Bits and pieces, dribs and drabs

My schedule is finally beginning to free up, I've not yet had a full weekend at home this year. For six weekends I have not been here at all. Mostly (but not entirely) this is all my own fault and I planned it this way several months ago not realising quite how exhausting it would end up being. First there was Morocco, then there was Scotland. Twice. In between these two trips there was the emergency run to the States, and then it was half term in the Peak District. When finally I had a free weekend in late February I inexplicably used it to twitch Texel for the Spectacled Eider. 

I finally had a full day at home last Sunday and it was bliss. The sun was out, the greenhouse was warm, and I busied myself with my plants and the end of the long winter. It's a labourious process, giving each pot a tiny amount of water to accompany the warmth and the light awakening them from their winter slumber, but with cold nights still potentially lethal to wet roots. A fine art, hopefully I have got it right. Once it is warmer still I will add a little boost of fertiliser and the short growing season will begin. It was filthy down there, fungal growth on loads of leaves, and a scale insect problem that will have to wait a few weeks to be properly dealt with. But initial signs are good, most plants seem to have made it and indeed, pestilential insects aside, look in fine fettle.

Of course I can't spend all my time in the greenhouse from now on. There are Wheatears to be found (and other less important migrants). I can feel it in the air, they are on their way. Wheatears are the ones we all want. I was actually first out the hat for the annual sweepstake but at the appointed time to choose our dates I was busy and it slipped my mind. I was bumped to last. Rats. This is not unexpected in 2025. I mean it is good to be busy, but I wish I was less busy. The end is in sight though, and a visible sign of easing is that I've been birding locally. 

Until recently my Wanstead list this year could only be considered as deeply unimpressive. Approaching the end of February I'd managed one visit to Wanstead Flats in early January. That had taken me to 35 species, and my commute to the office through Bush Wood had increased that to 44. 44! Oh dear. I finally got my act in gear on the 25th, going for a walk before work in the Park and the Old Sewage Works. This took me to 58, and then last weekend a bit of sky-watching added both Buzzard and Red Kite between bouts of gardening. A quick visit to the Old Sewage works earlier this week added Kingfisher and Water Rail, and a Chiffchaff on the way to work yesterday took me to 63. A veneer of respectability. A thin veneer.... I have even now gone so far as to scribble a list of targets on a post-it note so things are getting pretty serious. 

Somehow in the same period I've managed to get through six trip reports, including the most recent one to Morocco which I just finished. They're as popular as ever which is a bit of a shame as they take hours. Actually I haven't finished as I suppose I really need to see if I can make something out of Arizona and Texel. I've also spent many hours getting the 2023 London Bird Report done, always a bit of a struggle at this time of the year but my part is once again finished and ready for others to take up the mantle. I could give you a much fuller ticked-off to-do list but that might be even less popular than a trip report. In summary I've done a lot this year and so maybe Elon won't fire me?

Morocco - January 2025 - Trip List

The trip list topped out at 98, try as we might we could not get to 100. For a whole week that seems somehow sub-standard especially as I am likely to see a similar number on a short weekend trip. But as I've mentioned/moaned a few time over the course of this trip report birds were generally in short supply out in the desert. We missed most of the Sandgrouse, and did not make an effort for Desert Sparrow as all the recent reports we could find would have been beyond our vehicle. We couldn't find any Babblers and we were too early for Atlas Wheatear (old Seebohm's). Not having a scope for the larger water bodies probably cost us a few species as well. 

But those birds that we did see, especially the desert species, we saw really well, and as photography was the priority we gave them a lot of time. I came away pretty pleased - I have keepers of about ten species, including four Wheatears. And lets not forget that this is with a camera that I only started using for bird photography at the end of last year. Having now used it quite intensively for a week I am a buyer. It has clear limitations, it is harder to take an off the cuff photograph still. With the Canon my fingers were moving well before I lifted the camera, the Sony requires more thought and thus slows me down. Quite a few shots were missed as I didn't have the right settings, or had flicked a button inadvertently and didn't know how to change it back. Having a zoom rather than a prime is also a bit novel, and in the heat of the action it's entirely possible to discover that you were taking photos at 200mm and not 600mm! But the quality is there, the only limitation is me learning how to get the best from it. Deep down I want an A9 series for the ergonomics, having buttons and dials where I want them, and for a step up in autofocus, but for now my tiny A6600 seems to do just fine. And tiny is what it is and why I bought it - when I pick it up, when I pack it or unpack it, or just stand it up somewhere - the size gets me every time. It is just breathtakingly small and light in comparison to what I used to use. I can carry it all day without really noticing it is there. In short it is great and I hope to become a lot more competent with it this year.

