[Acrocephalus]

Hi,

This may be of interest to somebody of you.

Pierre-André Crochet just sent the following in the WestPalBirds mailing list:

“Quentin Dupriez just informed me that an Austrian team (i don't have the names) and himself saw two singing Dunn's Lark in SE Morocco near Merzouga.

Precise loc: from the Rissani - Merzouga road, take the track left toward "Café Yasmina". 5 km along this track there is a sign 'Yasmina 9 km'. Birds are 200m north of this sign, in an area of short grass”.
Hope this can be helpful to someone...



Regards

[Acrocephalus]

A picture of the bird is posted here.

[Acrocephalus]

Hi,

It seems that things are going very fast down there near Merzouga.

After the Dunn's Larks were first seen in this region in April 2010 by numerous birders, now its breeding there is confirmed. The following from www.go-south.org, which see for more details about earlier sighting:

“8 birds with proof of nesting (adult with food, a nest at a base of a large grass tuft) on 3 May 2010 in 3 different places along 2 or 3 km prospected along the track from the ‘Auberge Caravanne’ (Martin Barry, Benoît Maire & Alain Mathurin – GOMAC and CHM)”.

Regards

[Acrocephalus]

A fine set of photographs of Merzouga’s Dunn's Lark are included in this paper:

Albegger, E.; Götsch, S.; Aymí, R. & Ribes, E. 2010. First record of African Dunn's Lark (Eremalauda dunni dunni) for the Tafilalt, Morocco. Go-South Bull. 7 : 121-126. PDF

[lewis20126]

Did anyone search for these Dunn's Larks in 2011? I've just booked a long weekend there in May 2012 and am keen to look for them if there is a chance.

cheers, alan

[Jhanlon]

There were one or two there last year I seem to remember. Found out about them after we'd got back!

James

[lewis20126]

Originally Posted by Jhanlon

There were one or two there last year I seem to remember. Found out about them after we'd got back!

James

cheers, was this is 2011? or 2010?

thanks,a

[Brian Stone]

Had a look there in mid-March but no luck. We were not able to give it long and the area was very productive generally so I'd certainly look again.

[Piqa]

Dunn’s Lark is apparently well established in the area of Merzouga - Rissani. Nevertheless, we still want to learn more about it in this region, so it whould be nice to publish any new sighting here or elsewhere.
This trip report from April 2011 reported one near Merzouga (with a GPS coordinates of the location): http://users.ugent.be/~hmatheve/hm/MOROCCO11.html

The species have even spread much further to Tagadilt track (Jbel Sarhro, Anti-Atlas) where it was seen there on 3 March 2011. See this thread: http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=195332

Good luck,

[Piqa]

Compilation of observations of Dunn’s Lark at Merzouga site from 2011 here. You are welcome to contribute.

[lewis20126]

Originally Posted by Piqa

Compilation of observations of Dunn’s Lark at Merzouga site from 2011 here. You are welcome to contribute.

Good stuff Piqa, nice to see Andrew's photos - we'll certainly be having a good look for them in 2012, despite our limited time. The likely split of African & Middle Eastern Dunn's is another good reason for the extra effort!

cheers, alan

[daf]

Hi,

Have their been already any sightings of Dunn's lark around Merzouga in 2012 yet?

Cheers

D.

[Acrocephalus]

I can only say that this year is a dry one here in Morocco, and this affected both people (agriculture) and birdlife. The effect on birds is much more severe in the desert areas, and because desert birds are known to be nomadic and opportunistic so they can move great distances to search for better conditions especially for breeding. By the way, records of these birds (Black-crowned Finch Lark, Dunn’s Lark, Cricket Warbler…) are scarcer even in their traditional area on the Aousserd road and Oued Jenna in the Sahara, and many birders (including in birding tours) have failed to see some of them this season.

[Black Wheatear]

Originally Posted by Acrocephalus

I can only say that this year is a dry one here in Morocco, and this affected both people (agriculture) and birdlife. The effect on birds is much more severe in the desert areas, and because desert birds are known to be nomadic and opportunistic so they can move great distances to search for better conditions especially for breeding. By the way, records of these birds (Black-crowned Finch Lark, Dunn’s Lark, Cricket Warbler…) are scarcer even in their traditional area on the Aousserd road and Oued Jenna in the Sahara, and many birders (including in birding tours) have failed to see some of them this season.

