Morocco Northern Marshes, High Atlas & Coast, Oct 6^th to 14^th 2007

by Dave Pearce

We booked with The Travelling Naturalist, flying from Heathrow in the evening and after arriving at Tangier, drove to Asilah by the sea.  The biggest surprise was the air-conditioned coach and we had about four seats per person!  Terrific! 

There were two leaders: Peter Kennerley, an assistant editor of British Birds and Arnoud van den Berg, chief editor and founder of Dutch Birding and a former chairman of Dutch Rarities Committee.  Arnoud had been coming to Morocco regularly for more than 30 years and had already been here for a week to check the locations.  Both had a great interest in races, splits and mergers.  Really their expertise was wasted on our motley crew! 

This was the fasting month of Ramadan.  The Muslims are not allowed to eat from sunrise to sunset.  However, they can eat as much as they wished at night.  So a big meal was had just after sunset and another early in the morning, typically at 2am!  Therefore they were tired during the day due to lack of sleep and food.   The logic of it all escapes me entirely!  Apparently the economy takes a big dip and the accident rate is very high.  Because the cycle is about 11 months it is not possible to avoid this period.  Arriving at hotels at the time of their big meal was not popular and generally no food was available in restaurants at lunchtimes.  However, this pleased me as we could stock up with tins and fruit and have picnic lunches most days in the field.  

Around the hotel there were many Common Bulbuls, Spotless Starlings and House Sparrows.  Of greater interest were a couple of Little Swifts nests (a large untidy nest of feathers on a more secure mud base) under the entrance to the hotel a few feet above our heads and in use and about 20 birds in the air. 

On the beach there were the inevitable Kentish Plovers, Sanderlings and Crested Larks.  Among the wintering Lesser Black-backs was an adult and sub adult Audouin’s Gull.  Off shore on a buoy was a distant African Royal Tern with an orange bill.  Although primarily an American species, ssp albididorsalis  breeds off W Africa and has a longer bill.  A distant Caspian Tern flew by. 

We drove south to some saltpans just north of Larache seeing many Cattle Egrets and White Storks on the way.  We looked over the pans from the road north of the town and which were teeming with migrants – possibly more waders than I have seen before in one place.  The best were several Curlew Sandpipers (3) and Little Stints (30), Avocet (1), Spotted Redshank (1) amongst Dunlins, Ringed Plovers, Redshanks, Greenshanks, Grey Plovers, Whimbrels, Curlews, Ruff, Black-tailed Godwits, Black-winged Stilts etc.  Nearby there were flocks of Greater Flamingos, Eurasian Spoonbills, White Storks and a few Garganey. 

We turned left just after crossing Oued Loukkos before the town of Larache, and drove along the south bank (a Hoopoe from the coach) to observe fresh water pools.  Purple Swamphens (20) stalked through the reeds and 1,000 Glossy Ibis were present.  Wood and Green Sandpipers foraged along the muddy fringes and flocks of Yellow Wagtails of the distinctive Spanish form ibericus called with their distinctive dry rattling calls, quite different from the more familiar calls of flava ‘Blue-headed’ Wagtails.  There was also an immature Moroccan White Wagtail subpersonata with its striped head apparent even at this age.  Most Coots were Red-knobbed along with a few Moorhens and Water Rails. 

Two Moustached Warblers were low in the reeds; although one had to wait some time for a good view – rich brown, dark head, white supercilium and dark legs.  These are largely confined to the northern marshes where it is presumed to breed.  Overhead a couple of juvenile Bonelli’s Eagles gave stunning views.  One was pale and smaller, the other darker (second winter) and both had only a thin diagonal bar.  Other birds included Black Terns (3), Snipe (3), Little Ringed Plovers (10), Zitting Cisticola, two Ospreys and Marsh Harriers (10).  There were a large number of Grey Herons along the banks of the river. 

After lunch, we travelled south to the town of Moulay Bousselham which lies next to Merja Zerga, an important RAMSAR site.  After checking into our hotel (basic rooms at Le Lagon Hotel 00212 37 43 26 50) we walked to the nearby Camp Site where the Marsh Owls roost.  They only occur at one other site (see next day) and is the only reliable site north of the Sahara.  Last year only five were seen, however, the camp was not fenced off and motorbikes and sundry people used it.  This year it has been fenced off (albeit with second hand materials) and so the campsite was very quiet.  We shouted at the gate and paid less than £1 each for a day’s pass. 

