Morocco and Western Sahara April 18 ­ May 4, 2015

Jelmer Poelstra, Marten Hornsveld, Vivian Jacobs, Martijn Hammers

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Morocco and Western Sahara, 18/4 ­ 4/5 2015 Jelmer Poelstra, Marten Hornsveld, Vivian Jacobs, Martijn Hammers

Email: jelmerpoelstra, martenhornsveld, vpj.jacobs, martijnhammers, all [name]@gmail.com Contents Introduction p. 2 Practicalities p. 2 Literature p. 3 Maps & GPS p. 3 Itinerary p. 4 Site accounts p. 5

1. Oukaimeden p. 5 2. Ouarzazate (and route there from Oukaimeden) p. 5 3. Tagdilt track (and nearby Pharaoh Eagle Owl site) p. 6 4. Scrub Warbler site near Goulmima p. 7 5. The Tafilalt: Merzouga and Rissani area p. 7 6. Zaida Plains p. 9 7. Azrou p. 9 8. Merdja Zerga p. 10 9. Larache marsh & Lac Sidi Bourhala (Boughaba) p. 10 10. Sidi Yayha p. 11 11. Essaouira p. 11 12. Tamri surroundings p. 12 13. Oued Souss & Oued Massa p. 12 14. Guelmim (Goulimine) p. 13 15. Road from Guelmim to Dakhla p. 13 16. Dakhla p. 14 17. Gleb Jdiane p. 15 18. Aousserd (Awsard) road p. 16 19. Tissint p. 17

Brief remarks about species of interest p. 18 Appendix 1: Complete list of species observed p. 23 Appendix 2: GPS points p. 25

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Introduction This report describes a 17­day birding trip to Morocco and Western Sahara, from April 18th to May 4th, 2015. We flew to and from Marrakech where we rented a car. We visited all the classic birding locations including sites for Marsh Owl and Double­Spurred Francolin, and since we had sufficient time on our hands we also went to Larache marsh for Moustached Warbler (and Brown­throated Martin) and Essaouira for Eleonora’s Falcon. We ended up seeing all of the main targets that we searched for, and in total recorded 240 species, including relatively tricky ones such as Maghreb Wheatear, Sudan Golden Sparrow, and Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse. However, we did not try Houbara Bustard (unclear status, most birds may be released individuals) or Small Buttonquail (too hard, too boring), and failed to find irregularly observed species such as Kelp Gull, ‘Moroccan’ Shag (ssp. riggenbachi), and African Rock Martin. We decided to go relatively late in Spring in order not to miss any summer visitors, most notably Atlas Flycatcher, but also Western and Saharan Olivaceous Warblers as well as Eleonora’s Falcon. A bonus was that our timing turned out to be rather good for seeing resting migrants and visible migration, which was especially impressive in Western Sahara. Because Martijn could not join for the entire trip, we visited Western Sahara (almost) last and without him. This set­up also meant that already in Morocco we made an effort to see some birds that are much easier in Western Sahara, such as Desert Sparrow and Fulvous Babbler. Without this constraint, we would have started with Western Sahara (also in hindsight). Practicalities For €860,­, we rented a Dacia Dokker through Avis which was picked up and returned at Marrakech airport; second and third drivers were added for 250 Dirham (less than 25 euros) each. No problems whatsoever were experienced with the car and it provided enough space for the four of us and all our luggage, the only disadvantage being the presence of a door for the back seats only on the right side of the vehicle. As pointed out by other trip reports, the police has a strong presence in Morocco and Western Sahara. Consequently, make sure you respect maximum speeds, at least until you get a feeling for when to expect radar controls (we saw about ten in total and were fined once). Also, make sure that a safety triangle, car fire extinguisher and safety vest are present in your car: we were asked for the triangle twice by the police. Finally, if you go to Western Sahara, fill out 10­15 copies of a form that can e.g. be found in the Vlot et al. (2014) trip report: the police will ask for it (“fiche”) at the numerous roadside checkpoints. We mostly stayed in hotels (which nearly always had plenty of rooms available) and camped only twice: in Sidi Yahya (Double­Spurred Francolin site) and Oued Jenna (Aousserd road, Western Sahara). Another logical place to camp would be the Zaida Plains (Dupont’s Lark site), but since we had already seen and heard the lark well by early evening, we continued to Azrou that night. ATMs were widespread, not only in cities but also in mid­sized towns. Hotels generally had WIFI. We often ate bread and spreads during the day, but also regularly had breakfast and lunch in towns. Depending on the location, sunrise was between about 06:45 and 07:30, and sunset between 19:45 and 20:30. Weather was generally sunny but only uncomfortably hot (35+ degrees) in some of the desert areas: the Rissani/Merzouga area, the Aousserd road (coastal areas, even in Western Sahara, were cooler), and Tissint. The wind was something of a nuisance. While mornings were usually calm, the wind would pick up quite strongly in the afternoon nearly every day, and evenings were often still windy.

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Literature The two Gosney guides for Morocco (“Deserts” and “Coast & Mountains”) were of invaluable help, as were the trip reports listed below. In particular, the reports by Vlot et al. and Bertrands et al. were used a lot: both are very recent, followed a route similar to ours, and provided a lot of information (including exact locations on observado.org). Also, Ouwehand & Bot’s report had a number of GPS points that proved helpful, and we received GPS points from Garry Bakker.

Vlot et al. ­ Morocco & Western Sahara ­ March/April 2014 (http://www.cloudbirders.com/tripreport/repository/VLOT_MoroccoWSahara_0203_2014.pdf)

Bertrands et al. ­ Morocco & Western Sahara ­ January/February 2015 (http://www.cloudbirders.com/tripreport/repository/BERTRANDS_Morocco_0102_2015.pdf)

Ouwehand & Bot ­ Morocco ­ June 2014 (http://www.cloudbirders.com/tripreport/repository/BOT_Morocco_06_2014.pdf)

Eric­Jan Alblas ­ Morocco ­ May 2013 [see e.g. for info on status and ID of local reed warblers] (http://moroccanbirds.webs.com/reports/ALBLAS_Morocco_trip_05_2013.pdf)

Peter Stronach ­ Western Sahara (and a bit of Morocco) ­ March 2015 (http://www.cloudbirders.com/tripreport/repository/STRONACH_Morocco_03_2015.pdf)

Albegger et al. ­ Morocco & Western Sahara ­ April 2010 (http://go­south.org/wp­content/uploads/2014/08/R239­2010_04_albegger_&_al.pdf)

Additionally, we brought a short piece in Dutch Birding on the identification of Olivaceous Warblers: van den Berg, Dutch Birding 27:5, 2005, “Olivaceous warblers in the western Mediterranean and their identification” (Dutch summary at: www.dutchbirding.nl/journal.php?show_summary=true&journalid=161&contentid=2). Also worth mentioning is the new Sound Approach book, since it has split local Tawny Owls as Maghreb Wood Owl (Strix mauritanica), and has also split Little Owls in two species, such that Western European populations belong to a different species (Little Owl, Athene vidalii) than North­African and (South­)Eastern European populations (Cucumiau, Athene noctua). Maps & GPS We bought the “City Navigator Morocco NT Garmin” map ($100) and put that on our satnav, while we put a free OpenStreetMap of Morocco downloaded from http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/ on a field GPS unit. On both GPS units, we also put a set of waypoints that we curated as a google map during preparation (this map is available on request). The Maps.me app for iPhone and iPad, which also works with OpenStreetMaps, was another useful way to look at our waypoints in the field. We also created a second set of waypoints after the trip. These waypoints are in the text referred to by the unique first part of their names, which are underlined (e.g. 1A: site 1, first waypoint). The coordinates and full names of the GPS points are in Appendix 2 at the end of the trip report, and the waypoints can be found as a google map at: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zBF3vs61P7VY.kSyBwzCr_W6g&usp=sharing. This map can be exported to .kml (and then converted to .gpx) for use with GPS units; if the map link does not work, e­mail Jelmer for access or a file. A simplified version of that map, with only one or two waypoints per (major) site, is printed below the itinerary on the next page.

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Itinerary Places where we stayed overnight are underlined. Numbers refer to the site account numbers below. Apr 18 Amsterdam → Marrakech (arrival 09:30) → 1. Oukaimeden Apr 19 1. Oukaimeden → 2. Ouarzazate area → Boumalne Dades Apr 20 3. Tagdilt track & Pharaoh Eagle Owl → 4. Scrub Warbler → 5. hotel near Erg Chebbi Apr 21 5. Merzouga and Rissani area (hotel near Erg Chebbi) Apr 22 5. Merzouga and Rissani area → 6. Zaida plains → 7. Azrou Apr 23 7. Azrou area → 8. Merdja Zerga Apr 24 9. Larache marsh → 9. Lac Sidi Bourhala → 10. Sidi Yayha Apr 25 10. Sidi Yayha → 11. Essaouira Apr 26 12. Tamri → 13. Oued Souss → Sidi Wassay near 13. Oued Massa Apr 27 13. Oued Massa → 14. Guelmim area Apr 28 14. Guelmim → 15. Khniffis → 15. Laayoune [Martijn back to Marrakech from Guelmim] Apr 29 15. Laayoune → 16. Dakhla Apr 30 17. Gleb Jdiane & 18. Aousserd road (night at Oued Jenna) May 1 18. Aousserd road → 17. Gleb Jdiane → 16. Dakhla May 2 17. Gleb Jdiane→ 15. Tan­tan May 3 15. Tan-tan → 19. Tissint May 4 19. Tissint → Marrakech (departure 20:10) → Amsterdam

Our route, with site numbers as in the site accounts below and the “legend” of the google map. Excludes sites 16 ­ 18, i.e. Western Sahara south of Laayoune.

