Thursday, May 10, 2007

Morocco

Just returned from an excellent week birding in Morocco. This was my first proper trip to the region exploring all sorts of raw and beautifully barren habitats from the High Atlas mountains to steppe, rocky plateaus, wadis, oases, palm groves and the stony and sandy deserts of the north western pre-Saharan region.

Highlights of the trip were the crazy displays of Hoopoe Larks on the Tagdilt plateau and the desert lake at Merzouga alive with waterbirds. Birds of note included Ruddy Shelduck, Lanner Falcon, Barbary Falcon, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, Levaillant's Green Woodpecker, Desert Lark, Bar-tailed Lark, Thick-billed Lark, Temminck's Lark, Hoopoe Lark, Common Bulbul, Moussier's Redstart, Desert Wheatear, Western Mourning Wheatear, White-crowned Wheatear, Red-rumped Wheatear, African Desert Warbler, Scrub Warbler, Fulvous Babbler, Brown-necked Raven, Desert Sparrow, Crimson-winged Finch & House Bunting.

Other fantastic wildlife included dozens of Plain Tiger butterflies (Danaus chrysippus), large Spiny-tailed Lizards (Uromastyx acanthinurus), Desert Fox (Fennecus zerda) and hundreds of Vagrant Emperor dragonflies (Hemianax ephippiger). Looking forward to returning again next year to explore the coastal wetlands, Mamora and Argan forests. I’ll post a full trip report soon for Morocco and the Costa de la Luz soon on the main website.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Superb pictures Fraser, takes me right back,
Glad you liked my trip report,
John Dempsey
http://birdblog.merseyblogs.co.uk

Unknown said...

Beautiful! Wonderful color and composition!You are an artist,Faser. I am looking forward to more pics of Morroco.

HampshireBirder said...

as usual excellent pics fraser, i visited morocco in 2005 and saw white storks and an eleonora's falcon

Fraser Simpson said...

Thanks John, Ningning and Tom for your comments.

Anders said...

Fantastic pictures! Really inspiring! My brother went to Morocco a few years ago and said there was fine grained sand always and all over.

How did the camera like the climate (heat, sand...)?

/Anders

Anonymous said...

outstanding photo's

Hawke.Zoomer said...

Excellent Fraser, I always look forward to seeing your pictures, they are stunning. I must say the Atlas horned lark has got to be my favourite, cheers, Robert.