There was one Marsh Owl conveniently roosting in a tree so that it could be seen (left).  This was a partially albino bird with white feathering around the neck and on the crown and could be easily seen (Arnoud had slept in his car below it the week before).  As the sun sank, in ones and twos the Owls appeared and flew out over the lagoon making a curious froglike croak call (also heard from within the trees).  One landed on the ground nearby several times in the dusk.  Although the books suggest it is like a small Short-eared Owl, the flight action was very different i.e. not jerky and stiff winged but on bowed wings.  Great stuff – we saw 30 come out of the trees and over our heads.  There were also several Little Owls calling (one seen) and several Barn Owls calling with their hoarse shrieks.  About 1000 Cattle Egrets flew over to roost. 

After breakfast (too foggy for an early walk) we went back down to the Camp Site to look for migrants.  Again we looked at the roosting albino Marsh Owl.  Several Pied and Spotted Flycatchers flitted through the canopy as well as North African Chaffinches ssp Africana.  The latter had green backs and white eye-rings and a quiet ‘chupping’ sparrow-like call quite different to the ‘spink’ of our birds.  The ‘chup’ flight call also sounded higher pitched and sharper to me.  Also present were some African Blue Tits ssp Cyanistes teneriffae ultramarinus.  These had black heads and bright blue on back and wings and when the sun shone on them they appeared almost Kingfisher blue.  A male and female migrant Sparrowhawk flew about. 

The hotel overlooked the lagoon and there were five Caspian with the Sandwich Terns along with a Common Tern.  The gull flock included at least 20 Slender-billed (super pink wash on some), a couple of Audouin’s and a single Mediterranean Gull and a few Oystercatchers and both Common and Spotless Starlings. 

On the way south there were some views of Atlas Long-legged Buzzards ssp cirtensis (smaller and shorter winged) and in Kenitra there were White Storks nesting in town squares on rather short electricity pylons. 

We took a picnic lunch by Lac de Sidi Bourhaba, a long and narrow lake set amidst tree-covered dunes to the north of Rabat, and just inland from the sea.  Both Red-knobbed and Common Coots were present and differentiated by the shape of the frontal shield.  Amongst the many Shovelers, Pochards and Great Crested Grebes there were several Red-crested Pochards and some Teal, Ferruginous and Marbled Ducks.  More surprising though were five female or immature Ruddy Ducks: birds that shouldn’t be here at all.  Most surprisingly still were a couple of apparent White-headed Ducks (extinct as breeding birds in Morocco and presumably birds which originated from the Spanish stock).  Whether these were hybrids we could not tell.  At least four Eleonora’s Falcons were hunting the skies and occasionally perching up in lakeside trees, as did a Black-winged Kite until a falcon finally dislodged it.  Our first Wren was heard and several Marsh Harriers flew about.  It is here that Marsh Owls are sometimes seen but the location of the roost is unknown. 

We carried on south towards Rabat and went along some minor roads to Bouknadel.  We walked to the cliffs where there was a small inlet.  Here there were about 10 Eleonora’s Falcons giving magnificent views down to 15m (below).  On a ledge were several juveniles with the adults either side.  The females have yellow eye rings and the males blue ones.  This is the only known breeding site on the mainland coast – all other sites lie on offshore islands from the Canary Islands to the eastern Mediterranean.  Six juveniles had been fledged but the site will eventually be lost.  Arnoud found them breeding about 15 years ago on cliffs of an inlet much closer to Rabat (which could be seen in the distance).  As Rabat expanded they moved to an inlet further north and then eventually to this inlet.  However, disturbance had increased with a large building nearby and a path along the cliffs giving no protection to the birds.  Arnoud said that there were no more inlets northwards – soon they will disappear from the mainland.  With House Sparrows nearby were two Spanish Sparrows and Greenfinches ssp voousi which were a deeper green to ours.  Goldfinches ssp parva were seen most days. 

Carrying on south we arrived at the Kasbahs Hotel (00 212 37 74 91 16), Rose Marie Plage at Skhirat which overlooked the sea.   

We had an early start at 5am to the hillside at Sidi Bettache (Zaers Forest) where Double-spurred Francolins called at dawn.  With some playback they called from bushes 10m away but never showed themselves, except on one occasion when some of the group saw one running along a track.  A Black-crowned Tchagra sang its tuneful quite extraordinary whistling song.  It was seen in flight twice as it came close to the recorder but despite being a large bird always sat tight in dark bushes.  A European Nightjar was heard and Bulbuls, Wood Pigeons, a few Stock Doves, Sardinian Warblers, Robins and Blackbirds were plentiful.  A Buzzard was heard but Arnoud said this was a Jay mimicking a Long-legged Buzzard.  It made this call several times but also it’s more usual raucous call.  We had super views of singing Woodlarks, a Great Spotted Woodpecker and Thekla Larks (the bill was smaller, the lower mandible was not curved and the breast streaks were thicker).  Also present were Great Tits, Stonechats, Redstarts, Blackcap, Garden Warbler and a covey of Barbary Partridges and a Black-winged Kite flew over. 

