Gary Howard's birds and wildlife

Wednesday 21st April  

When Mike Buckland and I flew out of Gatwick at 06.30 on one of the first commercial airline flights after 6 days of closed UK airspace it was with a sense of relief and disbelief.  We'd only been sure we were flying at 10pm the previous evening so we'd packed in a hurry and neither of us had got much sleep by the time Mike picked me up at 03.30. The previous few weeks had seen the trip threatened by my problems getting leave and then just when that was settled the ash cloud appeared! We'd re-booked the flights once and were expecting to have to cancel alltogether if the flight on Wednesday was unable to depart.

The Easyjet flight landed on time and we were the first off the aircraft, the first through passport control and once re-united with our baggage it was time to find a hire-car and get out of Marrakech. Pallid Swift and House Bunting were scored almost immediately we left the airplane.

Just after 10.00 we were driving south out of Marrakech in glorious sunshine heading for the Atlas Mountains.

We paused to photograph a Southern Grey Shrike and noted Woodchat Shrike, Serin, White Stork, and Turtle Doves but decided to push on and make our first proper stop in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains.

Despite being very warm and late morning our first stop yielded Western Orphean Warbler, Hawfinch, African Blue Tit and African Chaffinch. The air was filled with the sound of Nightingales and Serins. We also encountered our first kids asking for "dirham,bonbon,stilo".

foothills of the Atlas Mts

Atlas Mts

We motored on into more spectatcular mountain scenery and stops became more frequent , then we had our first Moussier's Redstart and we came to a complete stop! Simply stunning. A few kms further on we had a showy singing male Moussier's and we spent a while photographing it. We also had Subalpine Warblers, Chough and a Melodious Warbler.

Subalpine Warbler - male, nest building

Moussier's Redstart

We hoped to get to Oukaimeden in time to have a shot at some of the high-level specialities today or at least to get a feel for the area so we drove on ever higher into the Atlas. Before we got into Oukaimeden we'd added Firecrest, Long-legged Buzzard and Dipper. On a wall just below the small dam below the village we had a flock of around 40 Rock Sparrows.

into the High Atlas

A barrier barred our passage along the road into Oukaimeden but after paying a few Dirhams and enduring the hard-sell tactics of a scruffy bunch of moped-riding locals brandishing fossils, minerals, walnuts and necklaces we were on our way. We stopped at the Hotel Ju Ju which had been recommended by other birders - it looked like the only accomodation! - and secured a room, dropped off some gear and headed out with about 2 hours of daylight left.

It did not take long to find a Seebohm's Wheatear just outside the village by the first ski-lifts. We moved further up along a gravel track and followed it as it wound alongside a long narrow valley. Suddenly we had a Crimson-winged Finch on the track and stepping out of the car we found several more. We left the track and walked down a steep rough hillside and found dozens more! Before the fading light ,cold and hunger drove us back to the hotel we spent ages creeping around the valley bottom photographing the finches and a couple of stunning Shore Lark.

As we had n't eaten since Gatwick dinner was rather welcome and hot soup, tagine of beef and apple pie went down a treat!

Shore Lark

Crimson-winged Finch

Crimson-winged Finch

Oukaimeden

Thursday 22nd April

We were out before dawn into the cold, thin mountain air. We drove out along the same track we'd taken the previous evening noting several Black Redstart, Crimson-winged Finches, Shore Lark and Rock Sparrow. We reached the head of the valley as the light began to improve but the road got very rough and we turned back. We were hoping to get some more photographic opportunities in better light with the finches but they proved very jumpy. We were much luckier with a stunning Seebohm's Wheatear, and back near the chair-lifts a mixed party of Chough's were quite approachable.

Oukaimeden

Seebohm's Wheatear

Red-billed Chough

Alpine Chough

After breakfast we birded around Oukaimeden, driving up to the radar station to scan across the High Atlas for raptors but surprisingly saw just a few Kestrels. The scenery was stunning and the weather perfect.  Aware that we had a lot on our itinerary for the day we left mid-morning and drove back down the same road we'd taken the day before.

Oukaimeden

Black Redstart

Oukaimeden

Oukaimeden

Oukaimeden

Oukaimeden - alpine meadows

Back amongst  the cultivated lower slopes of the High Atlas we had a couple of productive stops. We eventually taped in a Levaillant's Green Woodpecker on terraces filled with fruit trees and walnuts and had great looks at African Blue Tit.

