Morocco day 2 & 3 Ouarzazate to Boumalne du Dades/ Tagdilt track.

Most of day 2 was  spent driving to Boumalne du Dades via Amerzgane and the Tizi-n-Tichkja Pass where we stopped for Tristram's Warbler and manged to see at least 2 though they did not pose for the camera. On the way we also saw Long-legged Buzzards, Bonnelli's Warblers, Melodious Warblers, 2 Barbary Partridges, many Turtle Doves and more. At Amerzgane we saw Maghreb Wheatear that also was camera shy.

Our hotel for a couple of nights at Boumalne du Dades.

Day 3 we drove into the semi desert outside the town where all the target species performed admirably among the flowers of the Desert!!!!

The flowers of the Desert!!!  Discarded polythene bags as far as the eye can see.

 Red-rumped Wheatear (male)

Red-rumped Wheatear (juvenile)

Red-rumped Wheatear (female)

 Desert Wheatear

Desert Wheatear

 Thick-billed Lark

 Thick-billed Lark

Thick-billed Lark

 Temminck's Horned Lark

Temminck's Horned Lark

 Trumpeter Finch

Trumpeter Finch

Thekla Lark

Melodious Warblers were very common in just about every habitat.

Further into semi desert Brahim promised us we would see Pin-tailed Sandgrouse. The car came to a stop and right beside us was a flock of 108 Pin-tailed Sandgrouse.

 Pin-tailed Sandgrouse

Pin-tailed Sandgrouse

Chris, Brahim, Hamid our driver and Mark enjoying al fresco lunch after seeing not 1 but 4  "Gayuin" (Pharaoh Eagle Owls) If you want see them book with http://www.gayuin.com/

 3 Pharaoh Eagle Owls in this picture

 Pharaoh Eagle Owl

Trumpeter Finch nest

Also seen here were Desert Larks, Lanner, Long-legged Buzzards, Woodchat Shrikes, Southern grey Shrikes, Black Wheatears, Pied flycatcher and more Melodious Warblers.

Pomarine Skuas

1 of todays closer Pomarine Skuas

Another marathon sea watch and well worth the pain.

06.15-19.00 

Brent Goose: 25E
Shelduck: 2E
Garganey: 1E
Common Scoter: 321E
Red-breasted Merganser: 5E
Red-throated Diver: 6E
Black-throated Diver: 3E
Great-crested Grebe: 15+ around
Fulmar: 2E  1W
Manx Shearwater: 1W
Gannet: 226E   6W
Oystercatcher: 18E
Ringed Plover: 3E
Grey Plover: 4E
Knot: 8E
Dunlin: 7E
Sanderling: 26E
Bar-tailed Godwit: 13E
Whimbrel: 37E
Great Skua: 3E
Pomarine Skua: 119E
Arctic Skua: 11E
Little Gull: 2E
Kittiwake: 24E
Little Tern: 29E
Sandwich Tern: 244E
Commic Tern: 566E
Black Tern: 1 around
Guillemot: 2 on
Auk sp: 6E
Swallow: 4 in
Harbour Porpoise: 10+
Grey Seal: 1

The Black Tern that fed  along the shore most the day

A few Poms!

A long and sometimes frustrating sea watch today 05.30-18.05. As news of flocks of Pomarine Skuas to the west came through, the wind at Dungeness moved from SE to NE. Typically not long after I left through hunger and cold Nick Green (http://theshadoxhurstgarden.blogspot.co.uk/) had  a flock of 19 past.
Common Scoter: 352E
Long-tailed Duck: 1E
Red-breasted Merganser: 1E
Red-throated Diver: 4E
Black-throated Diver: 2E
Great Northern Diver: 4E
Great-crested Grebe: 17 around
Fulmar: 8E    1W
Gannet: 297E   19W
Great White Egret: 1 out
Oystercatcher: 13E
Whimbrel: 14E
Bar-tailed Godwit: 21E
Knot: 25E
Sanderling: 19E
Dunlin: 1E
Great Skua: 1E
Arctic Skua: 11E + 1 o/s (10DP, 2LP)
Pomarine Skua: 15E  (2-07.10, 1-07.20, 1-11.45, 4-13.08, 2-14.55, 2-15.55, 3-17.21)
Little Gull: 25E
Kittiwake: 73E
Little Tern:20E
Sandwich Tern: 290E
Common Tern: 537E
Arctic Tern: 4E
Black tern: 3E
Guillemot: 1E
Auk sp: 32E  3W
Swallow: 22 in
Harbour Porpoise: 5+
Grey Seal: 1

Morocco 18-19/04/16

At 09.30 18/04/16 Mark Hollingworth, Chris Phillpot  and myself flew into Marakech on an uneventful Easy Jet flight, where we were met by Brahim our guide and proprietor of http://www.gayuin.com/ also our driver Hamid. They quickly loaded our luggage into a Misubishi Pajero which was  our transport for our 11 day visit. As we drove out of Marakech towards Oukaimeden Common and Pallid Swifts were abundant. We mad a short leg stretch break where we saw  Woodchat and Southern Grey Shrike, Little Owl, Hoopoe, Sardinian Warbler, Red-rumped Swallows, Crested Larks and Moroccan Magpie which gave me my first photo opportunity of the trip.