Olympus on the left, Sony on the right

Anyway, Morocco is fantastic and I can't wait to go back. I think March or early April would likely be a good time to go, the only issue is that this trip takes time. It's not a weekend jaunt, the drive out to the real deserts takes an entire day, and it is best to break it up into two. Essentially that means a whole week, multiples of which I don't have at the moment. I am so looking forward to retirement.

Morocco - January 2025 - Day 7 - Over the Atlas and home

The view up the pass from Maison d'Hotes Irocha

Another early start for what was our final day. The hotel was good enough to make us breakfast really early but I was unfortunately a little slower out of the room than Mick and arrived to find he'd eaten it all thinking it was for one person! That'll teach me. No matter, I can survive on Wheatears alone.

We backtracked a little to follow up reports of a Moussier's Redstart, a bird we still hadn't seen, but were not able to find it. Perhaps it was still a little cold. After that we headed north, hoping to boost the trip list as we crossed the mountains. We stopped frequently where the habitat looked good, usually small settled areas where there was more vegetation. We picked up Cetti's Warbler and numerous other small birds at one of these sites, but were completely unable to find Levaillant's Woodpecker which was our main target along with the Redstart.

Aguelmouss was an excellent stop, a mountain village as you approach the Col. We were looking for the Woodpecker but what should we find hopping around a building but four Crimson-winged Finch. I had no idea they could be found anywhere other than the ski resort at Oukaimeden. Unfortunatey they vanished almost as soon as we set eyes on them, a shame as we were hoping that we might add another species to the photographed list. Also at this site were Crested Lark, Black Redstart, Rock Bunting and a friendly Black Wheatear.

Black Wheatear

We carried on, over Tizi-n-tichka, and began the long descent to Ait Ourir. We had a coffee break late morning in a well wooded area - there are a couple of restaurants and places to take a pause, and near one of these we finally found Coal Tit which we had somehow missed everywhere else. There were also Crossbill, a Song Thrush and a Short-toed Treecreeper.

At Ait Hmane we stopped for some Maghreb Magpie, a group of nine, and whilst Mick tried for them I wandered over to the other side of the road and stumbled upon a Moussier's Redstart entirely by accident. Before we could do anything about this the local kids turned up on their bikes and followed us wherever we went, and so that was that.

Down at Ait Ourir we enjoyed the singular pleasure of the dump. Good for birds, grim in all other respects, and particularly offensive to nostrils. There were hundreds of Cattle Egret and White Stork here, and tons of Chiffchaff, Pied Wagtails, and Yellow Wagtails. Also our first Swallow. We did not linger, it was too disgusting. And yet people spend all day here trying to eke out a living. Travel lets you know how fortunate you are.

Cattle Egret

We had lunch a little further down the road whilst we planned the final hours of the trip - another try at Fulvous Babbler in an area south of Marrakesh and also closer to the airport than we currently were. Needless to say we found no Babblers at all, but it was quite a birdy place with over 30 Magpie, two more Moussier's Redstart (neither cooperative), House and Spanish Sparrow, lots of Stonechat and Spotless Starling, and a Great Grey Shrike. 

Maghreb Magpie

Stonechat

Then it was time to pack up and get to our flight as it was nearly 5pm, where had the day gone? The roads in Marrakesh seemed particularly busy at this time of day, especially around the airport, but we nosed our mighty Picanto through the morass of mopeds and made it in time. Some momentary panic when we drove into the wrong carpark and it took ages to get out again and into the correct one, but there was plenty of time to spare. And so that was Morocco 2025, I am glad to have got back there after so many years. The landscapes are amazing, the people are friendly, and the birds are wonderful. I want to go back already!

Morocco - January 2025 - Day 6 - Tagdilt to the mountains

Along with Brahim we piled into our car just before dawn and drove to Tagdilt, parking up at the water hole. To our surprise the water was almost gone - the previous evening we had seen shepherds guiding their mixed flocks of goats and sheep in our direction, I guess that many animals can make short work of what is basically a series of shallow puddles. Needless to say we did not see any Sandgrouse and I guess that is now it for that particular pool this year. Yesterday's Storks were in the desert north of the main road.

We carried on west to the dump tracks, showing Brahim the various perches that we had made with this morning in mind, and talking about tactics and how various birds behaved. He was keen and knew a fair amount about what was what, but likely had not met people like us before. We had a bit of fun with Red-rumped Wheatear on some of these perches, but the issue we faced was that the birds had an abundance of choice and were not guaranteed to choose my lovely clean rock but instead perch up on a pile of rubbish covered in bird droppings. In the end we did better stalking individual birds than waiting for them to come to us.

