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Marrakesh Bird Guides? (1 Viewer)

rylirk

Well-known member
United Kingdom
Hi all, still trying to plan a trip for October and am erring away from Slovenia for now. I think I'm probably going to end up going to Marrakesh instead; primarily as a regular tourist, but I really should take a day to go get some of the Maghreb specialities.

I've been trying to find if there are any agencies / individual guides offering a day's birding in the area, but am struggling to find much. Does anyone know of any bird guides that operate in the area? Otherwise, what would be the best bets for finding some local specialties? Unfortunately I only passed my driving test recently so hiring a car is out of the question, but I had been looking into taking organised tourist day trips either to Essaouria or up into the mountains.
 
Have you seen this thread?
 
I am more looking for somewhere that offers a guided birding service because, as I said, I will be without a car :)
 
Hi all, still trying to plan a trip for October and am erring away from Slovenia for now. I think I'm probably going to end up going to Marrakesh instead; primarily as a regular tourist, but I really should take a day to go get some of the Maghreb specialities.

I've been trying to find if there are any agencies / individual guides offering a day's birding in the area, but am struggling to find much. Does anyone know of any bird guides that operate in the area? Otherwise, what would be the best bets for finding some local specialties? Unfortunately I only passed my driving test recently so hiring a car is out of the question, but I had been looking into taking organised tourist day trips either to Essaouria or up into the mountains.
I reckon you could find a lot by a taxi to Oukaimeden. The Crimson-winged Finch, Moussiers Redstarts and Horned Larks can be found walking uphill from the town. The desert specialities at Boulmane Dades are over a 5 hour drive away so probably not a realistic day trip.
 
Im struggling to find them now in the mess of sponsored hits but there were a couple of local companies offering single days and longer from Marrakesh when I looked back in the spring.

I think the crimson winged finch is quite hard now. I’m booked on a longer trip next feb and they’ve missed it the last few years


this isn’t the one I was looking into but might be good

 
Im struggling to find them now in the mess of sponsored hits but there were a couple of local companies offering single days and longer from Marrakesh when I looked back in the spring.

I think the crimson winged finch is quite hard now. I’m booked on a longer trip next feb and they’ve missed it the last few years


this isn’t the one I was looking into but might be good


Looks like the tour isn't available to groups of less than four unfortunately; I'll see if I can get in contact with the tour provider directly and see what they say
 
I’m booked on a longer trip next feb and they’ve missed it the last few years
Not sure if I understand well, but who are 'they'?
The finches are (luckily) still around the cable car, as recently as this year. Highest count this winter around 120.
 
Not sure if I understand well, but who are 'they'?
The finches are (luckily) still around the cable car, as recently as this year. Highest count this winter around 120.
Just as well as I don’t think there are any other good sites for them (in Morocco or other countries)
James
 
These folk will do bespoke trips, might be worth contacting them...
Worth trying the Gayuin team - they act as ground agents/local guides for many tour companies these days. They have their own guesthouse at Boumalme-du-dades and I wouldn't be surprised if they could do you something like a three of four day mini-tour to include the mountain stuff and the nearer desert stuff too.
 
Just as well as I don’t think there are any other good sites for them (in Morocco or other countries)
James
CWF are really only regular at Oukaimeden, as much as this is the only area you can get up higher enough to reach the alpine zone without a long hike.

They are easier in the late winter when there is snow on the higher peaks (even here there is about 1500m of habitat above the access point. If no snow, it becomes very hit and miss. Flocks will come down to drink at the stream or the lake here but they range very widely.

With no snow last winter until the end of March, they were difficult to connect with. They are still around though.

To go back to the main question, I don't know of any guides operating out of Marrakech any more. Gayuin is your best point of contact to start with. Getting a taxi for the day is not crazy idea as the site is simple to navigate
 
Since the OP is looking for a birding guide, here is a cautionary tale. I found a guide by the name, Mohamed Bargache, from the the fatbirder blog, discussed a short two day trip to the Atlas Mountains from Marrakech for which I booked the train ticket from Casablanca (all this is for Nov 2024), booked a night stay in Marrakech and a hotel in Imlil for me and my wife as well as the guide. After making all the arrangements, ten days later, he messages me asking me to confirm the birding dates saying that he has got another booking and he now needs to find a guide for us. This is the level of professionalism that you can expect from a guide in Morocco. So, watch out! I will be able to cancel the hotel bookings, but not the train tickets that I booked thru an online site. The cost of the train tickets is not a big loss for me, it is just the shaking of the faith in humanity and the loss of innocence. I hope this doesn't alter my views of the people of Morocco, a country that I am yet to visit.
 
Afraid not, I just ended up going round in circles; the few guiding agencies I did manage to get a reply from either offered me a multiple day excursion or told me to contact someone else. I did manage to get a bit of birding done at the Menara Park in the city, and some incidental birds on a couple of day visits to the Atlas Mountains (got the Levaillant's Woodpecker which I was quite happy about!) but birding was really quite a struggle...
 

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