zipping around the deep gorge below us. Quite an underwhelming new bird, but still a very worthwhile stop.
Back in Ouarzazate, we were keen to have another crack at the Barrage El Mansour reservoir. Before we did, we paid one more visit to the Water Treatment works. As well as similar fare to before, there were a good number of Wagtails, mostly Flava, with the odd Iberiae & a Flavissima. Other highlights included a Long-Legged Buzzard sat perched up nearby, a group of 3 Hoopoes hiding in the shade from the hot sun & a Tree Pipit.
We had a scan at the same vantage point on the northern edge of the reservoir, clocking an impressive 5 hirundine species: Red-Rumped Swallow, Crag Martin, Sand Martin, House Martin & Swallow. Other birds from hear included two new additions to the trip with several Teal and a distant group of 3 Avocet, as well as a cream-crown Marsh Harrier.
Looking very distantly towards the eastern end, there appeared to be quite a lot of birds. So on checking the map, we found another road / track that would possibly enable access.
I'm glad we did this and as hoped, we managed to park up and walk down the NE corner of the reservoir. Here we were able to enjoy some great birds, albeit at a little bit of a distance.
Highlights were a group of 6 Gull-Billed Tern, a Collared Pratincole and 4 Marbled Duck, all new birds for me. Further new additions to the trip included a few Greenshank, Ruff, Shoveler & Lesser Black-Backed Gull, in addition to more Teal, several Black-Winged Stilts, White Wagtails, Kentish Plovers, LRPs, c10 Green Sandpiper & a Northern Wheatear.
A little bit of excitement then ensued when I picked out an Osprey flying purposefully north. A few minutes later, it was amazingly followed by a second, which circled the water before coming down for a 10 minute bath.
Three Bee-eaters flew over and a couple of Chiffchaffs were flicking around closeby. To our minds, the lemony yellow wash to the supercilium, under tail coverts & cleaner underparts, point strongly towards Iberian Chiffchaff. Unfortunately they didn't call or sing.
Before going to our accommodation, we checked out the adjacent river, now in exceptionally windy conditions. There was the now standard LRP on show, as well as a confiding pair of 'Moroccan' subpersonata White Wagtails. Out of nowhere a big adult Lannner swooped right past us no more than 10 feet away, across the river, after some Pigeons resting on a building high up on the other side. It passed so close to us, I actually felt and heard the 'swooch' of it's wings. Incredible!
Day 8
The penultimate day of the trip and with a mid-morning flight the next day, it was as good as the last day!
We left Ouarzazate in seriously strong winds of about 40mph+ which were not great conditions for birding. We did press on though, with our first stop being a return to the migrant filled wadi from a few days previous, or 'Bluethroat river' as it became known.
Having driven through a dust storm, we arrived at the wadi which was thankfully relatively sheltered from the wind.
As we walked along the wadi, we were able to enjoy fantastic point-blank views of a couple of Red-Rumped Swallows, and several Crag Martins and Swallows flying around feeding just feet away.
We also encountered more Nightingales than before, with numbers just about in double figures, skulking along the vegetated edges of the river. Seeing that a couple were frequenting one particularly section, I sat down nearby and waited, while Gareth and Dan searched the river the other side of the road bridge. I went on to gain some mind-blowing views as slowly but surely, out they came foraging about, just 15-20 feet away. It was the first time I had the chance to really watch a Nightingale for a prolonged period of time and appreciate it's behaviour. In the UK, you tend to struggle to see one at all, often being glad of the briefest of views. I found one in particular to be almost inquisitive, slowly but surely, step by step, edging forward to see what I was. It really was a magical 20-25 minutes!
These weren't the only birds to enjoy. A Black Wheatear came down for a drink and a White Wagtail was padding about.
Better still though were fantastic views of a female Woodchat Shrike catching insects from a nearby perch, twice coming incredibly close to just five feet away as I sat there stock still. Incredible!
Eventually I walked across to the other side of the bridge to find the others and came across my favourite of birds, a male White-Spotted Bluethroat, that lingered for a short while.
In fact, the others had as many as 3 Bluethroats on this side of the bridge, plus Moussier's Redstart & the first Willow Warbler of the trip. We left to carry on the journey, soon encountering a low-flying Short-Toed Eagle battling against the wind.