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Site accounts Bird names are in bold when referring to an actual observation by ourselves, and bold blue for key (sought­after) species. As in the rest of the report, bird names are in italic if mentioned in another context. (We follow IOC taxonomy. English bird names in parentheses tend to denote distinct local subspecies that are sometimes split by more progressive entities. We have been fairly selective with mentioning species in the site accounts in an attempt to prevent cluttering.) 1. Oukaimeden [18/4: from 15h, hotel in Oukaimeden at 1G, 19/4: until 10h] Oukaimeden is the prime birding site in the High Atlas, with a lot of high altitude Atlas specialties. It is about a two­hour drive from Marrakech, with the later part of the drive up good for stops to see e.g. Levaillant’s Woodpecker and other forest and scrub birds. Apparently, Crimson­winged finch is most easily located early in the season when the snowline is at lower altitudes, although they have been seen here even in mid­summer. En route from Marrakech, we saw a ‘Moroccan’ Magpie (ssp. mauretanica) and had a chance sighting of two Bonelli’s Eagles (1A, note that this is not along the standard route to Oukaimeden but we ended up on this alternative route due to roadblocks in Marrakech). We heard and ­ by walking some 50m downslope into the riverine deciduous forest ­ saw a pair of Levaillant’s Woodpeckers at 1B. We heard another at 1C. These and other nearby villages had African Blue Tits and Cirl Buntings, species not observed much outside this area. At 1D, we twice tried to find Tristram’s Warbler (see Albegger 2010, this is at Gosney Coast & Mountains: page 30 site 10), but could not find it at this location. However, we did see Barbary Partridge (seen also at two other places along the route up), 10+ Moussier’s Redstart (common in this zone), Alpine Swift, Blue Rock Thrush, and Rock Bunting. Species observed in the coniferous forest just upslope from there at 1E included Firecrest, Treecreeper, Mistle Thrush, and ‘Atlas’ Chaffinch (ssp. africana). At 1F, about 1km before the reservoir (where we saw a Long­legged buzzard) at the village of Oukaimeden, we successfully looked for Dipper (ssp. minor; a single quite mobile individual), with birds nearby along the river including Crag Martins, our only Grey Wagtail and Black Redstarts, and an unidentified large falcon. In the village of Oukaimeden Rock Sparrows were abundant, but there was no sign of Levaillant’s Woodpecker during an early morning stroll. We stayed in a hotel at 1G. From the car park above Oukaimeden at 1H, we walked towards the pass on the dirt road (there was a rope across the road at the entrance from the car park; also, the road turned out to be too poor to drive on all the way to the pass 1J), seeing many Choughs and Alpine Choughs, while 10+ ‘Atlas’ Horned Larks (ssp. atlas), 20+ Seebohm’s Wheatears, and a few Moussier’s Redstarts were foraging mostly around the remaining patches of snow (the most productive one was at 1I, where we also had a Little Owl). We got worried about seeing Crimson­winged Finch, but when we arrived back at the car park just before sunset on the 18th, a small flock was present there, together with Rock Sparrows. 2. Ouarzazate (and route there from Oukaimeden) [19/4: 10h ­ 19h] The quickest route to Ouarzazate is via the Tizi­n­Tichka pass which from Oukaimeden involves first backtracking a considerable part of the way to Marrakech. We tried for Tristram’s Warbler before crossing the pass at 2A, where a singing male was conspicuous (often singing from tops of trees) but also very mobile. A very nearby site for Tristram’s Warbler is at 2B (both sites via Garry Bakker).

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The “minor road” site near Amerzgane (Gosney Deserts: page 22 site 4) seems to be the most reliable place in Morocco for Maghreb Wheatear. We had a GPS point from two recent sightings at 2C, and after almost an hour of searching, we found a male with a fledgling (i.e. confirming breeding at this location) a few hundred meters southeast of there at 2D. This is east of the road, where some rocky outcrops are found. Here we also had 2 Desert Larks and 10+ Trumpeter Finches. We had a few Maghreb Larks (the long­billed Crested Lark taxon that occurs south and east of the Atlas and has now been split by IOC) but not much in terms of water birds during a very quick stop at Barrage El Mansour just east of Ouarzazate (2E; Gosney Deserts: page 22 site 3). A pair of Moroccan Wagtails were easily found looking north from the bridge just east of Ouarzazate (2F). A short stop at 2G, where a large group of Black­bellied Sandgrouse had recently been reported, produced our first Hoopoe Lark and Bar­tailed Larks. We then drove on to Boumalne Dades in order to be able to start birding the Tagdilt track first thing in the morning. 3. Tagdilt track (and nearby Pharaoh Eagle Owl site) [hotel in Boumalne at 3A, 20/4: until 12h] The Tagdilt track is one of the best sites for larks (most notably Thick­Billed Lark), wheatears, and Cream­coloured Courser. It is often derided for being ugly and full of garbage, but we thought birding here was good and quite pleasant, so in our view this area is definitely worth a morning of birding. Most of the garbage is found towards the northern end, where the actual dump is, where we did not spend much time. The bushes at 3D and 3F seemed to have the most obvious presence of migrant passerines that we saw outside Western Sahara (more so than e.g. the Moroccan coastal areas and the Merzouga area). A site for Bonelli’s Eagle is nearby at Gorge du Dades, but we did not go there since we had seen this species en route to Oukaimeden. We had stayed overnight at Auberge Soleil Bleu at 3A. After turning south from the main road at 3B, we started by checking if there was any water in the pools at 3C (Gosney Deserts: page 20 site 5), but this was not the case. The pools at 3D (Gosney site 7) contained water, but these seemed less likely drinking spots for sandgrouse. Black­bellied Sandgrouse was nevertheless heard from here, and some migrants were seen including two Ortolan Buntings, with a few singing Olivaceous Warblers sp. also present. We then entered the Tagdilt track from the south (at 3E), first checking an area with some water nearby a farm with an orchard at 3C. As we wanted to focus on steppe birds before the morning cool went away, we spent little time in the bushes, but decent numbers of migrants were present including 10+ Willow, 2 Western Bonelli’s, and 1 Melodious Warbler, 5+ Whitethroats, 5+ Redstarts, and our only Wryneck. Also seen were two Tawny Pipits (our only along with one at 3I) and our only Spanish Sparrows. We saw 10+ Cream­coloured Coursers along the track south of and near the “wheatear wall” (3G; Gosney site 4), where we also had a pair of Black­bellied Sandgrouse flying by and then landing nicely in view, and a flock of about 55 Pin­tailed Sandgrouse flying by (this was around 10:30). In general, the steppe landscape was alive with larks: many hundreds of singing Short­toed Larks, with some Lesser Short­toed, Temminck’s, and Thekla Larks mixed in, as well as two Hoopoe Larks and a single Bar­tailed Lark. After two flyby sightings of Thick­billed Larks north of the wheatear wall (one at 3H), we finally found one on the ground at 3I, a bird that was gathering nest material. Here we also had several Red­rumped Wheatears, a species that oddly enough was not seen elsewhere on these plains (instead, the most common wheatear species was Northern Wheatear with 20+ birds, and at least one Seebohm’s Wheatear also present). A British birder we talked to had seen a Lanner Falcon on the northern side of the plains.

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We tried for Pharaoh Eagle Owl along the main road east of the Tagdilt track, just west of Imiter. When standing at 3J, we saw quite some faeces on the cliff face when looking southeast, i.e. approximately at 3K, but could not see an owl. A group of kids said they could show us the owl, but we tried to make clear that we did not want them to disturb any owls (as they have done before, see Bertrands et al. 2015). After sheltering from a two­minute sandstorm with hail (!), we got out of the car again to search the cliff face with the telescope, when, despite our protests, one of the group of kids ran up the cliff. As we walked up, two of us could see the kid pulling an owl pullus out of a nest cavity (above the faeces that we had seen earlier), at which point we decided to leave the site. The kids did not protest, so it seems they did get the message that this behavior was unwanted. Nevertheless, this experience was one of the low points of the trip. Please, when visiting this site, do not encourage such unethical behavior! Other species seen here included Crag Martin and Desert Lark. 4. Scrub Warbler site near Goulmima [20/4: 16h30 ­ 17h30] A reliable site for Scrub Warbler is a wadi northeast of Goulmima (Gosney Deserts: page 16 site 3, see also Ouwehand & Bot 2014), which is a small way off the route from Boumalne Dades to Rissani/Merzouga. It did not take long to find three Scrub Warblers foraging on the ground and in the low shrubs at 4A. Temminck’s Larks and Lesser Short­toed Larks were also present along with many Short­toed Larks. We next drove on to the Rissani/Merzouga area to spend the night there. 5. The Tafilalt: Merzouga and Rissani area [hotel at 5A, 21/4: all day, hotel at 5A, 22/4: until 12h] Here we targeted a number of desert species: Egyptian Nightjar, Pharaoh Eagle Owl, Desert Warbler, Saharan Olivaceous Warbler, Spotted Sandgrouse, Desert Sparrow, and Fulvous Babbler (the latter three are easier in Western Sahara but as explained above, we also needed them here). We anticipated spending two entire days here, but had seen all these targets after the first. Houbara Bustards are also present here, and we were offered to go look for them with a 4x4 and a guide at our hotel, but many of these birds are likely individuals that have been released for hunting. This is also a good area for Barbary Falcon, which should maybe be a primary target too, here, especially since possible hybridization (and confusion) with brookei Peregrines at the coast makes matters less straightforward there. One recent sighting was at 5S and we briefly had a look there, but did not see any falcons. This is the only area where we spent two night at the same place, in a hotel at the western edge of the Erg Chebbi sand dunes at 5A. → Auberge Yasmina area [21/4: 06h45 ­ 11h] Along the track to Auberge Yasmina (turning off at 5A), we targeted African Desert Warbler at Gosney Deserts: page 12 site 4 (see also Ouwehand & Bot 2014), and quickly found a singing and calling pair at sunrise at 5B. There is a fairly narrow strip of low bushes in which we found the birds. Dunn’s Lark has been seen here in April 2010 (Albegger et al. 2010), but apparently not since. In the Auberge Yasmina area, where Desert Sparrows are no longer reliable (but see below...), we first parked the car at 5D and then walked to a nearby Bedouin camp at 5E in the desert (see also Ouwehand & Bot 2014). This is a two kilometer walk one­way, which is through sand dunes with quite loose sand, but the walk is a nice experience and is not very strenuous as long as it is done in the morning before it gets hot (but bring enough water). At the camp, we found a pair of Desert Sparrows that were nesting in the small building in the northwestern corner of the compound (5E), and a male that was feeding several juveniles in grasses southwest of there. During the walk there and back, we saw several groups of Spotted Sandgrouse (total 100+ exx.) along with 20+ Pin­tailed Sandgrouse fly by (between 9:00 and 10:00; we

