Morocco: Part 1 - Marrakesh - Boulmalne Dades

Dan Watson, Gareth Blockley & myself had been plotting what promised to be an exciting birding trip to Morocco and after much anticipation, around came Friday 9th March and it was time to begin!

Day 1

We set off in the early hours of Friday, flying from Stansted - Marrakesh. We finally made it out of airport security & Passport control, after what seemed like forever and immediately took in our first birds, including House Bunting, Spotless Starling & Common Bulbul...all new birds for me!

We collected our hire car and the eight day road trip had begun! We drove a short way towards the edge of Marrakesh, finding a bit of wasteland to get some birding under our belts. This produced a nice selection of stuff, including a distant Booted Eagle, 2-3 Red-Rumped Swallow, Crested Lark, Pallid & Little Swift, mauritanica Magpie, White Stork & Great Grey Shrike.

Our first destination was the town of Ourika, some 50 minutes away in the foothills of the Atlas mountains. This would be where we would be staying for the first night. 

We added more new birds in the Ourika area, including Cattle Egret, better views of Common Bulbuls, African Blue Tit, African race Chaffinch, Serin & Blackcap. We dropped our stuff off as planned and then hit the windy mountains roads up to the skiing areas of Oukaimeden high up in the mountains, to search for specialist, sought after mountain species, such as Crimson-Winged Finch & Atlas Lark.





After arriving at the second car park, it took us very little time to connect with the first of our targets, with a flock of about 20 lovely Crimson-Winged Finches sat on rocks close to the car park. 



They soon came much closer, feeding on scraps and crumbs in the car park, just feet away, affording fabulous views in the late afternoon sunshine.

We had a bit of a wander around in the snow beyond the ski lift and soon located a small group of Rock Sparrows feeding together with a Mistle Thrush of all things, on rough ground by a stream. Then a real surprise, in the shape of a Little Owl sat on some nearby ruined buildings. Who knew you could see a Little Owl at 3000m!



On return to the car park, we were told by another UK birder that an Atlas Lark had been feeding right by his car in the car park, but had since flown up onto a nearby rocky hillside! I soon relocated it sat up on a rock and gained some distant scope views. I was a bit disappointed not to get some better views of this endemic form, but at least we saw one. Unfortunately we never came across any more on the trip... but there's always next time! We were though given a nice consolation, with a large group of noisy Chough heading over.



The sun soon dipped below the mountainside so we decided to slowly make our way back towards Ourika. Before we did, we had one last look at the finches, nicking food off some of the many souvenir stands around the first car park.





There was one final distraction in Oukaimeden with a pair of showy African Blue Tit, proving to be very approachable.





The last bit of excitement for the day was a fab quick fire double, as we saw both a male Black Wheatear and a couple of Rock Buntings some 10 minutes out of Oukaimeden. Gareth then took us back down to the hotel and it was then time for Tagine and a big sleep!

Day 2

Our second day began with a cacophony of sound, dominated by the large local population of warbling Common Bulbuls. We spent a bit of time enjoying some of the birds around our hotel, with a nice green area below down towards the river.



Here, the clear highlight was the pleasant surprise of one, maybe two very vocal Levaillant's Woodpeckers. Like the previous day's Atlas Lark, they unfortunately provided only average views, but another endemic seen! We also got to enjoy all those Common Bulbuls, African Chaffinch, Laughing Dove, House Bunting, a singing Cetti's Warbler, Chiffchaff, Blackcap & Cattle Egret.







We planned to get up to Oukaimeden again, relatively early to avoid the hoards of people likely to be up there for skiing. We would then travel around four and half hours over the Atlas and to the town of Ouarzazate the other side. It was rather optimistic to squeeze this all in with birding too, but we decided to give it a go!

We repeated the previous day's journey up the mountain, along the windy, pretty crappy roads towards Oukaimeden, stopping at various points to bird, adding a Great Spotted Woodpecker, calling Levaillant's Woodpecker, Coal Tit and more African Blue Tits. A stop higher up produced a female Black Redstart, another Black Wheatear and plenty more standard Choughs, however as yet, no Alpines.





