The wandering birders in Morocco February / March 2026 - an account by Sean Scanlon
Morocco 28th Feb to 8th March 2026
28th February
I set off from Kings Lynn after work on Friday (27th) to stay at the Premier Inn at Heathrow overnight before the 07.20 flight the next day. All went to plan, although finding the car park in the darkness and the rain the following morning was a bit stress-inducing, but other than that all went as scheduled and after nearly four hours in the air (flying BA) I was touching down in Marrakech for the start of a week-long birding trip with the assistance of Hamid of Hamid Birdwatching.
The group was the same as my trip to Fuerteventura last November, Colin, Judith and Phil. Their flight was due in from Manchester a couple of hours after mine, so I waited for them in the terminal building once clear of passport control / security (big queues at both especially the latter), with the first bird of the trip being seen inside the building, House Bunting. Before too long, they arrived and we headed off to find a taxi to take us to our hotel for the first night, the Ibis.
The hotel wasn't too far away from the airport and after checking in and getting sorted, we did a little bit of birding in the hotel garden before heading out to a nearby park to see what we could see there. We stayed in the park until getting ejected at 4.45. Birds seen in the park and the hotel garden were House Bunting, Chiffchaff, Common Bulbul, House Sparrow, Feral Pigeon, Blackbird, Blackcap, Kestrel, White Wagtail, Little Swift, Pallid / Common Swift, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Sardinian Warbler, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Spotless Starling.
By the time we had to leave the park we were all quite hungry, so began looking for a place to eat. Sadly, we couldn't find anywhere suitable mainly due to it being Ramadan and many places being closed, so we headed back to the hotel for their buffet at 6.30, doing a bit more birding in the garden before dark. Dinner was a large buffet which was pretty decent, after which we did the roll call before heading off for an early night, full of anticipation for a big day tomorrow.
1st March - Marrakech (466m) - Oukaimeden (2600m) - Ourika Valley (1200-1500m)
Up at 05.50 to get ready and get some breakfast with Phil. We were being picked up at 8 and Colin and Jude had a bit of a later one. It was an extensive buffet though I ended up eating mostly bread based items, the mainstay of Moroccan breakfasts! We had a little time to do some birding in the garden, seeing a few of the same birds as yesterday. Hamid (not the same Hamid as last year) was there waiting for us in the adjacent car park with our vehicle for the week, a Toyota Land cruiser. We had mixed feelings about this as the Transporter we had on our last visit to the country was much more spacious and comfortable but clearly wouldn't be as capable once off road.
The first destination was Oukaimeden, a ski resort in the High Atlas Mountains, where some key birds were to be seen. The drive there was uneventful, though there was a slightly sketchy bit where some diggers were clearing the road of some fallen rocks and the way through was pretty tight, but Hamed was a good driver and we made it through without any issue. We had a stop on the way to Oukaimeden for a roadside sighting of Levaillant's Woodpecker in a bare tree. This stop also yielded African Blue Tit, Rock Bunting, Cirl Bunting, Lesser Kestrel, Goldfinch and a distant Chough.
Carrying on up above the snow line, we were almost at Oukaimeden when we had our first sightings of Choughs on the ground. Quickly coming to a stop, we were able to quickly confirm that several of them were indeed Alpine Chough, one of our two main targets for the day here, along with the commoner Red-billed Chough. They were feeding in an area of melted snow.
Driving on into the skiing area, we were pleased to get our other big target of the day very quickly, Crimson-winged Finch, with a couple on some overhead wires by the road. We were to see quite a few more of these before the day was out which was a relief as this was possibly my second biggest target bird of the trip.
We stayed in the area for much of the rest of the day, spending a good bit of time looking for Alpine Accentor amongst some shepherd's huts, sadly without any joy, but other species seen included (Atlas) Horned Lark, African Chaffinch, Dipper, Black Redstart, Mistle Thrush, Black Wheatear, Meadow Pipit, Rock Bunting and Rock Sparrow. Lunch was a tasty chicken and lemon tagine in a local restaurant, with a few cats and a dog in attendance hoping to share.