African Blue Tit

Levaillant  Green Woodpecker

On the way up the previous day we'd seen a pair of Black Wheatear's attending a nest in a stone wall. Today we stopped and found that the adults were feeding a single fledged youngster and got some nice pictures. A stunning Moussier's Redstart proved super showy.

Black Wheatear

Moussier's Redstart

Leaving the valley below Oukaimeden we headed south-west over a minor road towards the Tiz n Test. Mike thought the habitat looked good for Tristram's warbler and stopped to play a "tape" several times. As we drove off  after another attempt he shouted stop and sure enough he'd heard a superb male singing just off the road. We had excellent views, and usefully saw a male Subalpine in the same area.

 heading towards the Tiz n Test

Tristram's Warbler

The rest of the day was spent driving slowly south-west through some lovely scenery, never far from a river though that ranged from a mountain torrent to a broad, braided river. We stopped frequently for birds and to photograph the view. 

Tiz N Test

Al lower elevations we had several Western Olivaceous Warblers in roadside tamarisks and found several more Levaillant Green Woodpeckers.

Western Olivaceous Warbler

Our last stop was a well known stake-out for Red-necked Nightjar just outside the village of Taffingoult in an area of argana forest.

We arrived at 19.00 and stayed nearly 2 hours adding Quail, Barbary Partridge and Long-eared Owl to our trip-list before getting fantastic views of a pair of Red-necked Nightjars.

After a 30 minute drive we finished the day not far from Taroudant at the L'Arganier D'Or, an Augerbe just off the the main road heading towards Agadir. Again no hot water but good food and comfortable after a long day in the field.

Friday 23rd April

Just after dawn we set off towards the coast with a fair bit of driving to do today and several important target species in mind.

We made it through Agadir before the traffic really got going and headed north up the coast road. A few miles south of Cape Rhir we stopped for a break and to check out some roadside scrub. Southern Grey Shrike, Black-eared Wheatear and Spanish Sparrow were all seen and as we were about to leave Mike played a tape of Tchagra with spectacular results. We soon had 3 birds displaying around us and got some great views.

Black-crowned Tchagra

We drove up the coast road as it climbed out of Tamri and passed a checkpoint. Within a few minutes we were running alongside a broad sandy plain with scattered bushes and grassy tussocks and suddenly we had a small group of Bald Ibis in flight over the plain heading back towards Tamri. A few kilometres further north we came across a small group of Bald Ibis feeding quite close to the road. We had some good views but the light was terrible for ‘photos.

After further exploration of the coastal plain we decided to head back towards Tamri and just short of the town we took a rough track that headed along the headland and then descended close to the shore on the north side of the rivermouth. To our delight we found a small group of Bald Ibis feeding in the open and they were quite confiding.

Tamri

Bald Ibis

With the morning ebbing away and the heat rising we birded the rivermouth from the south side seeing Moroccan Wagtail, Yellow Wagtail, Fan-tailed Warbler, Purple Heron and Audouin’s Gull. We grabbed some food in Tamri, drove south and stopped near Cape Rhir to eat and sea-watch. In the haze we picked up distant Gannet’s and the odd Cory’s Shearwater.

Tamri -rivermouth

Cape Rhir

just south of Cape Rhir

Soon after 14.00 we drove south for our last target species of the day, Plain Martin. The site we had was a good 100km south of Agadir and traffic was quite heavy so we did not get to the wadi at Tassila until about 16.30. Apparently it's been a very wet winter in Morocco and the water level in the wadi was quite high so after failing to walk along the edge we resorted to walking through the mosaic of little fields along the edge, dodging crops,livestock and climbing over bunds - it was hard work! After about an hour, as we were on the verge of chucking it in we had a single Plain Martin, with Swallows, flying overhead. Result!

Birding in the general area was quite productive and we had Bee-eater, lots of Fan-tailed Warblers and W. Olivaceous Warblers, Magpie and Stone Curlew. Soon after 18.30 we started to drive north, by-passed Agadir and headed east. Just after dusk we drove through the gate in the old city walls of Taroudant and into a world of chaos! Cars, bikes,donkeys,motor-bikes,lorries -nose to tail but moving and all the time just avoiding collisions. We quickly found a room in the Hotel Saadiens-good old Lonely Planet- and soon after were sitting in the main square drinking beer and waiting for the food to arrive.

roadside scene nr Tassila

Saturday 24th April

A day of great contrasts. We started with a tour of the ancient town of Taroudant and finished hundreds of kilometers east and what seemed a world away in the desert near Ouarzazate.

