MOROCCO & WESTERN SAHARA - CloudBirders · morocco & western sahara 31 january – 15 february 2015 joachim bertrands simon vyncke robrecht debbaut pieter-jan d’hondt sander bruylants

MOROCCO & WESTERN SAHARA 31 JANUARY – 15 FEBRUARY 2015

JOACHIM BERTRANDS

SIMON VYNCKE

ROBRECHT DEBBAUT

PIETER-JAN D’HONDT

SANDER BRUYLANTS

Writer: Joachim Bertrands

Photographer: Pieter-Jan D’Hondt

(pieterjandhondt.be)

INTRODUCTION

Between the 31st of January and the 16th of February 2015, five Belgian birders tried to score as many

lifers as possible in Morocco and Western Sahara. From Charleroi we flew to Casablanca and hired a

car. We drove southwards to Western Sahara with some stops in Oualidia, Essaouira, Tamri, Cap Rhir,

Oued Massa, Guelmin, Tan-Tan and Khniffis Lagoon. These first days already produced a lot of lifers,

but the real deal was just waiting for us in Western Sahara and more specific along the desert road

between Dakhla and Aousserd. Special thanks go out to Stephen Menzie, Jonnie Fisk, Tim Jones and

Oliver Metcalf who we met by accident at a gas station in Laayoune. They provided us with a lot of up

to date info about some species including African Dunns’ Lark but most of all their recent discovery

of a group of at least 28 Sudan Golden Sparrows in the surroundings of Bir Anzarane, a desert

settlement 150 km’s east of Dakhla.

After 4 days of birding in Western Sahara, we travelled north again, and from Guelmin went inland to

reach the desert in the southeast of Morocco after visiting different places along the way including

Oukaïmden, Ouarzazate, Rissani,… From the desert we travelled further north while passing the

plains of Zeida and Azrou forest, all the way to Kenitra and Merja Zerga. Because this all went very

smoothly, we were able to add Larache to the schedule, which would prove to be very fruitful. We

ended our journey with a visit to the Royal hunting area in Sidi Yahya.

The trip proved to be a great success, with little missed species and all the main targets in the pocket.

A total of 192 species was seen, quite a good number regarding the early time of the year.

Joachim Bertrands

On behalf of the rest of the crew: Simon Vyncke, Robrecht Debbaut, Pieter-Jan D’Hondt and Sander

Bruylants.

TRIP REPORT

ROUTE

Birding sites included (chronologically ordered): Oualidia, Essaouira, Tamri, Cap Rhir, Oued Massa,

Guelmin, Tan-Tan, Khniffis Lagoon, Laayoune, Aousserd road (including Dakhla, Gleb Djiane, Oued

Jenna,…), Bir Anzarane, Tiigane, Tissint, Amerzgane, Oukaïmden, Ouarzazate, Gorges du Dades, Ait

Aouida, Rissani/Merzouga, Zeida, Azrou, Kenitra, Merja Zerga, Sidi Yahya and Larache.

We drove more than 8000 km’s during our trip, an enormous number but we still had a lot of time to

watch birds. We mainly drove big distances when it was dark, to spare some daylight, and this

proved to make our trip very doable.

LOGISTICS

We flew from Charleroi to Casablanca and back. This took us about 160,- euro’s each and a visa isn’t

required for European citizens. The car was hired in advance with car rental company Sixt and took

us 80,- euro’s each, a very low price for 16 days. It was a Renault Kangoo, the same car five Dutch

birdwatchers hired almost one year earlier. They were very satisfied about this type of car and it

proved ideal for us too. A lot of space to sit, at least for five persons, and still a big trunk where we

could dump all our equipment. Although the car was quite old and a bit worn, it survived the trip

with only two flat tires and some extra scratches on it. For petrol we paid about 0,80 euro per liter in

Morocco, but in Western Sahara it was way cheaper: about 0,45 euro per liter!

SOURCES

One of the most useful elements in planning this trip, proved to be the trip report of Ruben Vlot and

his crew members, five Dutch birders who did almost exactly the same route in Morocco back in

2014. Also the fact that they processed their observations to the website Observation.org, was very

helpful. Exact coordinates could be found there, and made the planning of our trip a lot easier. This

report is written in quite a similar way. Our thanks go out to them!

One has to know however, that visiting Morocco without the help of Dave Gosney, is simply not

done. Two of his ‘Where to find birds’-books were obtained in advance: ‘Where to find birds in

Morocco – Coasts and Mountains’ and ‘Where to find birds in Morocco – Deserts’. These simple

books have very detailed descriptions about all the classic and some less classic birding locations in

the country, and we saw a lot of species with them. Although the books can’t be as up to date as the

internet, we found that it was almost never outdated.

PUBLISHED LITERATURE Finding Birds in Morocco: coast and mountains. Dave Gosney, 2011. (mentioned with ‘A’)

Finding Birds in Morocco: the deserts. Dave Gosney, 2011 (mentioned with ‘B’)

Collins Bird Guide, the most complete bird guide to the birds of Britain and Europe. Lars

Svensson et al., 1999.

TRIP REPORTS (all found via www.cloudbirders.com)

27 February – 15 March 2014 – Morocco and Western Sahara – Ruben Vlot

4 – 25 February – Birdwatching in Morocco – Tina and Mads Elley

14 – 21 February 2008 – Western Sahara and Southern Morocco – Thomas Petterson

January 2010 – Western Sahara – Alex Lees (Punkbirders)

WEBSITES www.go-south.org

www.observation.org

www.moroccanbirds.com

www.cloudbirders.com

www.netfugl.dk

All our sightings can be consulted at Observation.org using the following link:

http://observation.org/user/view/40846?q=&akt=0&g=0&from=2014-03-10&to=2015-03-

10&prov=0&z=0&sp=0&gb=0&cdna=0&f=0&m=K&zeker=O&month=0&rows=20&only_hidde

n=0&zoektext=0&tag=0&q=&zoektext=0&from=2015-01-31&g=0&akt=0&to=2015-02-

15&prov=0&z=0&m=K&zeker=O&rows=20&month=0&only_hidden=0

If the link above is broken, go to Observation.org => This Site => Users => Type ‘Joachim

Bertrands’ and press enter => select Observations => adjust country to ‘Morocco’ and make

sure the ‘between’-dates are correct (2015-01-31 – 2015-02-15) => all of our observations

are shown.

http://www.cloudbirders.com/

http://www.go-south.org/

http://www.observation.org/

http://www.moroccanbirds.com/

http://www.cloudbirders.com/

http://www.netfugl.dk/

http://observation.org/user/view/40846?q=&akt=0&g=0&from=2014-03-10&to=2015-03-10&prov=0&z=0&sp=0&gb=0&cdna=0&f=0&m=K&zeker=O&month=0&rows=20&only_hidden=0&zoektext=0&tag=0&q=&zoektext=0&from=2015-01-31&g=0&akt=0&to=2015-02-15&prov=0&z=0&m=K&zeker=O&rows=20&month=0&only_hidden=0




SLEEPING AND EATING

We mainly ate bread with cheese or sardines. There are some sausages to be found, but these are

really bad, don’t even taste like meat and there were little pieces of plastic inside… Don’t buy them!

Fruit is also very easy to buy, you can get a lot of oranges for very little money, and they are way

better than the ones in Belgium. At night we often went to a little restaurant to ate a traditional

tajine or pizza. Couscous is really good, but it’s only served on Fridays we learned during our trip. A

classic dinner took us about 4 or 5 euro’s each. Water can be bought at every little shop or

supermarket, and we made sure we always had enough of it. We tried to only drink bottled water, to

reduce the chances of diarrhea…

Although the hotels are very cheap in Morocco, we preferred to sleep in our tents. This because we

often drove a lot after sunset and wanted to be at the next birding stop the following morning at

dawn. This proved to be a good idea. One night we took a hotel, because everyone needed a shower,

and this took us about 7 euro’s each.

TIPS AND TRICKS

Driving in Morocco can be dangerous and a bit deterrent, but in general it is doable. There are

however some rules to keep in mind…

It is normal that you will be controlled by the police every day during your trip, at least when

you’re doing a big trip as ours. Policemen are very curious but mostly very friendly. If you talk

to them and explain why you are in the country, you will have little problems. In Western

Sahara however, they also want to check your passport when you pass a police checkpoint.

In order to speed up this process, it is recommended that you have at least 15 copies of your

passport with you, together with a form of additional information. The form should contain

the following informations:

Always follow the traffic rules… One time we got a fine for stopping a few meters to far at a

stop sign. This took us 300,- dirhams and was, in our opinion, just a rip-off.

Take enough clothes with you if you are travelling to Morocco and/or Western Sahara in this

time of the year. In Western Sahara and especially in Oued Jenna, it was quite hot during the

day. For example in Dakhla, temperatures were nice too but the wind made it feel rather

chilly. Inland Morocco isn’t as windy as Dakhla, but during the night it also gets rather cold.

For Oukaïmden you’ll need quite a thick coat as the temperatures rarely exceed zero during

the day and it’s totally covered in snow in the winter months.

ITINERARY

31 January: Arrival in Casablanca around 10:00 AM. Drove towards Oualidia and birded at different

locations in the area. A quick check for Andalusian Hemipode told us this would be looking for a

needle in a haystack, and we decided at night not to sleep here but to drive to Essaouira and camp

there.

1 February: Birded at Essaouria and around 11:00 we left for Tamri and Cap Rhir. We birded there

the whole day and in the afternoon left for Oued Massa which we reached just before sunset.

Camped here in order to find Black-crowned Tchagra the next morning.

2 February: After locating a singing Tchagra, we left for Guelmin. During this we stopped multiple

times, because lifers kept rolling in. Between Guelmin and Tan-Tan, multiple Gosney-sites were

visited, which resulted in a lot of new larks and Scrub Warbler. After this we drove further and

camped at Khniffis Lagoon.

