Morocco Birding Trip Report - Day 1 (Sunday 24th February 2019)

Morocco – often many birders first taste in to the fantastic culture of North Africa, complete with its treasure trove of mouth-watering endemics and cracking avian delights. With a range of habitats, from the spectacular Atlas Mountains to the scorching deserts and everything in between, Morocco has a swathe of mind-blowing scenery to boot, not to mention a range of cultural delights from the many roadside tagines and ornate hand-woved rugs, baskets and pots the country is famous for, to the enticing aromas of heavenly spices and street food in the souks. 

With many birders choosing to explore Morocco all in one go, time constraints saw us taking our first venture in to African birding a little slower, choosing to focus on just the Atlas Mountains and Agadir, and instead leaving the Marsh Owls of northern Morocco and the delights of the Saharan deserts for another time. 

Moussier's Redstart

Northern Bald Ibis

African Crimson-winged Finch

Oukaïmeden

The High Atlas

Paradise Valley

Housekeeping

Our specific targets for the trip were the endemic African Crimson-winged Finch, the endangered Northern Bald Ibis, the Levaillant’s Woodpeckers that make the Atlas Mountains their home as well as the Black-crowned Tchagras and Brown-throated Martins of the Oued Massa. Moussier’s Redstart was also a key target for the trip (especially for me), with a supporting cast of Fulvous Babbler, Common Bulbul and Tristram’s Warbler.  11 lifers and 99 species in total were seen during our 7 days in Morocco, covering the 24th February – 2nd March 2019.

Moussier's Redstart

We hired a car for the duration of the trip from Hertz and flights were from Manchester to Marrakech on arrival and from Agadir to Manchester on our return. Our route consisted of leaving Marrakech early on the first morning and heading in to the Atlas Mountains (Oukaïmeden) for three days, before returning to Marrakech for a night and driving on to Agadir early the next morning (around a three hour drive).  From here we were easily able to access the nearby sites such as Paradise Valley, Oued Massa, Souss Massa and the Oued Souss. We took the main toll road from Marrakech to Agadir which was in excellent condition, while in the smaller villages the roads were often no more than dirt tracks, and trying to do a three point turn was an interesting experience on more than one occasion. Central Marrakech was complete chaos with donkeys, people, cars, bikes, trucks and carts everywhere and the satnav also didn’t recognise that some “roads” were actually narrow alleyways fit for only bikes, which made navigation to our Riad a tad tricky on our return to the capital. We left our car in one of the paid for public car parks on both occasions (little more than a dusty yard) but were pleasantly surprised both times when it was still there and intact each morning.

Champs d'Aghorimze - Oued Massa

Souss Massa National Park

Oued Souss

We stayed in a total of four different hotels during the trip – the excellent Aurocher in the Atlas Mountains was in truly beautiful surroundings, while the Atlantic Hotel in Agadir offered a more modern setting. Both our Riads in Marrakech (Dar Alif and Riad Viva) offered a taste of traditional Morocco, although both seemed to be down darkened alleyways tucked away – a reoccurring theme in the capital. If booking a Riad, ensure you know exactly how to get there first, or put your trust in a stranger in exchange for some dirhams! 

Aurocher

Food selection was as expected in Morocco, and I mainly survived on a diet of lamb chops, hummus, traditional breads and Pot Noodles, the latter of which I brought packed in my suitcase. The Moroccans seemed to be reluctant to cook lamb chops “well done” (despite me learning the phrase in French!) and a local tagine in Agadir left my stomach feeling more than a little bit upset. The Atlas Morel omelette at Aurocher was delicious, and highly recommended for lunch. As usual, quantities of biscuits, energy bars and crisps fuelled us during the day, and we made sure to have bottled water as opposed to anything out of the tap. Beware of street sellers (and some shops) offering “bottled” water, which may have been tampered with. 

A demolished Tagine!

We were not able to get Moroccan Dirhams before entering the country, and instead had to get them at the airport on arrival, which is standard practice. Be aware of airport checks on the return flight back to the UK – Alex experienced vigorous checks due to the airport machines detecting drug substances in his rucksack – potentially traces on the Dirhams given to him as change. Thankfully, the sniffer dogs were called in and cleared him of any wrongdoings (the language barrier didn’t help, nor did a lack of knowledge on what his scope was!) and we were able to make our flight. An experience to say the least! 

Daily Diary

Landing in Marrakech late in the evening after a short flight from Manchester, a complete absence of any logical signage in the airport coupled with a distinct lack of English speaking staff made finding the hire car pick up location a rather long drawn out affair, but an hour later we were eventually sorted and making our way along the busy streets and narrow alleyways in an attempt to find our riad for the evening, finally arriving on the doorstep near midnight thanks to a local stranger.

Moroccan alleyways were like a maze!

After a comfortable night’s stay in a traditional Moroccan riad setting, we were awoken bright and early by the cheery singing of a House Bunting somewhere nearby, and sure enough with a bit of encouragement, two males flew in and perched right on our windowsill – our first lifer through the riad window before we had even set off.