The resort was clearly at the end of the season as the lifts weren't running, but the slopes were still covered in snow and there were still people hiring out skis and sleds etc. I could have happily stayed here all day trying to get better shots of the birds that were around especially given that many of them were accustomed to humans and therefore fairly approachable but before too long it was time to leave.
Our accommodation for tonight was the Le Maquis Hote near Ourika, but we had a few stops on the way there, the main one being for another one of my big target species, Tristram's Warbler. This took some finding in a scenic wooded valley…Hamid was playing a recording for quite a while before getting a response but eventually we saw a pair and even managed to get some poor record shots.
A couple more stops before arriving at the hotel gave us gave us the first Crag Martins of the trip plus nice views of African Chaffinch, posing in good light for us. The latter was at a spot for Moussier's Redstart, but there was no sign of that today.
We arrived at the hotel in the late afternoon and had a little time to kill before dark. Colin, Phil and I had a look around the immediate area, heading down to the river (Ourika) through a nearby village. Here we stayed for a while and although it looked like it might be a really great birding spot in the summer, at this time of year before the migrants had arrived it was fairly quiet. Birds seen were African Chaffinch, Blackcap, Collared Dove, Crag Martin, Kestrel and Sparrowhawk.
The hotel was pretty decent, though my room was quite basic. They were showing the match between Arsenal and Chelsea on the TV in reception so I watched the last 20 minutes of that before joining Jude in the dining room to pass a bit of time doing a crossword or two before dinner.
Dinner was fairly late, about 7.30, and consisted of some soup, a chicken tagine and some pancakes for dessert, washed down with some mint tea whilst doing the days roll call.
A few other guests were also in the dining room, a pair of American brothers and a couple of Dutch birders. It turned out they were doing parallel tours with us and we would keep bumping into them as the week went on.
So overall a great first day. All target birds seen up in the high mountain area with the exception of Alpine Accentor. The light was not wonderful for photography but that was probably just as well as I still managed to get a bit sunburnt.
2nd March - Ourika Valley (1200-1500m) - Ourzazate Lake (1151m) - Khemis Dades (1650m)
Up at around 7 this morning after not too great a night's sleep thanks to cramp, wailing imams and noisy traffic. Had a look around the garden then down the little road opposite the hotel, not seeing many species but getting good views of African Blue Tit and a male Sardinian Warbler. Breakfast was at 8, the standard Moroccan spread then at 8.30 we were off on our way on a long drive to our eventual destination, the Riad Dades Birds - Lodge and Birding near Khemis Dades, nearly a 300km drive, taking us to within striking distance of one of what we hoped would be a highlight of the trip, the Tagdilt Track.
First stop of the drive was at a layby where some Mahgreb Magpies were feeding. They quickly moved away but a Crested Lark wasn't quite so timid and allowed some nice photos. Background bird noise was provided by a Levaillant's Woodpecker, but it could not be located. Also here, African Chaffinch, Serin, Barbary Partridge heard, Spotless Starling, Sardinian Warbler. A bit further on we had a few Barbary Partridges in a field by the side of the road, having pulled onto the hard shoulder.
We drove on, picking up Barn Swallow, White Stork (including a flock of around 100 in a field). A quick coffee stop at a nicely situated roadside cafe gave us Crossbill (v poor flight views for me) and Coal Tit heard. Another stop gave us Common Raven, Rock Sparrow, White Wagtail, Goldfinch, Linnet and a distant female Atlas Wheatear.
A cracking male Moussier's Redstart was seen at a site a bit further along by a stream, where Jude almost purchased a souvenir from a local with a roadside stall before Hamid talked her out of it.
Another stop further on gave us a possibility of a couple of new birds, Desert Lark which wasn't seen, and White-crowned Wheatear, which was. It gave poor views perched on a slightly distant road sign, but we were to see many more of these later, including from the car during the rest of the drive today.