Red-rumped Wheatear

Heading back to Imiter we stopped at the Falcon Nest Escarpment. This was within Brahim's local patch so to speak and he knew exactly where to look for Pharaoh Eagle Owl - not great views but if you got the right angle and had a little bit of height you could see its head. There are numerous day roost sites but this particular hole was on the north side of the canyon. We also knew from research, as did Brahim, that this was a site for Mourning Wheatear. It did not take long to find this resident pair. They stayed very low to the ground and just as you had laid down to get a nice angle they were off again - frustratingly difficult, but a great bird to see really well. My only other sighting was on the original trip in 2013 and that had been very brief.

Mourning Wheatear

We enjoyed a great breakfast with sensational orange juice back at Nomadic Birdway before bidding Brahim goodbye and heading west. The plan was to bird an area in the foothills alongside the P1505 road which does a loop west of Ouarzazate to join up with the main road over the Atlas at Amerzgane. Our accomodation was then slightly further up the road at Tisseldei giving us a headstart the following morning to clear the pass.

Driving through Doaru Ait M'ghar I spotted a raptor over the village which I reckoned was probably a Sparrowhawk. It was! Whilst we were looking this a Peregrine flew over, also a trip tick. At Tizgazouine we tried stalking a Blue Rock Thrush sat in the village square with moderate success. Once on the P1505 we drove slowly from south to north in wonderful light. The only issue was that there were no wonderful birds! I found a friendly Desert Lark, and Mick found another Mourning Wheatear, but our last session in the desert was on the whole a rather muted affair.

White-crowned Wheatear

Blue Rock Thrush

Desert Lark

Our accomodation was a bit hipster, run by some elderly French people, likely not pieds-noirs but essentially fully ex-pat and had been for years. It had a yoga studio and the owners were against flying despite the fact it sustained their business! It was slightly intense but extremely comfortable and a good base for a return to Marrakesh the next day.

Morocco - January 2025 - Day 5 - Merzouga to Tagdilt

The 9km wadi

The previous night's research had revealed the presence of some more seasonal water to the west of the dunes near the Barrage n Iaachenbkho that had some Sandgrouse coming into drink. It was a mere stone's throw from Riad Caravasar and we drove there for first light. There was a White Stork pottering around, and some Ruddy Shelduck and Shoveler flew over, but the Sandgrouse were not thirsty. Or more likely were drinking elsewhere. With so many pools in the desert they had a lot of choice at the moment. I amused myself taking a photograph of a Desert Wheatear whilst we waited.

Desert Wheatear

We tried the 9km wadi again now that we knew where it was. Lots of Short-toed Lark, a couple of Desert Wheatear and three Hoopoe-lark, but no sign of any Sandgrouse until I finally heard - but could not see - Spotted Sandgrouse flying southeast. We spent some time exploring back towards Yasmina but did not turn up anything. It is just random luck, and unless you are exceptionally fortunate what you really need is a guide. We had spoken to the hotel owner who had said he knew someone that could take us to the far side of the dunes, but this lead had not borne fruit and the owner had subsequently vanished. Although there is no water here, it is surprisingly green from the infrequent times during which water does flow. There were many desert gourds (Citrullus colocynthis) growing, the fruits many times larger than the plants that seemed to bear them. We learned later that they are extremely bitter and the fruit is not safe to eat, albeit that the seeds can be if prepared. Fresh ones are green, older ones yellow.

By now it was 10.30am and the light had become harsh. Neither of us were particularly feeling it down in this part of Morocco, far too much like hard work! The desert was beautiful but the paucity of birds during the critical hours was deflating. I had not remembered it being quite this difficult in previous trips. The decent photos were beginning to stack up, and I was more at ease with the camera, but I recall a day over on the west side of the country near Guelmin where I had double the amount of quality photos in the space of a single morning. It was not for want of trying, there were just not many willing subjects out there! We pointed the car towards Tagdilt and fresh opportunities. The timing was such that we ought to reach it for the final two hours of nice light.

Tagdilt was much the same as the previous afternoon. That is to say vast and virtually birdless. Well, that's not quite true. There were birds, and we found more Red-rumped Wheatear than on the last visit, but getting close to them... well that was another matter entirely. There was one friendly-ish bird, but the afternoon was really saved by a Temminck's Lark that clearly did not know what a person was. We were able to set up perches, in this case nice rocks on the top of piles of crap, construction waste and so on, and then either take photos from the car or try and creep the bird. It began to come together, but I know deep down that I have largely lost the knack and that for the most part I took far better photographs in 2012 than I do now. Unfortunately practice is key, the more time you spend out and about the better you will get, the more you will find yourself in the right place at the right time. Here, trying to force it in Morocco after an absence of many years of this type of photography, well it just didn't work as well as I know it can. But it was a start and I had a lot of fun. I can still remember exposure theory (even if have a strong tendency to go too far to the right) and the kind of image that made me happy in 2012 is still the type of image that makes me happy in 2025. 

