Mark A Spedding
Well-known member
I think most folks on here know that one of the best area's to search for Egyptian Nightjar is at the rather nice Kasbah Auberge Dakouah, between Erfoud and Merzouga.
However, during my research for a trip to Morocco earlier this month, we found that most teams trying here for this species come away empty handed.
The normal tact would appear to be staking out the swimming pool area after dark. This is something we tried on our first (of two) nights there, but saw nothing.
At 4am the following morning my rather insomniac companion came up with the brain wave of trying in the last hour. Being a lover of my bed almost as much as birds I invited him to go and find out. This he promptly did, and less than 10 minutes later hot -footed it back to the room to get me as one bird had just flown over the pool.
After an anxious minute or so a bird was soon hawking back and forth over the pool. It was joined not long afterwards by a second bird. At the first sign of daybreak the show was over.
As if to prove it was no fluke, the birds did the same the following day (4.45 am).
However, during my research for a trip to Morocco earlier this month, we found that most teams trying here for this species come away empty handed.
The normal tact would appear to be staking out the swimming pool area after dark. This is something we tried on our first (of two) nights there, but saw nothing.
At 4am the following morning my rather insomniac companion came up with the brain wave of trying in the last hour. Being a lover of my bed almost as much as birds I invited him to go and find out. This he promptly did, and less than 10 minutes later hot -footed it back to the room to get me as one bird had just flown over the pool.
After an anxious minute or so a bird was soon hawking back and forth over the pool. It was joined not long afterwards by a second bird. At the first sign of daybreak the show was over.
As if to prove it was no fluke, the birds did the same the following day (4.45 am).