We returned to the hotel to bird watch the sandy beach with an off shore line of rocks.  Common waders included Bar-tails and Knot and four Arctic Skuas which harried the Sandwich Terns.  Migrants included several Wheatears and a Moroccan White Wagtail.  Offshore, many Gannets and Cory’s Shearwaters moved south and 20 Grey Herons flew by.  

In the late afternoon we visited woodlands (Dar Es Salaam Forest) near Rabat.  There several Great Spotted Woodpeckers ssp numidus, one of which clearly had pink across the upper breast.  Also Redstarts, Spotted and Pied Flycatchers but no Tawny Owls were persuaded to call or fly. 

Before breakfast we had another look over the beach.  Two small flocks of ‘African’ White-breasted Cormorants maroccanus/lucidus, looking very different with their striking black with white breasts, flew south.  Arctic Skuas were still about and also an adult and first-winter Audouin’s Gull and a Kingfisher. 

We had a good comparison of Lesser Black-backed and Yellow-legged Gulls at rest.  Every YL had three equal sized and spaced white spots with one at the end of the primaries and generally whiter heads.  Some LBs had white spots of different sizes but never at primary tips. 

We travelled quickly on the Rabat to Marrakech motorway which had just opened.  There were several Long-legged Buzzards on the way but we were unable to stop.  Lunch was at a service station at Ben Guerir where there were only butterflies and a Wheatear.  The first House Buntings were seen at the end of the motorway.  We walked about the town in the late afternoon but the Gardens were closed.  We only saw a Spotted and Pied Flycatcher but four Red-rumped Swallows flew overhead.  Apparently the ‘Moroccan’ Blackbirds are the subspecies mauretanicus where the females have yellow bills and grey plumage. 

In the evening we took a minibus to the Medina, unfortunately not the exciting spectacle we had three years ago when I wrote: “Then the culture shock.  We took a couple of the very small taxis a mile or so to the Djemma Al Fna in the heart of the city.  The driving, with the roads being incredibly busy with cars, lorries, carts pulled by sundry animals, cyclists and people can only be described as outrageous - but we survived.  We were then amongst a throng of thousands of locals milling about with snake charmers, acrobats, fortune-tellers, musicians and other street entertainers and people selling their wares.  It was nice to see that all this noise and bustle around the souk seemed to be for the locals rather than for the few tourists present.”  This time ordinary taxis, no carts, many coaches and as soon as the performers saw us they wanted money!  Rather disappointing. 

Starting early, we travelled up the Vallee de Ourika, and made a stop at some old pines (the only ones locally) lining the roadside.  Here we found three Hawfinches – an endemic North African race slightly smaller than the European.  We then had good views of a male Moroccan Crossbill ssp poliogyna, singing despite being dull green; apparently the males rarely show red colouring.  Also present was a streaky juvenile Crossbill.  Coal Tits, Linnets, a Western Bonelli’s Warbler and Nightingale (both poor views) were present and Spotted and Pied Flycatchers and because it overlooked a river – two Green Sandpipers, a Grey Wagtail and a Kingfisher.  Crag Martins flew in the distance. 

We stopped further along the road where Levaillant’s Woodpeckers occur.  However, since it does not call in the autumn nor respond to playback, we did not see it.  We had excellent views of Moussier’s Redstarts, Blue Rock Thrushes, two first-winter Rock Thrushes (very like first-winter Blue Rock Thrushes but red in the undertail and spotted upperparts) and an adult (not seen by me – and I also missed a Golden Eagle!).  In the junipers, several Firecrests and Cirl Buntings sang and we good views.  Also an Iberian Chiffchaff was spotted (appearing far yellow/green than its northern counterparts) with Serins, Greenfinches, Blue Tits and Mistle Thrushes ssp deisleri. 