3 February: We woke up very early to bird in the area. After this we drove to Laayoune, ate a bit and

drove further, all the way down to Dakhla, with some stops along the route. After we ate something

in Dakhla, we drove down the Aousserd road whilst spotlighting in a first attempt to find some desert

mammals. Slept at the drinking pool at Gleb Djiane.

4 February: In the morning, some birding in Gleb Djiane was done before driving down the Aousserd

road all the way to Oued Jenna, with multiple stops on route. In the afternoon we explored Oued

Jenna. At night we drove around in the area to check for mammals and camped at Oued Jenna.

5 February: Birded the whole morning in Oued Jenna before leaving for Dakhla. In the afternoon

checked the bay for terns and gulls and at night again drove down the Aousserd road to find

mammals while spotlighting.

6 February: Had a meeting today with the Association Nature Initiative in order to see the Sudan

Golden Sparrows which had been discovered a few days earlier by the Association and successfully

ticked two days later by the Britisch crew we met in Laayoune. The way back we checked different

parts of the desert and at last camped again at Gleb Djiane.

7 February: Woke up very early to score Spotted Sandgrouse, a species we hadn’t seen yet and

should also occur here. After we found it, we left for Morocco again. The whole day was spent mainly

on driving, with only a few scattered stops along the route… We camped close to Bouizakarne, in

southern Morocco.

8 February: We first explored a wadi close to Tiigane in order to find Tristram’s Warbler. After this,

we drove to Tissint to find Lichtensteins Sandgrouse but in vain. Slept in a hotel somewhat further

than Tissint in a small village.

9 February: After some birding along the road to Amerzgane, in order to try to find Maghreb

Wheatear, we left for Oukaïmeden. Spent the rest of the day here, but because it was quite cold to

camp here, we left after sunset to Ouarzazate. A few kilometers before the entering the city, we

camped in a field.

10 February: Started our day at the reservoir of Ouarzazate. After this, we visited Gorges du Dades

and a good place for Pharaoh Eagle Owl between Boumalne-Dades and Tinghir. The Ait Auoida track,

described at Gosneys website, was the last stop of the day with a very cooperating couple of

Maghreb Wheatears present. We drove further to Hotel Yasmina and slept there in the desert.

11 February: In the morning we explored the area around the Hotel Yasmina. After this we had a

meeting with Ali the Nomad who showed us another Pharaoh Eagle Owl and a nesting couple of

Lanner Falcons. After sunset we drove to Zeida and camped there.

12 February: After an exciting morning at the Zeida plains, we left for Azrou forest. Spent the

afternoon here before driving to Kenitra. Birded around Kenitra in the evening, and after sunset left

for Merja Zerga. Camped here.

13 February: Spent the whole day in Merja Zerga where we were welcomed by Hamaroudir. He

showed us the Marsh Owls that night, and after this we drove to Sidi Yahya to camp.

14 February: The whole morning we birded at Sidi Yahya, and decided after our two targets where

found, to add Larache to the schedule. We arrived here in the afternoon and had a very good time

here before we left for Sidi Yahya again.

15 February: Our last day was spent mainly in Sidi Yahya, where we stayed till noon. After this, we

left for Casablanca to clean the car in a carwash and go to the airport. Around 7:00 PM we left

Morocco.

DAY 1 – JANUARY 31st

CHARLEROI – CASABLANCA – OUALIDIA – ESSAOUIRA

After arrival, we quickly arranged our car and left for Oualidia. It was raining so our first impression of

Morocco, although a bit optimistic, was not really as we had expected. We were excited to finally be

there though. Along the road, the first species started to show. A group of five Stone-curlews gave

good views, the first ‘algeriensis’ Great Grey Shrike was seen and Spotless Starlings, House Buntings

and a Little Owl were added to the list.

A stop at the first saltpans we encountered (33.043, -8.692) proved to be interesting: Spanish

Sparrows, Little Stint, Dunlin, Black-winged Stilt, Audouin’s Gull, Kentish Plover, Red Knot,

Chiffchaff and Sardinian Warbler were all seen very at close range.

We continued our route and suddenly saw a big flock of Coots from the car (32.984, -8.742). We

stopped and went closer to check for Red-knobbed Coot. We could at least find one individual

among the others. When we walked back to the car, the first Common Bulbuls were singing in a tree.

A Slender-billed Gull flew by, and a few moments later the first Mediterranean Gull was seen too.

We drove further until we reached Gosney A site 9 page 12 (32.954, -8.775). There were a lot of birds

here and it was easy to scan the saltpans from the little track running through it. Yellow Wagtails,

Ruffs, Audouin’s Gulls, Black-winged Stilts and our only group of Golden Plovers were seen.

Another place, famous for its high numbers of Red-knobbed Coots, was our next stop (32.782, -

8.975). We found at least 5 birds, but these were not the numbers we had hoped for. Two

Ferruginous Ducks flew by however, and a flock of 6 Glossy Ibises was added the list as well.

The last stop was Gosney A site 7 page 12. It was already getting quite dark but a Sandwich Tern, a

few Common Terns and some Audouin’s Gulls were the last catch of the day.

In the last light we tried a place where an Andalusian Hemipode was heard the year before, but the

area really didn’t seem very interesting: the crops weren’t big enough yet to be a suitable ‘habitat’

for the birds in our opinion. Also the time wasn’t right as the birds are believed to only arrive in the

area around mid-March.

So we left for Essaouira to camp there at Gosney A site 2 page 16. In the morning we would try to find

our next target here…

DAY 2 – FEBRUARY 1st

ESSAOUIRA – TAMRI – CAP RHIR – OUED MASSA

In the first light, we packed our stuff an put everything in the car. Time to find some birds! We

walked west of the bridge, towards the mouth of the river, and explored the scrubby area just south

of the riverbed. A lot of birds were singing here including Cetti’s Warbler, Sardinian Warbler,

Common Bulbul, Cirl Bunting and Black Redstart. A flock of around 30 Spanish Sparrows flew by and

a Pallid Swift caused some excitement. The first Moroccan Wagtail was also found, close to the

riverbank, accompanied by some Thekla Larks. A juvenile Peregrine Falcon flew by.

We didn’t see any swallows though, so we continued birding until the first Barn Swallows started

appearing. It didn’t took long before Sander yelled ‘there’s a brown one!’ and we found at least 4

Brown-throated Sand Martins between the flock of swallows which was now hunting above a bit of

water left in the riverbed.

After this successful morning, we were eager to reach Tamri in the afternoon to find Bald Ibis here.

After a nice drive through the coastal hills, we went straight to the cliff where they are known to

breed. Before we even arrived there, a big flock of at least 124 Bald Ibises was foraging on the fields

(30.762, -9.826), and we obtained really good views of them. A Rock Dove was seen too. Some

Moroccan guy suddenly came to us and claimed to be one of the researchers. He walked with us to

the cliff, just a bit further down the track, and ‘showed’ us some birds sitting on the nest. We already

knew the place in advance so he hadn’t showed us anything new, but he tried to make us pay 20,-

euro’s nevertheless. The guy was being a real pain in the ass, and we refused to pay. He then walked

away but we were not able to drive further to the cliff, because he just stood there and said we

couldn’t pass. We then decided to drive a bit more south, to the cliffs of Cap Rhir.

After arrival, we parked the car and tried to seawatch for a while, but besides some Gannets, a Great Skua and a

flock of 6 Common Scoters, it was rather calm. Some House Buntings were singing though, and a Blue Rock Thrush

caused excitement. A Tree Pipit flew by and a Common Quail was calling from some bushes. Suddenly we heard a

weird noise, trumpet-like, and it proved to be our first flock of Trumpeter Finches. The males were showing off nicely

as they were singing on an old concrete wall. While we were looking at the birds, we suddenly found a female

Redstart. It looked too bright-colored to be a female Black Redstart, and it didn’t took long before the male

appeared. The first Moussier’s Redstarts were there! We quickly found another male and when they started singing

and fighting at the same time, we were amused by the little show they gave away.

After this, we continued to Oued Massa, where we arrived at sunset. We were still able to find some

Common Bulbuls however, and two Common Quails were singing. A Spanish Pond Turtle could be

caught and photographed as well. We camped somewhere hidden in the fields, south of the bridge

Gosney A site 3 page 24 (30.031, -9.645).

DAY 3 – FEBRUARY 2nd

OUED MASSA – GUELMIN – TAN-TAN – KHNIFFIS

After a relaxing night we woke up around 7:00 AM and started birding at Gosney A site 3 page 24. Our

main target, Black-crowned Tchagra, should occur here (30.033, -9.645) and the thick tamarisk

bushes seemed to be the ideal habitat for them. The first Caspian Tern of our trip suddenly flew by,

and an whole orchestra of Sardinian Warblers and Zitting Cisticola’s welcomed us. We checked the

whole row of tamarisks when after half an hour we heard a Tchagra singing from behind us. We

walked back and within seconds the surprisingly tame bird was showing really well at only ten meters

or so. It was constantly jumping from twig to twig with some pauses to look at us. It really wasn’t as

skulky as the books say and after 15 minutes of showing itself, it flew up and performed quite a

spectacular song flight. The bird then flew across the river and landed a bit further in a thick bush.

With this target already in the pocket, we left Oued Massa and decided to drive to Guelmin. We

stopped several times on route, but it wasn’t until a few kilometers before the city center of Guelmin

that the next lifers were seen in the form of two 2cy White-crowned Wheatears on a building and a

splendid looking Lanner Falcon. Another lifer, this time from the mammalian kind, was seen too:

Barbary Ground Squirrel.