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only saw one group that distantly seemed to be going down to land, not at the Auberge Yasmina lakes. but somewhere in the desert west of there). Crowned Sandgrouse is also possible here, but more rarely seen. Surprisingly, after returning from the Bedouin camp, we also saw a male Desert Sparrow east of Auberge Yasmina at 5E, so it may still be worth searching here before you walk into the desert. Plenty of water was present around Auberge Yasmina, hosting e.g. 3 Marbled Ducks, 15 Flamingos, some waders, and 40+ Yellow Wagtails (thunbergi, flava, and iberiae). A pair of Brown­necked Ravens flew by and a few migrants were present in the tamarisks at 5E and at Auberge Yasmina (5F), such as some Sedge, Western Bonelli’s, and a Great Reed Warbler. Saharan Olivaceous Warblers were also singing in the tamarisks at both places. Gosney reports that Western Olivaceous may also be found here, so we took care with the ID. Song is supposed to be the best character but to us this was tricky, with the recordings and descriptions of the song (e.g. in Gosney) that we had access to not being of much help. However, the birds mostly seemed short­billed and quite buffy overall (the latter reminiscent of photos in Van den Berg 2005 and Ouwehand & Bot 2014), and we also observed some ­but not much!­ tail­dipping, which is diagnostic for Eastern Olivaceous taxa, including Saharan. Driving back to the hotel we took a left at 5G, where a well­maintained dirt road (much quicker than the one going west) goes south towards Merzouga. → Rissani [21/4: 18:00] At least two sites for Pharaoh Eagle Owl are found near Rissani, one west of town at 5H (Gosney Deserts: page 8 site 3), and one south of town at 5K (see Vlot et al. 2014). A person called Ali the Nomad often shows an owl to people at one of these sites (see also Bertrands et al. 2015), but we just went to the latter site without looking for Ali (and not running into him either), turning off at 5I. A roosting Pharaoh Eagle Owl was easily found looking from 5J, with the bird approximately at 5K, i.e. near the southwestern end of the cliff located south of the road. It was pretty high up on a ridge and visible almost in its entirety when standing in front of it. To find Fulvous Babblers we checked several areas of palm groves, e.g. at 5L (Gosney Deserts: page 8 site 2) and 5M, but did not see any. However, Saharan Olivaceous Warblers were heard and seen at these two sites and several others where at least some tamarisks were present. Otherwise, Blue­cheeked Bee­eaters and Rufous­tailed Scrub Robins were common in the area, and we saw a Maghreb Lark. In the early evening we went to the Auberge Tresor site for Egyptian Nightjar (Gosney Deserts: page 10 site 4). We walked around near the GPS point provided by Ouwehand & Bot (2014) and soon flushed a pair of Egyptian Nightjars at 5N. They were roosting below one of the very small bushes that are found there in just a narrow strip along the dirt road, so it seems like these should continue to be easy to find (as long as disturbance by birders does not affect them too much…). → Garden west of Erg Chebbi [21/4: 20:00] Ouwehand & Bot (2014) reported Fulvous Babblers from the oasis on the western side of Erg Chebbi, which is located just north where our hotel was. Just like them we ended up searching for them in the last light of day, and quickly found a noisy family group of Fulvous Babblers at 5O. → Lac Dayet [22/4: 07h ­ 10h] Having seen all the targets in the area on the 21st, and hearing talk about a lot of water and birds at Dayet Srji (Gosney Deserts: page 14 site 5), we decided to give this place a go during the morning of the 22nd. The turnout was reasonable but not great. We accessed the lake via Gosney’s “least bumpy track” by turning off from the main road at 5P, reaching the shore of the lake at 5Q. On and by the water, 40 Ruddy Shelducks, 10 Marbled Ducks, 1 Ferruginous Duck, 40 Flamingos, a Purple Heron, 2 Squacco

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Herons, 30 Little Stints and 15 Ruffs, and 30+ Yellow Wagtails (four subspecies, including flavissima) were present. On the southern end of the lake, we walked through an area of tamarisks at 5R and found some migrant passerines: 2 Hoopoes, 1 Wood, 1 Western Bonelli’s, and 10 Willow Warblers, 2 Chiffchaffs, 4 Redstarts, and 1 Pied Flycatcher. Here we also had 15+ singing Saharan Olivaceous Warblers, our only elegans Grey Shrike, and a Maghreb Lark. 6. Zaida Plains [22/4: 18h ­ 19h30] This is the classical site for Dupont’s Lark, with not too much else to see besides a possibility of e.g. Thick­billed Lark. After an early dinner in Zaida we turned off the main road at 6A (Gosney Deserts: page 3 “crossroads”), parked at 6B (Gosney site 2), and already upon getting out of the car we heard two distant Dupont’s Lark song strophes. We then spread out to walk through the area and soon heard another individual, getting visuals on the bird after some ten minutes of hide and seek. Once found it was doable the follow the bird ­ also because it would now and then jump on top of a bush to sing a strophe ­ while it was covering quite some distance (in this area: 6C), and we enjoyed great views in the telescope. Yet another individual was heard singing when we got back to the car, while it was still almost an hour until sunset (but all singing was with relatively long, irregular pauses between strophes). We then left as we were drawn by Azrou and the appeal of being able to search for Atlas Flycatchers in the morning, even though it would have been nice to stay around and listen to more song at dusk and the following dawn. (The site looks quite okay for camping, but one drawback is the noise from the busy road nearby.) While on the road we passed a small lake at 6D on which we saw our first Red­knobbed Coot in the last daylight. 7. Azrou [22/4: late evening owl, hotel in Azrou at 7A, 23/4: 22:00] The primary attraction of the oak forests near Azrou in the Middle Atlas is the Atlas Flycatcher. They are abundant here but apparently only return from sub­Saharan Africa late in April. We were therefore a little unsure whether we would already find them as early as the 23rd, but given our observations it seems that at least some of them may arrive even well before this date. This is also a good area for mauretanicus Tawny Owl, which has been split by the Sound Approach (2015) as Maghreb Wood Owl. While walking from our hotel (7A) to the only bar (7B) in Azrou, to our surprise we heard a mauretanicus Tawny Owl in the middle of town (7C). We could also see the bird as it was sitting high in an oak by the roadside. A female then called from across the road (the Tengmalm’s Owl­like excitement call), flew to the male and mating ensued. The following morning we saw several Lesser Kestrels flying around in town, and got better views while driving through Ifrane later that day. We tried the “minor track” site (Gosney Coast & Mountains: page 32 site 3) for Atlas Flycatcher from about 9:00, and soon found a pair at 7D. Some 300m up the trail at 7E, another pair and a probable 2cy male were observed. All birds were found on sight since oddly enough, the males only sang a few times, and even then the strophes were incomplete. The first pair seemed to have already found a nesting hole. Interestingly, the two latter males regularly gave a short rattling call that sounded almost identical to that of Red­breasted Flycatcher. Some of the other birds observed in this beautiful oak forest were a calling Levaillant’s Woodpecker, Rock Sparrow (nesting in tree holes), Long­legged buzzard, Roller, and many singing birds including Western Bonelli’s Warbler, Blackcap, many Coal, African Blue and Great Tits, Treecreeper, Nuthatch, etc.

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We also stopped at the Dayet Aoua lake (Gosney Coast & Mountains: site 6 page 32; turn­off at 7F), where we saw another 2cy Atlas Flycatcher male at 7G and then finally a regularly singing male at 7H. On the lake an enormous colony of Black­necked Grebes (in front of 7H) was found, with in total 3000+ birds present on the lake. Other birds here included Red­knobbed Coot (100s, with only a few Coots), a pair of Ferruginous Ducks, 10+ Hawfinches, and a Roller. We kept an ear open for Common Crossbills but did not hear any. En route to Merdja Zerga we heard our only Quail and saw two Little Owls (99C), Alpine Swifts, our first Little Swifts (in Sidi Slimane at 99D), several Collared Pratincoles, a Golden Oriole, and several algeriensis Grey Shrikes. 8. Merdja Zerga [23/4: from 17h30, overnight at Hamaroudir at 8A] At Merdja Zerga Marsh Owls still occur. They are best seen in the evenings and with the help of a local guide: Hamaroudir, who lives just west of the lake at 8A (but good luck reaching his house just like that, the village is a maze!). Another good bird here is Black­winged Kite, but we did not specifically search for it, and did not see any either. We arrived a bit late so first considered just starting to look for Marsh Owl without first looking for Hamaroudir. While Gosney (Coast & Mountains: page 6 site 4) and earlier trip reports report the owls at the western side of the lake (should be about here: 8B), both Vlot et al. (2014) and Bertrands et al. (2015) saw them at the eastern side with Hamaroudir. We therefore figured that the eastern side must currently be better, also since Hamaroudir lives in a village on the western side of the lake. But as we drove by the eastern GPS point, it turned out to be a kilometer from the main road behind pastures and strawberry fields with no clear tracks towards it. We therefore decided to look for Hamaroudir after all, and were swiftly brought to his house after asking around. Hamaroudir accompanied us in our car and we drove over dirt roads to the eastern side of the lake. We parked at 8C in the middle of the strawberry fields, and then walked exactly to the GPS point that we had (8D). This is at the transition between the agricultural fields to the east and the rush fields bordering the lake to the west. By then it was about 20:30 so were hoping to see a foraging bird. As such, we were not entirely sure what Hamaroudir was up to as he started walking into the rush, but presumably he wanted to flush one. We were about to stop him when we already saw a Marsh Owl sitting on a nearby wooden post in the rush. The bird remained fairly passive, only relocating once to a different post until much later, at dusk, it lifted and flew hundreds of meters across the agricultural fields (towards the highway), to forage there. We saw one more individual briefly, flying just to the south of where we were standing, did not hear any. Other birds seen included two pairs of Montagu’s Harriers, Hobby, two Great Egrets, and several Glossy Ibises. The following morning we saw our only Whiskered Tern at the southwestern corner of the lake. We had dinner and stayed overnight at Hamaroudir’s place who was very kind. We paid him 800 Dirham for his troubles. His cell phone number is 00212­668492479, he speaks French but no English. 9. Larache marsh & Lac Sidi Bourhala (Boughaba) [24/4: 10h­ 13h & around 15h] Larache marsh has Moustached Warblers and Brown­throated Martins (but note that the classic site for that is Oued Massa further south), and a lot of other waterbirds. Lac Sidi Bourhala has White­headed Ducks. We had originally planned to move on to Sidi Yahya from Merdja Zerga on the same night, but we realised that we were maintaining a killer tempo and accumulating spare time. We therefore decided to visit these two sites on the 24th, and get to Sidi Yahya by early evening.