Yet further and we stopped for a small group of 4 Mahgreb Larks by the side of the road, which allowed for some reasonable shots. These were notable for their large bills compared to Crested Lark, and whilst there is some debate about their status as a full species, they looked pretty distinctive in my books.
A couple more notable species along the way were Black Kite and Blue Rock Thrush.
We had a productive stop at Ourzazate Lake which added a few extra birds to the trip list. Birds here were Lesser Short-toed Lark (a small flock flying away when we arrived), Great Crested Grebe (several distantly), Cormorant, a very distant Sandwich Tern, Coot, Grey Heron, Little & Great Egrets, Crag Martin, House Martin and a badly seen Alpine Swift.
We then had a final stretch of driving to get to our hotel for the night, where we arrived around 5pm. After settling in, I headed out with Phil to see what the surrounding area held. Sadly not an awful lot, again it was a case of decent habitat but probably a bit early in the season. We did see Serin, House Sparrow, Blackbird, Cattle Egret and a couple of nice Little Owls at dusk near the hotel.
Dinner was soup followed by chicken tagine in an orange sauce, followed by roll call and mint tea. My room was spacious but fairly basic and as we were at a bit of altitude, quite chilly. I braved the shower and it wasn't a lot of fun, but at least it was hot.
3rd March - Tagdilt Track (1450-1690m) - Dades Gorge (2900m) - Khemis Dades (1650m)
Up at for a 7.30 breakfast and an 8.00 departure. I didn't much fancy getting out early to bird around the hotel before breakfast as it was so cold and we hadn't seen much last night, so I had a fairly relaxed start to the day after a fitful night's sleep. Breakfast was the usual decent if bready spread with coffee and juice and shortly after that we were on our way to one of the potential hot spots of the trip, the Tagdilt Track, a world-renowned birding spot where we were hoping for a nice little selection of new species, especially Larks and other desert birds.
It took us about 30 minutes to get there and the first spot we stopped at was a stony hillside overlooking a small stream. This produced my first lifer of the day almost as soon as we got out of the car, with Phil excitedly pointing out a superb Hoopoe Lark on the ground about 20 yards in front of us! A real striking bird with its long legs and long decurved bill, very reminiscent of the new world Thrasher family. I managed to get a few shots before it disappeared, and although we were to see several more of these once we got into the Sahara proper, this was the only one we saw here.
The next bird of note that we saw here were several Black-bellied Sandgrouse which were coming in to drink. They would land 50 or so yards away from the water then walk their way down to the stream. I was particularly hoping to see Pin-tailed Sandgrouse here but sadly none appeared during our visit.
There were other species to keep us entertained however, including Little Ringed Plover, Green Sandpiper, Yellow Wagtail (iberiae variant), White Wagtail, Hoopoe, a distant Short-toed Eagle, Thekla's Lark and Desert Wheatear.
The second lifer of the morning for me was another lark, less spectacular than the first one but still one I was really looking forward to seeing, Desert Lark, of which I found a couple not far from the car and which allowed some fairly poor record shots.
After a while here we got back into the car and headed off towards the rubbish dump area. This was a total eyesore but also quite fascinating in respect of how everyday trash is dealt with in poor countries…people were actually bringing their goats and donkeys along to graze amongst the trash, and there was a selection of humans also apparently eking out a living here somehow, presumably paid by the local authority but…? Something I should have asked Hamid about.
The attraction for the birds was more easily explained, rubbish means flies and insects, and there were plenty of takers for those. Barn Swallows, White Wagtails and a Little Ringed Plover were the first birds seen, and fairly quickly we had seen one of my main two targets here when I found a Thick-billed Lark foraging in a pile of rubbish. We were to see several more of these striking birds whilst here, but decent photographic opportunities were a bit scarce as they were nearly always amongst the trash.