We stayed here until dusk, concentrating mainly on the dump area as this was where there seemed to be most birds, no doubt attracted by the flies. Birding takes you to all the nicest areas....At dusk a small flock of White Stork appeared from nowhere and dropped into an invisible hole in the middle of the plain. We drove around to where we knew there was water  (the minor road that leads to Izoumgane) but the pools were empty. We would try these the next morning for Sandgrouse. As it was the day was over, and after an abortive attempt at Pharaoh Eagle Owl on the cliffs towards Imiter we found our lodgings and started going through our photos. We stayed at a lovely place called Nomadic Birdway in Imiter with a super-friendly host called Brahim. He was keen to know about what birders did and where they went, and se we agreed to take him with us to Tagdilt the next morning. Apparently he had never been there, but we thought that doing so would help him build his business. It is a highly recommended place to stay - he is creating rooms one at a time after his auberge got going again after COVID, and he was hugely hospitable. And he made the best orange juice I've ever had.

Morocco - January 2025 - Day 4 - Around the Erg Chebbi

Lakes in the desert

We started the day at Auberge Yasmina. Boy what a change! I remembered a medium-sized Riad based around a couple of courtyards with a terrace. What stands there now resembles a castle! A short distance down the track, nearer to the main road, an actual castle is in the process of being constructed, a behemoth of a building with dozens of spires. I didn't remember much around Yasmina in 2013. In 2025 there are a dozen other auberges and camps and surrounding them a small village has grown up. Maybe it was always liike this and I am guilty of romantisicing my prior visit? I am not sure, but either way it is a busy area and has lost the appeal it once held for me. One positive change was that Yasmina was surrounded by a shallow lake, no doubt temporary at this time of year, but the contrast with the orange sands of the Erg Chebbi was extraordinary. This lake held a fair few Little Egret and Ruddy Shelduck, and a pair of Little Ringed Plover were on the near edge with some Pied Wagtails. 

Yasmina

Back on the main road we drove a few minutes north and then turned off on the track to Tisserdmine. We had looked in at this area at dusk the previous evening and had liked the lack of anything. We found a shallow wadi, detected by the presence of plants, and of course this is where the birds were, with a dozen or so Greater Short-toed Lark, two Hoopoe-Lark and a Desert Wheatear. In the lovely morning light we had great fun.

Hoopoe-Lark

Desert Wheatear

Once the sun was a bit higher we went in search of the 9km wadi mentioned by Gosney that we had birded all those years ago. Memories were a little sketchy but we reasoned that it had to be between the two roads that lead down to Merzouga. Here we found more Hoopoe-Lark and more Desert Wheatear, but overall the desert here seemed to have few birds. We wondered if this was a function of the time of year, with only a few resident birds and no migrants yet? Either way it was very hard work and the morning wasn't especially productive.

Given the water at Yasmina we figured that the seasonal lake, the Dayet Srij, south of Merzouga would likely have water in it as well. Indeed it did, and it was absolutely vast. We soon picked up some Greater Flamingos and some Common Shelduck, and Coots, Shoveler and Ruddy Shelduck were very numerous. We ended up driving around the top end, birding where we could. We added five Green Sandpiper, a Greenshank, Little Egret, Black-winged Stilt and a Black-headed Gull. This was all about birding, there was no way to get anywhere near the birds for photography so we didn't bother.

In Merzouga itself we birded the Oasis, the irrigated and cultivated area in the middle of town. We were looking for Babblers but these birds are highly transient and we never found any anywhere. Chiffchaffs, Blackbirds and a Sardinian Warbler were present but overall this Oasis was pretty barren. And that was basically it for the day - some nice photographic opportunities in the morning in the wadi and then the rest of the day spent trying to find more birds.

Morocco - January 2025 - Day 3 - Can I see a bird in Algeria?