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At Larache marsh, we quickly found Moustached Warbler at 9A (this corresponds to the upper of the site’s 3 marks in Gosney Coast & Mountains: page 3; this bird also remained our only one). We had more trouble finding Brown­throated Martin, but eventually saw 3­4 individuals flying around in the same area, at 9B (opposite Gosney site 4). Apparently, the martins are more easily observed earlier in the season. Other birds seen included Western Olivaceous Warbler (e.g., several birds singing and showing well near the dam), 100+ Red­knobbed Coots (and 20+ Coots), 2 Purple Swamphens (at 9C), 2 Marbled Ducks, 4 Red­crested Pochards (with pulli), Short­toed Eagle, 50+ Glossy Ibises, our only Kingfisher, and Cetti’s, our only Savi’s, and Great Reed Warbler, and a selection of waders including 20+ Black­tailed Godwits. At Lac Sidi Bourhala, we only stopped briefly at 9D, seeing 40+ White­headed Ducks, 5+ Marbled Ducks, 10+ Ferruginous Ducks, 10+ Red­crested Pochards, and a pair of Purple Swamphens with chicks (many of the ducks also had pulli). A flock of 50+ Black Kites may have been migrating. Many ‘Moroccan’ Magpies (ssp. mauretanica) were seen along the road in the area. 10. Sidi Yayha [24/4: from 19h, camped at car park at 10A, 25/4: until 11h] Sidi Yayha is the classic site for Double­spurred Francolin and also has Black­crowned Tchagras. It is an interesting habitat with very dense low bushes all over the place, with some larger trees interspersed. In the evening of the 24th, we parked at the famous car park (10A; Gosney Coast & Mountains: page 36 site 3) and walked around until it got dark, two of us hearing a Double­Spurred Francolin that did a single series of calls. The next morning it did not take long before we all heard francolins, with in total about ten birds heard by walking along the road between the car park and 10B, and along a track running southwest from 10C. They were calling regularly until about 08:30, but some calls were heard as late as 10:00. One Double­Spurred Francolin was seen well for almost ten minutes while calling from a tree along the aforementioned track (looking southeast from 10D, where there is one obvious large tree with bare branches at some 50m distance), while another was seen flying near the car park, and two more quickly crossed the short dirt road leading to the car park. Perhaps the tree at 10D is regularly visited; otherwise follow this track further down to 10E, where a very nice view over the valley can be had, with many suitable­looking trees visible (the car park can also be seen from here). A serious disadvantage, though, is that you are looking against the light there in the morning. 10+ Black­crowned Tchagras were also heard in the morning. Most were not close to the road, but one individual showed well on the northern side of the main road just west of the entrance to the car park (10F). Lots of birdsong at this site, the soundscape being dominated by numerous Nightingales and Sardinian Warblers. Other birds included Short­toed Eagle, Barbary Partridge, Thick­Knee, singing Common Nightjar, 2 singing Scops Owls, 3 Western Bonelli’s and a Western Orphean Warbler, and our only Jays and Wood Larks. 11. Essaouira [25/4: 17h30 ­ 19h, hotel 15km southeast of town at 11B] We included a brief visit to this site to see Eleonora’s Falcons, which we hoped had already returned to the breeding site on the island in front of the city (they return in “late April” according to Gosney). It turned out that some, but certainly not all, had arrived: we saw 20+ Eleonora’s Falcons, some also hunting above us around the bridge at 11A (Gosney Coast & Mountains: page 16 site 2). Here we also heard and saw two Black­crowned Tchagras. Other birds included some ‘Moroccan’ Cormorants (ssp. maroccanus), a few waders including our only Curlew Sandpiper, a group of 150+ large gulls, Moussier’s Redstart, and singing Western Olivaceous Warblers. No Brown­throated Martins were seen.

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From our hotel (actually a camping with rooms available too) at 11B, we heard 3+ Red­necked Nightjars, our only. They could just about be heard from the rooms with the window open, and sat in the olive groves directly south of the compound at 11C. 12. Tamri surroundings [26/4: 08h30 ­ 14h] Bald Ibises breed on cliffs near the estuary at Tamri. These cliffs also have Barbary Falcons and riggenbachi Shags, neither of which we saw. Many gulls are also often present, and sea watching can be good in the area. A drive down the coast in the morning did not produce any Ibises, and the drive up north a few hours later neither, until we saw a few Bald Ibises soaring around at 12A. But going back south we saw many more ­ afternoons may be better? A group of 30+ Bald Ibises was at the northern side of the estuary 12C (take the minor track at 12B). Here we also had a group of large gulls with 6+ Audouin’s Gulls, a ‘Moroccan’ Wagtail (ssp. subpersonata) and a group of 8 migrating Purple Herons. Then, a group of 15+ Bald Ibises was near the parking at the southern side of the estuary (12D; Gosney Coast & Mountains: page 20 site 9), and more were seen circling around. We spent a little under an hour sea watching from 09:00 at Cap Rhir (12E; Gosney site 6), but only saw 40+ Gannets in terms of real sea birds. Here we also had a Western Black­eared Wheatear, while around the lighthouse some migrants were present, including 2 Melodious Warblers and 3 Garden Warblers. 13. Oued Souss & Oued Massa [26/4: 16h30 ­ 18h, hotel at Sidi Wassay at 13B, 27/4: until 11h] Oued Souss and Oued Massa are coastal areas south of Tamri, the former has Red­necked Nightjar, while the latter has Bald Ibis, Brown­throated Martin, and Black­crowned Tchagra. As we had already seen all of these species (At Tamri, Essaouira, Larache marsh, and Sidi Yayha + Essaouira, respectively), we did not have any important targets here. Or should the local Reed Warblers, which may be African Reed Warblers or even a separate species, count as such (for more info see Alblas 2013)? We had time for a brief afternoon visit at Oued Souss, and parked at 13A (the “main car park” in Gosney Coast & Mountains: page 23). Since we were not allowed to walk along the road there, we walked a bit south of there along the northern shore of the river (“nature trail”, site 3 in Gosney, and onwards), which was probably better anyway. Very strong winds made the visit even shorter than planned, and we walked less than a kilometer westwards (it is about two kilometers to the river mouth). Reasonable numbers of waders were present, including 100+ Ringed Plovers, 30+ Grey Plovers, and 10 Oystercatchers. 10+ Slender­billed Gulls were on the river, a few ‘Moroccan’ Magpies (ssp. mauretanica) were near the car park, while an impressive sight was a single group of about 340 Spoonbills migrating north along the ocean shore. We stayed at hotel Résidence Fanti in Sidi Wassay (13B), along the ocean shore south of the Oued Massa river mouth, and enjoyed a brief seawatch during breakfast, which produced a Great Skua, a Pomarine Skua, and 75+ Gannets. Near the hotel we also had a Little Owl. The following morning at Oued Massa (turn­off at 13C to reach the area), we quickly found a pair of Reed Warbler sp. with an actively singing male at the bridge at Arbhalou (bridge: 13D, Gosney Coast & Mountains: page 24 site 3; warbler: 13E). A lot of birdsong here, with also 2 Black­crowned Tchagras, 5+ Western Olivaceous Warblers, Cetti’s Warbler, territorial iberiae Yellow Wagtails, etc. At Gosney site 4 (turn­off at 13F), we had another Reed Warbler sp. (13G) as well as more Western Olivaceous

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Warblers and a Western Black­eared Wheatear. We did not see Brown­throated Martin at either of these sites. Since ­ much to our surprise ­ we still had not seen Spectacled Warbler, we stopped briefly at Gosney site 10 (track across desert). No warblers were found, but we did have an exciting falcon sitting on one of the electricity poles (13H) that we ended up identifying as a Peregrine or potentially a bird of hybrid origin with Barbary Falcon, and Thekla Larks, Moussier’s Redstarts, and a pair of Thick­Knees. En route to Guelmim we saw a pair of large falcons, likely Barbary Falcons, at 13I some thirty kilometers south of Oued Massa, just north of Tiznit. 14. Guelmim (Goulimine) [27/4: from 16h30, hotel Salam in Guelmim at 14A] The steppe areas near Guelmim are good for a similar range of species as the Tagdilt track, but also for Scrub Warblers (ssp. theresae). We included some birding here to already get a bit closer to Western Sahara while also providing Martijn with a good place to take a bus to Marrakech from. We started birding at the furthest point from town, a place where we had a “sandgrouse pool” GPS point (14B), but no water was present. We then walked around at the km 100 sign (Gosney Deserts: page 30 site 4) and finally at Oued Bauhila (Gosney site 2). We had Scrub Warblers at the latter two sites (14C and 14D, specifically), and several Spectacled Warblers at each of the three sites (our only of the trip!). Other birds seen included 100+ Short­toed Larks, 10+ Bar­tailed Larks, 10+ Thekla Larks, and a pair of Red­rumped Wheatears. At Oued Bauhila, where quite many trees and bushes are present, a few migrants were found, including 1 Pied and 2 Spotted Flycatchers, 2 Rufous­tailed Scrub Robins, and 1 Melodious Warbler, while a Black Tern was also present. While driving back north on May 2nd, we saw a Thick­billed Lark flying by from the car about 30 kilometer southwest from km 100, at 14E. 15. Road from Guelmim to Dakhla:

[southbound ­ 28/4, hotel in Laayoune at 15G, 29/4 until 15h30; northbound ­ 2/5: from 11h30, hotel in Tan­Tan Plage at 15I, 3/5: until 12h]

The long drive south, passing by Khnifiss Lagoon where Kelp Gulls have bred. Sightings in the last few years have been scarce, though an adult Kelp Gull was seen nearby earlier this year (see below). Pied Crows have bred at a gas station along the way (15J), but also for that species those glory days are gone, and they have not been seen at all the last few years. Along the entire drive one should look out for Lanner and Barbary Falcons on electricity poles. The road often runs right by the coast, and we had some nice visible migration. Miscellaneous sightings while driving included 5+ Long­legged Buzzards, 2 Peregrines, a probable Lanner Falcon (see below for more falcon sightings), 2 Cream­coloured Coursers (close to Dakhla), a group of 25 Collared Pratincoles, and 10+ Red­rumped Wheatears. We saw some impressive migration of swallows and swifts along the coast, at times at least 500 per hour. On the way south, more than 90% of these were swallows (in turn heavily dominated by Barn Swallows, with some of the other three species mixed in), while Common Swifts (with a single Little Swift) formed a significant proportion on the way north a few days later. Migrating raptors, all in active flight and often very low above the ground, included: 50+ Marsh Harriers, 30+ Kestrels, 20+ Black Kites, 5+ Montagu’s Harriers, and 3 Ospreys.

