Morocco Birding Trip Report - Day 4 (Wednesday 27th February 2019)

Bidding farewell to a bright and bustling Marrakech early the next morning, we made the relatively easy 3-hour drive to Agadir, the roads in surprisingly excellent condition and successfully bypassing the majority of traffic and speed enforcement officers by taking the roll route. Upon arriving at this popular coastal holiday destination, we immediately made our way to one of the main river sites in the area – the well-known Oued Massa. Noted as a good spot for both Black-crowned Tchagra and Brown-throated Martin (previously Plain Martin before it was split) – both sought after birds in the Western Pal - we unfortunately could find neither sight nor sound or any Tchagras along the scrubby riverside bushes, a stray dog and a few locals on donkey and cart the only things materialising. 

The Brown-throated Martin bridge - stand here, look up, and hope for Martins!

A Moroccan Wagtail (ssp. subpersonata) showing incredibly well on the stony rubble to the side of the bridge was a nice consolation, and great to get a real look at this location specific subspecies of White Wagtail as opposed to viewing half way down a valley in the Atlas Mountains as we had earlier on in the trip. Moroccan Wagtails are distinguished from other sub-species mainly by their facial patterns, sporting extensive black on the head along with a contrasting white supercilium, moustache and neck patch.

Moroccan Wagtail - ssp subpersonata

Parking up at the northernmost bridge just west of Arhbalou and scanning up at the hirundine flock floating above, we soon struck it lucky with the latter of our two targets, picking out a small handful of Brown-throated Martins among the many Barn Swallows, House and Sand Martins artfully weaving through the air. Sporting a plain brown throat as their name suggests compared to the obvious bold band of the Sand Martins, despite the harsh sunlight we were soon able to pick out the Brown-throated Martins on flight style alone – much more erratic and ‘bat-like’ in flight and almost impossible to keep track of in a camera lens!

Brown-throated Martin - the dull brown chest with no obvious brown bar distinguishes it from the similar Sand Martin

The riverside at Oued Massa - the northern most bridge was the best place to find Brown-throated Martin

Enjoying the burst of song from the many Zitting Cisticolas on site, we pressed on further to Sidi Wassay, a small village that achieves regular sightings of Northern Bald Ibis around the buildings and beach. Almost immediately, pulling in to a suitable spot of shoreline we spotted four dark shapes powering towards the sand, and sure enough, scanning with our binoculars as they touched down revealed four Northern Bald Ibis coming in to land – one of the rarest birds in the world. It was a relief to have seen them so early on in our stay in Agadir, really taking the pressure off a key target for the trip.

Classed as endangered, Morocco holds the only surviving wild population of Northern Bald Ibis in the world, with 708 birds counted in the Souss Massa region in 2018 (147 breeding pairs with 170 chicks successfully fledging). The views however were extremely distant, and after disappearing behind one of the dune slacks, we were unable to relocate them, despite an extensive search.

With no further sign of the Ibis and enjoying close views of a feeding Moussier’s Redstart next to the nearby ‘Camping Reception car park’ for a while, we made our way further north in an attempt to get in to the Souss Massa National Park reserve itself. 

Moussier's Redstart

Maghreb Magpies were a welcome sight in most areas we passed, while numerous Thekla and Crested Larks scurried through the boulder-strewn ground (upon arriving back at the UK we learned that the Moroccan Thekla larks have deceptively long bills similar to Crested – a bit of a minefield without careful analysis of the plumage!). Despite looking like ideal habitat for Cream-coloured Courser, our drive along the rocky land sadly failed to reveal any of what is always a charming and charismatic bird on any trip in to the desert.

Not being able to find much information online of how best to access the official Souss Massa reserve before our trip, we tried several points of likely looking access, reluctant to leave our car and belongings at the southern entrance gates and instead choosing to explore a maze of winding tracks and small villages further north. Here we also found a dead end, with no real easy access to the reserve, although several individuals of the desert form of Little Owl perching on a number of outbuildings in the villages were a welcome distraction, much lighter and sandier in colour than the Little Owls back home. 

'Desert' Little Owl

Several more Moussier’s Redstarts feeding in the local parched and stony gardens were as always a delight, while we also had our first Great Spotted Cuckoo and Great Grey Shrike of the trip perched on the nearby bushes and fences respectively.

Great Grey Shrike

Great Spotted Cuckoo

With the day pressing on and feeling slightly frustrated at the seeming lack of secure access to Souss Massa and with no wifi to check where we should be trying from, we admitted defeat, instead making the drive back to our hotel in Agadir for a tasty dinner of lamb chops while we took advantage of the wifi to establish exactly where we needed to go the next morning!

Brown-throated Martin along the Moroccan skyline