A trip report of a seven day twitch in Northern Morocco
This trip report is an account of a seven day twitch for some of the special birds that are to be found the Northern region of Morocco.
The participants were
Colin Butler
Alan Coleman
Judith Halman
Robert (Sean) Jackson
The tour was led by Hamid of Gayuin Birding Tours, who are a bird tour company based in Morocco.
Day1 (A long day travelling and a dump of an airport)
The day started with Colin, Alan and Judith flying from Manchester in the early hours to Casablanca via Charles De Gaul airport in Paris, as there were no direct flights on the required day. After a lengthy stop over in Paris we finally arrived in Casablanca late in the evening. Incidentally what a dump CDG is, despite CDG being a transit stop we had to go through the whole security process when we went to find the gate for the onward flight.
Sean on the other hand flew direct from London to Casablanca but due to a delay arrived even later in the evening.
Alan and myself had purchased a 1Ltr bottles of Gin and Vodka spending the post evening meal time consuming the contents and generally solving all of the worlds' problems when I suddenly noticed that the time was 01:40 with the conversation quickly halted as it was an early start the next morning)
Day 2 (A Buttonquail no-show)
The day commenced with the three Manchester travelers meeting with Sean for the first time. I had advertised the trip on Birdforum where Sean contacted me stating his interest in the tour.
All four of the group were interested to see how the group would interact, any trepidation was soon to dispelled with all of the group getting on to the extent that Sean will be joining us in Morocco in 2026 .  Alan is unfortunately unable to join us on the 2026 adventure.
The birding started when Hamid joined the group after breakfast when we travelled South to El Jadida which is an area next too the Atlantic where Alfalfa is extensively farmed.
This is the site to look for the elusive Buttonquail, a bird which was thought to be extinct until recently.
Two mornings were allocated to find this bird which was to be achieved by walking through the furrows between the Alfalfa crop.
This search proved to be unsuccessful. However many good birds were seen during the morning's endeavors which included but not only
Spotless Starling
Zitting Cisticola
Crested Lark
Turtle Dove
Laughing Dove
Red-rumped Swallow
White Stork
Little Owl
Great Grey Shrike
Hobby
Cattle Egret
House Bunting
Quail (heard almost constantly)
Osprey.
After a delicious Tagine lunch at a local restaurant the afternoon was spent at some salt pans located behind the dunes on the Atlantic coast.
These dunes have been awarded special protection by the Moroccan government.
Amongst the birds recorded here were
Black-winged Stilt
Collared Pratincoles (many hundreds)
Little Tern
Black-headed Wagtails
Kentish Plover
Teminck's Stint
Yellow-legged Gull
A thoroughly enjoyable and relaxing afternoon indeed.
The evening was spent in a hotel in El Jadida, which I must confess that, due to starting to feel unwell, I cannot readily recall.
Day 3 (A major dip and an encounter with a rather dubious chef)
After breakfast the morning was spent again walking through the Alfalfa fields in an unsuccessful attempt to see the Buttonquail.
Amongst the birds encountered were
Common Bulbul
Black-eared Wheatear
Glossy Ibis
Stone Curlew.
White Stork
Disappointingly though no Buttonquail. None have been seen so far in 2026 which is rather concerning.
 After lunch (another delicious Tagine) the afternoon was spent on a sea watch where the following birds were noted
Sandwich Tern
Audoin's Gull
Cory's Shearwater
Northern Gannet
Storm Petrel
In Rabat the following birds were noted
The birds in red will be some of the target birds
Common Swift
Pallid Swift
Little Egret
Cattle Egret
Glossy Ibis
African Chaffinch
African Blue Tit
Sparrowhawk.
The night was spent in Rabat in an hotel opposite the Medina where some of the group visited the Medina purchasing some of the many spices available there.
After the meal the roll call was made with Alan and myself solving more of the worlds problems of a glass (or two of Gin) later on.
Day 4 The strange case of spontaneous combustion.
It was an extra early start this morning in order for the group to be at The Zaers Forrest at first light for one of the special birds of the region, which were immediately heard, with them eventually giving good views Double-spurred Francolin. A bird with a very restricted range within the Western Palearctic.
Also noted were
Black-headed Tchagra Both species have a restricted range within the Western Palearctic and which I did see within their general range in The Gambia last November
Other birds noted at this site
Barbary Partridge
Cuckoo
Stone Curlew
Nightingale
Serin
African Chaffinch
Sardinian Warbler
African Blue Tit
Greater-spotted Woodpecker.
The next site visited was Moulay Bousselham which is the site for yet another extremely rare bird which was seen at almost point blank range.
Marsh Owl.
The procedure at this site is to pick up one of the local Strawberry farmers who have been keeping a look out for where these birds roost. The farmer was duly picked up with the surprise being that he proceeded to give three punnets of Strawberries (and they were delicious) The farmer then proceeded to flush the bird, a matter which became unsavory after a little while.
Other birds noted included
Tawny Pipit.
We then visited Sidi Boughaba Lake where the following were amongst the birds noted
Marbled Teal
White-headed Duck
Ferruginous Duck
Crested Coot
Black Kite
Marsh Harrier
Booted Eagle
Hobby
Black-winged Stilt
We then travelled back to Rabat and another encounter with the rather dubious looking cook and another take it or leave it lunch.
It was whilst showering prior to going to the evening meal that I heard a rather loud bang coming from my room. When I left the shower room I noticed that the bottle of mixer that I had bought had spontaneously combusted. The bottom of the glass remained on the bed-side table with the top of the bottle (cap intact) lay on the pillow with the glass spread all over the bed and floor.
