MOROCCO 2013 - DAY 1 - MARCH 18TH

LONDON TO MARRAKECH  - TRANSFER TO HOTEL AMNOURGOUR (OURIKA VALLEY) – AFTERNOON VISIT TO OUKAIMEDAN (TOUBKAL NATIONAL PARK – ATLAS MOUNTAINS)

day 1  of a 10 –day tour of central Morocco.

 Participants:  Peter & Sue Morrison, Chris & Peter Hopkins, Ted Lyons, Paul Edlin

We arrived at Marrakech at 11:15am in a blaze of sunshine with fluffy white clouds passing overhead. Our first sighting was a House Sparrow and then a House Bunting both were on the roof of the terminal building, As we loaded up into the bus we made a quick scan and found Sparrowhawk, Pallid Swift and a couple of Barn Swallows.

During our drive to the hotel we saw several White Storks, a couple on the nest,  we also saw Collared Dove, Barn Swallow, Common Bubul and a few Little Swifts. At the hotel we spent a little time unpacking our optics and we met up again in the hotel car park some 30 minutes later. For the remainder of the day we drove the 30km up to Oukaimedan and the Toubkal Nature reserve, the road winds its’ way up through some fantastic scenery with the snow covered peaks in the background. Stopping along the way we watched several new species, our first stop produced Black Redstart, Moussier’s Redstart (a few of us saw it), Long-legged Buzzard, House  Bunting and lots of  African Chaffinches. 

A break in clouds gave us views of the stunning scenery

As we drove higher we soon realised that the cloud base was very low and soon we were driving through the cloud. Our next stop was in a small pine copse, the visibility was very poor there and we only managed to find Coal Tit and more Chaffinches, The next stop was to survey a babbling brook, we were now above the snow-line and the temperature had dropped somewhat, our target bird, the Dipper, could not be found but we did see Black Wheatear, Black Redstart and a Water Pipit.

At Oukaimedan the thick cloud began to clear and we could see the full extent of this beautiful place. We drove straight round to the top car park and the regular spot for the Crimson Winged Finch. Sure enough we found a dozen or so of these special birds they were feeding in a mixed flock with Rock Sparrows. We then spent a while searching the slopes for an Atlas Horned Lark, when we eventually found one it was practically walking around our feet giving excellent views. One really good find was a male Brambling in full summer plumage, what a bird and an extraordinary find,  high up in the mountains.

 

Lastly we drove up to the TV mast above the village of Oukaimedan, we only found a couple of Black Redstarts so we drove down stopping once to watch a small flock of Greater Short-toed Larks, what an amazing find, you wouldn’t expect to see this species at 8,000ft. On the way back down the mountains we pulled over to view the stream and quickly found a Green Sandpiper  this was shortly followed by a sighting of a Dipper.

 We arrived back at the hotel at 6pm, a little disappointed with the cloudy weather Let’s hope it is better tomorrow.