We wandered around a whilst here, avoiding stepping on various nasties, seeing Desert and White-crowned Wheatears, the former allowing some pretty decent shots despite the poor light (it was quite dull today and cold due to a brisk wind - a sharp contrast to what I had expected here). My second target bird here took a little bit longer but luckily didn't give us too much of a runaround before seeing it, Temminck' Lark, of which a couple were located also foraging amongst the rubbish. These were striking little birds too, generally similar to the Atlas Horned Larks we'd seen earlier in the trip, but with a different colourway.
The next bird of note was not a lifer but it was good to see again for only my second time ever, Red-rumped Wheatear. We'd seen a nice male last May at the Dupont's Lark spot, but it was nice to get prolonged views this time and get some photos, and it was also nice to see the female with her distinctive rufous head.
Also here were a couple of House Buntings and another sighting of 2 Temminck's Larks, and White Storks and Black Kites were to be seen in the air.
We left the dump area and had a little look for Bar-tailed Lark in a nearby spot. No luck with that but a nice Isabelline Wheatear was seen here, with it's distinctive upright posture.
Carrying on a bit  further, a Long-legged Buzzard was spotted on top of a pylon, some Trumpeter Finches were seen near a cattle water station, a Black-eared Wheatear seen along the road and in a rocky canyon not too far away, a couple of different Pharaoh Eagle Owls were seen in their nest holes. Views weren't wonderful but it was a great relief to see these as we only had one chance.
We were being battered somewhat by the wind here which was a real pain and quite chilly too. Supporting species here were Trumpeter Finches and a cracking male Moussier's Redstart.
We spent a while here whilst Hamid searched the area. We didn't know at the time but he was looking for Mahgreb Wheatear. We then got back in the car and moved a little way further along the canyon to another site for Mahgreb Wheatear, but no luck was had with this. We did see a superb Lanner Falcon though, probably my first since The Gambia in the 90's.
Our search for the Mahgreb Wheatear was brought to an early end by the weather, as it started to rain and hail at this point, forcing us to give up and go and find somewhere for lunch: pizza washed down with a couple of coffees at a roadside service station.
By the time we had finished here the weather had started to improve a bit which was just as well as the thought of being stuck in the hotel all afternoon was not a great prospect. Our next and final stop for the day was the Dades Gorge, a famous landmark in this part of the world. Here the sun came out although it was still quite cold and windy. Our target here was Bonelli's Eagle and luckily our arrival at the top of the gorge coincided with one appearing over the skyline in front of us. It drifted around in view for a minute or so, allowing a few record shots, before disappearing, not to be seen again. The other two groups who were on parallel tours, the Americans and the Dutch, did not see this bird.
Another of our targets here was one that Judith and I had seen on the first day, Tristram's Warbler. Hamid's perseverance with the tape eventually paid off with this, and we all managed to get decent views, and I managed some slightly better record shots.
Supporting cast here included Rock Bunting (some nice shots in direct sunlight), Black Redstart, Black Wheatear and some genuine-looking Rock Doves. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was seen from the car on the way to the gorge (I initially called Woodchat Shrike) and Blue Rock Thrush too, also from the car.
We then headed back to the hotel and had a bit of time to relax before dinner, roll call and bed. I worked out that the heater in my room did actually work if it was left on for long enough, though this was balanced out by no hot water in the shower.
Still, a great day with 5 much wanted lifers. The Pin-tailed Sandgrouse was a sore dip, Mahgreb Wheatear less so as Hamid said we will try for that again tomorrow before we head off to the next stage of the trip, the very much anticipated Sahara.
4th March - Khemis Dades to Merzouga via Tinejdad
Another big day today as we left Khemis Dades and the Tagdilt Track area behind and head on another fairly long drive to Merzouga and the Sahara. First though the unfinished business of the Mahgreb Wheatear which we had dipped yesterday due to the weather.
