Day 1      Barbate to Rabat

Travelling from Barbate to Tarifa provided the rich bird sightings one would expect of Andalucia – spotless starlings, cranes, black kite, common buzzard, griffon vultures, marsh harriers, little bustards, ravens, white storks (nesting on pylons), kestrel, lesser kestrel, cormorant; Audouin's, yellow-legged and lesser black backed gulls. There was a lone turnstone on the quay at Tarifa and an alpine swift flew into the custom's shed in Tangier.  Yelkouan and Cory's shearwater were seen from the ferry (by the guide anyway!).

The weather was overcast and there was a stiff breeze blowing.  Once into Morocco we set off down the Atlantic coast, noticing the soil blowing in the wind, the acres of plastic covering strawberries destined for European supermarkets and the delightful wild lupins everywhere.  The first scheduled stop was Moulay Bousselham near Larache, site of the lake known as Merja Zerga.  It was very cold, very windy and about to rain.  Most birds had sensibly taken cover and there was not a marsh owl to be found.  There were plenty of cattle egrets and a well hidden bulbul singing beautifully.  Deciding to head further south, we drove on to Rabat.

Day 2      Rabat to Essaouira

Pallid swifts and Moroccan jackdaws were sighted from the hotel window. Our first stop was the Chellah, site of the ancient Roman city of Sala Colonia and a Merenid necropolis, on the outskirts of Rabat.  The ruins are overgrown with trees and wild flowers and the site is home to a colony of storks who could be found nesting in the trees, atop the minaret and any other convenient piece of ruin.  They are fun to watch clattering their beaks in greeting to their mates and bringing twigs to their already vast and chaotic nests.  The mix of ruins, flowers and birds is delightful – sightings included bulbuls, serin, chaffinch, black redstarts, greenfinch, blackbirds, blackcaps, Cetti's warblers, song thrush, cattle egrets, collared and rock doves. 

The weather was still wild and we drove steadily on to get further south and hopefully away from it.  It was a case of nimble eyes to bird watch at 120kph as we battered along the motorway.  Experienced spotters noted a sparrow hawk, egrets, a little owl, woodchat shrikes, great grey shrikes, black crowned tchagra, alpine swifts, common swifts, red-rumped swallows, barn swallows, hoopoe, kestrel, lesser kestrel, crested larks.  Less experienced spotters noted some of those and were otherwise engaged in noting the advanced state of agriculture in Morocco.  Crops are clearly grown on a commercial scale with mechanised cultivation.  Donkeys are widely used for transport though and flocks of sheep are still herded by men, women and children.  When the road skirted the coast gulls could be seen hunkered down on the beach – yellow legged, lesser black backed, ring billed, Audouin's and slender billed. 

We stopped for the night just south of Essaouira in a hostelry apparently once frequented by Jimi Hendrix.     

   It was surrounded by juniper forest but it was still so cold and windy that birds were all well hidden.  We ate our evening meal in a vast dining room lit entirely by candles. 

Day 3      Essaouira to Agadir and the Souss-Massa National Park

We had breakfast outdoors in a pale morning sun with bulbul, serin, chaffinch and greenfinch around.  Close ups of the chaffinches enabled us to see their yellowy-green backs which distinguishes them from their northern cousins.

There was a blue sky at last but it was still very windy and cold.  As we continued south the landscape changed becoming hilly and covered with thorn scrub.  It was sheep and goat country - the goats being notable for their ability to climb trees.  We passed some trees with goats perched on branches like roosting egrets.  The snow topped mountains of the High Atlas were visible in the distance.  Stopping more often we were able to watch Thekla's larks, hoopoe, a kestrel on the ground, song thrush, swallows, woodchat shrikes, white wagtails, southern great grey shrikes, house sparrows and excellent views of the mauritanica sub species of magpie with their striking blue patch behind the eye. 

We also had our first sighting of a Moussier's redstart – a really beautiful little bird.  Further on near Tamri we came across black wheatears, loads of larks, Orphean and Sardinian warblers, rock doves, brown-necked ravens, a kestrel and a flock of 18 bald ibis.