The first real birding stop was at Gosney B site 1 page 30 (28.958, -10.116), where Scrub Warbler

should occur. When we arrived however, it turned out to be a very much degraded piece of desert

and besides our one and only Fat Sand Rat of the trip and the first Desert Wheatear, nothing

interesting was seen. We quickly left this place and went to Gosney B site 2 page 30 (28.917, -10.145),

another known site for Scrub Warbler.

This proved to be an excellent choice with only minutes after we arrived the first sightings of at least

3 Scrub Warblers, playing and chasing each-other in front of us. We were walking at the eastside of

the road, close to a small wadi where there were a lot of Chiffchaffs skulking around. Every little

bush seemed to be loaded with these little birds. A wintering site perhaps… After we obtained good

views of the Scrub Warblers, a small bird in the top of a thorn bush drew my attention. It turned out

to be a male Red-rumped Wheatear, also a lifer for all of us. Another bird, this time a female, was

discovered only moments later.

After this, we drove further and went to Gosney B site 4 page 30. This sandy plain is quite famous for

its larks and we would soon get why. We parked at the km 100 to Tan-Tan and explored the area

north of the road. A strange whistling sound turned out to be our first Hoopoe Larks, performing

their spectacular dance flight. We went closer and discovered that some Bar-tailed Desert Larks,

Spanish Sparrows, Red-rumped Wheatears and Desert Wheatears where there as well. We walked

further and after an hour or so, we had also added 3 Temminck’s Larks and a singing Lesser Short-

toed Lark to the list. A very probable Isabelline Wheatear could disappear only a little too early to

confirm its identity, but when looking for the bird, suddenly a big lark with white trailing edge was

flushed in front of us. It landed a bit further and immediately turned out to be a splendid looking

male Thick-billed Lark. The bird was very cooperating and we enjoyed it for quite a while before

returning to the car.

We decided to drive to Khniffis Lagoon and camp there so we would be in time to check for possible

Cape Gulls before it got too hot. Whilst driving the last lifer of the day, at least for some of us, was

seen: a Black Wheatear. A Long-legged Buzzard flew by just before sunset and after an hour we

reached Tan-Tan. We ordered a pizza which proved to be an excellent choice. After this it was still a

two-hour drive to Khniffis, and only minutes before we arrived, fate hit us… Pieter-Jan drove into a

hole in the surface of the road, resulting in a damaged rim of the wheel and a flat tire. Luckily, we

could repair it and continued our route to reach Khniffis only half an hour later than expected.

DAY 4 – FEBRUARY 3rd

KHNIFFIS – LAAYOUNE – DAKHLA

We woke up quite early and scanned the area. No ‘big’ Black-backed Gulls were seen however, and

there weren’t a lot of birds present. A few Spoonbills, Bar-tailed Godwits, Caspian Terns and

Oystercatchers were seen and a Peregrine Falcon of the west-African subspecies ‘minor’ flew by.

Some calling Pipits drew our attention and it turned out to be Red-throated Pipits, constantly flying

over in all directions. Seemed like a good place for them to spend the winter, we saw at least 5 birds

so they definitely occur here in small numbers in this time of the year. We ended our morning

session here with a very tame Hoopoe Lark, a Desert Wheatear and some African Great Cormorants

of the subspecies ‘lucidus/marrocanus’.

Because the rest of the day would mainly be spent on driving, we installed ourselves in the car. After

reaching Laayoune, the capital of Western Sahara, we found the local oasis to be interesting. At least

19 Marbled Teals, 1 Black-necked Grebe, 12 Slender-billed Gulls, a lot of Cattle Egrets and 60 Black-

winged Stilts were feeding.

The day before we had met a guy named Hussin at Gosney B site 2 page 30 (28.917, -10.145). He had

stopped and asked us what we were doing there with our telescopes and binoculars. It proved to be

a very friendly guy who, for a change, wasn’t seeking money. He told us he lived in Laayoune and

owned a Renault Garage there. At first we weren’t eager to visit his place because of the time

pressure to reach Dakhla by night, but after our flat tire we thought it was a good idea to ask him to

repair it. We had still a long way in front of us and we didn’t want to get stuck in some desert

‘shithole’ with a flat tire…

We quickly found him and while we were eating something in the nearby gas-station, he drove into

town with our tire in order to repair it. In those two hours we just waited at the gas station and

suddenly saw a car with some European-looking guys in it. It looked like we had found the first

foreign birders! It turned out we had just met Jonnie Fisk, Tim Jones and Oliver Metcalf from Next

Generation Birders, accompanied by Stephen Menzie. They informed us about their sightings and

told us the news we didn’t expect to hear. They had seen SUDAN GOLDEN SPARROWS! Not one but

at least 28 different birds had been observed by them only one day earlier at a new, undiscovered

place deep in the desert, about 150 km’s east of Dakhla. They had seen them with the help of the

local nature organization: the Association Nature Initiative. They gave us all the information we

needed like telephone numbers and coordinates, and left. After this Hussin appeared and he had our

wheel with him, nicely fixed and ready to go. We said goodbye to him and left Laayoune. It was still a

six-hour drive to Dakhla so we stopped several times on route which resulted in some sightings of

Temminck’s Lark, a migrating Osprey and a Long-legged Buzzard. We arrived in Dakhla around 9:00

PM and called the telephone numbers we got from the British crew. We could meet the president of

the Association Nature Initiative at a restaurant, Mr. Taoufik El Balla, and he wanted to get to know

us a bit. We talked for almost an hour and agreed to meet again at the office of the association the

5th of February, around 7:00 PM. We would then make plans to go to the place of the Sudan Golden

Sparrows the day after.

We said goodbye and ate a bit before leaving Dakhla again. After this we left for Aousserd again. We

wouldn’t drive all the way down but some spotlighting in order to find any mammals was on the

schedule. We started at the T-junction (23.7989426, -15.7180238) and drove in the direction of

Aousserd. During the session which lasted for almost three hours, we saw at least one Fox (desert

form), a Rüppels Fox, a Fennec, a Lesser Egyptian Jerboa and a North-African Gerbil.

Around 4:00 AM we finally found the waterhole of Gleb Djiane (23.613, -15.723) and camped there

to be there in time the following morning and check for Sandgrouses. When setting up our tents, we

heard some toads calling which could be caught and turned out to be Mauritanian Toads. After this

last lifer of the day, we all fell asleep.

DAY 5 – FEBRUARY 4th

GLEB DJIANE – OUED JENNA

It was 7:00 AM when we woke up. We placed ourselves behind the building close to the waterhole,

and waited for any birds to come in. After almost two hours of waiting and still no Sandgrouses to be

seen, we decided to explore the area a bit further inland by foot. A few moments later we were

looking at our first two Cream-colored Coursers. The birds showed nicely for a few moments, then

flew away. Other birds included a Trumpeter Finch, Desert Wheatear, Thekla Lark, Hoopoe Lark and

some Collared Doves. When we returned to the waterhole, we decided to turn some rocks, hoping

to find any reptiles or snakes. This resulted in the finding of one Helmethead Gecko and a Northern

Sand Gecko. While we were photographing these two guys, Simon suddenly yelled: SANDGROUSES!

4 Crowned Sandgrouses landed on the plain, only a few hundred meters from us. It was funny to see

how cautious they acted when trying to reach the pool by foot. We went a bit closer and got really

good views of all four of the birds.

After this, we went back to the car. It was now already 10:00 AM and we still had quite a big schedule

for today. After some quick refueling at the nearest gas station, we decided to drive down the

Aousserd road. The first stop at 190 KM to Aousserd produced 4 Brown-necked Ravens and some

Temminck’s Larks. The following hour was quite boring however, with a landscape not very unique in

our opinion and most of all a very annoying wind that was constantly sandblasting our faces. At 100

km to Aousserd however, things started to change. A flock of 4 Thick-billed Larks alerted us but at

the army barracks, at 96 KM to Aousserd, the first real target of the Western Sahara was scored: a

flock of at least 10 Desert Sparrows was foraging in a lone acacia tree, just next to the buildings. We

enjoyed watching the birds as they were performing some acrobatic stunts between the branches.

At 94 KM to Aousserd, an even bigger flock of approximately 25 Desert Sparrows was observed. The

wadi at 91 KM to Aousserd seemed interesting enough to be explored and so we did. It was quite a

bummer however with only 3 Desert Sparrows and 1 Spectacled Warbler seen, so we didn’t stay too

long and decided to drive all the way to KM 205 in order to find the African Dunn’s Larks that had

been seen there a few days earlier by Stephen Menzie and his crew.

Upon arrival the place just looked like any other piece of desert that we had just passed along the

Aousserd road, so it didn’t exactly seem like we were going to find anything interesting here. It was

just a sandy plain with no acacia trees to start with. After almost two hours of searching, the only

birds we had connected with were two ‘elegans’ Great Grey Shrikes. I was already starting to stress

when Robbie yelled: ‘DUNN’S!!!’ I ran to him but it turned out to be 3 Bar-tailed Desert Larks which

he had only seen very briefly. Because Sander and Simon were too far from us to hear us, they were

still running because they’d seen us doing so. Suddenly they stopped and started waving at us: the

African Dunn’s Larks had been located! We could observe the very cooperating two birds for the

next ten minutes before they walked behind a little slope. Highly content we walked back to the car

with some stone-turning on the way. This resulted in again one lifer: a Ringed Wall Gecko!

After this, it was almost 5:00 PM and we still hadn’t found the Cricket Longtails. The British crew

hadn’t seen any at Oued Jenna, normally a classic site for the species, and they had only found a few

at the KM 205. With only about two hours of daylight left, we drove a few km’s back in the direction

of Dakhla to reach Oued Jenna.