The winding drive over the Atlas was really fun. It was a very different journey to before, now with quite a bit of snow about, both settled and falling lightly. Birds seen across the mountains included quite a few Chough, a small group of roadside Rock Sparrows, a couple of Rock Bunting, African Blue Tit & White-Crowned Black Wheatear.
We pressed on to Marrakesh Stopping occasionally. Although we were out of the snow, it had now turned to rain. We managed to squeeze in three further additions to the trip list. Gareth heard both Firecrest & Jay whilst we stopped by an area of pines, while we also saw a Cuckoo sat on roadside wires closer to Marrakesh.We eventually arrived back at Marrakesh airport and dropped the car off, after navigating the craziness of Marrakesh's roads. At this point, we had pretty much completed the birding - although I did get far better views of Little Swift the next morning from the rooftop of our hotel.
What a trip it had been, full of new birds, great people, great food & I guess good company!! In hindsight, doing the trip another 2-3 weeks later would've certainly allowed us to connect with more migrants that had not yet quite arrived (ie. Blue-Cheeked Bee-eater, Olivacious Warbler, Seebohm's Wheatear, Rufous Bushchat to name a few). It did though give us a far better chance to connect with the difficult mountainous species which would move to higher, more inaccessible areas later on. It also gives us a very good reason to go back! See the full trip list here (137 species):
Great Crested Grebe
Little Grebe
Cormorant
Grey Heron
Cattle Egret
Great White Egret
White Stork
Ruddy Shelduck
Teal
Marbled Duck
Mallard
Shoveler
Booted Eagle
Black Kite
Marsh Harrier
Hen Harrier
Sparrowhawk
Long-Legged Buzzard
Short-Toed Eagle
Osprey
Kestrel
Lesser Kestrel
Lanner Falcon
Barbary Partridge
Moorhen
Coot
Black-Winged Stilt
Avocet
Cream-Coloured Courser
Collared Pratincole
Little Ringed Plover
Kentish Plover
Ruff
Redshank
Greeshank
Green Sandpiper
Lesser Black-Backed Gull
Gull-Billed Tern
Black-Bellied Sandgrouse
Feral Pigeon
Woodpigeon
Collared Dove
Laughing Dove
Cuckoo
Little Owl
Scop's Owl
Egyptian Nightjar
Pallid Swift
Swift
Little Swift
Kingfisher
Hoopoe
Bee-eater
Levaillant's Woodpecker
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Crested Lark
Thekla Lark
Short-Toed Lark
Desert Lark
Bar-Tailed Lark
Thick-Billed Lark
Atlas Lark
Temminck's Lark
Hoopoe Lark
Sand Martin
Crag Martin
African Rock Martin
House Martin
Red-Rumped Swallow
Swallow
Tree Pipit
Meadow Pipit
Tawny Pipit
Yellow Wagtail (3 races)
Grey Wagtail
White Wagtail (2 races)
Wren
Robin
Nightingale
White-Spotted Bluethroat
Black Redstart
Redstart
Moussier's Redstart
Stonechat
Northern Wheatear
Western Black-Eared Wheatear
Maghreb Wheatear
Black Whetear
White-Crowned Black Wheatear
Desert Wheatear
Red-Rumped Wheatear
Blackbird
Song Thrush
Mistle Thrush
Blue Rock Thrush
Streaked Scrub Warbler
Cetti's Warbler
Grasshopper Warbler
Sedge Warbler
Sardinian Warbler
Spectacled Warbler
Western Subalpine Warbler
African Desert Warbler
Tristram's Warbler
Blackcap
Chiffchaff
Iberian Chiffchaff
Willow Warbler
Firecrest
Coal Tit
African Blue Tit
Great Tit
Great Grey Shrike (2 races)
Woodchat Shrike
Common Bulbul
Fulvous Babbler
Jay
Magpie
Chough
Raven
Brown-Necked Raven
Spotless Starling
House Sparrow
Spanish Sparrow
Rock Sparrow
Desert Sparrow
Chaffinch
Greenfinch
Goldfinch
Serin
Linnet
Trumpeter Finch
Crimson-Winged Finch
Corn Bunting
Rock Bunting
House Bunting
