And now for one of the main reasons for coming all the way down here ......
Sunday 22nd .... The Aoussard Road
The reason being this stretch of road. In the last few years a couple of species new to the Western Pal have been discovered, in addition to good chances of seeing several other very hard to get/nice birds..... Up soon after 4 and at our destination by first light (7am). We missed out the first section of the road as others have described it as being relatively birdless. Instead of starting at 100km from Assouerd, we were even more ruthless and carried on in the dark until km post 70. Several small jumpy mammals and 4 hares were seen in our headlights on the latter stretch.
The desert! Ok, semi-desert probably in this case, but still great with big horizons and amazing colours and light. We disembarked to hear various unidentified lark songs and calls coming from the half lit distances around us. Camels materialised on the horizon, and small groups of larks kept us on our toes as they moved around the sparse grassland in the more vegetated areas. We eventually ascertained that it was Short-toed Larks providing the bulk of the birdsong, with small flocks moving around and eventually building into one large flock of c. 200 birds. Other birds seen were few, with Swallows passing through, up to 6 Hoopoe Larks audible in the area by the car, with one performing nearby very well and allowing us to approach close to. Several Wheatears turned out to be Northern, an approachable Bar-tailed Desert Lark singing on a rock gave us an opportunity for a bit of study in preparation for rarer larks we were hoping to engage with later… on which subject, one of the others had a DUNN'S LARK fly past (based on distinctive tail pattern), and 2 distant Cream-coloured Coursers in flight, whilst the remaining two had brief views of another very good bird as a male BLACK-CROWNED SPARROW-LARK briefly alighted at the roadside, burst into song before flying straight off again!!
7 Species, 2 of them target species, and we weren’t even at the proper sites yet!!!!!!
Moving on to km 68 for our first proper stop at a site Dunn’s Lark had been reported from and a singing male Desert Warbler just by the marker was very nice. The habitat was markedly different here, with lots of yellow sand and thick clumps of tussocky grass. Desert Wheatear was new for the day, but the other highlight, a FENNEC FOX flushed whilst we walked through the area was unfortunately only seen by one of the party (me). A study in sand and ginger highlights, unexpected, and very nice, although a bit of a downer the others missed out on it.
Driving slowly towards the next stop, we made a brief stop at km 66 for 3 Southern Grey Shrikes in the roadside Acacia trees. It was now about 9.30am.
Just before our second designated stop at km 63 (based on having read previous trip reports), we pulled over halfway between 64 and 63. We saw a Bar-tailed Desert Lark almost straight away, and further Hoopoe Larks. A large group of Camels over near km 63 drew our attention to a grassy depression running through the area. Distant birds here included 2 birds which we eventually realised were Tawny Pipits, whilst a larger lark could have been a Desert Lark. A distant Courser was also seen. Closer too and on the south side of the road we all caught up with and had great views of Dunn’s Lark. 2 individuals were moving over the sparsely vegetated and fairly stony desert floor, periodically digging into the sand near the bases of small plants with their hefty bills. They allowed a fairly close approach but eventually moved out onto a wider stony area, with a third bird seen briefly beyond them. Excellent!
Driving the short distance down the road to km 63 and then disembarking we found a further 7 Dunn’s Larks!!!!, in small loose groups of 3, 3 and a single, feeding peacefully and even engaging in song flights, allowing good views of the undertail as a bonus to all other features noted. A mystery bird which flew overhead fulfilled our suspicions, as a smart male Thick-billed Lark was located. Yet another lifer. It moved about on a ridge of gravel on the horizon, so much more wary than the other species. The Lark fest continued with a close Desert Lark, posing on the road itself at one point.
Driving on, 4 Cream Coloured-Coursers were seen at km 61 , including 2 young, with another Bar-tailed Desert Lark also seen. A Long-legged Buzzard in a tree was seen shortly after. Time was now 11:52.
Ten minutes later and another stop provided 2 more CCC’s, with a small flock of Short-toed Larks and another highlight, at least 3 (up to 6) male Black Crowned Sparrow Larks. A new species here was Temmincks Lark, with 4 seen.
At km 56 we stopped at a fairly substantial grassy patch with several acacias to search for more birds. More BC Sparrow Larks obliged, flying up from between the grass clumps. 2 Desert Sparrows flew in and posed briefly in the nearest acacia. I thought I glimpsed a potentially very interesting bird and called the others over… A warbler type bird, flitting teasingly in the grassy clumps. I got my bins onto a flitting warbler – to see an Iberian-type Chiffchaff. But then another bird appeared nearby, long tailed, strong eyestripe and crown pattern. This was the original one which had caught my eye initially ... Bright rufous ground colour with a uniquely patterned wing panel – CRICKET LONGTAIL!!!! Brilliant. We watched it distantly through bins. Jon attempted to get closer to photograph it (at which point his camera batteries ran out), and it moved off. As it went it collected a second one, and they both moved off through the scrubby grassland (not as rich quality as later areas). We were unable to keep them in view as they moved at least several hundred yards eastwards and parallel to the road. Flighty birds but still reasonable views and we were all pretty happy to have so easily caught up with the third WP speciality of this road, and on our first real stop in suitable habitat. Whist watching the Longtails a Thick-billed Lark flew over and was seen to land. Back west, we spotted a larger bird in the sky, which we quickly identified as our first Brown-necked Raven of the trip. (Possible lifer also, given the views we had previously enjoyed in Tunisia not excluding Common Raven as seen from a taxi.) It was soon joined by a second and made its way to a more substantial run of Acacias near a Berber camp where they alighted and a probable young bird was seen in a nest. More BC Sparrow Larks and a Spectacled Warbler completed the picture here.