When we arrived, it immediately became clear that this was a way better place to find any desert

specialties because after a few steps the first Fulvous Babblers already started to call. Their whistling

sound would accompany us for the rest of the evening. We decided to explore the wadi south of the

road. Other birds quickly showed themselves in the form of a Subalpine Warbler, a splendid male

Spectacled Warbler and two Crag Martins.

A little bird suddenly appeared however, and I was so relieved that I could finally yell ‘CRICKET

LONGTAIL!!!’ to the other guys. I decided to tape the bird a bit, because it wasn’t skulky but very

mobile indeed. After the sound of the species reverberated through the air, all around us Cricket

Longtails started to appear. In a few minutes at least 10 different birds were singing around us and

could be photographed! A quick last call to Stephen Menzie revealed that the Black-crowned

Sparrow-larks should occur somewhere in the middle of the wadi, about 1,5 km south of the road,

but it became dark soon and after a quick last try we decided to call it a day. We had some bread and

sardines (again!) and left to find any mammals while spotlighting. Tonight would prove to be a really

boring one: everybody was exhausted and the only thing we saw were some Lesser Egyptian Jerboas

and a dozen Savanna Hares. In the end we drove back to Oued Jenna and camped there.


OUED JENNA – DAKHLA

A nice morning announced itself around 7:00 AM. We packed our stuff and decided to walk to the

center of the wadi where there weren’t as much acacia trees and the area was more open, savanna-

like. At first the same birds as yesterday were easily observed among the Acacia radiata’s: Cricket

Longtails, Fulvous Babblers, Desert Sparrow, Desert Wheatear, Hoopoe Lark, Subalpine Warbler,

Spectacled Warbler, Bar-tailed Desert Lark, ‘elegans’ Great Grey Shrike, Sardinian Warbler, Barn

Swallow and at least 5 Savanna Hares. A dead Desert Hedgehog was found, turned completely

inside out. This indicated the animal was caught and eaten by a Pharaoh Eagle Owl in our opinion. At

least Eagle Owls in Belgium do the same thing… After two hours of searching, a big Sylvia in an acacia

tree caused a stir when it proved to be a Western Orphean Warbler, still a lifer for most of us!

The dark iris indicated a first-winter bird and it showed surprisingly well. It took yet another hour

however until Sander said he’d seen a bunch of larks landing in the distance. ‘They looked black’, he

said, and we cautiously went closer. Suddenly, 5 Black-crowned Sparrow-larks flushed from the

grass and flew by. It was nice to see them in flight, showing the dark belly and the distinct head

pattern. We flushed them a few more times before we decided to return to the car. Only a few

hundred meters upon arrival, we flushed another flock of about 15 Sparrow-larks. This time, we

could also see them foraging on the ground.

Because it was already 1:00 PM, we left for Dakhla bay. One of our targets wasn’t on the list yet, and

it was a nice one: African Royal Tern. After a two-hour-drive we arrived at the bay and found

ourselves a nice spot to enter the beach and have a nice lookout for terns and gulls (23.864, -15.829).

From the car we could already identify a nice flock of about 30 Caspian Terns, some Flamingos,

Spoonbills, Ringed Plover, Sanderling, Slender-billed Gull, … It was Sander again who pointed out an

incoming tern that landed among the Caspians: our first and only Royal Tern of the trip was a fact!

Before we had a good meal at the local restaurant ‘Samarkand’, we had a meeting with Mr. Taoufik

at the office of the Association Nature Initiative and discussed our schedule for the day after. We

agreed to meet around 8:00 AM at the gas station close to the roundabout (23.8923, -15.6728). Our

guide, Mohammed, would go with us and bring us to the waterhole in Bir Anzarane where the Sudan

Golden Sparrows had been seen a few days before. We paid them in advance, about 1300,- dirham,

which was a very reasonable price because of the 4x4 we would use to go offroad into the desert.

After this and our meal at the Samarkand, we went for a nice spotlighting-session. This was a very

productive night with our best observation of Fennec, 4 Rüppels Foxes, 3 Lesser Egyptian Jerboas, 3

Savanna Hares and 2 Stone-curlews. After this, we camped at Gleb Djiane again and had a good but

most of all short sleep.


DAKHLA – BIR ANZARANE

After waking up and packing our stuff, we arrived in time at the gas station to meet with the

Association Nature Initiative. After a few minutes, Mohammed was there with his female colleague

and an excellent Landrover Defender to defeat the sandy roads which were waiting for us. We first

drove to the northernmost corner of the bay, where there’s a white dune, ‘la Dune Blanche’. From

there we could have a nice view over the bay. Flamingos, Dunlins, Ringed Plovers and some

Spoonbills were foraging on the mudplains.

After this, the real work could begin however. From the previously mentioned roundabout, we

turned east instead of south like we had done the days before. After a while, a Cream-colored

Courser was seen from the car, but a big surprise was a migrating male Marsh Harrier, which we saw

after a drive of almost an hour, deep into the desert. We drove through a piece of desert that

seemed to be one of the harshest we had encountered yet. It was just pure, flat sand as far as the

eye could reach, without any bushes or grasses. It took yet another hour before we saw some

buildings in the distance. This proved to be an old army base that was still in use, and some police

officers were waiting in front. They checked all our passports and were talking with our guide

Mohammed for a short time. Before he stepped out of the car, Mohammed asked us to cover the

telescopes and cameras. We later were told that this was all because a prince from Saudi-Arabia was

there on a visit to hunt, and had made a deal with the police to check every trespasser and visitor to

the area. We left our own car there and all jumped into the 4x4 of Mohammed.

After all things were set, we drove back a few kilometers, until we turned right. This was a sandy

track which lead us into the desert, between some acacia trees. After ten minutes, an old settlement

started to appear. We saw some fences and immediately recognized the fence where the British

crew had seen the Sudan Golden Sparrows sitting on, a few days earlier. Only seconds before we

stopped, Simon already yelled: ‘I GOT HIM!!!’. We got out and pointed our binoculars at the flock of

birds that was sitting on the fence. A rush of adrenaline went down as we noticed it were all Sudan

Golden Sparrows, calling and constantly flying down to drink at the little pool. We went closer and

also saw some Desert Sparrows between the golden ones. It was a difficult task to count them,

because they were constantly moving and being very active. After a lot of time we agreed it were at

least 31 different birds. We stayed there for the next hour and even talked with the guard of the

waterhole, who lived there in the building.

He said one of his cats had the daily routine to just go out in the morning and eat two of these birds

for breakfast! The guard had some other nice garden species, including Hoopoe Lark, ‘elegans’ Great

Grey Shrike, Desert Wheatear and Brown-necked Raven. After this, we drove back a few kilometers

and stopped again at a place with a lot of acacia trees. Our guide had seen Fennec Fox here a few

days earlier, but we couldn’t relocate it. Only another ‘elegans’ Great Grey Shrike was singing. We

drove back to the army base and stepped into our car. Somewhere halfway on the way back to

Dakhla, we decided to stop and eat lunch under a thick acacia. We said goodbye to Mohammed and

decided to try to find some more birds at seemingly interesting places along the road. This resulted in

the find of our one and only Northern Wheatear of the trip, some Desert Wheatears, two

Spectacled Warblers and a Common Quail. It was already getting late when we arrived at Punta de

Lassarga, a small fishermen’s village south of Dakhla. In the last light, we found a roosting place of

Caspian Terns, with at least 101 different birds counted! A big flock of at least 300 Audoin’s Gulls was

roosting there too. After our last meal at the local restaurant Samarkand, we drove back to Gleb

Djiane to camp there and try again the day after for Spotted Sandgrouse, our only target we still

hadn’t found during our stay in Western Sahara.


GLEB DJIANE – LAAYOUNE – TAN-TAN – BOUIZAKARNE

This morning proved to be a good one, with our only missed species located very quickly! Two

Spotted Sandgrouses came in around 9:00 AM, followed by 8 Crowned Sandgrouses only moments

later. Both species were not too shy and showed really well. With the local Desert Wheatear singing

a goodbye-song, we left Gleb Djiane in order to reach southern Morocco by nightfall.

The whole day we drove, with some nice sightings of 4 Thick-billed Larks, Cream-colored Courser,

Thekla Lark and Black Wheatear along the road. In Laayoune, we had dinner with our friend Hussin

again, and talked about watching birds and a lot of other stuff. We had to leave however, and said

goodbye to him. Pieter-Jan had already mentioned him feeling not so well, and only a few hours of

driving later, things took a turn for the worst… We had to stop the car because he had to throw up,

and regarding the amount and the intensity with which it came out, it looked quite serious. After

some decent medication, handed to him personally by Dr. Bertrands, he could get back in and slept

for the rest of the night in the car. Around 11:00 PM, we were somewhere between Bouizakarne and

Tata, in a much more rocky landscape than the days before, and decided to camp here.


BOUIZAKARNE – TIIGANE – TISSINT

Pieter-Jan was still not feeling very well, but a slight improvement was noticeable, he said. We left for

Tiigane and enjoyed the change of scenery. Instead of sand and acacia’s, there were now rocky hills

and a lot of palm trees. From the car we saw different White-crowned Wheatears and ‘elegans’

Great Grey Shrikes.

We arrived at the wadi of Tiigane. Some White-crowned Wheatears were singing and we quickly

located a few interesting-looking acacia trees. They proved to be full with birds, mainly Sardinian

Warblers but also a Subalpine Warbler was found. A large and ‘purple’ Sylvia turned out to be our

target species: a splendid male Tristrams Warbler. After some taping, another bird emerged and

they both started singing at close range. A female Moussiers Redstart was seen a bit further down

the wadi, and it proved to be good for insects too! An African Monarch flew by a few times and an

Orange-winged Dropwing was a nice surprise and lifer too!