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From north to south: We spent a night in the disjunct part of Tan­Tan at the coast (also known as El Ouatia) on the way north, in hotel Hagounia at 15A, where a look over sea produced our only Common Scoter. We had met two Polish birdwatchers at Gleb Jdiane who told us they had seen a territorial pair of Barbary Falcons north of Khniffis and south of Oued Chbieka (15B). We initially had some trouble converting their coordinates so started by carefully driving the entire stretch up (evening of May 2nd) and down (morning of May 3rd). We saw a whole bunch of falcons in this area: we had a Lanner Falcon (at 15C) and a Peregrine on the 2nd, and presumably the same Lanner Falcon as well as two Peregrines, and one possible Peregrine x Barbary Falcon hybrid, on the 3rd. (The potential hybrid had some orange on the crown, and seemed to deviate from brookei Peregrines by a relatively narrow moustache and a slight rufous wash all over the underparts. We should further note that as far as we could see, none of the Peregrines really looked like the brookei birds in Dick Forsman’s “The Raptors of Europe and the Middle East”, i.e. none had a very dark side of the head or a rufous chest and white belly, instead they either seemed to have “European” phenotypes or deviate towards Barbary.) Then at 15D, which was in the end the same site as that of the Polish, the two Barbary Falcons were present and were dive­bombing a fisherman. They were thus presumably breeding on the cliff above the ocean shore right there. A stop north of Khnifiss lagoon near Akhfinir at 15E, where there is a garbage dump at which Peter Stronach had seen an adult Kelp Gull on March 8th, did not produce the gull in question. We did see 400+ large gulls there, including an Audouin’s Gull and a leucistic probable Lesser Black­backed Gull (looking a bit like a Glaucous Gull but with a spotty back that already in flight was very suspicious), and 20+ Sandwich Terns, 40+ Sanderlings, 12 migrating Avocets, etc. We also stopped at Khnifiss lagoon itself, watching from the car park at 15F. This is a breeding site for large gulls, with limited numbers of mostly adults present. Most were very distant (around here: 15G), though identification of Kelp Gulls should be possible, especially in flight. But not by gull noobs like us, of course. Even though we were there late afternoon, heat waves were not a big issue when trying to see details at long range, but the strong wind was. We saw at least 8 Greater Black­backed Gulls, some waders including 20 Bar­tailed Godwits, 10+ Whimbrels, and 30+ Grey Plovers, and a Short­eared Owl. Right by the car park, a Scrub Warbler was present. On the way south, we spent a night at Laayoune (at 15H), and in the morning had a look at the river from the bridge on the north end of town (15I). Here we saw 50+ Marbled Ducks, 30+ Ruddy Shelducks, 20+ Slender­billed Gulls, 100+ Flamingos, and a roost of about 300 swallows in the reeds, with all four common species present. 16. Dakhla [29/4: from 15h30, hotel at 16A, 1/5: from 18h30, hotel at 16B] The Dakhla peninsula often has Royal Terns and can more generally be good for terns, as well as gulls and other seabirds. It should also be a good migrant trap, maybe especially in autumn when birds may follow it south and then may not immediately cross the water? We made several stops along the shore of Dakhla bay where Royal Terns have been seen in the past, but did not see many terns at close range, since the shoreline was either extremely far away (with a lot of sand/mudflat in between), or there was no beach at all. Nevertheless, two (African) Royal Terns flew north along the shore at 16C on the 1st. With Mohammed Lemine of A.N.I., we drove to 16D just before sunset where gulls and terns often roost, and we very briefly visited the southern tip of the peninsula (at 16F). Other terns that we saw were some 50+ Sandwich Terns, 10+ Little Terns, 10+ Caspian Terns, and 4 Black

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Terns. We also had several 100s of large gulls with 15+ Audouin’s Gulls (especially along the road to the southern tip). Waders included 100+ Ringed Plovers, 100+ Sanderlings, 50+ Grey Plovers, and 5+ Bar­tailed Godwits. We did a little bit of sea watching on both shores (bay and Atlantic), but only Gannets seemed to be around. Some sort of botanical gardens at near the gull roost at 16E looked like a good place to search for migrants. We only checked for ten minutes just before sunset on the 1st, but had one Pied and 5+ Spotted Flycatchers, a Tree Pipit, a Willow and a Western Orphean Warbler. 17. Gleb Jdiane [30/4: 08h ­ 10h45, 1/5: 15h ­ 18h, 2/5: 08h15 ­ 11h] We visited this site to see drinking Spotted and Crowned Sandgrouses, but despite spending two mornings here, we only saw and heard a single Crowned Sandgrouse flying by at 10:30 on the 2nd. A small pool was at the water tower at 17A, but looking at pictures of drinking sandgrouse from other trip reports, it seems that much less water was present during our visit (it generally seemed to be a dry year in Western Sahara in general, so that fits). We also checked for sandgrouse tracks in the sand by the water, and there were some, but nothing to suggest daily visits by many sandgrouse in the last few days. Nevertheless, birding was enjoyable here with a lot of migrants. First, on both mornings, good numbers of passerines were in the bushes, in total (summed) some 180+ Willow, 20+ Melodious, 15+ Subalpine, 4 Garden, 3 Western Orphean, 1 Wood, and 1 Western Bonelli’s Warbler, 1 Blackcap, 5+ Whitethroats, 4 Tree Pipits, 10+ Yellow Wagtails (flava and thunbergi), 5+ Northern Wheatears, 3 Whinchats, 1 Nightingale, 1 Redstart, 2 Rufous­tailed Scrub Robins, 1 Golden Oriole, 1 Ortolan Bunting, 5+ Woodchat Shrikes, and 1 Roller. Large bushes are scarce here (besides the cluster of tamarisks around the water tower that did not seem terribly popular), so some of the larger ones had 15+ birds that showed very well on the sun­exposed side in the morning. Significant visible migration was also seen in the mornings, with 100s of (Barn) swallows, 1000s of Common Swifts (on the 2nd only), and some raptors including 20+ Black Kites, 10+ Marsh Harriers, and 20+ Kestrels. Most excitingly, on the afternoon of the 1st, insane numbers of Common Swifts passed. It was very hard to estimate numbers as most were flying pretty high and went right through the sun above us, but they were at least 100,000 (also 1,000+ swallows). Often, raptors were mixed in with the swifts as they would circle in thermals, and we saw about 300 Black Kites, 100 Marsh Harriers, 10+ Booted Eagles, 10+ Honey Buzzards, 10+ Kestrels, 3 Montagu’s Harriers (of which one dark morph female­type, it was pitch black on the underparts including the underwing coverts!), 1 Osprey, 1 Short­toed Eagle, and best of all a 2cy Egyptian Vulture. A pair of Lanner Falcons would also circle with these migrants now and then. We watched from the shade of the water tower and initially, around 15:00, many flocks moved straight overhead. Later it seemed that most birds were following the mountain ridges, most notably the one to the east. Just to see how the migration would be elsewhere, we drove to the coast around 16:30, but did not see many birds there. We drove back in the direction of Gleb Jdiane and then watched for a while from a ridge that crosses the road at 17B from 17h­18:30h. By then no birds were circling on thermals any longer, and raptors seemed to have almost stopped flying, but streams of swifts were still passing, now at eye height while we were sitting on the ridge. On the 1st, we saw a 2cy Lanner Falcon sitting on a rock at 17C less than ten kilometers east of Gleb Jdiane. 18. Aousserd (Awsard) road [30/4: from 11h, 1/5: until 15h] The road to Aousserd has four birds that essentially cannot be seen elsewhere in Morocco: Dunn’s Lark, Black­crowned Sparrow­Lark, Cricket Warbler, and Sudan Golden Sparrow (the latter is however not reliably found here, see e.g. this piece on the Birdguides website for some background: https://www.birdguides.com/webzine/article.asp?a=4863). Along with Lanner which we were still lacking (the aforementioned sightings were only after returning from the Aousserd road), these four species were also

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the only targets we had here, since we had already seen species such as Desert Sparrow and Fulvous Babblers near Merzouga/Rissani. We struggled finding our targets however and were close to accepting having to leave with only Lanner and Cricket Warbler, until a lucky few hours around noon (!) on the 1st, when we found the other three species. Another species for this area is Rock (or Pale Crag) Martin, but since sightings are irregular, and the species is common south of the Sahara, we only very briefly looked at the gas station in Aousserd (18L) where they have been reported. (But they were seen in Oued Jenna this year by Metcalf et al. who wrote the above mentioned Birdguides piece!) In general, very low numbers of resident birds were seen in the area and there was essentially no bird song, even at dawn in Oued Jenna. It was likely a rather dry year given that almost none of the acacias or grasses were green, and it certainly seemed to be a poor year for the desert species. Visiting relatively late in the season may not have made things easier for us, if only because of the high temperatures. The morning of the 1st stayed “cool” for quite long because it took until about noon before the wind had become hot. It did not cool down much before sunset and stayed pretty warm at night, too (estimated minimum and maximum temperatures 20 and 40­45, respectively). We camped at Oued Jenna as birders before us have done, even though in the afternoon in a slip of the tongue we had mentioned to police officers in Aousserd that we would do this: they then said this was absolutely not allowed. They did offer us to stay at the military camp, and otherwise we should drive back to Dakhla. However, the day before we had spoken to A.N.I. people and they said camping at Oued Jenna was absolutely fine. Our final decision was to just camp there, but we drove almost two kilometers south along the western edge of the wadi to be less visible from the road. Our westernmost stop was about 70 km west of Oued Jenna where we found two Sudan Golden Sparrows at 18A, in a wadi south of the road. Already on the 30th we had seen 30+ Desert Sparrows here, which would turn out to be the highest number anywhere along the road. This was also one of the only places where some of the acacias were actually carrying green leaves. Since we thought that this must have been the place where Golden Sparrows had been seen a few weeks earlier, we revisited it on the 1st and found the two Golden Sparrows in the group of Desert Sparrows. We were there after noon on both days, so it was very hot and the sparrows were mostly just resting in the trees, which are so dense that the majority of sparrows were not visible most of the time. It thus took a while before we had all had good views. In Oued Jenna (18F), by far the broadest and most vegetated wadi along this road, we saw a pair of Cricket Warblers on the 30th at 18G and about five more ­one very briefly singing at dawn­ on the 1st, around 18I. A few Blue­cheeked Bee­eaters were also present here, but no Black­crowned Sparrow­Larks could be found despite searching on both days. Two more Cricket Warblers were heard closer to Aousserd at 18K, in a wadi just north of the road. Here, next to a building south of the road at 18J, a small pool attracted birds to come and drink, including 10+ Black Kites, 10+ Brown­necked Ravens, and several Desert Sparrows. Our first Lanner Falcon flew by here, another flew by towards Oued Jenna. (We did not visit during the afternoon, when it is probably best. This was plan B to find a Golden Sparrow, but as we later saw them to the west, we did not return here.) We checked several places where Dunn’s Larks have been seen, such as 18D, 18E, and 18I, but could not find any. We also tried to check every lark that we flushed by car from the roadside, but in the first five or so cases where we could relocate them, they turned out to be Bar­tailed Larks. Then at 18C a pair of