Hi Mohamed,

Just got back yesterday and our group had 2 Dunn's Lark 25th March. Just a note of caution to birders: the youtube birds look misleading at best, over exposed and washed out, field guides too can give wrong impressions based on age of birds and feathers. It might sound strange, but can easily be confused with Short-toed at first glance, it is sound advice and best to compare bill and general feeding habit (more like Hoopoe Lark), also look at very short hind toe/claw.

Peter

[lewis20126]

Originally Posted by Black Wheatear

Hi Mohamed,

Just got back yesterday and our group had 2 Dunn's Lark 25th March. Just a note of caution to birders: the youtube birds look misleading at best, over exposed and washed out, field guides too can give wrong impressions based on age of birds and feathers. It might sound strange, but can easily be confused with Short-toed at first glance, it is sound advice and best to compare bill and general feeding habit (more like Hoopoe Lark), also look at very short hind toe/claw.

Peter

Peter,

Did you find the Dunn's Lark at Rissani close to the 2011 location? Any info appreciated as I will be there with a group of friends for a long weekend in early May. PM if details are sensitive.

Many thanks, alan

[Black Wheatear]

Originally Posted by lewis20126

Peter,

Did you find the Dunn's Lark at Rissani close to the 2011 location? Any info appreciated as I will be there with a group of friends for a long weekend in early May. PM if details are sensitive.

Many thanks, alan

Hi Alan,

Same place as 2011, but a little more before the 9km signpost for Cafe Yasmina. Pretty tough to locate, but we found them and hence worth the effort. As Mohamed has pointed out, it has been an exceptionally dry winter and many of the normal birds can be hard to find, we had more success around the Boumalne and Ouarzazate areas for many of the specialist species. Certainly these areas have had more rain and this seemed to reflect the greater number of birds we saw.

Hope this might be helpful.

Peter

[Barred Wobbler]

Originally Posted by Black Wheatear

Hi Alan,

Same place as 2011, but a little more before the 9km signpost for Cafe Yasmina. Pretty tough to locate, but we found them and hence worth the effort. As Mohamed has pointed out, it has been an exceptionally dry winter and many of the normal birds can be hard to find, we had more success around the Boumalne and Ouarzazate areas for many of the specialist species. Certainly these areas have had more rain and this seemed to reflect the greater number of birds we saw.

Hope this might be helpful.

Peter

Good birds indeed Peter, well done for the effort. My computer died when I got home, so my photos might take a little longer (I'm posting this on my wife's computer).

[lewis20126]

Originally Posted by Black Wheatear

Hi Alan,

Same place as 2011, but a little more before the 9km signpost for Cafe Yasmina. Pretty tough to locate, but we found them and hence worth the effort. As Mohamed has pointed out, it has been an exceptionally dry winter and many of the normal birds can be hard to find, we had more success around the Boumalne and Ouarzazate areas for many of the specialist species. Certainly these areas have had more rain and this seemed to reflect the greater number of birds we saw.

Hope this might be helpful.

Peter

Peter

Yes, very helpful - did you find the Afeican Desert Warblers in the same area?

thanks, alan

[Black Wheatear]

Hi Alan,

Yes the Desert Warbler was in the same area, but please exercise caution as they were nesting.

Peter

[Piqa]

Originally Posted by lewis20126

Peter,

Did you find the Dunn's Lark at Rissani close to the 2011 location? Any info appreciated as I will be there with a group of friends for a long weekend in early May. PM if details are sensitive.

Many thanks, alan

Probably you are already in Morocco now, one bird seen on the same spot as previous two years on 2 May 2012.
http://maroc.observado.org/waarneming/view/67994098

[lewis20126]

Originally Posted by Piqa

Probably you are already in Morocco now, one bird seen on the same spot as previous two years on 2 May 2012.
http://maroc.observado.org/waarneming/view/67994098

We could not find them in a long search on 5th May but did find 3-4 "Short-toed Lark" types which confused us initially.

cheers, alan