Morocco in early March (1 Viewer)

Good afternoon.

I am looking to return to Morocco this year following an enjoyable (but not particularly birdy) trip a couple of years ago. I'm hoping to catch up with the birds I've missed previously, but at present I'm looking at the 9th - 16th March.

Would anybody be kind enough to comment on whether this be too early for the following species; Seebohm's, Red rumped and Magreb wheatears, Blue cheeked bee-eater, Cream coloured courser, Tristram's warbler. I know some of these species are relatively sedentary (or altitudinal migrants) but want to maximise chances of encountering these.

Also, there are a plethora of trip reports online, would anybody be able to point me in the direction of some that contain locations for some of the more specialist species (Pharaoh EO, Thick billed lark, Desert sparrow) - I've order the Gosney guides, but any up to date information would be hugely appreciated.

Thanks in advance, and I wish you all a bird-filled and enriching 2018.

100 views, but no replies. Anybody able/willing to offer an opinion on this? My predominant interest is in the timing, I can get species gen elsewhere if required.

Too early for Blue-cheeked Bee-eater. Most other stuff you mention should be OK. Personally I don't (yet) count Seebohm's and Maghreb Wheatears.

Well worth hiring a good local guide for a day for Merzouga/Erfoud to get you the eagle-owl, sandgrouse etc.

Steve

Hi Steve, many thanks for the reply. I suspected that may be the case with BCBE, but there are plenty of other birds to see, so won't be too upset if we miss them. I will have to look into guides, but any recommendations would again be gratefully appreciated.

Dessert sparrow easy once you actually go in the desert. This takes some hours on the back of a camel but at least you know you are really going to see some. We did this as a half day trip south from hotel Yasmina. Thick-billed and red-rumped should be year round on Tagdilt, but I only had one morning (non-birding partner) and missed thick-billed. I guess courser can be tricky to find out of breeding season.

Many thanks Lieven, do let me know if you would like any information for Uganda (if you are still going this summer) and I will try to help.

Morocco March 17

We spend a week in Morocco the first week in Mach 2017. Red-rumped wheatear and cream coloured courser were easy at Tagdilt especially around wheatear wall. But we only saw a couple of thick billed larks , they were close to the town in amongst the rubbish piles.
We didn't see Seebohm's but some other birders saw one at Oukaimeden.
Tristram's warbler showed very well in the Gorge du Dades 400m behind the Source du Dades hotel as per Gosney . The scrub warbler also performed at km43 close to the road and there was a party of fulvous babblers there as well. We relied on the Gosney guide and it was spot on but we didn't go any father east into the desert.

Hi Mark, thanks for the reply, I've just received the Gosney guide today, so slowly working my way through that, but your sightings are very much appreciated. Lovely photos btw, would be delighted to get views as good as that, never mind photos!

dwatsonbirder said:

Many thanks Lieven, do let me know if you would like any information for Uganda (if you are still going this summer) and I will try to help.

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Thanks, but plans are less ambitious with two little kids at home!
I must say that my sightings were between christmas and New year and already 5 years ago, during a very short (5 days) trip from Agadir to Merzouga and back.

I have only started adding some sightings (all coordinates are exact), you can find them in link below (and then click on the info icon), but as said, this wasn't a birding trip, more of a mad dash to see the desert, sit on a camel and get back in time to Agadir in a small Hyundai I10 avoiding too many speed tickets...

https://observation.org/user/view/4...th=0&prov=0&m=K&zeker=O&rows=20&only_hidden=0

There are many more sightings on observation from the area, just fill in the species name in the search function (upper right with the magnifying glass).
In any way, beginning of March can be a bit early but it is already very very good I suppose.

As others said, most the birds you mentioned can be seen at this date including the Seebohm's Wheatear (only March is shown in this link, you can change it). Even Blue-cheeked Bee-eater is a late arrival, it also can be seen from mid-March, see dates and maps at observation.org (same for this link).

Cream-coloured Courser, Thick billed Lark, Red-rumped Wheatear....can be seen at Tagdilt Track.

For Maghreb Wheatear, these sightings at observation.org can help you with the sites.

As Steve already said, hiring a guide at Merzouga/Rissani area is a good choice. I would recommend Lahcen Ouacha (email: al-hassan82 (AT) hotmail.com, tel: +212 671146336). He can get you the Pharaoh Eagle-Owl, Desert Sparrow, Egyptian Nightjar, Desert Warbler... and others you may miss at Tagdilt Track (like the unpredictable Thick billed Lark).

Taxonomy:

Steve you are right regarding the Maghreb Wheatear at least according to the current knowledge. But I think Seebohm's Wheatear is a good species.

BOU guidelines (Helbig et al. 2002) as well as the more conservative ‘Tobias et al. (2010) criteria’ found that Seebohm's Wheatear and African Crimson-winged Finch qualified for species status. In the case of the Tobias et al criteria, only those two taxa qualified for species status among 23 Western Palearctic subspecies pairs. For the same subspecies pairs, BOU guidelines produced 8 species.

If anyone wants to check, have a look at my blog about the split of the African Crimson-winged Finch here.

Thanks again to Lieven and to Mohammed (is it M. Bargache? If so I believe we are connected on facebook and wanted to send you a quick pm) for that information and links. I think we have most information that we were after, and with flights booked, I think it's fair to say that our team are really excited for the trip - I've been wanting to do a proper birding expedition since I visited back in 2012.
I hope to compile a trip report with useful information, as long as it all goes well. I'll put the idea of using a guide to the others, we're generally happy to bird independently, but wouldn't want to miss some of those species.

All the best.

dwatsonbirder said:

Thanks again to Lieven and to Mohammed (is it M. Bargache?

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You are welcome! No, M. Bargache is based at Agadir (is he still guiding?). I am this guy.