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09.04. Dakhla, Echtoucan, Laayoune, Agadir, Essaouria Another early-morning start seemed necessary to see the roosting Pied Crows at Echtoucan, 106 km north of the Dakhla checkpoint. This represents only the 4 th record in the WP according to Christ Batty. We arrived there in first light after a two-hour drive and found two birds roosting on the cliffs below the pylons north-west of the petrol station. They soon took off but remained in the area of the petrol station, feeding on the rubbish. In fact, they were still there when we finished our breakfast at the café 1½ hours later. Pied Crow, Echtoucan, 09.04.2010 Except for one brief stop in Laayoune, which produced several waterfowl including Marbled Duck and a single Little Swift, we pushed on north to Essaouira, which meant a 1400 km journey in a single day. We arrived in Essaouira at 11 p.m. Together with Helmut I tried unsuccessfully for 1½ hours to locate Maghreb Tawny Owl, which was reported in 2009 from the trees close to the harbour (see the map by Javier Alvirez below). We stayed at the hotel Dar Naciria (58, Bd. Med V Essaouria, essa@darnaciria.net, www.darnaciria.net, phone 00212 24784504) and paid 400 MD per double room including breakfast. Maghreb Tawny Owl map 8
10.04. Essaouria surroundings, Oualidia After a long day (21 hours) the previous day we treated ourselves to a lie-in and slept until 7 a.m. After breakfast we spent until midday exploring the surroundings of Essaouira including the beach, which produced a dark-morph Western Reef Heron, a rare bird in Morocco, and a male Cirl Bunting but little else. It was too early for the most famous bird attraction of the town, Eleonora’s Falcon, which breeds in huge numbers on the offshore islands. Despite a careful search we were not able to locate any of the rare Shags of race riggenbachi. Birding on Essaouria beach, 10.04.2010 After a nice lunch in the fascinating scenery of the old part of Essaouria and wonderful views of very tame House Buntings we continued north to Oualidia, where we birded for a couple of hours and added a few species such as Blue Rock Thrush to our trip list. We slept at Motel-Restaurant A L’Aragnée Gourmande and paid 250 MD for a double room. Our sleeping rooms were situated next to the restaurant on the southwest edge of the lagoon rather than in the centre of town. To reach the hotel, drive along the road towards the beach. The hotel is on the right of the road opposite a kiosk. It can be highly recommended because of its friendly owner and because of the pleasant rooms. 11.04. Oualidia surroundings, Marrakesh On the following morning we explored the lagoons south of Oualidia, finding a second calendar year Grey Phalarope together with good numbers of waterfowl. After a late breakfast in the restaurant, where we kept an eye on the gull and tern roost in the lagoon of Oualidia, we made our way towards Marrakesh, finding an impressive density of Calandra Larks and Corn Buntings on the way, many of which were already feeding chicks, along with several Collared Pratincoles and Little Owls. As the roads were pretty bad and we had no reason to hurry we did not arrive in Marrakesh until fairly late in the afternoon. We stayed at a hotel at the southern end of Marrakesh on the main road to Oukaimeden to have a good strategic position for an early-morning start to the famous ski resort the next day. We took a taxi back into Marrakesh and spent the evening around the famous square Djemaa el-Fna wandering through the souks. Another attempt to find Maghreb Tawny Owl failed because of the incredibly noisy nightlife in this fascinating town. 12.04. Oukaimeden, Toufliath Forest House, Tizi n’Tichka Pass, Boumalne de Dades An early-morning start (4 a.m.) was necessary to reach Oukaimeden ski resort at first light. The area is situated in the High Atlas at an altitude of 2600 metres. 9
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: Desert Sparrow, Oued Yenna, 08.04.2
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 and 18: Marbled Duck, Lac de Sidi Boughaba,
Page 19 and 20: were watching some waders, gulls an
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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