We had breakfast at the hotel at 7.30 and left at 8, heading straight to the wheatear site which was also the Pharaoh Eagle Owl site. Happily the weather was much more agreeable today, sunny and windless and not too hot. We spent a good hour and a bit wandering around here searching for the bird. We knew it was here as the other groups had seen it yesterday, which just added to the pressure. The first area we searched was fruitless, though Moussier's Redstart, Desert Lark, Desert, Northern and Isabelline Wheatears, Trumpeter Finch, Black Kite, Lanner Falcon, Black Redstart, possible Booted Eagle, Long-legged Buzzard and Sahara Horned Viper (sheltering under a rock deliberately placed by a friend of Hamid's who had turned up to help) provided a strong supporting cast.
We jumped back into the car and headed a short way along the same canyon to where we had first seen the Lanner Falcon yesterday before getting rained / hailed off, and within moments of arriving there we had seen first a female then the cracking male Mahgreb Wheatear! A huge relief and the male especially was a very striking looking bird.
We stayed here for a while and I managed to get some decent shots of the female but only record shots of the male before we had to leave.
Next stop was an area of low bushes just off the road (N10) around 10km west of Tamerdoulte / Tinejdad. Our target here, which was eventually found by Phil, was Saharan Scrub Warbler, which we ended up seeing a couple of. We had almost given up after a while wandering through the mostly waist-to-chest-high vegetation. I knew that they were quite fond of staying hidden much of the time inside the bushes, so I was giving the odd one a little, er, agitation, but with no luck. Phil however on his first try doing the same, produced two birds which then began flitting from bush to bush foraging in plain sight much of the time, though their size and restlessness meant getting decent photos was a challenge. Still, a great little bird and again one which I had really wanted to see.
Great Grey Shrike and Desert Lark were also seen here.
We stopped for lunch at about 12.30 then afterwards had a bit of a drive as we headed towards the Sahara. Hamid was in contact by phone with someone he knew as we drove along and presently he gave us the good news that his friend had the location of a roosting Egyptian Nightjar. We were very pleased to hear this, especially Colin as he had missed this on his previous trip to the area. There was a bit of a search for Bar-tailed Lark before we got there which sadly bore no fruit, then there was a bit of an off-road section which took us to the home of Hamid's friend Barrack (who was a Bedouin according to Hamid), but not before seeing our first Brown-necked Raven of the trip along the road from the car. At Barrack's place, we followed him a short way through the low scrub to the spot where he pointed out our quarry, a fantastic Egyptian Nightjar roosting underneath a bush. It appears he runs a nice little side-line of staking out this bird for visiting groups, and good luck to him too. He seemed like a very nice chap and I guess it meant getting up before dawn so he could see where it lands to roost for the day.
After spending some time with the Nightjar (seeing Little Swift here too), it was time to carry on. Hamid was keen to drop us off at the hotel where we would be spending the next couple of nights, the Auberge Les Dune D'or, which I presume means something like Golden Dunes Hotel. This was quite a nice place, a bit on the large side and our rooms were huge. Possibly the best hotel of the trip for me. Hamid's home town wasn't too far away, so he was obviously keen to go and spend some time with his family, and who can blame him. He said the area surrounding the hotel held Bar-tailed Larks amongst other things, so after leaving our stuff in our rooms, we headed out to see what we could see.
The weather wasn't particularly great, the cloud was building up and it was pretty breezy. This got worse as the evening drew on, and it was getting to almost sandstorm levels when those of us still out decided to call it a day. We did see Brown-necked Raven, Marsh Harrier, Collared Dove, House Sparrow, Sand Martin and great prolonged views of Hoopoe Lark feeding not far from the hotel. Nice!
Dinner was a shared meatball and egg tagine with some veg / rice / pasta followed by mint tea and the roll call in the dining area.
All in all a very good day, 4 lifers including 3 really good ones. Hopes were very high for the next day, our first full day of birding on the Sahara with some very much anticipated birds on the hit list.