We had a guide in Taroudant, allied to our hotel, he was excellent and for just a few pounds showed us all over the ancient quarter, into the souks and to a few selected shops where at one point I found myself bartering for a carpet! We escaped unscathed.

Taroudant

Heading east we passed through rolling plains with scattered argan trees. Despite looking superb for raptors we had just a single

Short-toed Eagle, a Long-legged Buzzard, a Black Kite and several Kestrels. Larks everywhere - largely Short-toed and Thekla.

argan trees

argan nut

kasbah at Taliouine

On desert-like plains east of Taliouine we found a Roller perched on roadside bolders and the first Desert and Red-rumped Wheatears.

Hundreds of Short-toed Larks were singing and displaying and we had a number of small groups of Trumpeter Finches.

Roller

Red-rumped Wheatear

As we drove through a petrol station and handful of scattered buildings incongrously plonked in the middle of a desert plain we were amazed to see a Thick-billed Lark  fly across the road and land on the verge. As we performed a rapid U turn we were equally amazed to find it still feeding on the verge and got some great looks.

Thick-billed Lark

A tiny wadi a bit further on held 2 Common Sandpiper's and our first Cream-coloured Courser's were seen soon after.

The scenery started to get rather spectacular.

Closer to Ouzazate we came across a large wadi with cultivated fields and stands of palms and had Melodious and Tristram's Warblers,

Bee-eaters, White Stork, Turtle Doves, House Martins and loads of Nightingales.

We drove into Ouarzazate at dusk and after a bit of bother with closed roads found the Hotel Saghro - another Lonely Planet recommendation- and booked in for the night.

Sunday 25th April

 We spent the entire morning birding the northern shoreline of the huge Barrage El Mansour Eddahbi which starts on the very eastern edge of Ourzazate. An immense body of water we had to be content with driving along tracks that took us to small bluffs overlooking the reservoir. There was not much exposed mud but we found plenty to look at. The highlights were Squacco Heron, Night Heron, Ruddy Shelduck, Black Tern, Collared Pratincole, Little-ringed Plover, Short-toed Eagle and 12+ Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters. We added Marsh Harrier and Sand Martin to the trip list too and had plenty of larks, wheatears and Trumpeter Finches.

Barrage El Mansour Eddahbi

Trumpeter Finch

scenery btwn Ouarzazate and Boulmalne Dades

Boulmalne Dades

After just a couple of hours driving we arrived at Le Soliel Bleu, "the" place to stay according to all the birders recommendations, overlooking the start of the Tagdilt Track. We secured a room though that was easy as the owner said that the volvanic dust problem had led to a number of cancellations. Then we had lunch which was excellent and rather filling. Eventually we prised ourselves away from the hotel and drove out to the edge of town.

The track begins by a small army base - we were warned off by armed soldiers when we lingered too close 'photographing a House Bunting!

Sadly the start of the Tagdilt is also the town dump and plastic bags are strewn everywhere - they are a real problem and commonly seen littering many areas of the country.

Fortunately we were soon in wonderful desert habitat and the birding just got better and better.

Tagdilt Track

Bar-tailed Lark

Temminck's Lark

Thick-billed Lark

Lanner Falcon

The afternoons highlight was undoubtedly the showy male Thick-billed Lark!

Other birds seen included  Lanner Falcon, Montagu's Harrier, Cream-coloured Courser and a good selection of wheatears and larks.

At dusk we returned to the excellent Le Soleil Bleu for great food and wine.

Monday 26th April

After a very good run of fine weather we walked out just after dawn and found a strong wind blowing. It was bright and sunny but made birding a lot more challenging in the open desert. We watched more from the shelter of the car and from behind any cover we could find.

It was still very productive and early on we were amazed to find a flock of at least 25 Thick-billed Larks. Crowned Sandgrouse was seen but we just could not connect with Magreb's Wheatear despite having a site for a breeding pair. Late morning we decided that we would probably struggle to add anything else and headed off east. Our final destinantion today was Erg Chebbie on the edge of the Sahara Desert. 

Hotel Soleil Bleu

Tagdilt Track

Cream-coloured Courser

Hoopoe Lark

After a couple of hours driving we turned off and spent a while exploring the Gorge du Todra.

above 3 - Gorges du Todra

As we headed back out of the Gorges du Todra we drove into a short-lived but violent thunderstorm which caused some flash-floods.

We stopped many times along the road finding many common migrants such as Bee-eaters, Swallows and Redstarts, in trees and fields, perhaps downed by the weather.

