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| Traditional commute |
First, however, there was the little matter of some regular birding just to build up the tension. We were off to the Massa River about an hour away from Agadir. Here we were back in Spotless Starling country, along with House Sparrow, Common and Pallid Swift.
We stopped off outside a small village where a bridge crosses the river and gives an opportunity for Plain (Brown-throated) Martin. The other hope for this site was Black-crowned Tchagra - another of Jaffa's "responds well to tape" birds! In this case it worked, and we had reasonable views within minutes of our arrival. I left the photography to more experienced hands, and enjoyed watching the bird. The locals were starting to go off to work on donkeys and carts, a far more leisurely start than a queue on the M25!
Cormorants (of the sinensis sub-species) flew overhead, whilst a Stonechat perched high above the river. Sedge Warbler and Common Whitethroat called from the reeds and a Common Sandpiper strutted around between the pebbles below us. It was great to see all these migrants on the move! Terrapins were coming to the surface for air and taking in the sun at the same time. The river was full of life with many shoals of fish of varying sizes and species and several types of beetles skating and swimming.
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| Sardinian Warbler |
On the way to the Estuary we found a Little Owl perched on a wall at the side of the track - it would have seemed churlish not to take a photo or two/three/four/more! It was sooooo cute
At the Parc National de Souss Massa we had the opportunity to stroll along enjoying a wild area along the side of the river. The path ran to the sea, and across the river we had great views of the surrounding countryside - ideal for Montagu's Harrier some thought. More Tchagra, Sardinian Warbler, Chiffchaff, Tawny Pipit, Meadow Pipit, Moussier's Redstart, Blackbird, Zitting Cisticola and Linnet to name but a few.
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| Fish and Terrapin |
Several sunbathers were enjoying the sand on the spit across the mouth of the estuary and a diligent warden shot off in pursuit of them, whistle blowing, to get them away from the resting gulls and terns.
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| The Cutest thing! |
It may come as no surprise to know that we had not seen Andrew since we arrived - he was presumably in some state of euphoria, basking in the wealth of botanical riches around us. It was really great to be in an unspoilt landscape where every step seemed to bring more diverse plant species. With the plant species came more delights; several butterflies including Purple-shot Copper, Plain Tiger, and a Wall Brown. A Crimson-speckled Footman moth was found resting on a leaf. The Vagrant or Lesser Emperor Dragonfly was buzzing around us as well.
Having been over an hour late for lunch the last two days we had promised to be back on time today, and we were in fact early, so used the time wisely in some more bird and flower watching. A Barbary Partridge strutted around in some nearby fields, as Andrew came to use the telescope to get his first sight he managed to put his foot on the only Iris he had seen on the trip - mortified is not the word for it!
Lunch was yet another delicious freshly made Berber Tagine with eggs. Whilst we ate, I noticed a wasp (probably something akin to Sphecidae wasp - Ammophila spp, it was tending the nest which was down a hole in the ground. Even around the well-walked car park there were more new plants and flowers to investigate. A diverse and rich area which deserved more of our time.
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| Botanists heaven |
Sadly not on this occasion, however, as we were now on a strict time-schedule to see the Ibis, and get in our daily dose of caffeine. Just a couple of minutes out of the reserve and we stopped for some landscape photos, although it remained out of sight a Quail was heard calling several times.
We were off to Tamri - just as soon as we could drag Andrew away and into the car!
Through the outskirts of Agadir, and along the northern coast road, we stopped at a local cafe for tea and coffee, by now we were well versed in the tea ceremony and the tea was poured into the glasses from a great height - splashing everywhere, much to the Moroccans' amusement. We continued on to a couple of well known spots for the Ibis, but they were not to be seen. Our driver knew of one other site, further north, and Jaffa took the decision to go with it. A brilliant choice, as once again Yousef proved his worth - the flock of Ibis were circling around as we drove onto the clifftop. The birds continued to circle as we parked up and waited to see where they would land. Frustratingly they couldn't seem to make up their minds, the rain started and that confused them more. We waited and eventually our patience was rewarded as they landed in front of the cars. Several hundred photographs later and we finally pulled ourselves away from these less than attractive birds on whom so much hope is pinned for the future survival of their species.
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| Northern Bald Ibis |
Interestingly, one person was more interested in Plants!!!
Our final stop was to be on a local shore where we whiled away a couple of hours poking about in the dunes and along the edge of the beach. More gulls, terns and a couple of Dunlin and Ringed Plover.
Some tadpoles were swimming in a small puddle left by the tide. As we explored further into the scrub area behind the dunes, the mozzies came out and forced us back into the breeze along the beach. A Moroccan Wagtail bounced around between the clumps of grass, almost on Andrews shoulder at one stage.
Soon it was time to go back to the hotel for our final evening, and plan the following day's itinerary for the return to a cold and wet UK, but not before we had all put forward our five highlights of the trip.
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| A type of Hottentot Fig |
Hard to come up with only five highlights, we seemed to have more than five every day!
