Paul's 2025 World List (9 Viewers)

[Paul Chapman]

Sorry Paul, I wasn't questioning your research, nor that the birds are resident. They are simply almost impossible to find unless the female is calling and that they have nearly all abandoned their traditional natural habitat.

I assume that the research you mention is this paper https://www.sciencedirect.com/scien...erannual fluctuations and large uncertainties.

As you say the problem with May is it is the timing of the cropping of the first harvest of Alfalfa. The crop age and type is crucial for finding the species and that is rarely mentioned in bird lists (inc netfugl, e-bird - neither of which are used much by local birders).

As I know the recording on both systems are heavily skewed by the timing of birders visiting Morocco, not necessarily indicative of the best time for seeing the birds.

Thank you for this. I was referring to a precis of that or similar I suspect so that will be very useful.

More reading needed.

10,000+ steps today & no joy. Now moved on from the locality. I am more annoyed with myself than anything else in underestimating the challenge but at the same time, I also didn't set down the parameters properly for the effort that we would make on what was my only real target of the trip. Some lessons either learned or re-learned. I expected maybe a bit more of some others...

I was grumpy & tired yesterday having worked out I had fluffed attempt two. I have at least mentally done a lot of internal swearing - a cross between Father Jack impersonations & a tourettes documentary.

I have some thoughts on attempt three including the likely pace of agricultural change in different elements of the coastal strip range depending on location.

Thanks again

Paul

 

[Paul Chapman]

Target birding is horrid at times. Of course, I should have simply been delighting in an agricultural landscape that was full of life rather than thinking about a "tick" for an odd geographical area especially as I have seen the species well before & indeed photographed it. Four year ticks yesterday & none today:-

800. Golden Oriole 8th May Coastal Morocco
801. Spotted Flycatcher 8th May Coastal Morocco
802. Serin 8th May Coastal Morocco
803. Stone-curlew 8th May Coastal Morocco

Two days' searching did produce 22 lepidoptera in the agricultural fields with 10 butterflies, 8 macro moths & 4 pyralids.

A few pics - Speckled Wood, Uresiphita gilvata, Painted Lady, Slender Burnished Brass, Loxostege stiticalis, Bath White, Clouded Yellow, Silver Y, Long-tailed Blue, Plain Tiger, Pale Shoulder. Small White, Spoladea recurvalis & Scopula reaumuraria.

Also I suspect a Quail footprint. Quail - we saw a few..... No Hemipode footprints were knowingly seen. No Hemipode faeces. Funny what you end up looking for. 😀

All the best

Paul

 

[Paul Chapman]

A few year ticks today:-

804. Double-spurred Francolin 9th May Sidi Yahya des Zaers
805. Cuckoo 9th May Sidi Yahya des Zaers
806. Short-toed Eagle 9th May Sidi Yahya des Zaers
807. African Blue Tit 9th May Sidi Yahya des Zaers
808. Woodlark 9th May Sidi Yahya des Zaers
809. Nightingale 9th May Sidi Yahya des Zaers
810. African Chaffinch 9th May Sidi Yahya des Zaers
811. Black Kite 9th May Lac de Sidi Boughaba, Morocco
812. Marbled Duck 9th May Lac de Sidi Boughaba, Morocco
813. Red-crested Pochard 9th May Lac de Sidi Boughaba, Morocco
814. Ferruginous Duck 9th May Lac de Sidi Boughaba, Morocco
815. White-headed Duck 9th May Lac de Sidi Boughaba, Morocco
816. Crested Coot 9th May Lac de Sidi Boughaba, Morocco
817. Little Bittern 9th May Lac de Sidi Boughaba, Morocco
818. Hobby 9th May Lac de Sidi Boughaba, Morocco
819. Cetti's Warbler 9th May Lac de Sidi Boughaba, Morocco

This is my fourth visit to Morocco - 16th to 21st February 2011; 22nd to 27th March 2012; & 4th to 8th June 2023. Seventeen days' birding.