We drove further and about 60 kilometers before Tissint, a big falcon caused quite the stir when it

suddenly popped up from behind the corner and we had to park in a rush to check it. It turned out to

be our second Lanner Falcon.

In Tissint, our mission was to locate a Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse, but because of its rarity in Morocco,

it wasn’t sure we would find it. We found the riverbed and positioned ourselves on some good

lookouts. While we were waiting, Grey Wagtails, Trumpeter Finches, Common Sandpiper and our

first two Ruddy Shelducks were seen. No Sandgrouses appeared however, so we left the place and

drove to the first village where we found a hotel and could shower for the first time during this trip.


AMERZGANE – OUKAÏMDEN - OUARZAZATE

After we left the hotel, we drove to the road south of the village of Amerzgane. This road had proven

to be famous for its chance to find Western Mourning a.k.a. Maghreb Wheatear. We stopped at

multiple sites along the road, but no Maghreb Wheatear to be found. A very tame Woodchat Shrike

was a nice surprise however, and two Hoopoes, Desert Wheatear, Desert Lark and a male Moussiers

Redstart were welcomed too. Just before leaving the place, Sander flushed two Black-bellied

Sandgrouses, but they couldn’t be relocated.

We drove further in the direction of Oukaïmden and again stopped at multiple sites along the road.

After we saw our first 3 Red-rumped Swallows of the trip, the first flock of Red-billed Choughs was

found too. Crag Martins were getting numerous as we went higher and higher.

In the late afternoon, we finally arrived in the village, still quite a distance from the famous skiing

point, but the best place to score our next target… The village was surrounded by deciduous forest,

and we quickly found a good-looking piece a bit outside the center of the village (31.229, -7.812).

After some taping, our target emerged from the woods… A female Levaillant’s Woodpecker came

close and started calling. This made another bird, this time a male, land in the tree above our heads.

The next minutes the birds could be observed very well. Their plumage seemed to have a brownish

accompanied by a Great Tit, which was yet another lifer for most of us. Other birds seen were Great

Spotted Woodpecker, Long-legged Buzzard, the first African Chaffinches of the trip and at least two

House Buntings.

We went back to the car and drove the last few kilometers to the top. We arrived in the skiing resort

of Oukaïmden, which was completely covered in snow. Already from the car we saw an enormous

flock of birds which turned out to be at least 300 African Crimson-winged Finches. The birds were

ridiculously tame and Pieter-Jan had a great time photographing them. A short walk between the

piles of garbage (yes, skiing resorts in Morocco are DIRTY!) produced a few tens of Atlas Horned

Larks as well. Our last target took a few more minutes to locate, but finally about 10 Rock Sparrows

were scored too. This all went very easy and we decided to eat dinner and then leave for Ouarzazate,

which was still a 4-hour-drive.

Just before the city of Ouarzazate, we camped in a field.


OUARZAZATE – GORGES DU DADES – BOUMALNE DADES – HOTEL YASMINA

We started the day at the ‘Barrage El Mansour Eddahbi’, a big artificial lake at the eastside of the city.

This should hold a reliable spot to find Maghreb Lark, the long-billed (sub-)species of Crested Lark.

We arrived at the place and immediately found 3 birds.

Crested Larks were seen too, as well as White-crowned Wheatear, House Bunting, Moroccan

Wagtail and Peregrine Falcon. On the lake, a lot of Ruddy Shelducks were swimming, accompanied

by a few Great Crested Grebes. Two White Storks flew by too.

After this we drove to Gorges du Dades in order to find Bonelli’s Eagle. We based ourselves at a nice

spot to overview the canyon, but in vain. After three hours of waiting, no eagle was seen and we had

no time to stay any longer. Our only Alpine Accentor of the trip was seen here however, and Crag

Martin, Rock Dove and House Bunting were numerous.

We drove to Boumalne Dades and turned east in order to reach the spot for Pharaoh Eagle Owl at

31.374, -5.811. This should also be a good place for Maghreb Wheatear, so we were quite excited.

When we arrived, a Red-rumped Wheatear was welcoming us, and we walked up the hill in front of

us to scan the quarry. Suddenly two kids turned up, constantly yelling ‘hibou, hibou!’ which means

‘owl, owl!’ in French. They definitely knew the characteristics of a birder (binoculars, telescopes,…)

and one of the guys started to climb down the hill. He passed the bottom of the quarry and started

to climb up the hill in front of us which we were scanning. Pieter-Jan suddenly pointed out a hole

which had numerous white droppings around it, and with a good look the silhouette of a breeding

Pharaoh Eagle Owl was visible! Views were very bad though, but the little kid was still climbing and

we realized that he was just going to flush the owl! Only seconds later, way earlier than expected,

the bird left the hole and flew towards us. It disappeared behind a slope and couldn’t be relocated.

We thanked the little kids and gave them some bread and cheese which they gratefully accepted.

It was getting late when we drove to our last place of the day: Ait Auoida track. This was the last

possible place to find any Maghreb Wheatear, so it was here it should happen. We explored the area

which was nothing more than a big, rocky slope, and had already lost faith when Sander started

waving very excited. He had seen both male and female Maghreb Wheatear, but they had flew up,

to the ridge of the slope. With the telescope, the birds could be relocated, but the distance was big

and views were not as you would expect from a wheatear. But when in doubt, just tape! The tape

made the birds descend from their high position and come very close. In minutes we were looking at

a splendid male and female, singing and chasing each other in front of us.

With this lifer in the pocket, we happily drove in the direction of Rissani. We had dinner on route and

arrived at Hotel Yasmina around 11:00 AM. Next to the long sandy track to the hotel, we scored one

last lifer in the form of a Tarabul’s Gerbil, which after it got caught by me personally, could be

photographed very well by Pieter-Jan.


HOTEL YASMINA – RISSANI – ZEIDA

With the sound of falling raindrops on our tent, we started the day. Atypically, the beautiful orange

dunes were accompanied by a gray cloud cover. We drove to the hotel and checked the temporary

lake that had formed around it. A lot of Iberian Wagtails, Brown-necked Ravens, Sardinian Warblers

and Sand Martins were foraging around the edges of the lake. We decided to check the bushes

around the lake but these only held an impressive amount of Chiffchaffs. After a while, Pieter-Jan

came back from his landscape photography session and happily told us he had just seen a Barbary

Falcon flying over. It would be the only one seen during our trip, so we were rather unhappy with

this sole bird. Nevertheless, we still had a lot of exciting species coming up, so we left the area of

Yasmina and began driving in the direction of the main road, to Gosney B page 12 site 4. The area

consisted of mainly grasses and was the ideal habitat for our next target…

We arrived at the place and started to explore the area. The ever-present Hoopoe Lark was singing

and we quickly found a male Spectacled Warbler and at least 5 Cream-colored Coursers. I decided to

play the song of Desert Warbler, and only seconds later, two birds replied and flew towards us. They

gave away quite a show, nervously interacting with each other. It seemed like we had found a couple

of these desert jewels.

In the meantime, I had contacted local guide ‘Ali the Nomad’, a guy who’s famous for showing

Pharaoh Eagle Owls to people in the area of Rissani. We agreed to meet at the ‘Afriquia’ gas-station,

just before entering Merzouga.

We left the Desert Warblers and turned left on the main road. We drove south at the western side of

the orange dunes, and had a nice flyby of around 10 Spotted Sandgrouses. Weather improved a lot

during the next half our and when we arrived at the gas station, a bright sun was shining. We picked

up Ali and drove in the direction of Rissani. He brought us to a new place where there should be at

least 4 different Eagle Owls. When we arrived we immediately saw some heavy excavators on the top

of one of the slopes, and there were people working there too. It wasn’t a surprise Ali couldn’t find

any owls, and we did neither. Lucky for us, there still was the classic place, described at Gosney B

page 10 site 3. We hadn’t stepped out of the car yet when two big falcons flew by and turned out to

be a couple of Lanner Falcons. They had made their nest on a ridge, were calling each other and did

some acrobatic moves in the air. Ali placed himself a bit further, using the binoculars of Pieter-Jan, in

order to find an owl. Few moments later he started waving and we knew he had hit the jackpot. In a

big crack in the cliff, a nice Pharaoh Eagle Owl was sleeping. We could observe the bird a lot longer

and better than the day before. The exact location of the crack was at (31.2788, -4.3536). When we

returned to the car, a Tristram’s Warbler was discovered in a tamarisk and the usual Brown-necked

Ravens were calling.

While we drove back to the Afriquia gas station, Ali handed us some amulets: ‘for my friends’, he

said. We suspected him immediately of just giving this to ask more money afterwards, and so he did

when we arrived at the gas station. Instead of the usual 200,- dirham, he asked 300,-. This was still

okay for us, but the fact that he seemed offended when I offered 200 at first, made us realize this

was more a business than a hobby for him. When he got out of our car, he allowed us no more

glance, just stepped on his bike and took off. With mixed feelings we drove back to Lac de Yasmina,

to try again for Barbary Falcon. We had a nice sunset but apart from (the same?) Red-rumped

Swallow and some Brown-necked Ravens, no more interesting birds were found.

The plan was made to leave this area and make it to Zeida that same evening. In Erfoud we had

dinner in a rather luxury restaurant where a soccer game was on. Around 11:00 PM we arrived at

Gosney B page 2 site 3 and camped there.


ZEIDA – AZROU – KENITRA – MERJA ZERGA

Because Dupont’s Larks are known to sing during the twilight, we agreed to wake up around 6:30

AM. However, I already woke up around 6:00 AM and listened carefully… A meowing sound made my

neck hairs rise… a Dupon’t Lark! Bird after bird was heard until we were quite sure that at least 5

different individuals were singing at different spots on the plain in front of us. It was still too dark to

see something, so we had to wait.