Another stop higher up still, proved very worthwhile! There were again lots of Chough overhead, while close to the road we picked out a pretty confiding pair of Black Wheatear and one or two Rock Bunting. I then plucked out one of my main targets of the trip...an absolutely stonking male Moussier's Redstart flicking around on rocks some 25 metres from the road. Wow what a stunner!





It was amazingly bold, allowing me to slowly but surely, creep to within just 10 feet away, even letting me maneuver myself as best I could, so that the sun was in a better position. 
I sat and watched him for a few minutes, taking a few photos and just enjoying the experience. Certainly one of the most memorable moments of the trip. I was buzzing!





We had a little more of a mooch about and managed very brief views of both Subalpine and Sardinian Warblers in the more scrubby areas adjacent to the road. After all this welcome distraction, we decided it was best we cracked on with our journey, rather than get up to Oukaimeden, having witnessed tonnes of cars and coaches heading up there. It was likely to be a bit of a nightmare!!

So we set off, stopping every now and then to bird. New additions to the list included some Barbary Partridge, Corn Bunting and Stonechat. A stop to look at a foraging group of Kestrels confirms the presence of both Common and Lesser (below) which was rather nice to see.

Having travelled through some relatively flat plains, we again entered the foothills of the Atlas and began the drive actually over the range, dodging a Spur-Thighed Tortoise crossing the road on the way!

The scenery through the mountains was awesome and weather, pretty clear. We didn't really add much more to what we had seen already, although it was really cool seeing a steady trickle of Swallows making their way through the peaks, possibly with the UK in mind!

We pushed on towards Ouarzazate, however with a couple of hours of light left, we decided to get our first taste of some desert habitat, giving a site for Maghreb Wheatear (the NW African Mourning Wheatear) a go.

Here we got our first look at a few new species for the trip including Desert Lark, Desert Wheatear, White-Crowned Black Wheatear & Blue Rock Thrush. We were all mega chuffed that Gareth managed to pick out a pair of the sought-after Maghreb Wheatear, however Dan and I only got brief views before they vanished up a rocky slope. With the light fading, we decided to try again first thing the next morning.

Day 3

A combination of snoring, a cockerel & the local mosque, meant that I woke up on day 3 feeling pretty sleep deprived!! Still, as planned, we drove back to the Maghreb Wheatear site at first light, full of optimism.

A couple of miles from the site we paused for what ended up being around half an hour, at a bit of a migrant trap, comprising of several scattered trees and bushes and a few small cultivated fields.

Immediately we were greeted by a confiding Hoopoe by the side of the road, as well as a few African Chaffinch & a couple of Serin. Walking down a small path into the area produced several good birds including 2 Woodchat Shrike, a Grasshopper Warbler flushed from a small ditch, male Sardinian Warbler, Subalpine Warbler, a Black Redstart, Thekla & Crested Larks.

Then onto the Wheatear site, where we began trudging across to the same area as the previous evening, while also enjoying the fantastic views across to the snow-capped Atlas.

After a little time, Dan thankfully relocated the pair of Maghreb Wheatears and this time, we all got to enjoy them at leisure. The male in particular is one heck of a beautiful bird. As we said at the time, there is something about black & white birds. A great species to see as they are by know means straight forward to find. The pair were also in fact joined by a third bird for a short while, what appeared to be a 1st-winter male.

While enjoying the Wheatear show, a bubbling call could be heard overhead and we quickly picked out our first Sandgrouse, a pair of flyover Black-Bellied Sandgrouse. An unexpected bonus! A pair of Desert Lark also appeared as we made our way back to the car.

A couple of miles further along the road we stopped at a small wadi (at approx 31°00'13.5"N 7°13'49.1"W), still with a pool of water in it. We mustered a few further gems here including our first Spectacled Warbler (a beaut of a male), 2, possibly 3 Subalpine Warblers, Crag Martin, a Northern Wheatear and a few Swallows.

