ANDAULCIA +NORTHWEST MOROCCO MAR 2012

DAY 6 – MARCH 13^TH. MOULAY BOUSSELHAM – SIDI BOURGHABA LAGOON – SIDI YAHA CORK WOODS

After a short watch in the hotel garden we found a new bird for the list in the shape of an African Blue Tit, we also enjoyed watching Hoopoe, Common Bubul, Serin, Spotless Starling and Pallid Swift. We ate our breakfast on the terrace at 7:30am and soon afterwards we were on the road south towards Rabat.

We arrived at the large lagoon at Sidi Bourghaba in good time and we were soon enjoying lots of species. On the water were: White-headed Duck, Red-knobbed Coot, Red-crested Pochard, Common Pochard, Shoveler, Great Crested and Little Grebes. We also saw several Marsh Harriers, Great White Egret, Greater Flamingo, Moroccan Magpie and a Cetti’s Warbler.

In the nature reserve we spent some time searching the reed bed and came up with a Moustached Warbler, Purple Swamphen, closer views of Red-knobbed Coot and another Hoopoe.

From the main car park we found Ferruginous Duck (5), Night Heron (3), Eurasian Spoonbill (4) and lots more White-headed Ducks. The scrub was ‘dripping’ with warblers, there were many Common Chiffchaff, Iberian Chiffchaff (singing), Willow Warbler, Subalpine Warbler, Sardinian Warbler, Blackcaps and many African blue Tits.

We returned to the car and resumed our journey south towards Rabat and after an hour we reached our next destination – the cork woods near Sidi Yaha. The rest of the afternoon was spent exploring woodland tracks and viewing seasonal pools from the main road. During that time we found: Black Kite, Short-toed Eagle, Black-winged Kite, Lesser and Common Kestrels. In the woods we came upon our first Mistle Thrushes and our first Woodchat Shrike but we also found Jay, Subalpine Warbler, Sardinian Warbler and many African Chaffinches.

On the seasonal pools we saw Black-necked Grebe in summer garb, Squacco Heron, Shoveler, Green Sandpiper, Greenshank, Black-winged Stilt, Little Stint, Little Ringed Plover, Common Snipe, Ruff and Common Coot.

It was now getting late so we left the area and headed back towards the coast just south of Rabat where we found our hotel and checked in for the night. Despite travelling over 100km we logged over 70 species, not a bad effort.