Merzouga - Erg Chebbi sand dune system and surrounding area.
- a trip organised by 'Bird ID' based in Norway, to test your ID skills go to : www.birdid.no
Most of the group were up at dawn to watch the very colourful sunrise over the Erg Chebbi dunes we then ate a tasty breakfast at 7am. We were soon on the road heading for the North side of the dunes in search of desert species. A few Brown Necked Ravens were our first birds of the day, we stopped to photograph them on the way out of Merzouga.
The ubiquitous White-crowned Wheatear can be seen everywhere in the desert region
In this desert region of Morocco you do not expect to see a huge variety of species but the ones you do see are quality species, today was no exception. Our first stop was just a few kilometers from Merzouga, a shout rang out from the back of the bus as a bird was seen by the side of the road. We all jumped out and began searching the nearest scrubland. Soon we found Desert Wheatear, a couple of fine looking males were vying for the best song posts. Then we saw up 5 Hoopoe Larks, two of which were performing their kami-kazi like display flights.
Not long after, we located a pair of Cream Coloured Coursers, an unexpected surprise, we didn’t expect them to be back on their breeding grounds in February, these were the birds seen from the bus.
Our next couple of stops were to look for Desert Warbler in suitable habitats, but we failed to see any. We did find Great Grey Shrike (elegans subspecies), Trumpeter Finch and more Desert Wheatears.
The Bar-tailed Desert lark can be difficult to identify if not seen well - this one sat just a few meters from us - normally they run around none-stop.
We reached our destination at the side of the Erg Chebbi sand dune system, Cafe Yasmina. This is where we were hoping to find Desert Sparrow. After an hour of looking we had no luck so most of the group set off on foot across the sand dunes. We were told that a Bedouin Camp could be found after about a 45 minute walk, that was our goal, it was very hard going and in hot sunshine. Most of the group made it and were rewarded with excellent views of the elusive Desert Sparrow, they also found a group of Fulvous Babblers.
A couple of shots of one of my favourite desert species - the Hoopoe Lark
Meanwhile, back at Cafe Yasmina, a pair of Desert Sparrows were seen in the tamarisk scrub by the rest of the group. Once we had all reassembled we ate a lovely lunch on the Cafe terrace in warm sunshine.
A male Desert Sparrow - I have yet to capture a good image - better luck next time
We then set off to complete our quest in search of the Desert Warbler. We found another small flock of Desert Sparrows (6) before walking off into a wadi not too far from Cafe Yasmina. We found several Bar-tailed Desert Larks, Hoopoe Larks, and Trumpeter Finches but no warblers. Several more attempts were made before the light began to fade and our legs began to tire. Other birds seen during our search were: Spectacled Warbler (our first for the trip), Tristram’s Warbler, Common Chiffchaff, Great Grey Shrike, Laughing Dove and several common species. At one stage, two White-crowned Wheatears landed on the roof of the bus, they chased one another around and one even landed on the wing mirror, how cool was that?
Two images of the Erg Chebbi sand dune systems near Merzouga
We returned to the hotel just as it was getting dark, we had seen only 26 species but some of them were highly rated and ‘must-see’ species. We planned to continue our quest for elusive Desert Warbler tomorrow!
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