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Black­crowned Sparrow­larks was foraging in the roadside, while two other larks that immediately flew away from the same place may have been Dunn’s but could not be relocated. Ten minutes later, finally a flushed lark turned out to be a Dunn’s Lark, at 18B. We also stopped at various other wadis and groups of trees along the road. At almost all stops (including Oued Jenna and the Golden Sparrow spot), Fulvous Babblers, Desert Sparrows, and algeriensis Grey Shrikes were found. We also had good numbers of migrants, especially in the smaller wadis in the west (there may be more migrants closer to the coast, and also, Oued Jenna is an extremely wide wadi with many trees, so there is more dilution there). These included 40+ Melodious, 30+ Willow, 30+ Western Olivaceous (no tail­dipping was observed and all birds looked long­billed, though some Saharan Olivaceous may have been present among them), 20+ Garden, 4 Western Bonelli’s, and 3 Reed Warblers, 2 Redstarts, 2 Nightingales, 2 Rufous­tailed Scrub Robins, 1 Pied and 15+ Spotted Flycatchers, and 10 Woodchat Shrikes. Not much visible migration of swallows and raptors was seen here. 19. Tissint [3/5: from 18h, (very basic) hotel in Tissint at 19A, 4/5: 08h to 09h30] Near Tissint, Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse has been seen drinking according to Gosney (Deserts: page 24 site 3), and Vlot et al. (2014) had found a bird during the day here. Gosney also mentions that it may be a good site for other drinking sandgrouse, which was interesting to us since we had only had flybys of Crowned and Spotted Sandgrouse so far. While driving north on the 3rd, with the plan to do some leisurely birding in the Souss Valley en route to Marrakech, Marten therefore convinced himself and then the rest of us that we should instead take a detour via Tissint. We started by searching the wadi (at 19B) and the surrounding plains for almost two hours before sunset, but unsurprisingly did not find any sandgrouse. We did see a group of 15+ (at 19C) and another 2 Thick­billed Larks (many juveniles), a family group of Fulvous Babblers (in the wadi, directly south of the road), 10+ Desert Larks, and 10 Trumpeter Finches. The river was carrying some water and from 19E we had a good overview: here we could look down on the wide river basin and see quite far in both directions. We started waiting at sunset (which was at 20:04), and at 20:32, three Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse came flying in and landed on the far side of the river to drink. It was already getting quite dark and we could only just make out some details with the telescope: they were two females and a male. The sandgrouse came from the south and flew almost directly over our heads, and were picked up because of the noise from the wings... Against the sky they were still well visible for half a second, but it was already hard to follow them with land as background. The next morning we arrived at 08:00, driving the car over the track starting at 19D almost to the edge of the cliff, just west of 19E, to overlook the river. We were clearly late as we immediately saw several sandgrouse flying away from the river. During the next 1.5 hours, 60­70 Spotted Sandgrouse and about 25 Crowned Sandgrouse came drinking and could be seen well. They were wary but we could stand outside of the car and they would still land by the river. Many sandgrouse came solo, in pairs, or small flocks of up to six, except for one large flock of about 30 Spotted. We also again had 2 Thick­billed Larks and 2 Honey Buzzards migrating, of which we would see a few more en route that day. While we had been driving north for some ten minutes, another flock of 6 Crowned Sandgrouse flew by. With three drinking sandgrouse species (and in our case our only drinking sandgrouse…), Thick­billed Larks, Fulvous Babblers, and Desert Larks all seen well and in a very short time span, this site should perhaps be part of standard Morocco itineraries!

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Brief remarks about species of interest Please refer to the site accounts for more information. Marbled Duck ­ Common throughout Morocco at fresh water ponds. White­headed Duck ­ Only at Sidi Bourhala (9D) on 24/4, where 40+ were easily seen. Barbary Partridge ­ Several along the road to Oukaimeden (e.g. at 1D) on 18/4 and at Sidi Yahya on 24/4 where they were also calling at dusk at 10E. Double­spurred Francolin ­ Easily heard all over Sidi Yahya (10A ­ 10F) in the morning on 25/4, with three sightings, including one perched in a tree at 10D. The previous evening we had heard a single one calling. Bald Ibis ­ Multiple flocks were found both around the Tamri estuary mouth and north of there on 26/4. The colony is nearby, but it appears to be prohibited to go there based on the local “protectors” information. Egyptian Vulture ­ One migrating 2cy bird at Gleb Jdiane (17A) on 30/4. Bonelli’s Eagle ­ A chance sighting at our first stop on our way to Oukaimeden at 1A, on 18/4. We therefore later didn’t try sites such as Gorge du Dades and Gorge du Tordes near Boumalne. Lesser Kestrel ­ Common in Azrou (7A) and Irfane, with large breeding colonies present. Eleonora’s Falcon ­ 20+ were seen at the bridge in Essaouira (11A) on 25/4. That is, the first birds had returned but the massive numbers one would expect later in the year were not present yet. Barbary Falcon ­ Tough birds to find and identify. We saw one pair of convincing birds on 3/5, likely nesting at the cliff along the road to Dakhla, north of Khniffis Lagoon, at 15D. Lanner Falcon ­ Only seen in and near the Western Sahara. On 1/5, one bird flew by at a small pool near Aousserd at 18J, while further west along the Aousserd road another bird flew by. Also on 1/5, we saw a pair at Gleb Jdiane (17A), with nearby a 2cy bird sitting on a rock by the road at 17C. Presumably the same bird was seen on both 2/5 and 3/5 north of Khniffis Lagoon at 15C. Red­knobbed Coot ­ Seen at fairly many places, mostly along the coast. Purple Swamphen ­ Seen only at Larache marsh at 9C and Sidi Bourhala (9D), on 24/4. Cream­coloured Courser ­ 10+ were seen at the Tagdilt track on 20/4 in the surroundings of the wheatear wall (3G). A further two were seen en route near Dahkla. Slender­billed Gull ­ 10+ were seen at Oued Souss (13A) on 26/4, and 20+ at Laayoune (15I) on 29/4. Audouin’s Gull ­ One or several were found in most gull flocks resting all along the coast from Tamri southwards, with only one fully adult bird seen. Greater Black­backed Gull ­ Several sightings along the Western Saharan coast, e.g. at 15G and 15E. They breed at Khniffis Lagoon (15G), so be careful with Kelp Gull identification.

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Black­bellied Sandgrouse ­ Two birds were seen at the Tagdilt track at 3H on 20/4. Pin­tailed Sandgrouse ­ Only seen flying by, a group of 55 at the Tagdilt track on 20/4, and a group of 20 while walking to the Bedouin camp at Erg Chebbi (5F) on 21/4. Spotted Sandgrouse ­ About 100 seen flying by while walking to the Bedouin camp at Erg Chebbi (5F) on 21/4, and 60­70 drinking at Tissint (19E) on 4/5. Crowned Sandgrouse ­ 1 flying by at Gleb Jdiane (17A) on 30/4, and about 25 drinking at Tissint at 19E on 4/5. Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse ­ 3 birds came flying in and were then seen drinking at dusk at Tissint at 19E on 29/4. This is the only spot in Morocco at which they can be “reliably” found. Pharaoh Eagle Owl ­ Breeding in a quarry east of Boumalne 3K (see site account), and 1 roosting on a cliff west of Rissani at 5K on 21/4. Marsh Owl ­ Hamaroudir the guide showed us 2 birds at Merdja Zerga at 8D on 23/4, where several pairs still breed. ‘Maghreb Wood Owl’ (mauretanicus Tawny Owl) ­ Only seen once during the trip: a pair was calling and mating at night in the center of Azrou at 7C on 22/4. Red­necked Nightjar ­ Heard only at the camp site in Essaouira at 11C on 25/4. We didn’t try it at the standard spot at Oued Souss (near 13A). Egyptian Nightjar ­ A pair was flushed north of Auberge Tresor at 5N on 21/4. Little Swift ­ Seen at several urban locations during the trip as well as on migration in Western Sahara. Blue­cheeked Bee­eater ­ Seen several times in the Rissani area (5T), and also at Oued Jenna (18G). Levaillant’s Woodpecker ­ Easily found in the woods near the river on the road to Oukaimeden at 1B and 1C on 17­18/4. Also heard in the woods near Azrou at 7D on 24/4. Maghreb Lark ­ The only “crested” larks found south and east of the Atlas mountains, e.g. seen at Barrage El Mansour at 2E on 19/4, and in the Rissani area. Lesser Short­toed Lark ­ Small numbers seen in areas where Short­toed Larks were abundant, e.g. at the Tagdilt track at 3C on 20/4, and on the plains near Guelmim at 14C on 27/4. Desert Lark ­ Far less common than Bar­tailed Lark. We saw a couple on the “minor road” site near Amerzgane at 2D on 19/4, two at the quarry of the Pharaoh Eagle Owl at 3J on 20/4, and several on the plains near Tissint at 19C on 2/5. Bar­tailed Lark ­ Common on the plains and flat deserts south of the Atlas.

