An early breakfast-call found us
in the dining room at 6:30am and after consuming a lovely breakfast we set off
on foot towards the Tagdilt Track. Our first bird of the day was a House
Bunting which was on the roof of the hotel this was quickly followed by a Thekla Lark, Collared Dove and a White-crowned
Wheatear, all were seen from the small compound at the front of the hotel.
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| wrapped for a trip to the arctic - early morning on the Tagdilt Track |
We walked out to the mini-dump a
few hundred meters from the hotel entrance, we had a clear blue sky but it was
very windy which made it feel quite cold.
As we approached the dump a
single Stone Curlew flew up from a gully and landed not too far away and a pair
of Temminck’s Horned larks showed very well. Next a Trumpeter Finch was found
in another gully with several Thekla Larks and a Northern Wheatear. A single
Alpine Swift flew over as we were watching a Red-rumped Wheatear and then a
small flock of Short-toed Larks landed close by.
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| Strange rock formation in the Dades Gorge |
We then jumped onto the bus and set
off for the ‘new’ Tagdilt track, which is, in fact a tarmac road, we stopped a
couple of clicks along this road to view a series of seasonal pools near the
roadside. Our first Desert Wheatear of the day was found and another couple of
Red-rumped Wheatears. At the pools we found two Little Ringed Plovers and a
single Ringed Plover but it was just passed the pools that the star bird
appeared. We located a couple of Crowned Sandgrouse that had just dropped in,
they were joined by six more, all giving excellent views.
A visit to a mini oasis a little further along
the ‘track; provided more sightings with a good selection of migrants on show;
Tawny Pipit, Common Redstart, Whinchat, Tree
Pipit, Woodchat Shrike, Crested Lark, Thekla Lark, a couple of Short-toed
Larks, Northern Wheatear, Trumpeter finch and a superb male Sebohm’s Wheatear.
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| view from the head of the gorge looking back towards Boumalne |
Back on the Tagdilt Track we
turned west and headed out onto the ‘hammada’, this stony desert habitat is
home to several sought after species. Cream-coloured Coursers were the first to
show, four we seen at first and several more followed.
It was now getting quite hot but we
persevered and took a walk in search of other larks. The Hoopoe Lark took some finding,
but what a great find and such a crowd pleaser. After returning to the bus we headed
off towards to Boumalne Dades which we could see in the distance, along the way
a couple more Hoopoe Larks were seen along with a single White Wagtail, Common
Kestrel, Booted Eagle and our last new bird of the morning, a Desert Lark.
In Boumalne Dades we picked up picnic supplies
before driving up through the Dades Gorge. Along the way to the head of the
gorge we stopped to watch Crag Martin, Blue Rock Thrush and a perched
Long-legged buzzard. Near the top of the gorge we walked along the road whilst
searching the mountain scrub for warblers. The Tristram’s Warbler was our main
target and after a short while we found one, but the wind had picked up again
which hampered our search, we also found a single Rock Bunting.
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| Desert Wheatear (male) |
For the last couple of hours of
the afternoon we re-visited the Tagdilt track still searching for the
Thick-billed Lark, again without success. But we found many of the species seen
earlier and one nice find was a single Lesser Short-toed Lark.
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| Desert Wheatear (female) |
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| back end of a Temminck's Horned Lark you can see the 'horns' |
The weather had been terrific
today with bouts of windy conditions but overall a lovely day, as the sun
dropped behind the snow-capped peaks we looked eastward and wondered what was
install for us tomorrow as we headed out towards the desert region.
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