where are the desert's birds in september? (1 Viewer)

[XavierVandevyvre]

Hi to all,

just coming back from one week spend in Morocco (especially for dragonflies and birds), I was really astonishing by the lack of birds in the desert area (Merzouga). I spend 2 full days in the Merzouga region and saw nearly none of the desert specialist (courser, wheatears, larks, desert warbler...) except spotted sandgrouse and desert sparrow.

I suppose it's due to warmness... but knows somebody where these birds spend the hot months??

Otherwise, many moroccan specialities were seen (marsh owl, levaillant's, babbler, redstart, seebhom, house bunting, buzzard, desert nightjar, blue-cheeked bee-eater + many subspecies)

thanks,
Xavier Vandevyvre

 

[Simon Wates]

I would imagine that many of the larks are in quite large and wide roaming post breeding flocks. Its very easy not to see them as the flocks will be few and far between so you need to get lucky. In the breeding season the are spread through the breeding habitats so much easier to find. The same happens to Calandra Larks in Portugal - easy in the spring but mid-summer into autumn they are in flocks of often 100's but can be anywhere in the vast wilderness of their habitats so much harder to find.

I've been twice to the Moroccan Sahara in August and some species were "missing" then - though the birding was surprisingly good from dawn till around 11am.

 

[XavierVandevyvre]

I would imagine that many of the larks are in quite large and wide roaming post breeding flocks. Its very easy not to see them as the flocks will be few and far between so you need to get lucky. In the breeding season the are spread through the breeding habitats so much easier to find. The same happens to Calandra Larks in Portugal - easy in the spring but mid-summer into autumn they are in flocks of often 100's but can be anywhere in the vast wilderness of their habitats so much harder to find.

I've been twice to the Moroccan Sahara in August and some species were "missing" then - though the birding was surprisingly good from dawn till around 11am.

yes, seems a good reason for "social birds". For more "individual birds" (wheatears, desert warbler, coursers...) this explanation is less convincing.
Thanks
Xavier

 

[Acrocephalus]

I think also it's due to the heat in the mouths of July-August. If one wants to really see birds in these areas (even in the bushes in a wadi or small oasis) in this time of year, they have to get very early otherwise they won't see anything.