Scridifer's Bulgarian List 2025 (1 Viewer)

[Scridifer]

07/03/2025 Desert south of Erfoud, Drâa-Tafilalet

386) Spotted Sandgrouse
387) African Desert Warbler
388) Quail
389) Egyptian Vulture
390) African Houbara
391) Maghreb Lark
392) Fulvous Babbler
393) Tawny Pipit
394) Brown-necked Raven
395) Egyptian Nightjar
396) Desert Sparrow
397) Common Cuckoo
398) Kentish Plover
399) Garganey

 

[Owene]

How are the herps and butterflies. Don’t know if you went there but I found the communal gardens by the nomad depot a mind blowing experience. This artificially created green in the middle of the desert using ancient techniques. Packed full of butterflies too

 

[Scridifer]

How are the herps and butterflies. Don’t know if you went there but I found the communal gardens by the nomad depot a mind blowing experience. This artificially created green in the middle of the desert using ancient techniques. Packed full of butterflies too

Yes we went to the palmeraie, very interesting! Mainly Small & Bath Whites, a couple of Clouded Yellows and plenty of Plain Tigers (mostly of the African variety with white hind wings.

Full lists:

Swallowtail
Speckled Wood
Wall Brown
Plain Tiger
Painted Lady
Small Copper
Clouded Yellow
Large White
Small White
Western Dappled White
Bath White
Greenish Black Tip
False Mallow Skipper

Desert Horned Viper (doubtless the same one Hassan showed you at the Eagle Owl site!)
Dumeril's Fringe-fingered Lizard
Desert Lacerta
North African Water Frog

Also Barbary Ground Squirrel and Fat Sand Rat, and one of our party was lucky enough to get a glimpse of a Fennec Today!

Chris

 

[Owene]

Fennec would have been amazing. Some nice herps there and I loved those plain tigers and the shade of green on the black tips. even if I'd seen both species before the views were massive upgrades. I spent quite a while trying to get the frogs off my (non existent) heard only list but couldn't manage it.

Glad the snake was still there.

You enjoying the trip? Not many experienced birders on ours but the group got on well which was half of it and the guide was really great. Our guide was constantly texting yours and asking advice as his local knowledge is a lot better (despite ours doing 15 trips) but I think the weather situation out there is so weird for the area in recent times that things are a little odd

 

[Scridifer]

You enjoying the trip? Not many experienced birders on ours but the group got on well which was half of it and the guide was really great. Our guide was constantly texting yours and asking advice as his local knowledge is a lot better (despite ours doing 15 trips) but I think the weather situation out there is so weird for the area in recent times that things are a little odd

Yes it's been superb so far! A couple of experienced birders and the rest experienced travellers who are happy to enjoy whatever we see, everybody is getting on like a house on fire. One is a friend of a friend who I bird with in Bulgaria, and another couple I met on my friend's stand at Birdfair last year! Our fella is superb, he wrote the book on southern Morocco (literally, he is the author of the Crossbill guide) no wonder your chap was picking his brain, especially as you say in view of the extraordinary weather.

Chris

 

[Scridifer]

08/03/2025 Tazzarine, Draa-Tafilalet

400) Western Subalpine Warbler

 

[Owene]

Yes it's been superb so far! A couple of experienced birders and the rest experienced travellers who are happy to enjoy whatever we see, everybody is getting on like a house on fire. One is a friend of a friend who I bird with in Bulgaria, and another couple I met on my friend's stand at Birdfair last year! Our fella is superb, he wrote the book on southern Morocco (literally, he is the author of the Crossbill guide) no wonder your chap was picking his brain, especially as you say in view of the extraordinary weather.

Chris

I have the book, it’s really good. Our guide Chris Griffin guided with Martin when naturetrek used to do it as two vans and they alternate it now. Chris is back out there next week. Glad you’re having fun. It was by far the best group of any of my group tours and really brought back my enthusiasm for tours after a few issues with the Uganda one (although the wildlife was amazing out there too)

 

[Scridifer]

09/03/2025 Iriri fields, Draa-Talafilet

401) Western Orphean Warbler
402) Common Reed Warbler
403) Water Rail
404) Iberian Chiffchaff
405) European Red-rumped Swallow
406) Sedge Warbler

09/03/2025 Tinfat, Souss-Massa

407) Tree Pipit

 

[Scridifer]

10/03/2025 Taroudant, Souss-Massa

408) Alpine Swift

10/03/2025 Imi Ouadar, Souss-Massa

409) Audouin's Gull

10/03/2025 Tamri, Souss-Massa

410) Northern Bald Ibis

Asif N'Srou estuary, Souss-Massa

411) Northern Gannet

 

[Scridifer]

11/03/2025 Souss-Massa NP area

412) Short-toed Eagle
413) Mediterranean Short-toed Lark
414) Cory's Shearwater
415) Eurasian Spoonbill
416) Western Olivaceous Warbler
417) Blue-winged Teal
418) Brown-throated Martin
419) Bar-tailed Godwit
420) Spotted Redshank

 

[foresttwitcher]

417) Blue-winged Teal

A bit unexpected I guess!

 

[Owene]

A bit unexpected I guess!

There’s been a pair there for months. With us it was not wanting to walk too far to get a view point of where they were last seen. Glad they were playing ball for Chris I might have been more bothered if they’d been a tick 😀

 

[Scridifer]

A bit unexpected I guess!

As Owen says Pete, not that I was aware of them until the day before.

Chris

 

[Scridifer]

12/03/2025 Oued Souss

421) Glossy Ibis
422) Eurasian Stone-curlew

 

[Scridifer]

13/03/2025 Hanningfield Reservoir EWT, Essex

423) Goldeneye
424) Goosander

 

[Muppit17]

12/03/2025 Oued Souss

421) Glossy Ibis
422) Eurasian Stone-curlew

Great to have you on board in Morocco. Hope to see you again soon

 

[foresttwitcher]

13/03/2025 Hanningfield Reservoir EWT, Essex

Welcome back Chris, hope Morocco went well.

 

[Scridifer]

Great to have you on board in Morocco. Hope to see you again soon

Likewise! It was a wonderful trip, I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it! Many thanks for sharing your passion for that part of the world - it's truly contagious!

Chris

 

[Scridifer]

Welcome back Chris, hope Morocco went well.

Thanks Pete, in England for a couple of days then back home on Saturday. Morocco was amazing, I had 22 lifers out of 155 species seen, plus some great mammal, butterfly, herp and odonate ticks. Highly recommended!

Chris

 

[foresttwitcher]

Good stuff. It is certainly on my potential places list but I'm not sure I'm up for a solo independent trip...