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Marsh Owl, Merja Zerga, 17.04.2010 18.04. Merja Zerga, Larache (Lower Loukkos), Temara After a leisurely breakfast on the hotel veranda, we met Hassan at 8 a.m. by the harbour. We had arranged to take a boat trip to the lagoon of Merja Zerga. Heavy rain forced us to delay our departure but after approximately 20 minutes the rain stopped and we headed out. Our main target bird was Lesser Crested Tern. The first bird had arrived two days earlier. We went to a sand bank and struck lucky when we found one bird roosting among Sandwich Terns. Lesser Crested Tern, Merja Zerga, 18.04.2010 Soon the skies opened up again and we retreated to the shore where we waited under a tree for the rain to stop. After an hour the rain subsided and we returned to the lagoon. While we 18
were watching some waders, gulls and terns, the heavy rain started again and we finally gave up. Despite waterproof clothes we were soaking wet and needed to change. We paid Hassan 600 MD for the four of us and left Moulay Bousselham heading north. At midday we arrived at Larache and explored the wide wetland areas east of town. We birded at a relaxed pace, feeling that we deserved some time relaxing after such a strenuous trip. The sun came out and we were treated to good views of a variety of birds including Great White Egret, Little Bittern, Marbled Duck, Crested Coot, Lesser Kestrel, 100+ Collared Pratincoles, Peregrine, 6 Gull-billed Terns, Skylark (rare at this time of the year in Morocco, two birds singing), 1 Brown-throated Martin and Cetti’s Warbler. On our return drive to Larache we received a text message saying that our return flights for the next day had been cancelled due to the volcanic eruption in Iceland and the resulting dust clouds over Europe. We still had to return to Rabat to drop our car off at the airport the next day. We were unable to learn anything about the flight situation in the following days and we returned to Hotel Panorama in Temara in low spirits. 19.04. Sidi Yaya – Sidi Bettache, Rabat Airport, Tanger Another early morning start was necessary for a second attempt at Double-spurred Francolin. We arrived in the dark at the carpark but despite waiting for the first light we again failed to find the bird. It seems that the car park wasn’t a good spot this year, as the same happened to a group of Dutch and two Finnish birders we met during our trip. But thanks to Andreas Uppstu (one of the Finnish birders), who sent us directions to another site for our target bird, all was not lost. At 33.708682°N 6.921912°W we made another stop and 20 minutes after dawn we were electrified to hear a Double-spurred Francolin calling. In the end we counted 7 different birds calling from this point in the valley to the east of the road but although the birds called for at least 1½ hours and we desperately tried to locate one we failed (like all the other birders that we met). We returned to the hotel and had breakfast before driving to Rabat airport to return our rental car. From there we took a taxi to Tangiers having learned that all Moroccan airports were to remain closed for the next four days. After lengthy negotiations we secured a price of 1200 MD to Tangiers port. During the drive to Tangiers we added Roller as the final new species for our trip list in Morocco. At the port of Tangiers we had to accept that the only possibility to return to Austria was the ferry via Barcelona to Genova, which took us nearly 3 days. Other ideas, such as taking a ferry to Spain, had to be abandoned because of the lack of rental cars and overbooked trains. 20.04. – 22.04. Ferry Tanger, Barcelona, Genoa, Udine, Klagenfurt, Graz/Vienna On the evening of 20 April we saw a group of 15 Storm Petrels off the eastern Spanish coast. We were not allowed to leave the ship during our stop in Barcelona on 21 April but still managed to see 8 Monk Parakeets and 4 Ring-necked Parakeets. Later on in the evening we saw a pelagic flock of 31 Little Gulls off the Spanish Coast. We arrived in Genova on 22 April and made our way back to Austria via rental car and train. Although our return trip was a nightmare, the trip was incredibly successful with 233 species including 24 WP ticks for me personally and just one dip, Atlas Pied Flycatcher, which was hardly unexpected. 19
Page 1 and 2: TRIP REPORT MOROCCO AND WESTERN SAH
Page 3 and 4: flamingo_290@hotmail.com, phone 002
Page 5 and 6: close to the sea, 50 km south of Ta
Page 7 and 8: Desert Sparrow, Oued Yenna, 08.04.2
Page 9 and 10: 10.04. Essaouria surroundings, Oual
Page 11 and 12: We decided to avoid the Marrakesh t
Page 13 and 14: Pharaoh Eagle Owl with three chicks
Page 15 and 16: 16.04. Zeida Plains, Azrou, Ifrane,
Page 17: Marbled Duck, Lac de Sidi Boughaba,
Page 21 and 22: Complete Trip List 1. Zwergtaucher
Page 23 and 24: 112. Mönchssittich° Myiopsitta mo
Page 25: 219. Bluthänfling Acanthis cannabi

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