Wanstead Birder: Morocco - January 2025 - Day 3

Monday, 3 March 2025

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

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.