We finally arrived at the Oukaimeden ski resort and straight away had good views of a flock of Rock Sparrows and 100 Serins and, in the distance, 75 Alpine Choughs and nearby about 100 Red-billed Choughs.  Arnoud said that each year the amount of snow at this time of year had decreased but this was the first year he had not seen any snow at all, even on the high slopes.  By the ski lift, on the wires and on the ground, we had excellent close views of a flock of 20 North African Crimson-winged Finches ssp aliena.  We were very lucky as they often only appear here (2700m) because of snow higher up!  Nearby, the compound held Iberian and possibly a Common Chiffchaff, plus a couple of Redstarts, while several Black Redstarts ssp gibraltariensis were singing on the rocky slopes. 

At this point we had our only rain of the trip, but fortunately were due for our excellent lunch in the restaurant.  When we had finished, the rain stopped and we walked up through the village.  Here we had super views of a pair of Black Wheatears, followed by 60 or more Rock Sparrows feeding together on the ground and then a similar sized flock of Atlas Horned Larks ssp Atlas foraging across the hillside.  Apparently these are resident in the Atlas Mountains but get together in a single flock in the winter.  To see them one has to find the flock!  I had an embarrassing moment here as someone said they had not seen the Rock Sparrows.  So I quickly re-scoped them - a flock of birds with cream superciliums and light coloured bodies but did not look carefully.  Arnoud noted they were a flock of 30 Woodlarks feeding together and looking superficially just like the flock of Rock Sparrows alongside.     

Several North African Common Ravens ssp tingitanus, were seen on the way down.  This subspecies occurs in the Canary Islands and Morocco; they are smaller, have oily plumage colours and a different call to ours.  The stream along the road was at the lowest Arnoud had ever seen, but nevertheless five ‘Moroccan’ White-throated Dippers ssp minor were present - smaller than ours with a longer bill, but still a chestnut upper belly.  Altogether a very exciting day!  

Our first stop was to have a good look at some Moroccan Magpies mauritanica.  These had bright blue skin just behind the eye, more black and less white on the belly, a longer tail without any green sheen.  Later we also scrutinised Southern Great Grey Shrikes of two races: inland, Elegans, with pale breasts and upright stance and towards the coast, algeriensis, with less white on the wing.  Both were possibly present but the differences rather subtle! 

We arrived at Essaouira and stopped for coffee.  Here there were a couple of stunning Moussier’s Redstarts (present in the Atlas mountains and on the coast but not between), plus Sardinian Warblers, several Willow Warblers, a single Western Olivaceous Warbler (very wide bill) and a European Robin – the first I had seen.  Several Eleonora’s Falcons zoomed around close overhead (we probably saw 30); these came from the two protected islands (Mogador) just off shore with 100 pairs. 

Several Ravens were along the road and Arnoud made the interesting comment that that there were no desert species north of the Atlas – they are only seen  south of the Atlas because of the expansion northwards of the Sahara which is very recent and pushing them northwards. 

We arrived above the Oued Tamri estuary which was very busy with surfers and the lake behind was rather disturbed.  However, there were 100+ Audouin’s Gulls, Spoonbills, Greater Flamingos, Grey Herons and two Ruddy Shelducks here.  Many Cory’s Shearwaters were seen offshore.  In the distance, over the desert, a flock of Bald Ibises could be seen and eventually two came closer to drink.  

We drove back to where we judged the ibises were and set out across the desert.  We were distracted by a male and two female Subalpine Warblers – lovely birds, and then suddenly the Bald Ibises were coming towards us over a rise.  Initially feeding at 100m they came closer than 50m of us – 25, probably a quarter of the world’s population!  Ugly birds but superb in the air.  We had had what we thought were superb views three years ago and I was worried that this trip it was unlikely to be as good.  How wrong could I be!  This time we had approached from a different direction, saw them in desert habitat (rather than cultivated fields) and were even closer!  Completely unprotected, they are vulnerable to mad men and poisoning – the latter, Peter said, killed 50 quite recently.  They are going to struggle with increasing use of the beach for surfing and general tourism. 

We drove back a bit further and walked down to the Bald Ibis breeding site – now deserted outside the breeding season.  Arnoud said there was sometimes protection during the breeding season but it was not protected all the time.  There was another site south of Agadir which was completely protected.  We had gone down to see a pair of Barbary Falcons (below).  Arnoud said they were the only completely pure pair he knew of – all the rest had some influence of Peregrine.  They were beautiful, with steel blue above especially noticeable when flying across the sea inlet.  The female was bigger with almost no brown on the nape, while the male had significant chestnut brown on the nape.  The pair displayed to each other on an ibis nest and was my bird of the trip!  And we were only 100m away! 