As we moved further south east we ran into a sandstorm and then more flooding.

Crested Lark

Turtle Dove

sandstorm

desert flooding

We turned off the tarmac late afternoon and drove along a track into the desert towards Erg Chebbie. We had a site en-route to check out where birders had recently had Dunn's Lark. We had a look but it was too windy and we saw little in our brief look before rain drove us back into the car. As dusk approached we began driving the remainder of the 15 km rough desert track to Erg Chebbie heading for the Hotel Jasmina. A team of Spanish ringers had been resident all spring and the Hotel is recommended by many birders.On arrival we had a friendly greeting and were soon settled in and booked on a half-day desert 4x4 excursion the next day.

After a filling meal we bumped into the same group of Scandinavian's we'd met briefly on the Tagdilt. They asked if we'd seen the Egyptian Nightjar and right on cue one flew over our heads across the courtyard!

 dusk at Erg Chebbie

Tuesday 27th April

Sleeping in a hotel perched beside classic sand dunes on the edge of the Sahara Desert we could hardly turn down the photographic opportunities provided by sunrise so we were up just after 05.00 and trudging through sand to a ridge to soak it up.

It was fantastic and well worth the effort. Soon after the sun rose we set off to bird the many tamarisks that stood just below the Auberge Jasmina. Highlights were W. Bonellis Warbler(10), W. Olivaceous Warbler(4), Spotted Flycatcher(5) and Wood Warbler, Garden Warbler, and a few Willow Warblers.

Western Bonelli's Warbler

Spotted Flycatcher

After breakfast we met up with our guide and jumped into his Toyota 4x4 and headed off east into the desert.

Over the next 4 hours we got a great selection of desert species plus our 2 main targets - Houbara Bustard and Desert Sparrow.

He knew the area amazingly well and stopped frequently to point birds out. A little oasis he took us to was rather superb, the water attracting Desert Lark, Redstart and Yellow Wagtail in the short while we were there. He finished with Desert Sparrow which was nesting in the base of a raven's nest in an isolated tree.

desert oasis

bellamite fossils

Houbara Bustard

Crowned Sandgrouse

Desert Sparrow

Whinchat

We took a short break after our 4x4 adventure and chilled out in the shade with a drink.

We decided that we'd give the Dunn's lark site another look before heading off to Lake Merzuga which we hoped would give us a few extra birds for the trip. It was still rather hot when we got to the stretch of desert with grassy patches but we wandered out. Almost immediately we had great looks at a an adult and juvenile African Desert Warbler. We split up and combed the area and 30 minutes later Mike gave a shout and sure enough Dunn's Lark was on the list!

African Desert Warbler

Dunn's Lark

Around half an hour later at 16.45 we arrived at Lake Merzuga and were both immediately struck by what a great place it was. A huge shallow lake with muddy margins and a large area of reedbed and reed fringed pools, unsurprisingly on the edge of a desert it was a magnet for birds.

Initially we scoped the waterfowl and found 200+ Marbled Duck, c40 Ferruginous Ducks,350+ Ruddy Shelduck and along the far bank over 500 Greater Flamingo. Gull billed Terns flew over the lake and Kentish Plover fed on the sandy shoreline. We drove up onto a bluff for better views and added Great-white Egret, White Stork, Spoonbill, Squacco Heron and Purple Heron. Waders included Black-winged Stilt, Avocet, Curlew Sandpiper,Wood Sandpiper, Black-t Godwit and Collared Pratincole.

Yellow Wagtail

Greater Flamingo

Lake Merzuga

As the light began to fade we drove to the edge of the town of Merzuga and found Pied Fly, Spotted Fly, Whinchat, Redstart and c20 Bee-eater in tamarisks. We took some photos of the sun setting over the dunes and drove back in the dark to Hotel Jasmina stopping to look at Kangaroo Rats en-route.

The Egyptian Nightjar showed again tonight.

Wednesday 28th April

Out pre-dawn again today and the sunrise was even more spectacular. Not sure I could easily tire of this place its simply breathtaking.

Still plenty of Bonelli's Warblers and Spotted Flycatchers in the tamarisks but also a couple of Pied Flycatchers and we spent a while looking at Olivaceous Warblers and were quite satisfied that we had both Western and Saharan. Garden Warbler, Willow Warbler and Wood Warbler also seen. After breakfast we headed off, lots to look for today.

Pied Flycatcher

Before we left  Erg Chebbie we went in search of Desert Sparrow but found none at our stake-out spot which made us more than a little glad that we'd seen a couple on the 4x4 trip! This species was once common here but now there's just hundreds of House Sparrows....................

