WP rarities in northwest Africa (1 Viewer)

[Acrocephalus]

Here are some recent and not-so-recent Western Palearctic rarities from the southwestern corner of the region (Mauritania included). Contributions are welcome!

- Dwarf Bittern at Nouadhibou, 22 and 23 January 2020.

- 2 Kelp Gulls at Anza, Agadir, 8 January 2020. The observer photographed an adult at the same site in January 2016

- Black Scrub Robin photographed in the Tamanrasset region in May 2019. This is the not-so-recent one, included here for information. Koen de Smet, who worked in Algeria for years and knows the fauna of the region very well, nicely summarized its rarity and significance in this comment “Magnificent: we've been looking for it for 30 years !!...”. He alludes to the fact that the only record(s) in Algeria were obtained decades ago (in 1968).

 

[Acrocephalus]

Jacobin Cuckoo

Two Jacobin Cuckoos at Tamanrasset on 5 October 2019. First record for the Algeria and North Africa.

 

[Acrocephalus]

African Crake

An African Crake found dead at Banc d’Arguin on 14 January 2020. Photo by Klaus Günther here.

(seen at Tarsiger.com)

Two Jacobin Cuckoos at Tamanrasset on 5 October 2019. First record for the Algeria and North Africa.

I learned that this is the 3rd WP record (if the Finnish record is counted as wild).

 

[Steve Lister]

I read somewhere that the Tamanrasset White-rumped Seedeaters record relates to escaped/released birds. Any chance that some of the other reports from the area may also be suspect?

 

[Acrocephalus]

I read somewhere that the Tamanrasset White-rumped Seedeaters record relates to escaped/released birds. Any chance that some of the other reports from the area may also be suspect?

Actually a long comment about this subject was posted in the same blog-post where the White-rumped Seedeater photos were first published. I won’t comment on this species right now. However, concerning the other species (Blue-naped Mousebird, Sudan Golden Sparrow, Black Scrub Robin and Jacobin Cuckoo), I don’t think there should be any problem.

 

[Acrocephalus]

African Crake and Eastern Black-eared Wheatear

An African Crake found dead at a site named Sebkhat Skaymate located north of Dakhla on 13 February 2019.

An Eastern Black-eared Wheatear was netted at Merzouga during a ringing session on 8 March 2020 (only 4 previous old records in Morocco).