5th March - Merzouga area
Had a bit of an intermittent night's sleep and was up around 6am, mainly hoping to see the sun rise over the fantastic dunes at the back of the hotel. I headed outside and fairly quickly came across Colin, who was looking for a songbird which had been singing outside his room. That turned out to be a White-crowned Wheatear. Oddly, most of the ones around here didn't have white crowns, but they could be identified easily enough by their tail pattern.
We wandered around for a little while before breakfast not seeing much other than the Wheatear and a poorly seen Subalpine Warbler.
Breakfast was at 7 and pick up was at 7.30, and it was off into the desert for what we hoped would be a great day, seeing a few Brown-necked Ravens near the hotel as we left. The weather was certainly in our favour for the second day in a row, we had sunshine pretty much all day but with it being early in the year it didn't get too hot and the sun didn't get so high in the sky that it ruined all photos.
Our first stop was a small pool not too long a drive from the hotel near where we immediately had 4 Spotted Sandgrouse on the ground. Hamid drove the jeep fairly close to them and we had great views in the lovely morning sunshine of these cracking birds. Before long we had seen good numbers of this species, as several small flocks came in to drink from the pool, usually landing a bit of a way away then walking across the stony desert to it.
Maybe 15 minutes or so later we had our next target bird when a pair of Crowned Sandgrouse landed not too far away from the car. Again Hamid drove us a bit closer and we got superb views and lots of good photos. Despite being a really wild bird, they could be very approachable, quite at odds with some other similar kinds of birds.
Hamid drove us a short way to where there was a leaking hose pipe in what appeared to us to be the desert but presumably was an area where things were being grown, possibly melons. The escaping water was attracting more Crowned Sandgrouse, and we stayed here a while enjoying these. In the area also were several Cream-coloured Coursers, which were really nice to see well after the distant ones in Fuerteventura and also Morocco last year.
We then headed off to our next destination, a tented tourist camp which sadly I didn't get the name of. Near the entrance we spotted a couple of small birds which Hamid called as Bar-tailed Larks, so I quickly piled out to get better views. They duly obliged, and I managed to get a few record shots too of this, our final target Lark, as they ran around on the ground feeding.
We then continued to the camp where a couple of important target species were hoped for, and they were both seen within minutes of arriving, Fulvous Babbler (or Chatterer) and the holy grail of Moroccan desert birds, the Desert Sparrow! This along with Moussier's Redstart was a bird I had dreamed of seeing since I started birding all those years ago, so it was a real buzz to finally lay eyes on it. Oddly there were a few House Sparrows around too, so it was interesting seeing them side by side, the Desert Sparrows looking like small ghostly versions of their larger cousins.
We spent a little while here and were given some tea (mint of course) and even some cake by the friendly staff. I had a little wander to a tree line just outside the camp which yielded the second Subalpine Warbler of the day. Other birds in the area included White-crowned Wheatear and Collared Dove, the latter in its natural environment you could say. The light was excellent here and I was very pleased with some of the photos I was able to get.
Soon though it was time to move on and look for our next target. This again was a short drive through the desert (Lanner Falcon seen on the way, just standing on the desert floor). We had barely got out of the car when Hamid called it, a Desert Warbler (African Desert Warbler to give it its full name). Hamid borrowed Colin's camera and was determined to get some shots, so I cautiously followed him hoping for the same. Eventually managed to get some reasonable record shots of this bird which was basically moving from bush to bush, not staying still for very long. It was almost a shame to get so transfixed on this bird as there were several very showy Hoopoe Larks in the area too.
It would have been good to spend a bit more time here, but it was getting on a bit now and soon we were heading back to the hotel for lunch. We'd had an amazing morning with some really nice birds, in fact seeing all of our target species which included six lifers for me. Unreal! We also had a few other goodies like Desert Wheatear, Desert Lark, Common Kestrel, Brown-necked Raven and around 10 Cream-coloured Coursers in the end.
Lunch was salad / vegetable and egg tagine (Berber omelet) followed by orange slices with cinnamon and a banana.
