Our last full day began with a bang! We had perfect weather conditions,
no wind with a lovely clear sky. We also managed to avoid the security around
the Palace by getting up early, this allowed us to walk all the way down the Oued
Sous to the beach. We also managed to view the secluded pools on heath very
near to the Palace walls which were very productive.
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| GREATER FLAMINGO |
Our morning began near the golf course where the Hassan Golf Tournament
was being held, this required unbelievable security measures but not at 6:30am.
On the upper section of this part of the Oued Sous we found an Osprey, a flock of Oystercatcher, Curlew, Common
Sandpipers and a few species of the common gulls.
]
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| EURASIAN SPOONBILL |
We finally got to an area where we could views the pools on
the heath, they were crammed with birds! A flock of Marbled Duck was a superb
find and the most wanted species by the group but we also found several new
waders species for the trip list. Common Snipe, Ruff,
Black-winged Stilt, Avocet, Eurasian Spoonbill, Greater Flamingo, Redshank,
Greenshank & Spotted Redshank and a few Yellow Wagtails and Northern Shovelled were all seen in or
around the pool.
We beat a hasty retreat as aboard was eyeing us up but we
managed to get back onto the beach without being thrown off the area. In the
estuary we saw Slender-billed Gulls, Audouin’s Gulls along with common three
species.
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| PIED AVOCETS |
Back in the car park we jumped onto the bus and set off
northwards through Agadir to visit Cape Rhir, along the way we made a couple of
stops to view roosting gull flocks but never saw anything new.
Cape Rhir was superb, surrounded by dry heath we never saw
many species out to sea but the colours, the sunshine and the habitats around
us made it a lovely stop. Meant Northern Gannet qere passing and we did see one
Great Skua but not much else.
Another few kilometres further north found us at the breeding site of the Bald Ibis, we couldn't approach the colony which is situated on a cliff overlooking the sea but we did see another Ibis flying to the cliff carrying nesting material. The sloping hull aide also held many species, we found 3 Eurasian Hoopoe, Great Grey Shrike, Tawny Pipit, Short-toed Lark, Black-eared Wheatear, Woodchat Shrike and plenty of Linnets.
Our last venue of this final day was the Oueb Ksob which runs into the sea on Southern edge of Essaouira. We got off the bus at a bridge some 3km inland from the beach, our target species was the Plain Martin which appeared almost straight away. We saw up 50 of these cute little birds and a
large number perched out in the sun ideal for the cameras.
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| Plain Martin - aka Brown-throated Martin |
Our walk took us 3km to the beach, we walked along the river bed which wasn't quite dry and where large pools had developed, a good number of waders were seen and many passerines came down to drink.
We saw a dozen or so of Green Sandpipers, fewer numbers of Greenshanks, Common Sandpiper and both Little-ringed and Greater Ringed Plover. A Kingfisher was nice, also Cirl Bunting, the Serins and Greenfinches looked outrageously bright in the afternoon sunshine and even Song Thrushes and Blackcap looked more colourful.
The walk ended at the beach where the large river mouth held flocks of Greater Flamingo, Pied Avocet, Eurasian Spoonbills and a large gull roost.
The light began to fade and a beautiful orange sky developed over the sea as we witnessed an African sunset.
The birding was over, we made our way to the bus and drove into town to find our hotel which was absolutely fantastic, a real gem found in the side streets of the old wall town.
Tomorrow we drive to Marrakech to catch an early flight so we don't anticipate any further birding.
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