White-crowned Wheatear

We drove out of Erg Chebbie and mid-morning birderd around the town of Risani. The Gosney Guide recommends a place for Saharan Olivaceous and it was spot-on and was also a good spot for Blue-cheeked Bee-eater and Fulvous Babbler.

Blue-cheeked Blue-eater

Saharan Olivaceous Warbler

Risani

Soon after 11.00 and with temperatures soaring we drove a few miles out of Risani to a well-known stake-out for Pharoah eagle Owl.

The birds frequent a rocky ridge which sits over a wadi. A number of birders had warned that local kids had started demanding payment for escorting you to the spot and that it was getting out of hand. A small "donation" was OK but being several of them operating a scam sounded  a pain and you have to leave your car for quite a while which leaves you rather vulnerable!  We approached with care and were pleased to find the place deserted -perhaps it was a case of mad dogs and Englishmen..........

It took about half-an hour to lug our gear down the wadi but it was well worth the walk and we had great views of 2 adults.

Pharoah Eagle Owl

It was approaching 1300 when we left Risani and drove north through Erfoud and onto Er Rachidia. As we reached the town we swung west along the N10 towards Goulmina with Scub Warbler our target. The desert here was predominantly low sparcely spread vegetation with shrubby areas and odd trees along wadis.  We had a couple of sites to check and started at km48. In a small patch of roadside scrub we had a nice selection of birds including Wryneck, Melodious Wblr, Bonelli's Wblr, 4 Willow Wblrs, 3 Fulvous Babblers, Spotted and Pied Flycatchers.

After about an hour we'd failed to find scub warbler so we moved on.

Southern Grey Shrike

Fulvous Babbler

At km 43 we followed the Gosney guide directions and strode out across the desert to a line of bushes. After an hour we'd had 14 Crowned Sandgrouse fly over and stumbled over a few Bar-tailed Desert Larks but no sign of any scrub warblers. We headed back taking a different line and just as we were giving up hope ran into 3 Scrub Warblers which gave great looks. We also had a Temminck's Lark and yet another Thick-billed Lark.

Scrub Warbler

It was after 6pm before we'd returned to the car and started back along the N10 to Ar Rachidia. Mike was driving and managed to get stopped by the police, our third such event (Mike now leading 2-1!) He'd crossed the median overtaking a very slow moving car - luckily we got away with a warning and the policeman even helped with directions.

Soon after 9pm we got to Midelt where we intended to stop. After a bit of searching we booked into the Kasbah Asmaa which looked rather grand from the outside, even fortress like, but proved a bit run-down once you got to the rooms. However, they were happy to cook us a meal and had beer and that was very welcome after a long day in the field. The food was good and once we'd settled our bill and established that we could get out of the "fortress" before dawn we headed off to bed.

Thursday 29th April

As planned we were on the road just before 0500 and driving north out of Midelt towards Zeida and an area of open plains. We left the road and drove out on a dirt track as detailed in Gosney, parked up and waited quietly in the car. Sunrise was not far off  but we could already hear our key target singing - Dupont's Lark. Over the next 3 hours we enjoyed something of a lark fest! There were hundreds of Short-toed, 20+ Lesser-short toed, a few Thekla and at least 5 adult and 2 juvenile Dupont's Larks. We mostly viewed from the car and found it worked quite well with larks often just a few feet away. Dupont's proved as superb as we'd hoped - fabulous singers- and one particular juvenile showed down to a few feet. We also had Barbary Falcon and a couple of Short-toed Eagles.

plains nr Zeida

Dupont's Lark -juvenile

Lesser Short-toed Lark

Short-toed Lark

After a welcome hearty breakfast at a roadside service stop we headed north and diverted off the N13 up the minor 503 and birded farmland and rough grazing for an hour or so. We had Rock Sparrows, 60+ Yellow Wags and 6 species of wheatear. 

Rock Sparrow

Early afternoon saw us driving north up the N13 heading for Ifrane.The road soon took us up onto an area of alpine meadows with plenty of wetland areas; lakes, rivers and a reservoir. It was good for White Stork, Spotless Starling and Chough.

nr Timahdite, south of Azrou

White Stork

Spotless Starling

Around 15.00 we arrived at Dayet Aaoua - a large lake in a very scenic setting. It grew steadily more overcast and windy but subsided again as evening approached. We spent the rest of the day there searching for atlas flycatcher but only saw one probable bird, a first-summer male, and that only briefly and late-on. That aside it was an excellent spot and highlights were many including over 80 Black-necked Grebes, 40+ Crested Coot, Ferruginous Duck, 6 Booted Eagles, Black-winged Stilt and huge numbers of Cattle Egret.