Moving on, 5 Desert Sparrows, 1 Southern Grey Shrike, further Black Crowned Sparrow Larks and another Northern Wheatear were to be found at km 55
Several further brief stops provided similar species, with one at km 43 being particularly noteworthy for the number of Desert Sparrows seen (at least 39 counted in several acacias), with a Tawny Pipit also in an acacia, and myself connecting with a further two Dunn’s Larks feeding in the sandy/stony areas bordering the discrete area of sandy grass clumps, and a new species for the trip as a Lanner Falcon repeatedly tried to attack a pair of Hoopoe Larks, which would rise up from the ground and turn in mid air to fend the falcon off in turn.
A large black lizard on a pile of rocks off to one side of the road was worthy of a stop, with a further half dozen seen in the more barren areas as we drove past. Later identified as a spiny tailed lizard sp. (Uromastyx sp). An impressive beast to say the least. Appeared to be a couple of feet long, dull black. Have had trouble identifying this one specifically - doesn't appear to be one of the 2 recorded from S. Morocco, although there are 10 species in the whole of the N Africa sahara region.
On to Km 41, another stop we intended to make as Fulvous Babbler had been seen here, in addition to Cricket Longtails. We very quickly spotted a new bird in an Acacia, brown with a decurved bill, which was indeed a Babbler. Only the one seen. The Black Crowned Sparrow Larks were as numerous as anywhere here, with only a dozen or so yards being covered in the spiky grass clumps before yet another male bird flew up, often accompanied by a female, in its distinctive fluttering Serin like flight with its very marked black underwings. In covering the small area of the whole patch which we did we still possibly saw maybe 50 or more birds. (We should have tried a better survey, but that wasn’t our prime aim!). So hundreds probably in this one area alone. It wasn’t long before I stumbled upon yet 2 more Cricket Longtails, which even went so far as to engage in courtship feeding. 2 Further Brown-necked Ravens overhead briefly interacted with a Long-legged Buzzard which passed through.
We pressed on until we reached Oued Jenna (km post not noted, but it is the most substantial area of acacias in the area on the course of a wadi crossing the road, with much of ‘the’spiky grass also.) Subalpine Warbler was new here, but highlight for me was yet another Cricket Longtail, this one seen close to as it sang from an Acacia tree. Reasonable unsuccess in getting a killer shot of it as it either moved too fast through the branches for me to follow it with my handheld phonescoping setup, or perched partly obscured in the branches. But still, 3 sets of Longtails in total, a pretty iconic WP species and plenty more suitable habitat to look in. But time was pressing on…
We reached Aoussard itself with an hour or more of daylight left, and having passed 2 Desert Larks flying up from the roadside, made a stop, surreptitiously out of sight of the barracks. White-crowned Black Wheatear, a target species for the area was quickly seen. We scanned the cliffs for Pale Rock Martins, with no success, although a distant bird on the cliffs was definitely probably a raptor. A hirundine (could have been any species) was also briefly seen. Returning back a little we parked up and ate and scanned.
We were just contemplating moving on when an army vehicle pulled up alongside, its occupants politely questioning us on whether we had authorization or not. Upshot was that we had to follow them into the ghost town of Aoussard itself and register with the military. Strange, as at the police checkpoints at Dhakla no eyebrows had been raised when we had earlier told them our destination for the day, and there were no checkpoints on the road. A Collared Dove sp. on a pylon was pretty frustrating as it could have been an African, the late evening light being tricksy as we drove past, and we couldn’t stop for fear of displeasing our escort. (Hindsight is wonderful, but either species equally unlikely, and it did appear pretty grey and pink. Doh!) A cup of tea and reasonably strict admonishment (mildly administered) to avoid leaving the road anywhere in Western Sahara as far up as Laayoune (!) in case of landmines, and we were free to carry on. In the dark now though. A brief decision and we headed back towards Dhakla for our hotel again (hopefully), with several brief and unsuccessful stops to listen for Eagle Owls, and another (presumed?) Algerian Hedgehog (couldn’t see any long ears which could have made it a Desert one) and hares seen along with more Gerds, Gerbils and suicidal mouse like creatures. Our room did indeed await us…
An excellent day!