When the sun finally appeared and the visibility was okay, the birds had already stopped singing to

our frustration. We decided to spread and walk the field, hoping to just bump into one. During the

walk we found a mixed flock of Lesser Short-toed Larks and Atlas Horned Larks. Two Black-bellied

Sandgrouses were flushed and showed well in flight. Ravens were numerous and the whole time

their call could be heard. After about two hours, we had almost lost hope when I suddenly found a

skulking lark about 10 meters ahead of me. A Dupont’s Lark was running from scrub to scrub and

could be observed nicely! Another individual emerged and I quickly called the others. We enjoyed

the birds for the next 15 minutes or so, then left the cold Zeida plains.

We were driving for ten minutes when it started snowing. As we proceeded to Azrou, the visibility

got worse but we were still able to find a flock of 10 Rock Sparrows besides the road. At a frozen

lake, covered in snow, we saw about 20 Ruddy Shelducks, a strange thing to see these birds in the

snow…

We arrived at Azrou forest (33.415, -5.181) and quickly located a few Barbary Macaques. This was a

species we definitely wanted to see, and we were surprised how used to humans they were.

Regarding birds we could add a lot of forest birds to our list, including Firecrest, Short-toed

Treecreeper, Nuthatch, Mistle Thrush, Hawfinch and Coal Tit. African Chaffinches were numerous

and some were already singing from the cedars.

When Pieter-Jan had had enough time with the Macaques to photograph them, we left this snowy

place and drove down to Kenitra. This place (Gosney A page 8 site 2, 3 and 4) (34.246, -6.671) should

hold a lot of White-headed Ducks and when we arrived the first individuals where already seen from

the car. At the end of the afternoon we had counted 229 Red-crested Pochards, 214 White-headed

Ducks, 1 Ferruginous Duck, 2 Red-knobbed Coots, some Flamingos, Northern Shovelers, Common

Pochard, Tufted Duck, Common Teal, a Long-legged Buzzard etc…

After this plans were made to eat something between Kenitra and Merja Zerga, but halfway we

realized we wouldn’t bump into any more decent restaurants, so we drove back to Kenitra and had a

nice chicken with fries there.

Somewhere before midnight we arrived at Merja Zerga and camped there in a field (34.8284, -6.304201).


MERJA ZERGA – SIDI YAHYA

We woke up quite early and went to the village just south of where we had slept. We had to find a

guy named Hamaroudir. He knew where the Marsh Owls in Merja Zerga where to find and should be

a very nice guy. We just asked everyone we came across when entering the village, and after half an

hour we were brought to a house with a big gate.

A young Moroccan guy asked us to wait in a room with some nice seats, and we already saw some

pictures of birdwatchers accompanied by a tall, middle-aged local hanging on the wall when we

entered.

A few moments later, Hamaroudir stepped into the room and welcomed us. He was extremely

friendly and immediately ordered his wife to make us pancakes and bake us some eggs. The whole

day we talked about him being a guard in Merja Zerga, during which he showed us some local books

about the birds of Morocco (including some extinct species as Dark-chanting Goshawk!). What really

surprised us was that he suddenly imitated the sound of an Andalusian Hemipode when we pointed

it in the book. He said he had seen it a lot of times in the past and that it wasn’t that difficult to find!

After yet another meal in the form of couscous and a lot of tea, we went for an afternoon session to

flush any Marsh Owls. We drove to the eastside of the lake, placed ourselves at a nice viewing point

while Hamaroudir went into the rushes to flush. He walked almost an hour but no Marsh Owls were

seen. We did however see some Common Starlings among the Spotless ones, a lot of Lapwings,

Meadow Pipits, Skylark, Marsh Harrier, Reed Bunting, Common Snipe, Water Rail, …

We went back to Hamaroudir’s house and spend the afternoon at ease while our host again started

to prepare a meal. Moroccon hospitality, never to be underestimated…

Around 4:00 PM we went back to the place, and already from a distance we saw two Marsh Owls

flying around! When we arrived, one bird was sitting on a pole into the rushes and could be

approached very well! We observed the bird for another half hour until it started to hunt in the

twilight. The sun went down but it was like the whole marshland came to life, with a lot of frogs

calling and the barking sound of the Marsh Owls echoing between it.

We drove back to the house of Hamaroudir, had to eat another tajine and wanted to leave.

Apparently he assumed we would sleep there but we explained him we had to leave for Sidi Yahya in

order to be there in time the next morning and hopefully see our next target. We said goodbye and

left Merja Zerga to arrive at Sidi Yahya around 10:00 PM. We camped at Gosney A page 36 site 3

(33.710, -6.926). When setting up our tents, we heard a Barn Owl calling nearby.


SIDI YAHYA – LARACHE – SIDI YAHYA

We woke up around 7:00 AM and hoped to already hear a Double-spurred Francolin, but in vain. Normally this parking place should be a real hotspot to hear them, but no bird was calling. We parked the car next to the road and decided to walk to Gosney A page 36 site 1 (33.7208, -6.9275). Just when we reached the main road, a Black-shouldered Kite was a lovely surprise and a lifer for Simon. When we arrived at site 1, the light was really bad to scan the valley in front of us, but nevertheless we persevered and started scanning. After about twenty minutes, suddenly a first bird started calling in the distance. Another one more to the left, but both in the far distance of the valley. We were quite disappointed that we couldn’t enter the valley because of it being royal property, but suddenly a bird started calling behind us. We decided to turn north from the main road, following the track at Gosney A page 36 site 2 (33.7185, -6.9293). This track could be entered legally, so we started walking. I told the rest that we had to be quiet because sometimes Francolins are seen sitting on the track. We turned around a corner and I immediately noticed two big brown things sitting at the right side of the track. I smacked down my telescope and was just in time to enjoy short but very close views of one Double-spurred Francolin. The other bird had already vanished into the maquis vegetation when I was setting up my telescope, and the second one quickly followed. The observation was short, but due to the closeness, it was a very good one. We tried to tape the birds and they responded by calling back at very close distance (5 meters), but they couldn’t be found in the dense vegetation. We tried to flush them but in vain.

We walked back to the car and now the last species we missed was Barbary Partridge. A normally

quite common species still wasn’t on the list so we tried to find it by scanning open places in the

area. No partridges to be found however, but just when we arrived at the car, a car pulled over with

some guards in it. They were very helpful and after we explained why we we’re here, they brought us

to a place with about two houses (33.6930, -6.9170). A guy emerged from one of the buildings and

he would show us the Partridges they said. He lead us through a hole in the fence into the royal

hunting domain, and we started exploring the area. After a walk of about 15 minutes, the first

Barbary Partridge flushed from the bushes besides the track. In the following half hour we saw at

least 5 different birds including one sitting on the track. For the rest a Siskin was added to the list,

African Chaffinches and Sardinian Warblers were common and another Black-shouldered Kite was

seen. A Spanish Festoon was a lifer for the most of us and a Greek Tortoise on the track was an

excellent photography subject.

We went back to the car and thanked the guy. After eating some cheese and bread, we had in fact

seen every target species we really wanted to see, so we decided to add Larache to the schedule.

This was a known site for Moustached Warbler, still a lifer for all of us except Robbie who had

already seen it in Georgia the year before.

We arrived around 4:00 PM at Gosney A page 2 site 4. We first scanned the fields at site 3 though,

which seemed to yield a lot of birds! Ruffs, Wood Sandpiper, two Ospreys, a Bluethroat, two

Squacco Herons, a lot of Flamingos, a Kingfisher but most of all the 500+ Glossy Ibises drew the

attention. Brown-throated Sand Martin was ridiculously common here too, with over 30 birds

counted. I said to Sander: ‘We should find ourselves a Purple Swamphen too, it occurs here and is

new for the trip list!’. He instantly replied with: ‘I see one!’. And indeed a nice Purple Swamphen was

climbing at the edge of the reedbed, what a coincidence! But the real surprise of the trip was just

about to come… Sander suddenly said: ‘I SEE A MALE CITRINE WAGTAIL!’ We all thought ‘what the

f*ck does he say now?’ but it proved to be true. A splendid male Citrine Wagtail was foraging very

close to us on the mud. Things became completely crazy when I discovered yet another bird, a few

tens of meters more to the left. This bird showed a more winter/female plumage. Both birds could be

photographed very well. Later we heard from Jacques Hubert Henri these birds where the 3rd and 4th

records of Citrine Wagtail in Morocco after a bird at exactly the same location on 03/01/1995, found

by Belgian birdwatcher Hugues Dufourny. Another juvenile bird was observed this winter at Nador

(NE-Morocco).

Happy as we were, we almost forgot we were here for a reason: Moustached Warbler! I went to

Gosney A page 2 site 4 (35.162, -6.107) and started taping. It took only a minute before a splendid

Moustached Warbler appeared. The rest arrived immediately and could also enjoy nice views of this

species.

After this we wanted to drive down the track to Gosney A page 2 site 6 (35.138, -6.059), hoping to see

any Little Bustards. We only found 2 Black Storks and a lot of waders here including over 10000

Ringed Plovers and Little Stints.

We drove back to the center of Larache and had a good meal. When we wanted to leave, one of the

local ‘road guards’, refused to let us leave. Apparently we had to pay him 2 dirhams, but just because

he was so impolite (he started yelling and became very, very angry!), we were not eager to pay. After

a few minutes a whole circle of Moroccans had formed around our car, and luckily they helped us

and were keeping him from hitting our car with his hands. A friendly guy explained us it is normal

that you pay a person with less money than you to guard your car, and that this time they had paid

for us. We then said we definitely wanted to pay but he just needed to be a bit more polite, but they

wouldn’t take our money and said it was okay.

