Travel photography from Morocco - part 1

I've uploaded two slideshows from my recent trip to the main site at www.fssbirding.org.uk/moroccophotosindex.htm
The emphasis on this trip was general travel photography rather than birds.

Urban Birding in Madrid - Casa de Campo

On returning from Morocco I had a day and a night in Madrid with my brother (who lives there and knows the city well). I'd hoped to get some photographs of the city combined with a bit of birding in the green spaces. One such space is the vast area known as Casa de Campo – and 'urbanised' dehesa of more than 1700 hectares, which I guess could be the equivalent of London's Richmond Park. In spring and early summer and with a lot more time this area should provide species like Hoopoe, Scops Owl, Hawfinch, Black Kite and possibly shrikes in the quieter areas! The problem was I had a touch of food poisoning (ok, I should have abstained from the salads in Morocco, but they were tasty!) and my enthusiasm was a little reduced. A walk around produced Short-toed Treecreeper, Serin, Iberian Green Woodpecker, Spotless Starling, nesting White Storks, White Wagtail, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Stock Dove, Jay, Tree Sparrow, and numerous Monk Parakeets. The highlight though was a migrating flock of over 400 Eurasian Cranes heading north which began to circle slowly high above the area. It was the chorus of bugling calls that first attracted my attention and on looking up it felt that spring was now beginning. These birds would probably be heading up from Andalucia via Laguna Gallocanta, across the Pyrenees into France, then Germany and into Scandinavia.

Gambel's Quail in the Chihuahuan Desert

Here is a recording of a group of Gambel's Quails (Callipepla gambelii) from Bosque del Apache NWR, New Mexico, on 28 December 2010. It features some advertising calls from a male and social/contact calls from other quails.

White-crowned Wheatear - roosting & singing in human habitation

During two nights stay at Kasbah Hotel Yasmina (formerly Cafe Yasmina) at Erg Chebbi, north of Merzouga, an adult White-crowned Wheatear (Oenanthe leucopyga) appeared after dark inside the main room while we were having dinner. It favoured the wall-mounted lamp covers (moths available for night time snacks) and appeared completely at ease with the coming and going of staff and guests. In fact, during a tebilat drumming session, it even began to sing! Apparently it been present for a long period and so I didn't want to disturb it with a camera flash. Instead, here is a photograph of a first year bird (with no white crown) in the nearby dunes.

Tristram's Warbler recordings from Morocco

I managed to get a recording of a Tristram's Warbler singing (not full chrystalised song?) from very low in a tamarisk beside the dried-out Yasmina Lake at Erg Chebbi where a few winter. The vocalisations were quiet and subdued (like sub-song) and a desert wind was also blowing.

Calls from the same individual above: slightly stuttering, and sparrow-like.

Travels through Morocco

My brother and I spent last week travelling over the High Atlas from Marrackech to the edge of the Sahara near the border with Algeria. Our interest was general photography though I could not help but see some good birds along the way. Sometimes on birding trips in new places (trip report from 2007 here) I can be looking so hard for new species on a tight itinerary that I forget to enjoy the birds themselves. On a more relaxed approach, absorbing the wonderful landscapes of Morocco through a wider angle, the birds may find you - and somehow the experience can be richer. I'm talking about the Desert Sparrows that land three feet away from you when you're concentrating on photographing sand dune ripples, the House Bunting that wakes you up by singing within a hotel, the Tristam's Warbler that scolds in typical Sylvia tones above an al fresco desert breakfast, or the Hoopoe Lark that runs past when your transportation becomes stuck in not so terra firma! I'll post a lot of photographs later but for now: Snow in the High Atlas, Camels in the desert, verdant terraces of agriculture in the Atlas foothills, Djemma El Fna at sunet, an oasis near Tineghir, a curious Desert Sparrow (Passer simplex saharae) at Erg Chebbi, and White Storks nesting on top of a minaret in the Dades Gorge.

New Mexico

After we departed the Bosque del Apache and Socorro area, we traveled around this exciting desert state from the Chihuahuan Desert in the south to the snowy peaks in the north. General birding and sight-seeing of various geological features were the main interests and as a result I spent little time on trying to get record shots of different species. Below are some photographs from sites such as the White Sands gypsum desert, the Three Rivers Petroglyphs sites, Taos Pueblo, Tent Rocks, Roswell, Rio Grande Gorge, San Francisco de Asis Church, Old San Miguel Mission, Santa Fe, Sandia Peak, El Malpais, Very Large Array, Plains of San Agustin, Valley of Fires, and Valles Caldera.

All these photos and more can be viewed in a slideshow on my main site at:

www.fssbirding.org.uk/newmexicophotos.htm

www.fssbirding.org.uk/newmexicophotos2.htm

Biking & birding to work

I cycle a minimum of 85 miles per week to work from zone 4 in North London to zone 1 in the centre. Last July I gave up on 'the tube' (London Underground) due to the poor service, endless strikes, though mainly due to the fact it is 'hoachin'... and I miss cycling. Though it doesn't compare to cycling in the Scottish countryside (countryside=safe, city=dangerous), its does keep me fit, I save money, and I see more birds! Arriving at work, I feel energised too (the tube saps your enthusiasm and drains your energy). Amazingly I can cycle door-to-door in about 33 minutes cycling time compared with 45 mins on the tube (which included a one mile walk to the station). So not only is the humble push bike faster than the car through urban London, it can also leave the tube behind! In late January 2011 I decided to keep a list of all species seen for the year. My usual route takes me through busy suburban and urban streets which provide less interest so diversions over the course of the year through parks and past reservoirs should yield interesting finds. Highlights so far have included 100 Waxwings in Finchley Road and a pair of Firecrests and a Water Rail in Regent's Park.

Regular visitors to this blog will know I like birds with long legs and long wings and I now see even more herons if I pass by the heronry in Regent's Park. The breeding season is getting under way with lots of activity there now and the birds are particularly vocal at dusk. Last week weekend I made some sound recordings of Grey Herons on the nest as they settled in for the night.

Can you see what it is yet?

Created at Tagxedo after seeing the Wanstead Birder's swan.