House Bunting

Navigating the alleyways much easier in the daylight, we were at least relieved our hire car had made it safely through the night (slightly dubious of the Marrakech “car parks” and how safe they were), taking in the sights, sounds and smells as Marrakech Old Town woke up, lines of sizzling meat skewers and simmering tagines on every roadside windowsill.

A stop off for petrol and bottled water saw us connecting with our first Pallid Swifts of the day, screaming excitedly as they powered around the city walls in tight flocks, singles of Little Swifts mixed within, while a pair of Common Kestrels called from a nearby palm.

With our first port of call the well-known ski-resort of Oukaimeden, resting a top the imposing Atlas Mountains, we made our way south, the hustle and bustle of the busy capital gradually melting away to reveal lush fields, quiet olive groves and small farm villages, Black Kites drifting lazily overhead while our first Maghreb Magpie of the trip was all but a brief blur as we whizzed by. 

Maghreb Magpie - our first views were very brief

Entering the rural villages at the foot of the Atlas Mountains, amongst the many pots, rugs and woven baskets lining the roadside in their hundreds we located our first Common Bulbuls of the trip, a group of 3 flitting around the roadside trees next to the market stalls. Not as common as we anticipated, we achieved good views of only a handful during our stay, always to be found hanging around the roadside markets and stalls.

Our ascent up to the Atlas Mountains - locals lined the roadsides

Heading up the winding and twisting mountain road we could truly soak up the culture of rural Morocco – Berber families sat by the roadside cooking traditional bread to sell to passers-by with children clustering and running after each car, eager to sell wilted herbs, knitted clothes or dodgy fossils to anyone who would listen as lines and lines of traditional pot tagines simmered away outside almost every abode. A civilisation that reaches back nearly 8 millennia, the traditional flat roofed homes made from packed stone and earth seem to grow up from the mountains themselves, the Berbers taking advantage of the fertile valleys between the slopes to make a living.

Exploring the section of woodland near Igunane (well-known for its resident Levaillant's Woodpeckers) drew a blank, however several African Blue Tits and the race of African Chaffinch offered good views before hordes of children manhandling the car trying to sell us herbs forced us on, a lone House Bunting perched on one of the rooftops becoming a familiar sight.

African Chaffinch

The bare trees of Igunane that are the favourite haunt of Levaillant's Woodpecker drew a blank

Climbing in altitude, the remoteness of the location became more and more apparent, families with no real contact with the outside world locked in their own local bubble, practicing a way of life that has remained largely unchanged for thousands of years - the modern world having little impact or intrusion on their simple village life.

Approaching the summit, increasing amounts of snow lined the roadside, our trip luckily avoiding any big snowstorms that could have rendered travelling up the mountain more difficult. Arriving at Ouikameden and immediately dodging the throngs of tourists and locals out to make a quick buck, we squeezed in to a gap in the main car park under the lifts, sidestepping the many donkeys and touts trying to sell their herbs, nuts and dubious looking gemstones.

Oukaïmeden

Almost immediately, Alex spotted a small flock of brown-coloured birds flitting around the ski lift bars, and a quick step up the hillside confirmed our suspicions – several African Crimson-winged Finches - our main target of the trip and a real Atlas Mountain speciality. Recently split from its Asian counterparts, Ouikameden is now one of the most reliable sites in the world to find this charismatic endemic finch with ease, and we soaked up the views as they chattered away in front of us on the metalwork.

African Crimson-winged Finch - our main target of the trip

After getting our fill of the finches on the railings, a handful flew down on to the rocks nearby and perched obligingly

Getting our fill of the finches, another small bird soon caught our eye – an Atlas Horned Lark – at present still only a subspecies of Shore Lark but one which hopefully can one day be elevated to full species level.

Atlas Horned Lark - hopefully one day will become more than a subspecies

The ski lift - while the main car parks of Oukaïmeden were packed with tourists, this quieter area seemed to be where the Crimson-winged Finches gathered

With no sign of any Alpine Accentors we headed back to the main centre of Oukaimeden, scanning the walls and fence lines of the car parks and smallholdings, multiples of Black Redstarts, African Chaffinches and Atlas Larks all we could muster. A large flock of around 40 Red-billed Choughs probed opportunistically on the grass next to the water, but despite a search of the area there was a distinct lack of their Yellow-billed counterparts.

The grounds of Aurocher - our hotel and base for the Atlas Mountains portion of our trip. Highly recommended! 

With the day pressing on and the Accentors eluding us, we retreated half way back down the mountain to our hotel for the night – the delightful Aurocher Oukaimeden - where a much needed meal of traditional Moroccan breads and lamb cutlets awaited us, our accommodation conveniently located just ten minutes away from the main Levaillant’s Woodpecker hotspot ready for a more extensive search the next morning.