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Dunn’s Lark ­ Proved hard to find for us, we saw only one bird along the Aousserd road at 18B on 1/5. We also tried several nearby spots where they had been seen recently (see site account). Black­crowned Sparrow­Lark ­ Proved hard to find for us, we eventually saw two birds along the Aousserd road at 18C on 1/5. Thick­billed Lark ­ At least initially, surprisingly few were seen. First seen at the Tagdilt track with two tantalizing fly­by sightings and finally a bird seen well at 3I on 20/4. Another fly­by was seen near Guelmim at 14E on 2/5. Around Tissint, 15+ were seen at the plains next to the river at 19C on 3­4/5. Temminck’s Lark ­ Fairly common on the plains and flat deserts south of the Atlas. Dupont’s Lark ­ Rather easily seen and heard on the Zaida plains at 6C on 22/4, where they were already singing occasionally from around 18h. Hoopoe Lark ­ Uncommon (seen at several locations but in low numbers) on the plains and flat deserts south of the Atlas. Has a very conspicuous song flight. Brown­throated Martin ­ After some searching, we eventually saw 3­4 at Larache at 9B on 24/4. We didn’t see any at Essaouria or Oued Massa, where we admittedly also didn’t make a special effort for it. These are early breeders, probably easier earlier in the season. ‘Moroccan’ Wagtail (subpersonata White Wagtail) ­ Scarce but we found several during the trip, all close to rivers carrying water. The most reliable spot seems to be the bridge east of Ouarzazate (2F) but we for example also found one at the Tamri estuary at 12B on 26/4. Rufous­tailed Scrub Robin ­ Common in the gardens and agricultural fields around Rissani. Also, likely as a migrant, regularly present in wadis. Moussier’s Redstart ­ Common in the mountainous areas and rocky coasts. Seebohm’s Wheatear ­ Common in the mountains of Oukaimeden. We saw one bird at a lower altitude: an immature male on the Tagdilt track on 20/4. Western Black­eared Wheatear ­ Relatively common in cultivated rocky areas north of the Atlas and the coast. Maghreb Wheatear ­ We saw a male with a fledgling at the “minor road” site near Amerzgane at 2D on 19/4, which is likely the most reliable spot in Morocco for this species. Red­rumped Wheatear ­ Surprisingly, only a few were seen at the Tagdilt track (at 3I) on 20/4. Later fairly regularly encountered in the wadis more to the south and along the roads in the Western Sahara. Scrub Warbler ­ Ssp. saharae was seen at the well­known location east of Goulmima at 4A on 20/4. Ssp. theresae was seen south of Guelmim at 14C and 14D on 27/4, and at the car park of Khnifiss at 15F on 28/4.

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Cricket Warbler ­ Only possible along the Aousserd road in Western Sahara. It likely wasn’t a great year for this species either there due to drought, but fortunately several were present in the Oued Jenna wadi (at 18G and 18H) on 30/4­1/5, and we also heard them closer to Aousserd in the wadi at 18K. Western Orphean Warbler ­ In Western Sahara it was common in wadis. In Morocco only seen once, at Sidi Yahya at 10F on 24/4. Spectacled Warbler ­ Surprisingly only seen in the Guelmim area, where we had several at all three stops that we made on 27/4: 14B, 14C, and 14D. African Desert Warbler ­ Only a pair at the well­known wadi on the dirt road from N13 towards Auberge Yasmina at 5C on 21/4. Tristram’s Warbler ­ Only a single singing male: on the Tizi­n­Tichka pass towards Oukaimeden at 2A on 19/4. (Another good spot can be 2B just a little further down the road.) Moustached Warbler ­ A singing male in Larache marsh at 9A on 24/4. Reed Warbler (sp.) ­ These resident birds may belong to African Reed Warblers or might even be a separate North African species; see Alblas (2013) for more info. They were easily found at Oued Massa at 13D and 13G on 27/4. (Three migrant Reed Warblers seen along the Aousserd road were assumed to be European birds.) African Blue Tit ­ Common in lower parts of the Atlas Mountains near Oukaimeden and the Azrou area. Great Grey Shrike ­ algeriensis: 40+ sightings throughout Morocco, elegans: 1 at Lac Dayet (5R) on 22/4. Fulvous Babbler ­ In Morocco, initially hard to find in the Rissani area but eventually seen in the oasis at at 5O on 21/4. Alos, 5+ were seen near Tissint at 19B on 3/5. In Western Sahara along the Aousserd road, more common than expected where they were seen at all wadis that we birded. Nearly always seen in groups, usually 5­10 individuals. ‘Moroccan’ Magpie (ssp. mauretanica) ­ Seen e.g. near Marrakech both on the way out and in, at the car park at Oued Souss (13A), and seemed common at Lac Sidi Bourhala (9D). Desert Sparrow ­ At least five birds at the Bedouin camp at 5E on 24/5, while one male was seen in Yasmina itself at 5F. Common along the Aousserd road, where it was seen in almost every wadi where we stopped. Trumpeter Finch ­ Fairly common in desert areas, e.g. seen at the “minor road” site near Amerzgane at (2D) on 19/4, drinking at Gleb Jdiane (17A) on 30/4­2/5, and at the Tissint wadi (19B) on 3­4/5. Atlas Crimson­winged Finch ­ In the afternoon no sign at the car park above Oukaimeden or along the road towards the pass, but a group was present at the car park (1H) when we returned there half an hour before sunset on 18/4. Apparently not present there early the next morning, when a British birder, who had seen them with us, checked again.

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Sudan Golden Sparrow ­ We met up with people from L'Association Nature Initiative (A.N.I.) (contacted through Facebook and later telephone) in Dakhla to inquire about the sighting of Sudan Golden Sparrows reported by moroccanbirds.blogspot.com on 20/4. They were happy to share information, though with our less­than­excellent understanding of French we still were slightly confused about the exact location the sparrows had been seen, the clearest clue was that it should be about 70 km west of Oued Jenna. They also confirmed no sparrows were present at Bir Anzarane any longer. 34 birds had been seen in February (see Bertrands et al. 2015, Metcalf et al. 2015), so there was hope this could be a long­term reliable site. However, Stronach (2015) subsequently only saw two individuals on March 10, and they have not been seen at all since despite several visits (according to A.N.I.). We were lucky enough to locate two birds in a flock of 30 Desert sparrows at the wadi 70km west of Oued Jenna (18A) on 1/5.

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Appendix 1: Complete list of species observed (Underlined species are discussed above) Ruddy Shelduck Mallard Gadwall Shoveler

Marbled Duck Pochard Red­crested Pochard Ferruginous Duck

Common Scoter White­headed Duck Barbary Partridge Double­spurred Francolin

Quail Black­necked Grebe Little Grebe Great Crested Grebe

Gannet Cormorant (maroccanus) Night Heron Cattle Egret

Squacco Heron Little Egret Great Egret Grey Heron

Purple Heron White Stork Glossy Ibis Bald Ibis

Spoonbill Flamingo Egyptian Vulture Osprey

Short­toed Eagle Booted Eagle Bonelli’s Eagle Marsh Harrier

Montagu’s Harrier Long­legged Buzzard (cirtensis)

Honey Buzzard Sparrowhawk

Kestrel Lesser Kestrel Hobby Eleonora’s Falcon

Peregrine Barbary Falcon Lanner Moorhen

Coot Red­knobbed Coot Purple Swamphen Oystercatcher

Northern Avocet Black­necked Stilt Thick­knee Cream­coloured Courser

Collared Pratincole Little Ringed Plover Ringed Plover Kentish Plover

Grey Plover Northern Lapwing Sanderling Dunlin

Curlew Sandpiper Little Stint Wood Sandpiper Green Sandpiper

Common Sandpiper Redshank Spotted Redshank Greenshank

Black­tailed Godwit Bar­tailed Godwit Curlew Whimbrel

Ruff Great Skua Pomarine Skua Black­headed Gull

Slender­billed Gull Audouin’s Gull Lesser Black­backed Gull Greater Black­backed Gull

Little Tern Sandwich Tern Gull­billed Tern Common Tern

Arctic Tern Caspian Tern Royal Tern Black Tern

Whiskered Tern Black­bellied Sandgrouse Pin­tailed Sandgrouse Spotted Sandgrouse

Crowned Sandgrouse Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse Rock Dove Wood Pigeon

Collared Dove Turtle Dove Laughing Dove Cuckoo

Pharaoh Eagle Owl Short­eared Owl Marsh Owl Tawny Owl(mauretanicus)

Little Owl (noctua saharae) Nightjar Red­necked Nightjar Egyptian Nightjar

Common Swift Pallid Swift Alpine Swift Little Swift

Hoopoe Kingfisher Bee­eater Blue­cheeked Bee­eater

Roller Levaillant’s Woodpecker Great Spotted Woodpecker Wryneck

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Crested Lark Maghreb Lark Thekla Lark Wood Lark

Short­toed Lark Lesser Short­toed Lark Desert Lark (payni) Bar­tailed Lark

Dunn’s Lark Black­crowned Sparrow­Lark Thick­billed Lark atlas Horned Lark

Temminck’s Lark Dupont’s Lark Hoopoe Lark Sand Martin

Brown­throated Martin Crag Martin Barn Swallow Red­rumped Swallow

House Martin Tawny Pipit Tree Pipit White Wagtail (subpersonata)

Yellow Wagtail (iberiae, thunbergi, flava, flavissima)

Grey Wagtail Dipper (minor) Robin

Nightingale Rufous­tailed Scrub Robin Black Redstart Redstart

Moussier’s Redstart Northern Wheatear Seebohm’s Wheatear W. Black­eared Wheatear

Maghreb Wheatear White­crowned Wheatear Black Wheatear Red­rumped Wheatear

Whinchat Stonechat Mistle Thrush Blackbird

Blue Rock Thrush Scrub Warbler Cricket Warbler Garden Warbler

Blackcap Whitethroat Western Orphean Warbler Sardinian Warbler

Spectacled Warbler Subalpine Warbler African Desert Warbler Tristram’s Warbler

Sedge Warbler Moustached Warbler Reed Warbler (sp.) Great Reed Warbler

Melodious Warbler Isabelline Warbler Sah. Olivaceous Warbler Willow Warbler

Chiffchaff Wood Warbler Western Bonelli’s Warbler Firecrest (balearicus)

Wren Spotted Flycatcher Pied Flycatcher Atlas Flycatcher

Great Tit Coal Tit (atlas) African Blue Tit Nuthatch

Short­toed Treecreeper (mauritanica)

Grey Shrike (elegans & algeriensis)

Woodchat Shrike Black­crowned Tchagra

Common Bulbul Fulvous Babbler mauretanica Magpie Jay (minor)

Jackdaw Alpine Chough Chough Northern Raven

Brown­necked Raven Spotless Starling Northern Oriole House Sparrow

Spanish Sparrow Rock Sparrow Desert Sparrow Chaffinch (africanus)

Linnet Goldfinch Serin Greenfinch

Hawfinch Trumpeter Finch Atlas Crimson­winged Finch Ortolan Bunting

Cirl Bunting Corn Bunting Rock Bunting House Bunting

Sudan Golden Sparrow

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Appendix 2: GPS points Names of GPS waypoints start with the numbers from the site accounts (also in ID column). All are referenced to in the text. If a waypoint name ends with a date following an underscore (“_MMDD”), it refers to an observation of ours of the species also mentioned in the waypoint name.

