Agadir 1st - 4th December (1 Viewer)

I took a Ryanair flight down to Agadir last week. Here's a quick trip report.

1st December, afternoon. I drove up to Tamri and walked down to the lagoon. Lots of Audouin's Gulls and a flock of about ten Kentish Plover on the beach. Also, what I think was a reef egret - see attached photo. It had a long bill, yellow-green legs and a brownish tinge to its wings. Any comments on the ID of this would be appreciated. After a while a guide came down and after a short while he pointed out a flock of Bald Ibis flying north. Very nice. He suggested taking me further north to look for them, and led me to a place with great views of them roosting on a cliff - see photo. There was also a Barbary Falcon flying about so this was a great location.

2nd December. I drove down to Oued Massa. There seemed to be a lot of Marbled Teal here, although they were always rather distant, against the reeds on the far side of the water. Also, several Ferruginous Ducks were a surprise, seen from point 4 in the Gosney guide. Otherwise the site was perhaps a little disappointing - most of the birds were European migrants so not unfamiliar. I failed to see many of the birds that I had been hoping I might on the basis of the Gosney guide including Tchagra, Cream-Coloured Courser, and Sandgrouses.

3rd December. Down to Goulimime for desert birds, again following Gosney. I initially took the wrong road out of town by mistake, but I stopped at a dry wadi after 7km where I saw a Lesser Short-toed Lark, Desert Wheatear and Moussier's Redstart. I drove on before realising my mistake and later saw a Black Wheatear and Barbary Ground Squirrel.

After returning to Goulimime and taking the correct road, I stopped at the Oued Sayed recommended by Gosney. There were lots of Plain Martin here and I also saw a Bluethroat. But nothing else of interest.

I carried on to the Tan Tan 100 site mentioned by Gosney and walked 2km north. Four Black-Bellied Sandgrouse flew over and I found a few Desert Lark and Bar-tailed Larks. And a Red Fox ran past. But not as much as I would have hoped for based on the Gosney guide.

Finally I stopped at the 22km marker which Gosney mentions. I actually failed to see a single bird at this location!

So a few interesting birds in the desert, but it was not really what I had been hoping for. Perhaps December is not the best time to visit. I have to say it was quite windy and not very warm, so perhaps many of the birds would have gone elsewhere.

4th December. A couple of hours at Oued Souss. This was quite pleasant with lots of waders, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Here's a full list. If any of my IDs seem unlikely, do let me know.

Common Shelduck
Gadwall
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Common Teal
Marbled Teal
Common Pochard
Ferruginous Pochard
Tufted Duck
Common Kingfisher
Common Wood-Pigeon
Laughing Dove
Common Moorhen
Common Coot
Black-bellied Sandgrouse
Common Snipe
Black-tailed Godwit
Eurasian Curlew
Common Redshank
Common Greenshank
Green Sandpiper
Common Sandpiper
Red Knot
Sanderling
Dunlin
Eurasian Oystercatcher
Black-winged Stilt
Pied Avocet
Grey Plover
Common Ringed Plover
Kentish Plover
Atlantic Yellow-legged Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Common Black-headed Gull
Sandwich Tern
Western Marsh-Harrier
Eurasian Sparrowhawk
Long-legged Buzzard
Common Kestrel
Barbary Falcon
Little Grebe
Black-necked Grebe
Great Cormorant
European Shag
Little Egret
Western Reef-Egret
Grey Heron
Greater Flamingo
Glossy Ibis
Waldrapp
Eurasian Spoonbill
Southern Grey Shrike
Eurasian Magpie
Common Raven
Eurasian Blackbird
Song Thrush
European Robin
Bluethroat
Black Redstart
Moussier's Redstart
European Stonechat
White-tailed Wheatear
Black Wheatear
Desert Wheatear
Spotless Starling
Plain Martin
Barn Swallow
Garden Bulbul
Zitting Cisticola
Cetti's Warbler
Common Chiffchaff
Iberian Chiffchaff
Blackcap
Sardinian Warbler
Bar-tailed Lark
Desert Lark
Lesser Short-toed Lark
Thekla Lark
White Wagtail
Tree Pipit
European Goldfinch
Eurasian Linnet
House Bunting

Those Bald Ibises look excellent! Worth the trip in itself (despite your misses, I still see ten lifers there for me, and a few possible "armchair ticks" in years to come).

The egret is interesting, and I guess I'd convince myself it was a Western Reef-Egret too, with that rather thick looking bill (and neck?) Feet colour is rather variable in this time of year in Little Egret, so I wouldn't pay attention to that.

I wouldn't dare to differentiate between Chiffchaffs in this time of year (unless they were singing), and I'm not sure what the consensus on the local Yellow-legged Gulls is nowadays. Sandgrouse may be harder in winter because of lower temperatures and more places to drink. You need some luck in the desert... many birds are nomadic.

Nice! Some might take you up on Waldrapp . . . (But it does have a nice ring to it!)

Arbu said:

2nd December. I drove down to Oued Massa. .... I failed to see many of the birds that I had been hoping ....including Tchagra,

Click to expand...

Hi Arbu, just out of interest, what time of day did you arrive? With the Tchagra, I have found they are very easy at this site in the first twenty minutes after sunrise, often sitting on the tops of bushes, then become progressively harder as the day wears on.

Arbu said:

I carried on to the Tan Tan 100 site mentioned by Gosney and walked 2km north. Four Black-Bellied Sandgrouse flew over and I found a few Desert Lark and Bar-tailed Larks. And a Red Fox ran past. But not as much as I would have hoped for based on the Gosney guide.

Finally I stopped at the 22km marker which Gosney mentions. I actually failed to see a single bird at this location!

Click to expand...

I think the desert sites vary very much season to season and year to year. Winter before last, I found large numbers not at the Tan Tan 100 locality, but a couple of kilometres beyond. Two weeks later, the stuff was at the back at the Tan Tan 100 point!

Thanks for the replies. Yes, the bald ibis alone made the trip worthwhile. I like calling them waldrapp to my non-birding friends and hence the title of the photo - I like to sound a bit esoteric! As well as bald ibis, the barbary falcon, marbled teal and bar-tailed lark were all lifers for me.

The dual chiffchaff ID isn't based on much tbh, merely that some were very green and others more brown, and there were lots of them. So it could be wrong.

Jos, I got to Oued Massa about 10am, so maybe a bit late. I've seen a Tchagra before in The Gambia, so it didn't matter so much.

Another point that I ought to make is that I came down with flu on the second day, and this reduced my energy levels. I'm sure I would have seen more without this.

Hi Arbu,
I was at Agadir just before you. I had a great time despite failing to see the Bald Ibis. I also failed to find Oued Souss which was a surprise as it looked easy to get to on google earth. I've since found out that you need to pass the palace and take a turning shortly after on the right. I had a similar experience to you when visiting Taradount with nothing seen at sites i was given. My expectations for the trip were low as it was a non-birding holiday but still managed two of three target birds: Moussier's Redstart and Black-crowned Tchagra (the other being Bald Ibis). The Tchagra was seen at mid morning in the car park after the village at Souss Massa.
My Morocco birds trip: http://www.ukbirds.net/morocco1.htm

Hi pabowyer

You got some good photos. I made two passes along the road before I found the turn off for Oued Souss. It's not signposted at all from the north, and, coming from the south, half the sign is missing, so you can only see the top half of the letters! Anyway you didn't miss all that much - most of the birds I saw there could be seen on tidal flats in the UK at this time of year.