2005 (No 5) - Gibraltar Ornithological & Natural History Society

56 Bird Report 2005
field guides do not indicate that this species winters in Morocco, Hollom et al. (1988)
note that ‘a few winter in NW Africa’ and this is confirmed by Thévenot et al. (2003).
About 45 Marsh Harriers were seen gathering to roost at dusk, together with flocks
of Cormorants and Glossy Ibises. Purple Swamphens could be heard in the marsh.
Oued Loukkos marsh (Jan 30 th – morning).
Observations were disrupted by the unwelcome presence of numbers of
European, apparently French, hunters. Notable species recorded included about
eight Caspian Terns fishing along the river. A Great Bittern was seen on two separate
occasions. Of particular note was the c.300 Black-tailed Godwits feeding
together on a flooded field. The edges of the same field were the haunt of Common
Snipe, Little Stints, Dunlins and Little Ringed Plovers. As was the case the previous
evening, Bluethroats crept through stands of bulrushes, with bolder individuals
sitting on the track, out in the open. Bluethroats and wagtails were evident, the latter
including a few Yellow Wagtails.
Duck were not as evident as they had been the previous evening, which was
unsurprising given the shooting. However, the hunters did not seem to deter the
flocks of Red-knobbed Coots. This is by far the most abundant coot species at this
wetland, where only a handful of Common Coots were noted, in complete contrast
to Smir on the Mediterranean coast, where only Common Coots were observed.
A few Black Kites, including a small flock, were noted during our return northwards
towards Ceuta and the ferry crossing to Europe. These birds were obviously
the first pre-nuptial migrants making their way north to their European breeding
grounds. Southern Grey Shrikes proved to be extremely common along this road.
Birds were seen perched on fences, trees and dry thistles with incredible frequency.
Our short visit highlighted the need for these Moroccan wetlands to be
afforded the protection that they merit. In particular, hunting seems a serious problem
at Moroccan wetlands that needs to be addressed. The Smir area is popular
with Spanish hunters, particularly those from Ceuta, since plenty of hunters are
present there on Sundays. Morocco is a signatory of the Bonn Convention on
Migratory Species (Fishpool and Evans 2001) and is thus required to conserve such
species. It is worrying to note that most of the birds targeted by hunters are
migrants from northern Europe, such as is the case with most duck and waders. In
addition, some migratory wetland species, such as the Great Bittern (let alone the
Slender-billed Curlew), do not have a favourable conservation status. Some resident
species, such as the Marsh Owl Asio capensis, Marbled Duck Marmaronetta
angustirostris and Red-knobbed Coot, which have an extremely restricted range
within the Mediterranean region are also under threat from hunting and disturbance.
*The trip was one of the activities of GIBMANATUR, the Gibraltar Morocco Interreg IIIA collaborative
project of GONHS and the Institut Scientifique of the Universite Mohammed V, Rabat-Agdal, cofunded
by the European Union and the Government of Gibraltar.