Morocco Trip May 2012: Ifrane-Erfoud (3 Viewers)

[lewis20126]

Just booked the flights for a short trip (four days) in early May next year. The plan is to just drive Casablanca to Ifrane and then down to Erfoud / Merzouga area and back via the same route. We've all been to Morocco before but have a few targets as follows:
Atlas Fly, African Desert Warbler, Egyptian Nightjar, Spotted Sandgrouse, Sahara Olivaceous Warbler (and hopefully Western Olivaceous for comparison). Pharaoh Eagle owl would be a nice WP tick and we are keen to see things like Desert Sparrow and Dupont's Lark again if we have time.

Any idea if the Dunn's Larks were seen in 2011?

any advice or detailed gen greatly appreciated

cheers, alan

[Also any good mammal, herp or plant gen welcome!]

 

[lewis20126]

also any nail outs for Long-billed Crested Lark, Crowned Sandgrouse?

cheers, a

 

[Brian Stone]

My trip report from March this year:
http://thenaturalstone.blogspot.com/2011/03/morocco-16-20-march-2001.html

Several of your targets mentioned.

Also your inbox is full.

 

[lewis20126]

My trip report from March this year:
http://thenaturalstone.blogspot.com/2011/03/morocco-16-20-march-2001.html

Several of your targets mentioned.

Also your inbox is full.

Brian

Thanks - have cleared my inbox if there is anything else.

cheers, alan

 

[Xenospiza]

Barry already found my report, so you have the prime site for Egyptian Nightjar!

Plantwise: the road from Ifrane to Zeida passes some nice alpine meadows which I didn't have time for.

 

[Rob Hutchinson]

Hi Al,

I went to Morocco this May, no Dunn's unfortunately but saw all your other targets except Spotted Sandgrouse. Have loads of info including gps points for everything, drop me an email in the new year and I'll send them over when I'm back with my notes.

PS. Tawi tawi is a go in Jan!

Rob

 

[lewis20126]

bump this up in case anyone has any new gen; already picked up the Dunn's Lark sighting;
cheers, a

 

[Captain_of_Crunch]

I will be doing a very similar tour at the end of April/start of May. Observado is a good place to check for recent sightings from Morocco (there are a few locals using it).

Using this link (http://observado.org/soortenlijst.php), the database can be searched for whatever target species your interested in.

Info found so far:
Desert Sparrow: Around Hotel Yasmina end of March
Egyptian Nightjar: Hoping to check Dayet Srija near Merzouga and the dry lake east of Rissani.
Pharaoh Eagle Owl: Still in the cliffs end of March
Laughing Dove and Brown-necked Ravens seem to be relatively easy to see.

 

[lewis20126]

I will be doing a very similar tour at the end of April/start of May. Observado is a good place to check for recent sightings from Morocco (there are a few locals using it).

Using this link (http://observado.org/soortenlijst.php), the database can be searched for whatever target species your interested in.

Info found so far:
Desert Sparrow: Around Hotel Yasmina end of March
Egyptian Nightjar: Hoping to check Dayet Srija near Merzouga and the dry lake east of Rissani.
Pharaoh Eagle Owl: Still in the cliffs end of March
Laughing Dove and Brown-necked Ravens seem to be relatively easy to see.

James Lidster saw Egyptian Nightjars near the Hotel Derkaoua; as posted on GoSouth birding:

"Spotted Sandgrouse – 8 on 16th april between Derkaoua and Yasmina. Egyptian Nightjar – 1 flushed at Kasbah Said (near Derkaoua) in daylight , 2 seen nearby at day roost the same day (photo). Blue-cheeked Bee-eater – regular between Derkaoua and Ouarzazate on 17th april...."

here's hoping the local guides know the day roost!

cheers, a

 

[lewis20126]

Got back yesterday and had a very successful 3.5 day trip with superb views of spotted and crowned sandgrouse, daytime Egyptian nightjar, African desert warbler (3), atlas fly (c10),Dupont's lark, ayeshi Double-spurred Francolin, Desert Sparrow, Black-winged Kite etc. The only lowlights were a lack of Pharoh Eagle Owl (still around though) and no Fulvous Babblers but have seen those before. Hopefully put a few photos up on a new thread later.

cheers, alan

 

[ianreid]

Hi Alan,

do you have a trip report? I am considering a short notice trip in a week's time, and hope to get as much up-to-date ghen as I can. I know the time of year is poor, but have little choice.

Cheers, Ian

 

[Captain_of_Crunch]

Which species in particular are you looking for info on? I was there end of April-start of May this year.

Richard Bonser also has a great trip report from around this time of year:

http://www.birdtours.co.uk/pdf-area/Morocco and Western Sahara trip report 2010.pdf

 

[lewis20126]

Hi Alan,

do you have a trip report? I am considering a short notice trip in a week's time, and hope to get as much up-to-date ghen as I can. I know the time of year is poor, but have little choice.

Cheers, Ian

No trip report but happy to answer questions - btw Dan Pointon is there at the moment (or just back?)

cheers, a

 

[ianreid]

No trip report but happy to answer questions - btw Dan Pointon is there at the moment (or just back?)

cheers, a

Many thanks Alan and Captain -- I have just snagged the last BA reward flight for this Sunday, back on Thursday so definitely going for a slightly mad 3.5 days birding.

Flying to Marrakech and will, I guess take what seems to be a tried/tested route via Ouarzarzate maybe as far as Rissani.

I have got a copy of Richard's excellent report. Though much of their time was spent much further south, they did have a few successful days in the more usual sites which is why I thought Morocco worth considerng even at this late stage of the year.