The checklist that I had printed for the nightly roll call was completely soaked.
That evening I missed the roll call, and the evenings conversation with Alan as I started to feel unwell. Later events would start to reveal the full extent. I had generally not felt particularly alert from the start of the day, a matter which would continue for some further days.
Day 4 Lost in the forest and trapped in the bog
An early jaunt around Rabat managed to find
Mahgeb Magpie
Long-legged Buzzard
Whilst Sean managed to see
Western Olivaceous Warbler
It was then time to start moving inland towards Ilfrane and the Mid-Atlas Mountains.
The journey towards our next scheduled stop yielded
Roller
Black Kite
before we arrived at our next scheduled site. The first impression was that we had arrived at a site for building waste, however it soon revealed some star birds.
Western Black-eared Wheatear was the first bird to be recorded soon to be followed by two star birds
Seebohm's Wheatear
Moussier's Redstart
Linnet
Corn Bunting soon followed
The onward journey commenced and soon we arrived in the village of Ilfrane, a ski resort in the winter but in Spring not too busy.
It was here that Sean called Levaillant's and soon we were watching yet another star bird
Levaillant's Green Woodpecker.
Whilst I have seen one previously but not with views like this, it was anting on a grass verge which separated a dual carriage way. We were seeing the bird at almost point blank range.
Needless to say the camera shutter was almost red hot after we had watched the bird and satiated ourselves with the views.
It was then on to lunch which consisted of chicken and beef kebabs, probably not the best choice as events were to prove.
We then moved on to the next scheduled stop which was in the Mid-Atlas Mountains at a forest located there.
A family of Barbary Apes proved a temporary distraction before we entered the forest proper to search for two of the specialist birds found there.
Soon we found
Firecrest
Short-toed Treecreeper
Levaillant's Green Woodpecker
Atlas Flycatcher
Alan had views of the Maghreb Owl but, despite further attempts, it could not be re-located.
Feeling unwell I stayed behind with Judith but later on attempted to find the rest of the group. It was at this point I became dis-orientated and became hopelessly lost. I remained calm eventually hearing Alan calling out my name, and becoming re-acquainted with the group. We then journeyed on to our accommodation which was to be our base for the next two nights.
At our evening meal I suddenly became unwell to the extent that I did not join the evening walk which revealed
Scops Owl for the rest.
This is when I became trapped in the bog for the whole of the following day. The group however managed the following birds
Golden Oriole
Melodious Warbler
Western Subalpine Warbler
Day 5 A full day of another episode of spontaneous combustion
I did manage to join the group for another attempt at the Maghreb Owl, however that was short-lived as I felt the need to retire back to the van
Birds noted in the short evening jaunt
Atlas Flycatcher
Firecrest
Short-toed Treecreeper
Day 6 Out of the bog and into the desert
Thankfully after almost spending the day in bed (apart from some rather hurried journeys to the adjacent room) I felt well enough to do some pre-breakfast birding where the following birds were recorded
Nightingale (heard)
Subalpine Warbler
Woodchat Shrike
Whitethroat
Melodious Warbler
Stonechat
Serin
Greenfinch
Golden Oriole (heard).
After breakfast we embarked on the long journey to the Zaida Plains, which is an area of stony desert in search of two more specialist birds.
On the journey we added
Rock Sparrow
And Raven to the list.
After eventually arriving at our rather large hotel we embarked upon birding around the grounds before having our evening meal.
Birds noted included
Spotted Flycatcher
Turtle Dove
African Chaffinch
Crested Lark.
Incidentally the reason for the large hotel being this specific location is that it is halfway between Fez and the Sahara Desert proper.
The evening walk proved a limited success, but a success all the same yielding the following birds
Cream Coloured Courser (around 4)
Houbara Bustard (part of the re-introduction)
Desert Wheatear
Red Rumped Wheatear
We did hear the Dupont's Lark without managing to see it.
Day 7 Larking about in the desert and another medical occurrence.
The morning started early with the group arriving at the same location as the evening before, but on this occasion well before dawn. This was in order to be in location to see the last remaining target bird.
You could say that we had some success in seeing the target bird - Dupont's Lark
But that would be an understatement. As soon as we arrived the bird could be heard, but as soon as Hamid played the tape is could, in the half-light, be seen to respond immediately. It was seen calling back and actually coming towards the group. Eventually sitting in top of a rock calling it's head off.
It was so close that my camera could not focus. Unfortunately before I could zoom out the lens the bird flew. But the views were amazing for such a secretive bird. I have seen them on two occasions in Spain but always crouching in long grass.
We managed to see
Red-rumped Wheatear
Desert Wheatear.
The last bird illustrating the variation in Wheatears and how crucial it is to obtain a view of the tail pattern.
It was during the long and hot (40c) that we encountered our second medical occurrence when Alan became unwell and he was required to leave the van almost fainting, thankfully he soon recovered and before long we all arrived back at our hotel close to Casablanca airport for our journeys back to London and Manchester airports.
However the story does not end there as myself, Judith and Sean have re-booked with the tour operator for a trip to the High Atlas and Sahara Desert proper next year. Alan cannot make next year with his place being taken by Phil who is a KOS member.
Hopefully I will be making a trip report for that next year which will be more comprehensive than this one. Due to me feeling unwell my notes were rather sparse which along with parts of the trip being a blur has resulted in far fewer photos and notes.
But even considering that the trip was a success and enjoyed immensely by all.
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