Moroccan Magpie

Arriving at Oukaimeden it was cold and overcast, high above us many Alpine and Red-billed Choughs were sky dancing as we made our way to the bottom of the Ski lift. Around the lift c60 Crimson Winged Finches were feeding and being photogenic.

 Crimson-winged Finch

 Crimson-winged Finch

 Crimson-winged Finch

 Crimson-winged Finch

                                 Atlas Horned Larks were also easy to see on ski lift slope. 

 Atlas Horned Lark

 Atlas Horned Lark

                                                                  Seebohm's Wheatear

The Seebohm's Wheatears gave great scope views but refused to let me get near them to photograph them, probably because I'm to old to leap around rocky slopes these days. While we there Rock Sparrows were seen, African Chaffinches, Blue Rock Thrushes, Moussiers Redstarts, dozens of Black Redstarts, African Blue Tits and an Alpine Accentor.

                                                                    Red-billed Choughs

 After a superb first day we made our to our overnight accommodation arriving as darkness fell.

                                             Mark and Chris relaxing after a long first day

We woke up to a cacophony of Nightingales. Chris and I took a dawn stroll around the superb grounds of the hotel, seeing Cuckoo's, Bee-eaters, House Buntings, Crossbills, a Black-eared Wheatear, Red-rumped Swallows and more.

 House Bunting

                            Red-rumped Swallows collecting mud a dripping tap at the hotel

This morning Brahim had promised us Levaillants Woodpecker, he did not disappoint.

                                                             Levaillant's Woodpeckers

Next stop Boumalne du Dades.

Garden Warbler!

Garden Warbler

A bit of a lay in this morning feeling confident that today would be a slow day after yesterdays marathon session. A text from AJG confirmed that the sea was quiet with 2 Manx Shearwaters, a Great Northern Diver and a Great Skua in the first hour after dawn.

I went straight to the observatory where David Walker was ringing.As I arrived he was ringing a Chiffchaff, Common Whitethroat followed by the Garden Warbler above. AJG arrived back at the observatory after his walk around the Long Pits having heard Wood Warbler singing, on the down side he lost his mobile phone somewhere around the pits. We set off to retrace his steps me ringing his phone every few yards unfortunately we didn't find it, but we did hear the Wood Warbler again, also many Common Whitethroats, Lesser Whitethroats, Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs, Willow Warblers and a trickle of Swallows over.

A 30 minute sea watch from by the hide was a non event. At the ARC a walk to the pines saw plenty of singing Sedge and Reed Warblers, a couple of Cetti's Warblers and a few Hirundines around.

Another watch from the fishing boats in the company of BM 14.00-15.15:

Common Scoter: 3E

Great-crested Grebe: 19 on

Fulmar: 1 around

Gannet: 15W    6E

Oystercatcher: 3E

Grey Plover: 2W

Kittiwake: 18W

Swallow: out

Late afternoon at Hay field 3 a Wood Sandpiper, 3 Redshank, 4 Dunlin, 2 Ringed Plover, 2 Yellow Wagtails and 2 Little Egrets.

A pale Prominent first of the year from the Plodland MV

A good day on the sea!

2 of at least 12 Harbour Porpoises off the fishing boats yesterday.

An excellent days sea watching even though I left the hide a couple of minutes before the first Pom came along, but to be honest I was too cold, tired, stiff and hungry to worry.  

05.40-11.40 & 14.00-16.30
Brent Goose: 45E
Shelduck: 5E
Common Scoter: 124E
Velvet Scoter: 1E
Red-throated Diver:    4E 
Black-throated Diver:  3E
Great Northern Diver: 1E
Great-crested Grebe: 13 on sea
Fulmar:  4E  2W
Manx Shearwater: 2W
Gannet: 274E   145W
Sanderling: 2E
Oystercatcher: 7E
Great Skua: 6E
Arctic Skua: 13E   2W
Little Gull: 1E
Black Tern: 51E
Sandwich Tern: 263E
Arctic Tern: 50+E a very conservative total!
Commic Tern: 4,500+E
Little Tern: 76E
Kittiwake: 1E
Guillemot: 17W
Razorbill: 1W   1 on sea
Auk sp: 6W
Harbour Porpoise: 6+
Grey Seal: 1

My first spring Pom of the year!