In the sea was an immature Moroccan Shag riggenbachi of the highly endangered subspecies, even rarer (perhaps down to 50 pairs) than the Bald Ibis and confined to just this small section of the coast.  Smaller than our Shag and it never develops the nuptial crest – both aspects not immediately obvious to us!  On the cliff were several distinctive White-breasted Cormorants.   

As we walked back, several more Subalpine Warblers came into view, a first winter Spectacled Warbler (similar to a Whitethroat but browner with less marked wings) and a Southern Great Grey Shrike sang from the top of a bush.  Best of all were three first-winter ‘Western’ Black-eared Wheatears.  Most of us had dismissed these as Northern Wheatears, but Peter had noticed a dash of warm peach-toned feathering behind the ear-coverts and some black feathering on the underwing-coverts – only visible in flight.  They were also slimmer and always perched on small bushes, sometimes flicking their wings, then to the ground and a few more wing flicks, then back on to a low bush.  Six Blue-headed Wagtails were by the coach. 

Ramadan had ended and the new moon had been seen, so the start of the Festival of Eid ul-Fitr had begun and there were gatherings in the villages. 

We began with a visit to Oued Souss at the south end of Agadir - the usual waders but with the Sandwich Terns was our only Gull-billed Tern (mask behind the eye) of the trip and several Ospreys flew around.  Suddenly, in the tamarisk about 20m in front of us, out came a first-winter Bluethroat along with a pair of Stonechats.  A raptor flying over us caused much discussion and eventually the leaders decided it was a Lanner.  A very elastic deep wing action but views were mostly from behind.  Arnoud expected a Tchagra to be singing here. 

We walked down the riverside at Oued Massa.  Many Sand Martins were hawking low over the river and with them some Barn and Red-rumped Swallows, but only two Plain Martins which most of us did not identify for certain.  A pair of Ferruginous Ducks and a Pintail, flocks of Glossy Ibis and Spoonbills and several Ospreys were present and two juvenile Whiskered Terns were on the river.  Several Turtle and Laughing Doves were in the trees which lined the river and we had excellent views of several Moussier’s Redstarts (the female was very like a Common Redstart), Reed, Cetti’s, Willow, Sardinian Warblers, an Iberian (greenish/yellow) Chiffchaff, Pied Flycatchers, ‘Iberian’ Yellow Wagtails ssp iberiae (frothy call).  Also good views were had of a Woodchat Shrike and a Whinchat.  Of interest was a party of 50 Little Grebes feeding together in a tight group – apparently not unusual here.  A couple of juvenile Bonelli’s Eagles appeared overhead for a while, along with several Kestrels, and a Peregrine was seen.       

We took lunch at the Massa Museum.  Here there were two males and one female Moussier’s Redstarts.  The female was in the courtyard and Arnoud said they bred there along with Black-eared Wheatears (he used the basic rooms here in the summer).  A first-winter Blue Rock Thrush kept tapping on the window attacking its reflection.  We stopped at a random Argan tree for 20 mins and immediately found a pair of Redstarts, Pied and Spotted Flycatchers and three Subalpine Warblers. 

We went back to Oued Souss by the Palace, and were informed by the guards not to photograph the royal sewage and walked out on the mudflats towards the sea.  Huge numbers of waders were here including a single Avocet, a few Curlew Sandpipers and many Little Stints.  There were ten Audouin’s, four Slender-billed and eight Mediterranean Gulls coming in to roost.  In the hour we stayed, amongst the Sandwich Terns, were also 20 Common, 15 Black, and eight Little (in winter plumage they have black bills –I have not seen this before!) Terns.  Best of all were nine Lesser Crested Terns (slightly smaller and darker on the mantle than the Sandwich) which breed on a couple of islands in the Gulf of Sirte (Libya), and migrate to West Africa (Senegal and Gambia) for winter.  Despite several thousand birds passing through the Straits of Gibraltar twice a year, they are vagrants to Europe.  But here in Morocco they are to be expected.  Stone Curlews were heard but the Red-necked Nightjars did not appear. 

The following morning we flew to Casablanca then back to Heathrow – another excellent birding trip to Morocco. 

The trip total was 176 species of which new to me were Marsh Owl, Barbary Falcon, Horned Lark, Crimson-winged Finch, Royal Tern (but very distant), Double-spurred Francolin (heard only but very close!), Red-knobbed Coot (wild ones).  Of course there were also many new subspecies and races!     

I decided not to take my digiscoping camera so as not to be distracted from enjoying the birds – maybe a mistake.  Therefore I returned with only a few poor pics.