DAY 4 – MAR 11TH. GAUCIN-TARIFA-TANGIER-ASILAH-LARACHE-MOULAY BOUSSELHAM
HIGHLIGHTS: 6 SPOTTED CRAKES, TEMMINCK’S STINT, BLUETHROAT, CORY’S SHEARWATER AND 100’S OF BLACK KITES!
Our first day of the mini-excursion to Morocco started early as we left Gaucin in the dark at 7am. The sky was clear and there was no wind although a breeze had picked up by the time we reached Tarifa. Whilst waiting to board our ferry we saw Pallid Swift, Common Kestrel and Red-rumped Swallow these were added to the day list together with Griffon Vulture, White Stork and Yellow-legged Gull that were logged on the way down.
From the ferry we watched several small flocks of passerines flying low over the water (unidentified), a group of four Cory’s Shearwaters and a Sparrowhawk. Several Gannets flew passed and as we approached Tangier we found more Cory’s Shearwaters which were feeding very close to the boat.
In the harbour at Tangier we looked up and saw hundreds of Black Kites streaming from the south and heading off over the sea, it was an incredible sight. After the usual delay in customs and border control we set off at 10:45 for the short journey to Asilah and once we had driven out of Tangier we began to log our bird sightings which included Marsh Harrier (a beautifully marked male), a flock of several hundred White Storks and more Black Kites.
We stopped at the bridge over the River Tahadart just north of Asilah where we found Greater Flamingos, Sandwich Terns, Curlew, Redshank, Little Egret, Grey Plover and Great Cormorant. A Peregrine Falcon flew over and put every bird up into the air. Next we stopped at a roadside seasonal pool and found more Flamingos, Kentish Plover, Spotless Starling and our first Northern Wheatear of the year!
The best place we visited was the Eastern Marshes at Larache, I Love this area. First we looked at the ‘salt-pans’ and river mouth where we found an impressive number of Caspian Terns (15). But the marshes were a birder’s delight, the metalled road is raised and offers superb views over the water. Before long we had logged 20 species and then we hit a purple patch: We found an unbelievable SIX SPOTTED CRAKES, THEN A TEMMINCK’S STINT, FOLLOWED BY WATER PIPIT, THEN A LOVELY MALE BLUETHROAT! FANTASTIC BIRDING!
A supporting cast of Spotted Redshank, Yellow Wagtail, Wood Sandpiper, Ruff, Black-tailed Godwit, Glossy Ibis, Eurasian Spoonbill, Great White Egret, Purple Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, and Osprey. Not forgetting the array of wildfowl on show: Garganey (5 males and 1 female), Marbled Duck, Red-crested Pochard and many Red-knobbed Coots. We spent a wonderful 2 hours there when really you should spend a whole day, the entire marsh area is just teaming with life. Our last sightings included: Kingfisher.Avocet, Greenshank, Common Snipe, hundreds more Black Tailed Godwits, at least ten Marsh Harriers and over 500 Coot of two species.
We arrived at our hotel at Moulay Bousselham around 4pm, we had a nice cup of coffee which was taken on the terrace. The terrace sits high above the harbour and from there you can see the entire lagoon, whilst sitting drinking our coffee we logged some new species for the trip list. A dead stem of an Agava plant provided a nice perch for the local Common Bubuls and also Collared Doves, African Chaffinch, Blackcap, and Spotless Starling. In the superb afternoon light we could see for miles and in the distance we found Greater Flamingo, Oystercatcher, Slender-billed Gull, Grey Plover and lots of gulls.
For the last 2 hours of daylight we walked out onto the marsh, where we had much better views of Slender-billed Gulls and we logged many species seen earlier in the day, we did hear a Water Rail but it did not show itself.
We ate a delicious fish platter on the terrace and drank a couple of cold ones before retiring for the night.
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