After this we headed to Merzouga Lake for the afternoon. This was frankly a bit of an anti-climax after the amazing morning we had, but we still managed to get a bunch of new species for the trip list. Birds seen here included Northern Wheatear, Ruddy Shelduck, Greater Flamingo, Greenshank, Black-winged Stilt, Avocet, Great Crested Grebe, Grey Heron, Little Ringed Plover, Kentish Plover, Isabelline Wheatear, Shoveler, Marbled Duck, Shelduck, Spoonbill, Marsh Harrier, Black-headed Gull, Kestrel, Coot and Crested Lark.
Back at the hotel Colin and I spent the last hour or so of daylight birding in the adjacent area, seeing Hoopoe Lark again, Sardinian Warbler, Chiffchaff, Tawny Pipit and White-crowned Wheatear.
6th March - Part one of the return trip to Marrakech
Up at around 6.20 for a look around the hotel grounds before breakfast. Didn't see an awful lot other than the resident W-c Wheatears and a presumed Sardinian Warbler. I had the feeling that in another few weeks this could be quite a productive spot for spring migrants, but we may have been just a little early.
Hamid picked us up at 8.30, I managed a final Subalpine Warbler in bushes behind my room before we left, plus a very close W-c Wheatear on the veranda wall.
We were heading to Ourzazate today where we were to spend the night to break up the long drive back to Marrakech, but we had a few stops / detours on the way, one of which was to an escarpment where Barbary Falcons were nesting. We didn't get great views, just the head and tail of an incubating bird, but it was an interesting area, the stones and rocks were full of fossils, and Trumpeter Finches also provided some entertainment. Not far from here we had our only Greater Short-toed Larks of the trip with 3 birds feeding by the side of the track. Also in the area were Desert and Northern Wheatear.
Carrying on, birds seen en route included Great Grey and Woodchat Shrikes, W-c Wheatear, Black Wheatear. We stopped at a small river which was partly dried up where we saw Common Snipe (flushed when we approached the river), Grey Heron, Little Ringed Plover, Sardinian Warbler and Serin.
Another stop was at a site for Bonelli's Eagle and whilst failing to see that, there were a few other birds around such as Moussier's Redstart, Trumpeter Finch, House Sparrow, Greenfinch, Blackbird, Linnet, Crag Martin and Thekla's Lark.
Final stop of the day was at a small lake just to the east of Ourzazate where the main interest was provided by some hirundines hunting in the area, namely Barn Swallow, Crag Martin, House Martin and Red-rumped Swallow. We stayed here awhile trying to get some decent shots of these birds, but it wasn't easy and before too long we lost the sun behind some clouds which didn't help.
Our accommodation for the night in Ourzazate was the Rose Valley Hotel which was in the city. The one which Hamid would have normally used didn't have four available rooms sadly, as this was near a river which would have probably given some better birding opportunities in the brief time we were there, but the roof terrace gave some decent views over the city to the snow-capped High Atlas Mountains and I spent the last half an hour of daylight up there, seeing Lesser Kestrel, White Stork, House Martin, Pallid Swift.
Our evening meal was a pretty decent buffet followed by roll call with Hamid, who was clearly a lot happier with life now that he had eaten (we were still in Ramadan so he couldn't eat anything during the day).
7th March - Ourzazate to Marrakech - over the High Atlas Mountains again
I was up at around 6.30 and spent a bit of time on the rooftop terrace to see what I could see. Nothing much different to last night but there were a few more swifts and House Buntings around, plus Cattle Egrets. A distant flock of White Storks could be seen on migration.
At 8.30 after a pretty decent breakfast we set off. We hadn't gone far before the first stop, a small lake outside the city. Immediately here we saw about half a dozen Greater Flamingos which fairly quickly walked over to the far side of the lake. Other species seen here were Shoveler, Coot, Crested Lark, White-crowned Wheatear, Hoopoe, White Wagtail and White Stork.