A number of potential lifers and/or top birds we are almost certain to pick up along the way if we visit standard sites like Tagdilt Track, birds like Trumpeter Finch, Hoope Lark, Cream-coulored Courser, etc. Other may require a more targeted approach and I'd be grateful for recent gen on any/all of the following (though of course I know there's no way we could hope for all of these and some may well be mutually exclusive or v. difficult at this time of year. In no particular order, off the top of my head:

Thick-billed Lark

Spotted and Crowned Sandgrouse

Dunn's Lark

Desert Lark

Pharoah Eagle Owl -- is the "usual" roost site year round, or just in breeding season?

Egyptian Nightjar

Houbara Bustard -- I assume that the effort and time for this would not be well spent in a short trip, but would be very happy to hear otherwise

Desert Warbler

Fulvous Babbler

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater

Hmm, that's quite along list already, sorry. Any help greatly appreciated!

Cheers, Ian

 

[lewis20126]

Egyptian Nightjar

I sent the following PM to Dan P:

Where we saw the EN was in the "reliable site for Desert Warbler" wadi (SITE 4, page 7) near Hotel Said described in Gosney. So its basically between Hotel Said and Hotel Dakoua (amazed that is closed by the way). We formed a line and did the wadi for the warbler (pm and then next am) and flushed a male EN on both occasions. It may have been the same bird but one was north (east) of the main track and the other was south (west). They both settled quciky and crippling views were obtained.

We saw a pair of Desert Warbler in the same area

If you fail daytime for the EN I would try this sandy wadi at night and also the wadi beside the Hotel Dakoua; with a tape. This was our original plan but we didn't need to in the end.

Houbara has been seen this year but as they are all released (and we had all seen them before in the Canaries), we didn't look for them.

cheers, alan

 

[lewis20126]

Pharoah Eagle Owl, Crowned Sandgrouse

We were shown two deserted roost sites for the owl by Brahim, a local bird guide from Rissani (google him); we hired him for half a day for the Rissanii area and it paid off as he was able to put us straight onto a superb stakeout for Crowned sandgrouse (you may already have seen this at Tagdilt). If you only have a day or so in the Erfoud / Rissani area I would recommend hiring him, especially for the owl (although at least one of the sites is well described in RB's report). Fulvous babblers are common in date palms around Rissani but we dipped in half an hour in the heat of the day.

cheers, a

 

[DMW]

We had a Pharaoh Eagle-Owl on 12th June this year at the usual crags near Rissani. However, the bird was not in the regular roost sites described in Gosney. Instead, it was about half way between where you park-up, and Gosney's sites.

Scan the crags as you walk until you see a small but obvious square entrance to a deep hole (maybe 50cm aperture). The bird was sat in shadow in the entrance, and was far from obvious. When we approached it shuffled back and was no longer visible.

I reckon the owls may be more obvious in winter / early spring as they sit out, but stick to the shade in summer heat. They will certainly be there year-round.

We didn't see any Cream-coloured Coursers in the desert proper, but the Dupont's Lark site near Zeida was crawling with them.

 

[Captain_of_Crunch]

In addition to Lewis20126 excellent info:

Thick-billed Lark: I found several quite quickly in the plain about 25km west of Tazenakht (http://wikimapia.org/#lat=30.4645878&lon=-7.4027521&z=12&l=0&m=h). Also present were CC Courser, Red-rumped Wheatear and Temminck's Shore Lark. All this in pretty strong winds. However I think this maybe a little bit away from your chosen route (?).

Spotted Sandgrouse: Flying over Hotel Yasmina to drink at the nearby pools.

Dunn's Lark: Saw one probable about half between Hotel Yasmina and the main road.

Desert Lark: Fairly common in the rocky desert around the Rissani Cliffs. It has a very distinctive call that is well worth learning. Also in the hillier/rockier areas on the northern shore of the reservoir east of Ouarzazate.

Desert Warbler: Managed to find one adult by pure chance (mobbing Southern Grey Shrike) about half way between Hotel Yasmina and the main road. Again, learning the distinctive chattering call will increase your chances.

BC Bee-eater: Two perched on wires on the northern outskirts of Rissani. Saw it fairly commonly along the northern shore of that reservoir east of Ouarzazate.

Hoopoe Lark: Saw several (+Desert Wheatear) on the dry plain east of Rissani (http://wikimapia.org/#lat=31.2935864&lon=-4.1972924&z=13&l=0&m=h).

Dayet Srija near Merzouga is well worth a look, I saw White-rumped Sandpiper (2nd Moroccan record), Glossy Ibis and several hundred Marbled Ducks here. Also fantastic views of a pair of Lanner Falcons hunting along the northern shore. Egyptian Nightjar has been heard singing/flying at dusk here in the past.

Houbara Bustard: There is a release centre about half way between Boumalne and Errachida

Also, in case it is your first trip to Morocco: stick to speed limits in and on the outskirts of towns (I was caught twice!) - fines are 700Dh.

 

[ianreid]

Thanks Guys, keep the gen coming

Possible disaster: Gosney's guide to the deserts out of stock at Birdguides!! Does anyone have the guides I could borrow, esp if you are local to Oxon??

Cheers, Ian

 

[ianreid]

Couple more species I have been reminded of (the list above was in haste off the top of my head):

Mourning Wheatear -- Birdguides/Gosney's online update says his "nailed down" site was barren in March last year

Scrub Warbler

Crimson-winged Finch -- have seen reports for these with fairly detailed gen. Will they still be around in July, and does it make a sensible stop either en route to the desert or en route back to Marrakech?