Arriving at the sea watch hide at 06.40 it was  immediately apparent that that very little was moving, within a few minutes most people left the hide. Soon after I left with AJG and SO making our way to the observatory.
We took a stroll around the Long Pits seeing and hearing the same birds as yesterday.
As the breeze started to increase from a southerly vector we decided to go back to the sea watch hide
with excellent results.
10.15-12.30 when the passage dried up. Thanks to AJG for collating the numbers:
Brent Goose: 2E
Common Scoter: 5E  19W
Red-breasted Merganser: 4E
Gannet: 176E
Bar-tailed Godwit: 230E
Grey Plover: 4E
Whimbrel: 10E
Great Skua: 6E
Arctic Skua: 1E   (DP)
Kittiwake: 3E
Commic Tern: 2027E
Little Tern: 3E
Black Tern: 2E

Auk sp: 1W

This afternoon from the fishing boats again with AJG and SO:

13.35-15.45

Gannet: 37E      9W

Bar-tailed Godwit: 170E

Great Skua: 2E

Arctic Skua: 1E

Pomarine Skua: 1E   at 14.52

Little Tern: 2E

Commic Tern:  83E

Sandwich Tern: 6E    33W

Swallow: 1 in

Still Cold!

Another very cold morning on The point with very few migrants. This mornings sea watchers reported very little offshore movement again. A wander around The Desert and Broom with AJG was very disappointing, a single Siskin over 2 Wheatears, a Chiffchaff, a Blackcap and a very few Common Whitethroats. 2 Ring Ouzels around the Long Pits per Wes have probably been around a while.
A trip mid morning toThe Midrips with AJG and DC found 11 Avocets, 13 Whimbrel, a Bar-tailed Godwit, a Curlew, c20 Dunlin, a Greenshank, a Common Sandpiper, 4 Wheatears and a couple of Swallows through.
From the garden my first Hobby of the year high over the marsh.
Late afternoon seawatch from The Point 15.40-17.10 thanks to AJG for collating the numbers.

Red-breasted Merganser: 1E

Fulmar: 1E

Gannet: 47E

Whimbrel: 5E

Great Skua: 4E

Kittiwake: 1W

Little Tern: 5E

Commic Tern: 357E

Swallow: 8 in 

   

A cold return to Dungeness!

A shock to the system this morning arriving at a very cold sea watch hide after the warmth of Morocco. AJG had already been watching for 90 minutes for very scant reward, in the 30 minutes I was there with him just a handful each of Scoter, Brent Geese, Gannets and Terns moved east.

I joined him for a wander to the north end of the Long Pits and back where 8 Swifts and 2 House Martins were new for me at Dungeness this year, a male Ring Ouzel chacked before flying off towards The Desert, a few Common Whitethroats, Lesser Whitethroats and Reed Warblers were singing half heartedly, joined by 3 Cetti's Warblers but very little else and no sign of AJGs Purple Heron from yesterday.

Late morning at the ARC from the causeway a Wheatear and 2 Yellow Wagtails at the southern end, halfway along the causeway a summer plumage Black-necked Grebe was showing well and still there late afternoon.

At The Pines a Cuckoo was my first of the year also several more Swifts with Swallows, House and Sand Martins and plenty of singing Sedge and Reed Warblers.

 Whimbrel at Scotney.

An early afternoon hours sea watch from the fishing boats was a complete non event. At Scotney 1 of several Whimbrel was showing well, also 12 Ringed Plovers, 4 Dunlin and several Yellow Wagtails were flying around.

Dengemarsh Gully was bereft of avian life. Galloways was opened early but all I could find was a handful of Common Whitethroats.

Late afternoon a fine male Whinchat had joined the Wheatear at the ARC.

Whinchat at the ARC

Bits and Pieces!

 A chilly start with a light frost and light northerly wind. An Iceland Gull probably a 1w was seen at The Patch early morning, by the time I arrived it was long gone. A Black Tern was  nice feeding over The Patch with 200+ Common Terns, a party of 13 Whimbrel flew east as did 4 Common Scoter, a few Gannets and several Mediterranean Gulls, but little else was moving off shore.
On the New Diggings the 2 Slavonian Grebes still, over the road on the ARC a few Sand Martins and Swallows.

Stoat by Hookers

A walk around the reserve with AJG and DC saw a few more Hirundines, a Black-necked Grebe on Burrowes along with the small numbers of common wildfowl, a Green Sandpiper was behind Christmas Dell, a Wheatear at Hayfield 3, also a Raven over, Great White Egret, Tundra Bean Goose and booming Bittern at Dengemarsh, Mediterranean Gulls could be heard all round the reserve. The scrub and ditches around the reserve held numerous Sedge Warblers and Reed Buntings, also Cetti's Warblers, Reed Warblers, Bearded Tits. Marsh Harriers could be seen all round along with several Common Buzzards and a Whimbrel was by the entrance track. A 90 minute sky watch from the front garden produced 4 very high displaying Marsh Harriers, 4+ Common Buzzards, a Peregrine, 2 Little Egrets and 2 Mediterranean Gulls over. 

Off to Morocco tomorrow so no more posts for a while.