Hamid then took us to a small town on a river (Ait-Ben-Haddou) where we had a little wander around the shops, got a coffee (fairly heavily flavoured with cinnamon) and watched a few hirundines over the river Crag and House Martins and Barn and Red-rumped Swallows. Phil got himself an Arab head-dress in a shop near the fortress and cut quite a figure with it on.
We then had a fairly long drive to Marrakech with a few stops along the way, including Red-billed Choughs near the Tizi-Tichka Pass, also near here at another stop Black Redstart, African Chaffinch, Mistle Thrush, African Blue Tit, Chiffchaff.
We stopped once more at the roadside café where we'd seen Crossbill a few days ago when we were heading on the opposite direction, the Café Restaurant Tagudalt. We got slightly better views this time, plus Rock Bunting, Blackcap, Great Tit and Coal Tit, the latter sadly only heard and maybe seen fleetingly in flight.
Then it was onto Marrakech and our accommodation for the night, Le Grand Imilchil Hotel. The tour was officially over, and we said our farewells to Hamid. He had been a very good guide, not all that chatty but that may partly have been down to the daily fasting thing, but as far as the targe birds went he was well on top of things.
After getting settled in we (me, Phil and Colin) had a wander along the road a bit heading to one of the local parks. This was a bit unproductive at first but it got better as the afternoon wore on, with birds seen including Spotless Starling, Common Bulbul, House Sparrow, Spanish Sparrow (dust-bathing on a small mound), Serin, Black Kite (good numbers), Booted Eagle, White Stork (a few large flocks on migration) and lots of Swifts (presumed mainly Pallid with the odd Little).
We stopped at a nice bar near the hotel where the others indulged in an expensive beer whilst I just had a coke. In the evening we headed to a nice restaurant not far from the said bar which served pretty decent burgers. Final roll call was back at the hotel before turning in for the night. This wasn't a great hotel but it did the job.
8th March - Marrakech - homeward bound
The final day of our trip to Morocco. We had breakfast at the hotel, mainly bread based again with juice and coffee, then the others caught their taxi to the airport for their flight to Manchester. My flight to Stansted was a few hours later than theirs, so I had a bit of time to kill. I had instructions to bring back a few bits and bobs if I had a chance to go to any markets, so I thought I may as well have a wander into town and see what I could see. I could see on the map that there was a park between the hotel and the city centre (the oddly named “Cyber Park”), so I thought I would head through there and do some birding, but sadly there was a bloody great wall preventing access from that side, so I had to walk around it.
Managed to have a little wander around the city for a while, succeeding in ticking off one of the two items on the shopping list. I was there fairly early in the day so many of the shops were closed, but it was still interesting to have a walk around, and I saw the main square which is the subject of so many travellers tales. This really only comes to life at night when lots of food stalls set up, so seeing it early in the day was not to see it at its best, but hopefully I will get a chance to come back and experience it properly.
On the way back to the hotel I managed to find a way into the Cyber Park and was quite glad I did, with a perched dark-phase Booted Eagle calling from a tree holding a prey item in it's talons, which I presumed was a pigeon. Other species seen here and in the city included Serin, Greenfinch, Blackcap, Hoopoe, Chiffchaff, House Bunting, a pale phase Booted Eagle flying over the perched one in the park (its mate?). I wished I had come to the park before breakfast really as it looked very promising, but by now time was getting on a bit and I wasn't sure what time I had to check out of the hotel room, so I headed back there.
Checkout was at noon and my taxi to the airport was booked for 1.30pm, so I had lunch at the burger place whilst I waited for that.
The journey back to King's Lynn went as planned and I was home by about 11pm.
All in all, an excellent trip! I had not expected to see all of the specialities, but we had not only seen them but in most cases seen them well and photographed them too. The only things we missed which I was slightly disappointed with was Alpine Accentor at Oukimaden and Pin-tailed Sandgrouse at the Tagdilt Track, though this is only a small chance of this here according to Hamid. It will give me a reason to do some more birding in Spain sometime in the next year or so, hopefully.
|
|