We were able to watch the ibis for quite a while as they foraged about, some of them collecting nesting material.  They have a stunning bronze sheen on their wings and their punk hairstyles blow about wildly in the wind.

We drove past Agadir and made our way to the Oued Massa.  Here we were able to walk alongside the river as it runs between wooded banks to the sand dunes at the mouth.  Birds sighted: coots (in large numbers), tufted ducks, moorhens, little grebes, Moroccan cormorants, flamingo (juveniles), spoonbills, black winged stilts, spotted redshank, great white egrets, night heron, grey heron, kingfisher, little bitterns and squacco herons in flight, willow warblers, Sardinian warblers, bulbuls, linnets, goldfinches, greenfinches, zitting cisticolas, larks, blackbirds, stonechats, song thrushes, Moussier's redstarts, spotted flycatcher, a kestrel and at sunset, a pair of little owls at very close quarters - the best birding of the trip.

We returned to Agadir for the night.

Day 4      Agadir to Marrakech

Our route to Marrakech first followed the Souss river valley and then crossed the High Atlas over the Tizi-n'Test pass.  This is a spectacular drive rising to a height of 2100 metres.  We picnicked at the top.  In the Souss valley we saw hoopoe, great grey shrikes, black shouldered kites, lesser kestrel, kestrel, magpies and yellow wagtails.  Over the pass sightings included: Thekla's larks, black redstarts, black wheatears, rock bunting, chaffinch, serin, grey wagtails, alpine choughs, lesser kestrel and Barbary partridges.  Raptors were mostly notable by their absence. 

The northern side is greener – the terraces and flowering fruit trees were just beautiful. 

Overnight in Marrakech we enjoyed a close encounter with a house bunting and watched swifts flying overhead from the roof terrace of the riad in which we stayed.  There were pallid, white-rumped, plain, common and alpine swifts.

Day 5      Marrakech to Meknes

This was another long haul along the foothills of the Atlas mountains.  We travelled at speed and sightings were limited to swallows, a stray robin, a black shouldered kite, lesser and common kestrels, brown necked ravens, cattle egrets and white storks.  Taking a break at a rubbish dump provided the best sightings of about 80 storks and 30-40 ravens.  We reached Ifrane in the late afternoon and went directly to Dayet-Aaoua, a large lake surrounded by woodlands.  It was very cold.  Sightings included: long legged buzzards, Levaillant's green woodpeckers, mistle thrush, starlings, coots, crested coots, little grebes, great crested grebes, pochard, black winged stilts, teal, shovelers, gadwall, white and yellow wagtails, greenfinch, linnets and tree sparrows.  A jay and a song thrush were heard.

Day 6      Meknes to Tanger

Superb start to the day at Volubilis, the site of one of the Roman empire's more remote outposts.  We were there early with the sun just breaking through the mist.  It is a joy to wander among these ruins admiring the mosaics, the wild flowers and the birds.  We watched a blue rock thrush warming up in the morning sun.  There were storks nesting on the ancient columns, bulbuls eating asphodel flowers, a little owl, black redstarts, corn buntings, Thekla's larks, blue tits, Sardinian warblers, serin (of course), blackcaps, hoopoe, cirl buntings, goldfinches, chaffinches, linnets, greenfinches, blackbirds, stonechats and little egrets.

On the final stretch to Ouezzane, past Chefchaouen and on to Tanger we saw kestrels on almost every pylon, a Montagu's harrier, lots of great grey shrikes, a black stork, jay, sparrow hawk, marsh harrier, long legged buzzard, black redstarts and another robin.  Cirl buntings were heard singing. 

We watched the sun go down as we left Tanger and crossed the straits back to Spain.

Photographs by Stephen Daly.                                         Below - From Left to Right

Black shouldered Kite:   Black Wheatear:   Cirl Bunting:  Orphean Warbler:  

Great Grey Shrike (form algeriensis):   Red-knobbed Coot:   Common Bulbul:  Brown-necked Raven