The reason for staying in Errachidia was to attempt a silly plan the following day. I had noted some months ago that the N10 road carried on east beyond Errachidia and at a certain point passed extremely close to the Algerian border, perhaps no more than a few hundred metres. If we were to drive along this road and stop at this point then I felt we would be able to see birds in Algerian airspace whilst standing firmly in Morocco....even a single bird would do! The only issue was that for some years now Alegeria and Morocco have not seen eye to eye. Wars have been fought in the not so distant past, diplomatic relations were severed in 2021, and the border between the two countries has been closed for years. Morocco has gone as far as to construct a huge berm, a ditch excavated to create a wall, which runs for 1,700 miles along a vast part of the official boundary. There were said to be land mines, various military bases and observation posts, and rapid reaction forces. I did a bit of research prior to leaving and it all sounded rather unnecessary and intense. The road is open though, anyone is free to drive along it, all we needed was a Pigeon to do the honourable thing...

The yellow star on the right is a reservoir, which was where we were notionally going birding.

We got up early and pointed the Picanto east. Initially there are a series of vast agricultural estates, some developed, some under construction, but gradually these petered out and we were back into uninterrupted desert. There was almost no evidence of military activity at all other than one jeep going the other way at about the halfway mark. We stopped for a bit of photography where opportunities presented themselves, but were otherwise keen on getting to the cross-border birding.

House Bunting

House Bunting

Crested Lark

Black Wheatear

Whilst we had passed through numerous police checkpoints outside towns, the one at Bouanane was the first where we were actually stopped and had documents checked. British passports? How odd. What were we doing out here? Why, going birding at the Barrage Oued Zelmou of course! This the policemen knew about and it seemed reasonable to them, we were allowed to carry on.

We arrived at the sharp dog-leg you can see on the map above, stopped the car and started looking. Nothing. Nada. Not even a fly buzzed. Great. We went a little further and stopped again. A Blue Rock Thrush was perched on the berm itself but that was no good. This we now realised was about two metres high and we were unable to see over it. So I climbed it to scan, poked my head over. I mean why not? It's not as if there are coils of barbed wire, seachlights and scanners. That's Arizona. And anyway, the border itself is still beyond the berm and I was still perfectly properly in Morocco. 

Algeria is the rocky outcrop, this is a few km north of where we stopped. You can see the berm below it.

A dog barked, giving the game away. After a short delay a rapid reaction force emerged from a hut about a hundred metres away, confused. Two people, one in camo, one in jeans and a T-shirt. Carrying no weaponry and wearing flip-flops they ambled over unhurridly. It was all very calm and relaxed, nonetheless we should not be here, it is forbidden, the area is closed, you cannot stop your car, not even a Picanto. My french came in handy at this point, stalling by asking questions about where we were, who they were, where the border was, confirming we were still in Morocco and so on. We are British bird-watchers, we have just seen a Blue Rock Thrush on this wall which is why we are standing here. In fact come to think of it what is this wall? Oh, is that Algeria over there then? Why has this wall been constructed, it seems a lot of work? How long did it go on for? Really, wow? What's the point? It is for your security. Oh I am fine thanks, please don't build ditches on my account. We are going to the Oued Zelmou, do you know it? A Kestrel flew past a demolished bridge behind them with some Pigeons. That way you say? About five minutes? Perfect, well we'll be on our way then, see you later, sorry to have troubled you and keep up the good work. Defend the wall! Job done.

The Barrage Oued Zelmou was actually pretty good birding. Lots of Ruddy Shelduck and various new ducks for the trip list. A pair of distant Greenshank were tough going until they flew and called, and there were lots of Egrets and Herons. We drove back the way we had come. All was quiet once again on the front, the rapid reaction force back asleep in their hut, Moroccan flags hanging limply in the still warm air. We decided against stopping for another go and turned back west. Back at Bouanane the original policemen had been replaced by some new ones and so we had to go through the whole passport check again. Where had we been? Oh just the lake up at Oued Zelmou.... They didn't think to check my eBird map.

So that's the story of how I saw a Kestrel in Algeria. We had a late lunch at Boudenib at a cafe by the side of the road, a ropey-looking chicken that tasted wonderful. My stupid plan had worked. Pointless of course, but one of those things that makes me happy for reasons I find hard to explain. It's not rational but not everything has to be. We now needed to get down to Merzouga, our base for the next two nights. 

Ziz

Heading back the way we came we turned south and drove down the Ziz Gorge, with Brown-necked Raven increasingly common as well as our first Serin. We stopped for some more photography between Erfoud and Merzouga in simply wonderful light, and made Merzouga just as dusk was falling. Our hotel was on the northern edge of town (which will probably be the middle of town the next time I visit), looking out at the Erg Chebbi in one direction and over the twinkling lights of Merzouga in another. We had no travel the following day, the only plan was to try and find birds in the desert. 

White-crowned Black Wheatear

White-crowned Black Wheatear

Juvenile White-crowned Black Wheatear

Merzouga

Riad Caravasar