Before getting back to the hotel in Ouarzazate for a late breakfast, we came across a bridge across a small vegetated valley (at approx 30°58'44.7"N 7°13'05.8"W). Through it was a largely dry wadi, with a few patches of water remaining. It turned out to be littered with an impressive array of birds that included 2 male White-Spotted Bluethroats, male Moussier's Redstart, a Nightingale (below), a Tree Pipit, several Spanish Sparrow, Green Sand, LRP, Sedge Warbler, Blackcap, White Wagtail, Grey Wagtail & Meadow Pipit. The bird fest continued, on our return to Ouarzazate with a unexpected Black-Winged Stilt on a small roadside pool on the edge of town.

After breakfast we had a bit of scan from rooftop terrace of the hotel. This proved surprisingly productive finding a circling Long-Legged Buzzard, high up Little & Pallid Swift, Little Owl, Subalpine Warbler, White Stork, a flyover Tree Pipit, Chiffchaff & the usual House Buntings.

The small town of Boumalne Dades would be our destination later on, however before we properly hit the road, we tried a few sites dotted around Ouarzazate.

We attempted to access the enormous reservoir, Barrage El Mansour walking along a small river. This area, however turned out to be a bit of a sewage dump and was nothing short of minging, soon 'affectionately' named Poo River!!! We stomached it for a bit, but in the end decided to try plan B! Still, it wasn't all bad as we saw quite a few smart Iberiae Yellow Wagtail, a sizable flock of Short-Toed Lark, a distant Black Kite, Subalpine Warbler, multiple Hoopoes and a flock of 21 LRP.

We drove round to the water treatment works. It was relatively uneventful however there were plenty of Ruddy Shelduck and a Marsh Harrier, together with a Little Grebe, a Redshank & lots of Coot. The increasingly strong wind was hampering us a touch here, and was likely to have forced many birds to keep their heads down.

We had another go at the reservoir, which this time proved far more successful, driving along a track to a high point overlooking the north side. Again, the wind was extremely strong and what's more, we were looking into the glare of the sun. Still, we found a nice male Kentish Plover, another Iberiae Yellow Wagtail, a few LRP, Great White Egret, Redshank, Cormorant and a few Great Crested Grebe out on the water. Best bird here was our first Short-Toed Eagle of the trip, slowly battling it's way through the wind.

We left Ouarzazate and began the hour and a half drive to Boumalne Dades. There was of course some excitement on the way! Firstly, a cracking Lanner appeared out of nowhere and cruised low over the car. We screeched to a halt and were able to enjoy it for a minute or so as it hung in the air before heading off. Very nice indeed!

Further along the road, we stumbled across a group of around 40 Black Kite which as it transpired, were hanging about over a bit of a desert rubbish dump! We drove a short way along a track towards them, parked up and enjoyed great views of the birds. Also here were a pair of Desert Wheatear and 1-2 distant Short-Toed Eagle.

As we drove back down the track a passerine flew up and left, landing some 30-40 feet away. Those white wingbars were a real giveaway and after we frantically scrambled out of the car, it was indeed confirmed we had stumbled upon a beast of a Thick-Billed Lark, one of our big trip targets!! I enjoyed it in the bins for about 2 seconds, before it flew further to the left down into a shallow gully. Dan & I crept our way towards the spot, however there was nothing. Ten minutes later we gave up...it had given us the slip, in fact to be honest it had probably just kept going. It was a bittersweet kind of feeling as yes, we had managed to find a really tricky species, but if only we'd got to see it for a tiny bit longer!

We made it to Boulmalne Dades all ok, with approximately 40 minutes of daylight left. We decided to try a site just the other side of town, off the road to Ikniouen. In days gone by, the site held some pools good for Sandgrouse, however of course we found them to be bone dry! In the fading light we did at least see something, just about making out a pair of Red-Rumped Wheatears. To finish off a very good day, whilst having dinner at our hotel, a Scop's Owl could be heard calling several times.