After this we left Larache and drove back to Sidi Yahya because Sander wanted to try again to see the

Double-spurred Francolins the morning after. We arrived there around 11:00 PM and slept at the

same parking place as the night before.


SIDI YAHYA – CASABLANCA

After we woke up we first went to the same track as where we had seen the Francolins the day

before (Gosney A page 36 site 2). No birds to be found however, and also a quick check at site 3 didn’t

yield anything interesting.

In fact we only heard two birds calling briefly, while we had at least heard 6 different birds the day

before. A (the?) Black-shouldered Kite flew by again, some African Chaffinches were seen and

Sardinian Warblers were singing.

Around 10:00 AM we decided our birding trip had come to an end and we drove to Casablanca.

There we went to a car wash and cleaned our car which was totally covered in dust. After this and a

short meal in Bouskoura, we left the car at the parking place, brought back the key to Sixt and left

Morocco around 7:00 PM. We landed at Charleroi around 10:30 PM.

After a count during our flight, a total of 192 species was obtained. A really good number regarding

the early time in the year of our trip, the fact that we mainly chased only new species and the rather

short time for a visit to these two countries.

Pieter-Jan had 26 lifers (his earlier visit to Oman already yielded some species), Robbie and me

(Joachim) had 44, Sander 40 and Simon didn’t really count but finished well over 50…

TARGET SPECIES (and surprises)

Northern Bald Ibis

Very easy if you go straight to the breeding cliff (30.762, -9.826) where we saw at least 124 birds.

Also a few small flocks seen between Tamri and Cap Rhir next to the road.

Marbled Duck

A flock of 19 birds seen at the oasis (27.165, -13.195) that you cross when entering Laayoune.

Beware though, we got requested kindly to leave the area because of the nearby army base.

African Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo lucidus/marrocanus)

First seen at Khniffis Lagoon the 3th of February. More common around Dakhla however.

Bonelli’s Eagle

One of our missed species. Should be doable at Gorges du Dades, but because we lacked enough

time we didn’t see one.

Black-shouldered Kite

Surprisingly easy at Sidi Yahya, with birds observed both 14th and 15th of February.

Lanner Falcon

Total of 4 birds seen: one sitting in an electricity pole just before we entered the village of Guelmin

the 2nd of February, one flyby between Tata and Tissint the 8th of February and a nesting couple the

11th of February at Gosney B page 9 site 3, with guide Ali the Nomad.

Barbary Falcon

One bird only seen by Pieter-Jan the 11th of February at Hotel Yasmina.

Barbary Partridge

More difficult than expected, but still quite easy when you enter the royal hunting domain. To enter

it, go to the houses at (33.6930, -6.9170) and ask what’s possible. In our case one of the locals went

with us through a hole in the fence to go flush them.

Double-spurred Francolin

At the classic place in Sidi Yahya. We heard at least 6 different birds calling on the 14th of February,

two birds were calling the day after. To see them is another story. We were lucky to obtain good

views at Gosney A page 36 site 2, but scanning the valley at site 1 should also be a good strategy.

Cream-colored Courser

Quite easy and mostly discovered from the car in the sandy parts in Western Sahara as well as the

track from the main road to Hotel Yasmina.

Crowned Sandgrouse

Seen only at the drinking pool at Gleb Djiane (23.613, -15.723). 4 birds on the 4th of February, 8 birds

on the 7th.

Spotted Sandgrouse

Two birds seen at the drinking pool at Gleb Djiane on the 7th of February, a flock of approximately 10

birds flew over the road the 11th of February (31.190, -4.092).

Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse

Another missed one. We tried this notoriously difficult species the 8th of February near Tissint

(29.854, -7.264). We didn’t really expect them to see and just gave it a shot, but in vain.

African Royal Tern

Surprisingly only one bird the 5th of February at the northern part of Dakhla bay (23.864, -15.829).

Pharaoh Eagle Owl

First seen by scanning the quarry at 31.374, -5.811 on the 10th of February. Seen again the day after

with Ali the Nomad at 31.277, -4.363.

African Marsh Owl

Seen at the southeastern side of the lake of Merja Zerga with the help of Hamaroudir. I really

recommend using his help, he doesn’t do it for the money, but we did gave him the deserved amount

of 1300 dirhams (app. 130 euro). This for all the food he prepared for us, the pleasant company and

ofcourse showing us the owls. His house is located at 34.813437, -6.301670 and he can be contacted

at +212 668492479.

Levaillant’s Woodpecker

Very easy in the village of Oukaïmden, at least when you tape the birds. We just found ourselves a

nice patch of woodland (31.229, -7.812), played the call of the species and within five minutes two

birds, a male and female, showed very nicely.

Desert Lark

Seen only in Morocco, they prefer more rocky terrain instead of Bar-tailed. Seen at multiple sites but

at least the road south of Amerzgane (30.998, -7.233) yielded a lot of them.

Bar-tailed Desert Lark

Very common in sandy deserts, seen mainly in Western Sahara but also at Gosney B page 30 site 4.

Temminck’s Lark

Seen at multiple sites: Gosney B page 30 site 4 yielded 3 birds, a single bird was seen along the road

between Laayoune and Dakhla and 5 birds were seen the 4th of February at KM 190 to Aousserd at

Aousserd road.

Atlas Horned Lark

Very easy at the ski resort of Oukaïmden. Also seen in a flock of Lesser Short-toed Larks at the Zeida

plains.

Dupont’s Lark

Difficult to find but in the end we succeeded at the Zeida plains, more precise at Gosney B page 2 site

3. We saw two birds there.

Dunn’s Lark

Thanks to the precise coordinates Stephen Menzie gave us, we could find two birds the 4th of

February at km pole n° 205, approximately 20 kilometers from Aousserd (22.653, -14.461).

Black-crowned Sparrow-lark

Not all too difficult if you search in the right habitat: the grassy parts in wadi’s like Oued Jenna. We

found the birds in the more open parts, with not too much acacia trees (22.649, -14.502).

Thick-billed Lark

Seen multiple times. The first one was found at the plains at Gosney B page 30 site 4. A flock of 4

birds was observed from the car the 4th of February along Aousserd road and yet another group of

again 4 birds was seen at 24.819, -14.853 when we were driving back to Morocco the 7th of February.

Hoopoe Lark

Quite common in the desert-like areas and always first noticed by their whistling song.

Maghreb Lark (Galerida (cristata) macrorhyncha)

This (sub)species was located at the western shores of the Barrage El Mansour Ad-Dahbi at

Ouarzazate (30.922, -6.865) the 10th of February.

Brown-throated Sand Martin

4 birds the 1st of February at Essaouira (31.485, -9.768) but we found the species to be very common

at Larache, more exactly at Gosney A page 2 site 3. More than 30 birds were counted here on the 14th

of February.

Moroccan White Wagtail (Motacilla alba subpersonata)

A rare subspecies, most White Wagtails we checked turned out to be just wintering common White

Wagtails. The 1st of February we saw a bird at the riverbed at Essaouira (31.485, -9.768). The 10th we

saw another bird at the Barrage El Mansour Ad-Dahbi at Ouarzazate (30.922, -6.865). Both birds

were still in winter plumage but could be told apart because of the distinct head pattern.

CITRINE WAGTAIL

The surprise of the trip! An adult male in almost entirely summer plumage and another female or

winter plumage-bird were found respectively by Sander and me the 14th of February at the marshes

of Larache (35.164, -6.107). The birds seemed to be more or less together and they represent the 3rd

and 4th record for Morocco after a bird in ’95 and another 1st winter this winter in the surroundings

of Nador (NE-Morocco).

Moussier’s Redstart

Not as common as expected, but this probably has to do with the fact we didn’t spent a lot of days in

its preferred habitat (rocky, dry terrain). We did however see birds on three different days with 3

birds the 1st of February at Cap Rhir, 1 female the 8th at Tiiggane (29.615, -8.007) and another male

the 9th at Amerzgane road (30.998, -7.233).

White-crowned Wheatear

Very common in stony deserts and especially the region around Ouarzazate where almost every

house seemed to have its own pair of White-crowned Wheatears.

Maghreb Wheatear

One of the highlights of the trip as they have always proven to be quite difficult. After searching at

multiple sites mentioned at Dave Gosney’s website, we found a magnificent pair at the Ait Aouida

track (31.439, -5.649) on the 10th of February.

Scrub Warbler

At least 3 birds seen very well at Gosney B page 30 site 2, more accurately at 28.917, -10.145.

ATTENTION: Gosney B page 30 site 1 was the long-known location for Scrub Warbler, but we found it

to be much degraded. If you want to find these birds, go to site 2 instead. The habitat was way better

and we found them with relative ease.

Cricket Longtail

For me personally one of the highlights of the trip. Although they have become more or less

guaranteed when travelling to Western Sahara and especially Aousserd road, we saw them only at

Oued Jenna. They were quite common there (at least 15 – 20 birds seen at both 4th and 5th of

February), but the British crew were unable to find them here a few days earlier. They found a few

birds at the site for the Dunn’s Larks however (22.653, -14.461).

African Desert Warbler

Found with ease at Gosney B page 14 site 4 after some taping. We were surprised to not find the

species in Western Sahara, although it should occur here too.

Tristram’s Warbler

We found only wintering birds at the wadi of Tiiggane (29.615, -8.007) on the 8th, and a female the

11th at the wadi Ali the Nomad took us to see Pharaoh Eagle Owl and Lanner Falcon (31.277, -4.363).

At least the first wadi at Tiiggane is known for its wintering Sylvia-warblers, and Tristram’s Warbler is

recorded here multiple times in the past.

Moustached Warbler

Seen at Larache the 14th of February at Gosney A page 2 site 4 (35.1619, -6.1069).