Dayet Aaoua - perhaps the only lake in the world named only in vowels!

Red-knobbed Coot

Hawfinch

Approaching dusk we drove into the strange "model" town of Ifrane; purpose built for government departments and complete with a royal residence. Spotless tree-lined streets, swanky hotels and a modern part Saudi financed university meant that it looked rather unlike anywhere else we'd seen in Morocco. In much of Morocco plastic rubbish is strewn everywhere and broken bottles and and tins are also way too common. By contrast at Dayet Aaoua near the kings retreat someone was sweeping up fallen blossom. We didn't stay long and located a hotel in nearby Azrou - the Panorama. Comfortable rooms and a good restaurant.

Friday 30th April

Birding started before we'd left the room today with Alpine Swift and Lesser Kestrel from the balcony.

We drove out around 0600 heading east along the N8 towards Ifrane. On a hunch we stopped on the roadside as the road entered mature oak woodland and within seconds heard flycatcher song. Before long we were watching a pristine male Atlas Flycatcher. In a fairly small area we had at least 4 males and 2 females; the females were inspecting nest holes and the birds looked like they'd be present a while. In the same area we had Short-toed Treecreeper, Nuthatch, Great-spotted Woodpecker and Firecrest. Several Rollers flew over. We returned to the hotel for a late breakfast and then went back to our Atlas hot-spot for another couple of hours.

woodland between Azrou and Ifrane

Atlas Flycatcher

Early afternoon saw us back at Dayet Aaoua for a slow circuit of the lake. It was very pleasant but we failed to add anything to yesterday's list.

Around 1300 we headed north to Rabat joining the A2 toll road just beyond Meknes.

Cattle Egret

The toll road running west to Rabat was very modern and fast. We stopped at a service station for lunch before resuming our journey, finally hitting the outskirts of Rabat at 17.00. After whizzing along the toll road we were now crawling along in a traffic jam, it was chaotic with lots of police and crazy driving. We'd hoped to do some more birding on the coast late evening but it was after 18.00 before we got to Temara and eventually booked into the slightly shabby Hotel Panorama, well positioned for our attempt on the francolins at dawn. We'd had enough of the traffic and after a half-hearted attempt at a recce of the route to Sidi Yahya we called it a day. We found a bar for a couple of beers, but discovered that it was an odd place and a rip-off before finishing the evening in a pizza place opposite the hotel.

Saturday 1st May

We left the Hotel Panorama at 0500 and drove to the royal hunting lodge at Sidi Yahya. It was a huge area of rolling low hills covered in scrub with patches of cork oaks. We spent what seemed an age listening and searching for the double-spurred francolins but failed to locate any. There were Nightingales singing from every bush and huge numbers of Turtle Doves too. Sardinian Warblers were also very common . After a couple of hours we started exploring minor tracks that led out into the scrub and found patches of arable, grazing and forestry. It was good birding and over the next few hours we saw 20+ Woodchat Shrikes, 2 male Golden Orioles, several Black-crowned Tchagra, Booted Eagle, Long-legged Buzzard and Black-shouldered Kite.  

Sidi Yahya.

It got very warm by mid-morning and we had a lot of ground to cover to get to Marrakech so soon after 10.00 we headed off. We were travelling for much of the next 8 hours broadly heading south-west via Rommani, Oued Zem, Fkih-Ben Salah before joining the N8 to run into Marrakech around 18.00. It wasn't a solid hard drive; we looked over interesting looking areas and managed to add Little Owl and Calandra Lark to our trip list.

Crested Lark

 Calandra Lark

Our trip finished in Marrakech where White Storks and Alpine Swifts were flying over the city walls as we struggled to locate a hotel. Our evening was spent in the Djemaa el Fna- the huge open square within the old city walls. It was packed with thousands of people milling around a vast array of entertainers from singers and dancers to storytellers and fortune-tellers. We ate in a restaurant overlooking the square- the now familiar tagine of meat and fruit.

We'd driven 3,100 kms, seen 182 species and been stopped 5 times by the police without collecting any fines! It had been a wonderful country to explore and we'd seen alpine meadows, high peaks, coastal scrub and astonishing desert landscapes. The food had been surprisingly good and the people frequently warm and friendly.