ID Name latitude longitude

1A 1A_BonellisEagle_0418 31.28676 ­7.92265

1B 1B_LevaillantsWp1_0419 31.22824 ­7.81195

1C 1C_LevaillantsWp2_0418 31.26890 ­7.81346

1D 1D_Tristrams_Albegger 31.23744 ­7.81658

1E 1E_ConifForest 31.23033 ­7.82221

1F 1F_Dipper_0418 31.21345 ­7.84742

1G 1G_Hotel_Oukaimeden 31.20392 ­7.86172

1H 1H_CarParkOukaimeden 31.19512 ­7.85532

1I 1I_SnowPatchUpslope 31.18355 ­7.84863

1J 1J_OukaimedenPass 31.17195 ­7.85177

2A 2A_TristramsWarbler_0419 31.46110 ­7.40721

2B 2B_TristramsWarbler_GB 31.45567 ­7.40283

2C 2C_MaghrebWheatear_GB_SB 31.02408 ­7.22502

2D 2D_MaghrebWheatear_0419 31.01802 ­7.22717

2E 2E_MaghrebLark_0419 30.92371 ­6.87212

2F 2F_MorWagtail_0419 30.93898 ­6.88624

2G 2G_BriefStop 31.07832 ­6.49289

3A 3A_Boumalne_AubergeSoleilBleu 31.37812 ­5.98141

3B 3B_TurnOff 31.36423 ­5.91404

3C 3C_DrySandgrousePools 31.34983 ­5.90727

3D 3D_Pool 31.29171 ­5.85314

3E 3E_TurnOffForTagdiltTrack 31.30141 ­5.87035

3F 3F_WaterAndOrchard 31.30287 ­5.88711

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3G 3G_WheatearWall 31.31043 ­5.90015

3H 3H_ThickBilledLark1_0420 31.31888 ­5.91085

3I 3I_ThickBilledLark2_0420 31.33268 ­5.94598

3J 3J_WatchFromHere 31.37366 ­5.80985

3K 3K_EagleOwlHere_0420 31.37243 ­5.80843

4A 4A_ScrubWarbler_Goulmima_0420 31.75665 ­4.83980

5A 5A_Hotel_ErgChebbi 31.12913 ­4.01344

5B 5B_TurnOffToYasmina 31.22601 ­4.12468

5C 5C_DesertWarbler_0421 31.24103 ­4.07953

5D 5D_ParkForDesertSparrow 31.21564 ­3.97717

5E 5E_DesertSparrow1_0421 31.22141 ­3.95610

5U 5F_AubergeYasmina 31.21373 ­3.98848

5F 5F_DesertSparrow2_0421 31.21480 ­3.97497

5G 5G_NewRoadSouth 31.22609 ­4.03080

5H 5H_PharaohEagleOwl_via 31.27946 ­4.35333

5I 5I_TurnOffForEagleOwl 31.21609 ­4.30679

5J 5J_WatchOwlFromHere 31.21007 ­4.31598

5K 5K_EagleOwlHere_0421 31.20934 ­4.31540

5L 5L_SaharanOlivaceous_0421 31.25456 ­4.28489

5M 5M_SaharanOlivaceous_0421 31.30927 ­4.28816

5N 5N_EgyptianNightjar_AubergeTresor_0421 31.29903 ­4.19286

5O 5O_FulvousBabbler_Oasis_0421 31.13889 ­4.01952

5P 5P_TurnOffToLakeDayet 31.10459 ­4.02045

5Q 5Q_LakeDayetShore 31.10134 ­4.04744

5R 5R_LakeDayetTamarisks 31.08231 ­4.03989

5S 5S_BarbaryFalcon_observado15 31.08142 ­4.01606

5T 5T_Rissani Bridge 31.27816 ­4.27989

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6A 6A_ZaidaPlain_Crossroads 32.79251 ­4.93938

6B 6B_ParkForDuponts 32.79436 ­4.93277

6C 6C_DupontsLark_0422 32.79243 ­4.93350

6D 6D_RedKnobbedCoot_0422 33.02928 ­5.07161

7A 7A_HotelAzrou 33.43530 ­5.22004

7B 7B_BarAzrou 33.43541 ­5.21517

7C 7C_TawnyOwl_Azrou_0422 33.43548 ­5.21790

7D 7D_MinorTrack_AtlasFly1_0423 33.48851 ­5.14641

7E 7E_AtlasFly2_0423 33.48678 ­5.14428

7F 7F_TurnOffToDayetAoua 33.66312 ­5.04307

7G 7G_AtlasFly3_0423 33.65643 ­5.04435

7H 7H_AtlasFly4_Grebes_0423 33.64779 ­5.03101

8A 8A_GuideHamaroudir_MerdjaZerga 34.81359 ­6.30164

8B 8B_MarshOwl_WesternSide 34.83785 ­6.30159

8C 8C_ParkedForOwl 34.81495 ­6.26365

8D 8D_MarshOwl_0423 34.81755 ­6.26475

9A 9A_MoustachedW_Larrache_0424 35.17051 ­6.10921

9B 9B_BrownThrMartin_0424 35.16657 ­6.10893

9C 9C_PurpleSwamphen_2404 35.15626 ­6.09909

9D 9D_LacSideBourhalaStop 34.25261 ­6.66698

10A 10A_SidiYahya_CarPark 33.70975 ­6.92586

10B 10B_FurthestPoint 33.72186 ­6.92790

10C 10C_TrackToSouthwest 33.71404 ­6.92800

10D 10D_PerchedFrancolin_0425 33.71272 ­6.92838

10E 10E_GoodOverview 33.71019 ­6.92984

10F 10F_Tchagra_0425 33.71055 ­6.92440

11A 11A_OuedKsobBridge_Essaouira 31.48573 ­9.76555

28

11B 11B_HotelCamping_Essaouira 31.43288 ­9.65798

11C 11C_RedNeckedNightjar_0425 31.43185 ­9.65885

12A 12A_SoaringIbis_Tamri_0426 30.76035 ­9.82461

12B 12B_TurnOffForIbis 30.71318 ­9.84288

12C 12C_Ibis_0426 30.71502 ­9.85367

12D 12D_TamriEstuaryParking_Ibis_0426 30.70860 ­9.85684

12E 12E_CapRhir_SeaWatch 30.62808 ­9.88781

13A 13A_OuedSouss_CarPark 30.36344 ­9.58584

13B 13B_HotelSidiWassay_nearOuedMassa 30.05798 ­9.68681

13C 13C_TurnOffToOuedMassa 30.01729 ­9.57986

13D 13D_ArhbalouBridge 30.03105 ­9.64453

13E 13E_ReedWarbler1_0427 30.03033 ­9.64480

13F 13F_TurnOffToGosney4 29.99991 ­9.64334

13G 13G_ReedWarbler2_0427 30.00550 ­9.65587

13H 13H_Peregrine_0427 30.04161 ­9.63313

13I 13I_Falcons_0427 29.72858 ­9.70035

14A 14A_HotelSalam_Guelmim 28.98704 ­10.05840

14B 14B_PondSandgrouse08_Petterson 28.82097 ­10.31092

14C 14C_ScrubWarbler1_0427 28.82822 ­10.28093

14D 14D_ScrubWarbler2_0427 28.91803 ­10.14470

14E 14E_ThickBilledLark_FlyBy_0502 28.69840 ­10.55672

15A 15A_HotelHagounia_TanTanPlage 28.49065 ­11.33767

15B 15B_OuedChbieka 28.29088 ­11.53200

15C 15C_Lanner_0502 28.26022 ­11.59755

15D 15D_BarbaryFalconPair_0502 28.21915 ­11.76390

15E 15E_NoKelpGull_Stronach15 28.08292 ­12.08325

15F 15F_KhniffisPark 28.02883 ­12.23978

29

15G 15G_GullsApproxHere 28.03702 ­12.24171

15H 15H_LaayouneHotel 27.15302 ­13.19689

15I 15I_LaayouneBridge 27.16463 ­13.19372

15J 15J_NoPiedCrow_PetrolStation 24.66863 ­14.86957

16A 16A_Hotel1_Dakhla 23.69844 ­15.93064

16B 16B_Hotel2_Dakhla 23.70798 ­15.92368

16C 16C_RoyalTern_0501 23.78795 ­15.89705

16D 16D_TernGullRoost 23.76882 ­15.92490

16E 16E_MigrantGardens 23.76558 ­15.92104

16F 16F_SouthernTipDakhla 23.63179 ­15.98991

17A 17A_WaterTower_GledJdiane 23.61304 ­15.72318

17B 17B_RidgeWithMigration 23.65253 ­15.71964

17C 17C_Lanner_0501 23.56446 ­15.67685

18A 18A_GoldenSparrow_AousserdRd_0501 23.09828 ­14.94173

18B 18B_DunnsLark_0501 23.03811 ­14.87452

18C 18C_Sparrowlark_0501 23.02171 ­14.85449

18D 18D_NoDunnsLark1_Vlot14 22.98169 ­14.79974

18E 18E_NoDunnsLark2_Petterson08 22.80017 ­14.61997

18F 18F_OuedJenna 22.67897 ­14.49328

18G 18G_CricketWarbler1_0430 22.67404 ­14.49401

18H 18H_CricketWarbler2_0501 22.66870 ­14.49680

18I 18I_NoDunnsLark3_Bertrands15 22.65300 ­14.46100

18J 18J_PoolByBuilding 22.57874 ­14.37136

18K 18K_CricketWarbler3_0501 22.58073 ­14.37209

18L 18L_NoRockMartin_Aousserd 22.55884 ­14.33229

19A 19A_Hotel_Tissint 29.90149 ­7.31920

19B 19B_Wadi 29.85087 ­7.26480

30

19C 19C_ThickBilledLarks 29.85653 ­7.26967

19D 19D_TrackToRiverForSandgrouse 29.85127 ­7.26572

19E 19E_SatForLichtensteins 29.85193 ­7.26246

99A 99A_Marrakech_Airport 31.60303 ­8.02551

99B 99B_Marrakech_Carrefour 31.59264 ­7.98669

99C 99C_LittleOwl_0423 34.00810 ­5.75288

99D 99D_LittleSwift_0423 34.27024 ­5.92306

99E 99E_MorWagtail_0504 31.55411 ­7.68041

31