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| Pharaoh Eagle-Owl |
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| Hamada Landscape |
Temminck's Horned Lark, Thekla Lark, Red-rumped Wheatear (a catch-up for me from the previous day), Woodchat Shrike, Northern Wheatear, Desert Wheatear, Crested Lark, Long-legged Buzzard and to our great delight Hoopoe-lark with its distinctive bill. Then Hassan the driver of the other vehicle found Cream-coloured Courser, and we all had great views of this beautiful species.
Soon it was time to head off for a coffee stop (hard-core birding at its best!) in the outskirts of town so that our drivers could go for fresh bread and other lunch supplies, and we could sample more of the local tea. At this roadside cafe we found White Wagtail, House Bunting, House Sparrow and Common Kestrel, Common Swift and Pallid Swift overhead. This gave us chance to compare the two swift species at close quarters.
The scenery today was fantastic, more dramatic than I could have imagined, with snow topped mountains behind the Hamada landscape which showed off in the bright light to perfection. Some distant birds flew away from us showing a lot of white, they were not Hoopoe-larks so our supposition was Thick-billed Lark, another speciality of this area. We set off in hot pursuit across the bumpy ground, up and down the wadis in the general direction the birds had flown. It was not to be on this occasion however, and after much bumping about we gave up and went off for (yet) another break.
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| Red-rumped Wheatear |
Those in the second vehicle had seen Little Ringed Plover, so as we went back out to the Tagdilt Track we diverted to the small pool to catch up on them. The two small plovers were easily seen and photos taken.
The drivers dropped us off alongside another wadi so that we could explore on foot whilst they prepared our lunch. Larks were all around us, mainly Thekla again, but with some Desert and Crested thrown in for good measure. A large dragonfly (possibly Vagrant or Lesser Hawker) was joined by Painted Lady Butterfly (the High Atlas Mountains being a breeding area for them in Europe) and a rather strange black and white beetle. As we wandered along a desert hare was flushed, showing off its huge ears and white scut beautifully as it zig -zagged across the stony ground away from us and towards our drivers.
Lunch was fresh bread with chopped green red and yellow peppers, gherkins, olives, cheese, sweetcorn, tomato and tinned tuna. All washed down with cola or water. Oranges and bananas made up our dessert.
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| Cream-coloured Courser |
The breeze was strengthening into a strong wind, and we wrapped up well against it, including covering our mouths and heads.
Fed and watered, and we were off again, this time for the highlight of the trip so far, and one of those birding experiences that happen rarely in a lifetime. We finally caught up with the Thick-billed Larks.
We watched a pair of the birds and photographed them from the cars, then we slowly got out and several of the more keen photographers quietly moved forward to get a better shot. We all gradually joined them on the ground around the happily eating birds. They were superb, giving us a great show as they fed on seeds and insects just in front of us. We got remarkably close before one of them realised that they had in fact strayed from the other, a quick contact chirp and they were reunited.
We watched as they flew some short distance away, and meandered across to see them again. Once more they fed and busied themselves as we watched, thrilled at the experience of being allowed into the confidence of such remarkable birds. We sat on the ground watching them, and some even lay flat to get the ultimate photo - the birds remained totally at ease, feeding and strutting around in their domain.
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| Thick-billed Lark |
Eventually we had to move on and this time we went off in search of water, for some potential migrant species. We ended up in a small oasis which our driver Yousef had heard could be good. Here irrigation channels supply water to several little fields. Here we had Ring Ouzel, Bluethroat, Tree Pipit, Serin, Swallow, Sand Martin, White Wagtail, Chaffinch, Common Redstart and Collared Dove.
Back towards the hotel as the light subsided and long shadows played on the hillsides, we found Lesser Short-toed Lark and Black-eared Wheatear.
One last wadi to explore and as the nomad's dog barked we decided to keep a healthy distance. Despite our best efforts we were unable to add anything further to the list so called it quits, and made off for showers, dinner and an early night - for tomorrow we travel to the desert!
So, just to bring the day down to reality, there was one not so pleasant aspect today - the litter! It appears that plastic bags are simply brought out into the Hamada and dumped wherever the truck driver wants, just for it all to blow around, gathering in the vegetation, glinting in the sunlight, and generally creating a dismal and depressing sight to those of us who value our environment.
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| Getting up close and personal |
It just brings it home to me that we really cannot stop spreading the word and educating the world to the damage our species is continuing to do to our environment.
I feel a letter coming on . . . . .