Black-crowned Tchagra

Only one bird at Gosney A page 24 site 3. This bird showed very well however which made us not look

for them anymore at Sidi Yahya at the end of our trip, where they should occur too.

Fulvous Babbler

Only seen at Oued Jenna where they were numerous. Just listen for their whistling calls and you will

find them.

Maghreb Magpie (Pica pica mauretanica)

Seen multiple times, mostly in Morocco.

Brown-necked Raven

As soon as the landscape turned into desert, we saw Brown-necked Ravens. Along Aousserd road

they were very common. In Morocco we only saw them around Hotel Yasmina.

African Blue Tit

Seen the 9th at the village of Oukaimden but also in Azrou forest and Kenitra (34.253, -6.667) the 12th.

Desert Sparrow

We found some flocks from the car at different spots along Aousserd road but the wadi’s were

mostly empty. For example Oued Jenna, which normally contains quite big flocks in winter, only

yielded a single bird.

SUDAN GOLDEN SPARROW

Maybe THE highlight of the trip. After we met Stephen Menzie, Jonnie Fisk, Tim Jones and Oliver

Metcalf the 3rd of February at a gas station in Laayoune, they told us they had seen a flock of about

28 birds during a guided trip near the settlement of Bir Anzarane, about 150 kilometers east of

Dakhla. After contacting the local Association Nature Initiative (ANI), they arranged a trip for us to a

waterhole in the middle of the desert. Because there is a lot of military activity in the area, we

strongly urge you to also hire a guide to see them. When we arrived there, our passports got checked

and our guide said to hide our telescopes and binoculars. To see the birds please contact Taoufik El

Balla at this number: 0661389010 and like ANI’s page at Facebook.

We saw at least 31 different birds, but it is possible there are even more!

African Crimson-winged Finch

Extremely numerous around Oukaïmden with in total almost 300 birds seen. They are everywhere at

the ski resort, foraging on the piles of garbage (31.203, -7.862).

Trumpeter Finch

Not rare, seen at a lot of places and possible everywhere as soon as you’re in the desert.

TOTAL TRIPLIST

1. Little Grebe ruficollis

2. Black-necked Grebe nigricollis

3. Great Crested Grebe cristata

4. Northern Gannet

5. Greater Cormorant maroccanus & lucidus

6. Western Cattle Egret ibis

7. Little Egret garzetta

8. Squacco Heron ralloides

9. Grey Heron cinerea

10. White Stork ciconia

11. Black Stork nigra

12. Northern Bald Ibis

13. Glossy Ibis

14. Eurasian Spoonbill leucorodia

15. Flamingo

16. Ruddy Shelduck

17. Common Shelduck

18. Mallard plathyrynchos

19. Northern Shoveler

20. Marbled Duck

21. Eurasian Teal crecca

22. Ferruginous Duck

23. Tufted Duck

24. Common Pochard ferina

25. Red-crested Pochard rufina

26. White-headed Duck leucocephala

27. Common Scoter

28. Osprey haliaetus

29. Marsh Harrier aeruginosus & harterti

30. Long-legged Buzzard cirtensis

31. Eurasian Sparrowhawk punicus

32. Black-shouldered Kite caeruleus

33. Common Kestrel tinnunculus

34. Lanner Falcon erlangeri

35. Peregrine Falcon minor

36. Barbary Falcon pelegrinoides

37. Water Rail aquaticus

38. Common Moorhen chloropus

39. Purple Swamphen porphyrio

40. Coot atra

41. Red-knobbed Coot

42. Double-spurred Francolin ayesha

43. Barbary Partridge spatzi

44. Common Quail coturnix

45. Eurasian Oystercatcher ostralegus

46. Pied Avocet

47. Black-winged Stilt himantopus

48. Eurasian Stone-curlew oedicnemus & saharae

49. Cream-colored Courser cursus

50. Little Ringed Plover curonicus

51. Common Ringed Plover hiaticula

52. Kentish Plover alexandrinus

53. Grey Plover squatarola

54. Eurasian Golden Plover

55. Northern Lapwing

56. Red Knot

57. Sanderling

58. Ruddy Turnstone interpres

59. Dunlin

60. Little Stint

61. Wood Sandpiper

62. Green Sandpiper

63. Common Sandpiper

64. Spotted Redshank

65. Common Redshank totanus

66. Common Greenshank

67. Black-tailed Godwit limosa

68. Bar-tailed Godwit lapponica

69. Eurasian Curlew arquata

70. Eurasian Whimbrel phaeopus

71. Common Snipe gallinago

72. Ruff pugnax

73. Great Skua skua

74. Black-headed Gull

75. Slender-billed Gull

76. Mediterranean Gull

77. Audouin’s Gull

78. Yellow-legged Gull atlantis

79. Lesser Black-backed Gull graellsi

80. Royal Tern albidorsalis

81. Sandwich Tern

82. Common Tern hirundo

83. Caspian Tern

84. Crowned Sandgrouse coronatus

85. Spotted Sandgrouse

86. Black-bellied Sandgrouse orientalis

87. Rock Dove

88. Wood Pigeon excelsus

89. Collared Dove dacaocto

90. Laughing Dove phoenicophila

91. Pharaoh Eagle Owl

92. Marsh Owl tingitanus

93. Little Owl glaux

94. Barn Owl alba

95. Pallid Swift brehmorum

96. Eurasian Hoopoe epops

97. Common Kingfisher atthis

98. Crag Martin

99. Barn Swallow rustica

100. Red-rumped Swallow rufula

101. House Martin meridionale

102. Sand Martin riparia

103. Brown-throated Sand Martin mauritanica

104. Levaillant’s Woodpecker

105. Great Spotted Woodpecker maritanus

106. Eurasian Skylark

107. Crested Lark A lot of indet. subsp.

108. Maghreb Lark macrorhyncha

109. Thekla Lark A lot of indet. subsp.

110. Lesser Short-toed Lark minor

111. Desert Lark payni

112. Bar-tailed Desert Lark arenicolor

113. Temminck’s Lark

114. Horned Lark atlas

115. Dupont’s Lark duponti

116. Dunn’s Lark dunni

117. Black-crowned Sparrow-lark albifrons

118. Thick-billed Lark

119. Greater Hoopoe Lark alaudipes

120. Meadow Pipit

121. Red-throated Pipit

122. Tree Pipit trivialis

123. White Wagtail alba & subpersonata

124. Yellow Wagtail iberiae & flava

125. Grey Wagtail cinerea

126. Citrine Wagtail citreola

127. Alpine Accentor collaris

128. European Wren kabylorum

129. Bluethroat

130. European Robin

131. Black Redstart gibraltariensis

132. Moussier’s Redstart

133. Northern Wheatear

134. White-crowned Wheatear aegra

135. Black Wheatear syenitica

136. Maghreb Wheatear (Western Mourning Wheatear) halophila

137. Red-rumped Wheatear moesta

138. Desert Wheatear homochroa

139. European Stonechat rubicola

140. Song Thrush philomelos

141. Mistle Thrush deichleri

142. Common Blackbird mauritanicus

143. Blue Rock Thrush solitarius

144. Scrub Warbler saharae

145. Cricket Longtail

146. African Desert Warbler

147. Sardinian Warbler

148. Blackcap

149. Western Orphean Warbler

150. Spectacled Warbler conspicillata

151. Tristram’s Warbler maroccana

152. Subalpine Warbler

153. Moustached Warbler melanopogon

154. Zitting Cisticola cisticola

155. Cetti’s Warbler cettia

156. Common Chiffchaff

157. Common Firecrest balearicus

158. Great Tit excelsus

159. African Blue Tit ultramarinus

160. Coal Tit atlas

161. Eurasian Nuthatch hispaniensis

162. Short-toed Treecreeper mauritanica

163. Woodchat Shrike rutilans

164. Great Grey Shrike elegans & algeriensis

165. Black-crowned Tchagra cucullatus

166. Fulvous Babbler maroccana

167. Common Bulbul barbatus

168. Eurasian Jay minor

169. Red-billed Chough barbarus

170. Western Jackdaw spermologus

171. Northern Raven tingitanus

172. Brown-necked Raven

173. Spotless Starling

174. Common Starling vulgaris

175. House Sparrow tingitanus

176. Spanish Sparrow hispaniensis

177. Desert Sparrow saharae

178. Sudan Golden Sparrow

179. Rock Sparrow barbara

180. Common Chaffinch africana

181. Common Linnet mediterranea

182. Eurasian Goldfinch parva

183. Eurasian Greenfinch voousi

184. Hawfinch buvryi

185. European Serin

186. Eurasian Siskin

187. African Crimson-winged Finch

188. Trumpeter Finch zedlitzi

189. Reed Bunting schoeniclus

190. Cirl Bunting

191. Corn Bunting calandra

192. House Bunting sahari

LIST OF MAMMALS

1. Algerian Hedgehog

2. Rüppell’s Fox

3. Red Fox

4. Fennec Fox

5. African Savanna Hare

6. Barbary Ground Squirrel

7. Lesser Egyptian Jerboa

8. North African Gerbil

9. Tarabul’s Gerbil

10. Fat Sand Rat

11. Barbary Macaque

LIST OF REPTILES

1. Greek Tortoise

2. Spanish Pond Turtle

3. Helmethead Gecko

4. Ringed Wall Gecko

5. Northern Sand Gecko

6. Mauritanian Toad

LIST OF BUTTERFLIES

1. Spanish Festoon

2. Greenish Black-tip

3. African Monarch

LIST OF DRAGONFLIES

1. Vagrant Emperor

2. Orange-winged Dropwing

Documents

MOROCCO & WESTERN SAHARA - CloudBirders · morocco & western sahara 31 january – 15 february 2015 joachim bertrands simon vyncke robrecht debbaut pieter-jan d’hondt sander bruylants