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 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.