We had a fantastic start to the day, the weather was absolutely brilliant with a beautiful clear sky and no wind, perfect for visiting the high Atlas Mountains.
After a 6am breakfast we set off in the dark and headed up steep climb to Oukaimedan, a few species were seen on the way but we never stopped as we intended to get to the top as early as possible. Our efforts paid off as soon as we arrived in the village of Oukaimedan, there were hundreds of birds everywhere. It was amazing, several hundred Red-billed Cough mixed with similar numbers of Alpine Cough as they littered the whole area. Then we found our first group of Crimson-winged Finches they fed by the roadside and allowed very close approach. It got even better as we walked along the main track, we saw Common Raven, Atlas Horned Lark, Black Redstart, Rock Sparrow, Black Wheatears, Mistle Thrush and more finches, lots more.
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| scenes in the Atlas Mounatins |
We climbed back onto the bus and drove up to the radio masts where we found Rock Bunting and another of our target species, the Alpine Accentor. On the way back down we heard the call of the Levaillant's Woodpecker and after a little walk we found the bird stuck to the trunk of a tree. This was a superb find, I have never seen one at this altitude, 3000 metres!
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| ATLAS HORNED LARK |
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| the beautiful Crimson-winged Finch |
We then spent an hour or so driving back down the mountainside to look for more species, we found several Moussier's Redstarts as well as Barbary Partridge and our first Long-legged Buzzard.
Well by the time we got down to the valley floor it was almost 11am so we had to press on to our next destination. We made several stops throughout the rest of the day finding a lot more species. We added Crested & Thekla Lark, Moroccan Magpie, Great-grey Shrike, more Barbary Partridges and lots more.
Our lunch stop produced three target species in a pine copse, Common Crossbill, Fiercest and Coal Tit. Other journey birds included Desert Lark, White-crowned Wheatears, Desert Wheatears and Short-toed Eagle.
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| Levaillant's Woodpecker |
It was now getting late and our last stop was brief and a little disappointing. We stopped at the huge reservoir at Quarzazate but because of the lack of recent rains the water level was dreadfully low and hence very few birds were seen. A flock of 18 Black Kites was nice, we also saw Ruddy Shelduck, Marsh Harrier, White Stork, White Wagtail and a dozen Grey Herons.
tThe light finally went so we hopped onto the bus and finished the journey to Boumalne Dade where a hot shower and a lovely tajine dinner was awaiting for us.
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