In addition, I visited the disputed territory of Western Sahara between 13th to 17th February 2016.

We have four & a bit days left birding which should be very enjoyable with a couple of new sites for me.

A couple of non-bird pics with the remarkable enormous grasshopper Truxalis nasuta & the Moroccan race of Spur-thighed Tortoise.

All the best

Paul

 

[Owene]

Amazing grasshopper. Nice birds too but that grasshopper is extraordinary

 

[Paul Chapman]

A few bits today as we headed north to the Straits:-

820. Marsh Owl 10th May Merja Zerga, Morocco
821. Greater Flamingo 10th May Travelling Records, Morocco
822. Griffon Vulture 10th May Jbel Moussa, Morocco
823. Ruppell's Griffon Vulture 10th May Jbel Moussa, Morocco
824. Egyptian Vulture 10th May Jbel Moussa, Morocco
825. European Honey-buzzard 10th May Jbel Moussa, Morocco
826. Alpine Swift 10th May Jbel Moussa, Morocco

A few pics though trying to avoid bird back of cameras to edit at home.

At least four Ruppell's seen - two with colour rings, a wing-tagged bird & an unringed one - but no White-backed as far as we were aware. Some photos will be reviewed on my return.

All the best

Paul

 

[Paul Chapman]

A travelling day down to Ifrane & then the last few hours there continued the year ticks:-

827. Long-legged Buzzard (the Atlas race is still classified as this on eBird...) 11th May Travelling Records, Morocco
828. Lesser Kestrel 11th May Travelling Records, Morocco
829. European Roller 11th May Travelling Records, Morocco
830. Thekla's Lark 11th May Ifrane, Morocco
831. Spectacled Warbler 11th May Ifrane, Morocco
832. Moussier's Redstart 11th May Ifrane, Morocco
833. Atlas Wheatear 11th May Ifrane, Morocco
834. Western Black-eared Wheatear 11th May Ifrane, Morocco
835. Hawfinch 11th May Ifrane, Morocco
836. Levaillant's Woodpecker 11th May Ifrane, Morocco
837. Short-toed Treecreeper 11th May Ifrane, Morocco
838. Atlas Flycatcher 11th May Ifrane, Morocco
839. European Scips Owl 11th May Ifrane, Morocco
840. Maghreb Owl 11th May Ifrane, Morocco

Also Moorish/Berber/Mauritanian Toad is quite a looker.

All the best

Paul

 

[Paul Chapman]

Having got a day ahead of our timeline yesterday, another day was spent around Ifrane without any targets but a few year ticks resulted:-

841. Barbary Partridge 12th May Ifrane, Morocco
842. Woodchat Shrike 12th May Ifrane, Morocco
843. Melodious Warbler 12th May Ifrane, Morocco
844. Western Subalpine Warbler 12th May Ifrane, Morocco
845. Cirl Bunting 12th May Ifrane, Morocco
846. Western Orphean Warbler 12th May Azrou, Morocco
847. Common Redstart 12th May Azrou, Morocco

All the best

Paul

 

[Paul Chapman]

A day essentially dipping Dupont's Lark continued to add some year ticks:-

848. Rock Sparrow 13th May Travelling Records, Morocco
849. Ruddy Shelduck 13th May Travelling Records, Morocco
850. Temminck's Lark 13th May Zaida Plains, Morocco
851. Greater Short-toed Lark 13th May Zaida Plains, Morocco
852. Mediterranean Short-toed Lark 13th May Zaida Plains, Morocco
853. Desert Wheatear 13th May Zaida Plains, Morocco
854. Red-rumped Wheatear 13th May Zaida Plains, Morocco

Ten degrees wind & rain probably didn't help. It would have been a Morocco tick so looking again in the morning. I'll work out my Morocco list when I get home.

Heading home tomorrow.

All the best

Paul

 

[Scridifer]

Safe travels Paul.

Chris