Morocco Advice - desert south of Agadir (1 Viewer)

[simmojunior]

Hi all,

Does anyone have any info on desert birding sites to the south of Agadir? In the Asrir and Guelmim area?

I am thinking of going to Morocco at the end of March with some friends. Because we only have 4-6 days and because one of the group has done the eastern desert before and particularly wants to see Bald Ibis, we are planning to mainly go to the Agadir area (as well as Oukaimden and Marrakech). The rest of us have never seen the desert specialities before so it would be nice to have a go at them. Scrub Warbler is also a key target for all of them.

I have seen some good recent ebird lists such as this one: https://ebird.org/checklist/S124164283 but there is not much info on the area in trip reports.

Can anyone recommend a guide in the area we can use for the day?

I think we are considering an itinerary like this one.

Day 1: Fly to Agadir
Day 2: Oued Massa and Oued Souss - Bald Ibis, Black-crowned Tchagra, Moussier's Redstart, Plain Martin and Red-necked Nightjar key targets
Day 3: Asrir area (unsure if possible on day trip or better to stay down there?) - Scrub Warbler, Fulvous Babbler, Red-rumped Wheatear, Thick-billed Lark, Desert Lark, Temminck's Lark etc...
Day 4: Tamri (if required) and drive towards Oukaimden - Bald Ibis, Tristram's Warbler, Levaillant Woodpecker
Day 5: Oukaimden and fly home / go to Marrakech - African Crimson-winged Finch, Tristram's Warbler, Levaillant Woodpecker, Atlas Wheatear

Does this look like a reasonable plan? If we had an extra day, what should we do with it?

Thanks,

Oli

 

[temmie]

Streaked scrub warbler: most people see them SW of Guelmim: Streaked Scrub Warbler - Scotocerca inquieta | Biodiversité Al-Maghrib | Observation.org

Fulvous Babbler: S of Guelmim, in general: Fulvous Babbler - Argya fulva | Biodiversité Al-Maghrib | Observation.org

The Wheatear is everywhere in the region: Red-rumped Wheatear - Oenanthe moesta | Biodiversité Al-Maghrib | Observation.org

Thick-billed lark generally SW of Guelmim, but also SE: Thick-billed Lark - Ramphocoris clotbey | Biodiversité Al-Maghrib | Observation.org

Desert Lark (there are better areas than around Guelmim though): Desert Lark - Ammomanes deserti | Biodiversité Al-Maghrib | Observation.org

Temminck's Lark around Zriouilia: Temminck's Lark - Eremophila bilopha | Biodiversité Al-Maghrib | Observation.org

You can click on the red squares and either check the observations:

Temminck's Lark - Eremophila bilopha | Biodiversité Al-Maghrib | Observation.org

Biodiversité Al-Maghrib | Observation.org - All observations from nature online

morocco.observation.org

or you show all observations within that square on a map (e.g. like this for Temminck's Lark just S of Zriouilia:

Biodiversité Al-Maghrib | Observation.org

Biodiversité Al-Maghrib | Observation.org - All observations from nature online

morocco.observation.org

You can check, if you click on observations, the exact coordinations within each sighting (+ time of day, sometimes pictures), e.g.:

Temminck's Lark - Eremophila bilopha 2019-12-29 | Biodiversité Al-Maghrib | Observation.org

Biodiversité Al-Maghrib | Observation.org - All observations from nature online

morocco.observation.org

If you have an account, you can select a user and filter all his/her sightings on a certain day (so a bit like day lists).
e.g. Biodiversité Al-Maghrib | Observation.org

You can also check the observed species list for the Guelmim area:

Morocco - Guelmim | Biodiversité Al-Maghrib | Observation.org

Biodiversité Al-Maghrib | Observation.org - All observations from nature online

morocco.observation.org

I have no idea about whether you can easily connect with all of those species in a day, and how long it is to drive to Guelmim. Just watch out for speed traps. They are everywhere on the outskirts of towns and villages.

 

[Muppit17]

The old hotspot used to be around 'Tan-tan 100' marker ie c 30 km SW of Guelmim & 100km from Tan-tan along the main N1. Easy to get to but I have no recent info. Used to have Scrub warbler to the west of the road and a mix of larks and wheatears to the east, although ploughing of some of the area didn't help.

Bear in mind that there have been c 4 years of drought and this has impacted everything, including numbers and ranges of species which are nomadic and even normally at relatively low populations. In theory, anywhere in the Saharan depression, of which Guelmim is on the northern edge, can hold the birds. Locating where the rains have fallen during this winter will help finding the targets.

I have found that Google maps is accurate in predicting travel times - allow an average of 50km per hour even in remote areas. Going through the towns is much slower.

 

[simmojunior]

Thanks both - very helpful. Has anyone tried to do this in a day from the Agadir area before?

 

[Muppit17]

Thanks both - very helpful. Has anyone tried to do this in a day from the Agadir area before?

I did the Tan-tan 100 area as a day trip from Taroudant & had time for Oued Massa on the way back, but that was pushing it.
I would plan to stay in the Guelmim area for a night and that allows for time to search the Oueds to the south of town for the babblers and head to the other areas Temmie mentions.

You can easily do Oued Massa & Souss on the way back to Agadir.

Btw I wouldn't plan for Tristram's & Levaillants at Tamri. You need to go to the subalpine zone in the High Atlas,

 

[simmojunior]

I did the Tan-tan 100 area as a day trip from Taroudant & had time for Oued Massa on the way back, but that was pushing it.
I would plan to stay in the Guelmim area for a night and that allows for time to search the Oueds to the south of town for the babblers and head to the other areas Temmie mentions.

You can easily do Oued Massa & Souss on the way back to Agadir.

Btw I wouldn't plan for Tristram's & Levaillants at Tamri. You need to go to the subalpine zone in the High Atlas,

Thanks. I'm hoping we can get Levaillant's and Tristram's somewhere like Ourigane or Asni between Agadir and Oukaimden.

 

[Muppit17]

Thanks. I'm hoping we can get Levaillant's and Tristram's somewhere like Ourigane or Asni between Agadir and Oukaimden

Neither are really high enough except for wandering birds, both places mentioned are c 1100m asl and really you need to get c1600m for Levaillants and higher still for Tristram's.

Imlil, south of Asni is a good area for Levaillant's and anywhere along the P2005 & the river can hold them from Asni up.

Tristram's are more tricky, of course there are records from the N'fis valley but usually they are higher up. They will be in good voice at this time of year and on your route the section from the high end of the Ourika valley to Oukaimeden is your best bet. They do wander a fair bit if the weather has been difficult in the mountains, so you can 'bump into' them anywhere after unsettled weather.

 

[simmojunior]

Super thanks Muppit really helpful.