Second trip to Morocco. Since we picked off all the important migrating warblers in Mauritania, the target list for this Morocco trip was pretty short. This time we flew to Casablanca, not to Rabat where they confiscate optics gear at the customs. This seem to be a general tip for birders visiting unstable countries, go to the tourist resorts, not the capital unless you want to gamble with confiscated scopes and cameras. Our next trip is Egypt, and we have chosen to fly to Hourgada instead of Cairo for this very reason.
Started off with a long drive up into the low Atlas, the first good birds we encountered was a group Seebohm’s Wheatear. Especially the females appear to be poorly documented on the Internet. Here are two females.
On our February trip to Morocco, we had a suspicious female Wheatear, possibly Seebohm’s, but we could not find sufficient documentation to safely determine if it was a Seebohm’s female or not.
The Seebohm’s Wheatear is still considered to be a subspecies of Northern Wheatear by IOC, we would not be surprised if the Seebohm’s Wheatear is soon elevated to full species status. Especially the male stands out.
Kept driving into the evening all the way to Zaida for the Dupont’s Lark that we couldn’t find in February. We made a short attempt on the Zaida plains the same evening to no avail. It was raining and the wind was high. Instead we took up on information from our friend Arjan Dwarshuis that the birds start singing in the dark, one hour before sunrise. Thus, the morning after, in the pitch black dark on the Zaida plains we go. We drive up to the area and just before we stop the car, Mårten says “Ett två tre kryss” (One, two, three, tick) and as we open the car door we can hear the very characteristic song of the Dupont’s Lark out in the dark. Later as the light came, we got good views.
A very secretive bird indeed, we saw the Larks running away in the grass, fast runners with a hunched fast running style. Like mice.
With the Lark finally secured we headed west towards Rissani where we met up with Hamid Gbt of Gayuin Birding who met us at the entrance to Rissani and graciously showed us the needle in the haystack, a day roosting Egyptian Nightjar. Very very difficult to find.
What a camouflage. Hamid and his brother Brahim Gbt run a professional bird guide company here in Morocco, Gayuin Birding. Nice setup.
Headed back towards the Ifrane area in the Low Atlas. This is a most beautiful part of Morocco with green slopes, cattle and sheep. Found a wonderful Auberge, and Eriks girlfriend Anna Malmström met up there. Next bird on the list was the Atlas Flycatcher, it was easy to find the NP close to Ifrane.
The forest was nice to walk in, and the high altitude temperature was a relief compared to what we’ve had earlier.
When we woke up the next morning, stepped out on the balcony at the Auberge the first Roller of the year sat on a wire.
In the forest we also had Firecrest, and the Short-toed Treecreepers were everywhere.
After an excellent lunch in Ifrane, we went to the Lac Oaua, which we also visited in February. Nothing new there, but we got some exceptional photographs of Black-necked Grebe.
As well as of the
Next group of target birds were way down on the coast south of Casablanca, a looong drive to a spot for the weird bird Small Buttonquail. I remember the first time I read about the Small Buttonquail many years ago and thought – I will never see this bird, ever. Now we were on the spot. It turned out to be very difficult. We spent the entire evening on and around the spot. We walked fields, playbacked and waited. During the entire evening the Buttonquail called two times. The call is very strange, it sounds like a distant cow. We never saw the bird, only heard it.
We found a beautiful little hotel in the little tourist village of Oualidia. First slow time during the entire year, several days to spend and very few target birds to chase. As a freak accident, just as we are here in Morocco, IOC decides that the subspecies ambiguus of European Reed Warbler should in fact be part of the African Reed Warbler complex. Good writeup at Magornitho by Muhamed Amezian.
I remember we spoke of this when we heard singing Reed Warblers in Western Sahara in reedy breeding habitats. Thus, we go Reed Warbler hunting along the coast wherever we see reeds. Soon we find several singing males. This one is African.
Shorter Primary Projection and very light underparts and throa are the characteristics as well as pale back.
Next day had some good winds, and we decided to do some sea watching from a point on the coast. Good winds, and hundreds of Northern Gannet. Quite a few Cory-like Shearwater, but we never got sufficiently good views to nail them. Cory’s and Scopolis Shearwater are very similar, this article is a good writeup on the differences.
Last day, made a stop in the early morning hours at the Buttonquail site, it would be nice to see the bird. This time we heard the bird once. It’s gotta suck to be British here – when you HAVE to see the bird….
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