The Deskbound Birder: Morocco 10th - 16th February

Saturday, 10 February 2018

Morocco 10th - 16th February - Kasbah Tamadot

Background
Sarah, Tobias and I had planned a family holiday to Morocco which was to be mainly a relaxing week. Sarah was planning some spa time and I had a little time set aside for birding but I also wanted to relax and spend time with Sarah and Tobias. Having visited Morocco on a birding trip from 26th April to 9th May 2006 (see Jon Hornbuckle's account of the trip here) there were few ticks for me. However, during this earlier trip I had missed African Crimson-winged Finch and African Desert Warbler. We didn't have time to visit the areas for both species but as we were staying in the Atlas Mountains the finch was gettable.

Logistics
We flew with British Airways from London Gatwick at 07:00 on 10th February and stayed for four nights at Richard Branson's fantastic hotel Kasbah Tamadot a couple of kilometres south of Asni in the Atlas Mountains. From here I spent three hours birding the wooded valley to the south of the hotel and arranged a mornings birding at Oukaimeden for the Crimson-winged Finch. From Kasbah Tamadot we also spent a morning in Marrakech, a drive of around one hour to the north. On 14th we transferred from Kasbah Tamadot to the coast staying at the hotel La Sultana at Oualidia. The drive took around 4.5 hours. Here I birded from the hotel grounds but also took a boat trip across to the spit opposite the hotel and spent two hours birding here. We stayed at La Sultana for two nights before transferring back to Marrakech Airport (3 hours) and flying at 18:05 back to London Gatwick.

Weather
The week prior to our trip had been very wet/snowy with the highest snow fall since the 1970's in the Atlas Mountains. As a result of this I had to postpone my trip to Oukaimeden for two days as the village had become cut-off. At the Kasbah Tamadot the weather was a little bizarre with a good 30cm of snow on the ground but with beautiful blue skies and warm temperatures at around 16c. It was warm enough to sit outside at lunchtime but cold at night - I even swam in the outside pool amongst the snowy scenes. At Oualidia it was around lovely and warm at around 21c and sunny but again a little chilly at night.

Photography
I took with me my Canon 1DX Mark II, Canon 400mm DO Mark II and a Canon 1.4 Mark III Extender.

Summary Itinerary

10th February (Day 1) - International flight from London Gatwick to Marrakech (07:00-10:35) then drive (1 hour) to Kasbah Tamadot. PM relax in hotel with casual birding in grounds.
11th February (Day 2) - Early AM birding along road from Kasbah Tamadot then relax in hotel PM.
12th February (Day 3) - Drive to Marrakech AM (1 hour), relax at Kasbah Tamadot hotel PM.
13th February (Day 4) - AM drive to Oukaimeden from Kasbah Tamadot (1.5 hours), birding until 12:30. Relax in hotel PM.
14th February (Day 5) - Drive Kasbah Tamadot to La Sultana at Oualidia (11:00-16:00), casual birding around hotel PM.
15th February (Day 6) - Early PM (07:15-09:30) birding on sand-bar opposite La Sultana, casual birding around hotel PM.
16th February (Day 7) - AM around La Sultana, then drive to Marrakech Airport (3 hours). Fly Marrakech to London Gatwick (18:05-21:40).

11th February
I was up at 06:45 and spent around three hours birding the road for approximately one mile south of the Kasbah Tamadot (south of Asni) and also dropping into the agricultural valley to the east of the road. On this short walk I recorded a fairly low diversity of widespread bird species including African Blue Tit, Serin, Sardinian Warbler, Yellow-billed Chough, Rock Bunting, Robin, Blackbird and Chaffinch of the distinctive subspecies africana. However, my main target here was Maghreb (Levaillant's) Green Woodpecker, a species which I had seen previously in Morocco but not particularly well. I heard several birds calling but all were inaccessible on the opposite side of the valley but when a bird called nearby I scrambled down into the valley and was soon enjoying great views (albeit in dingy morning light) of this species which is endemic to North-west Africa (Morocco and Tunisia).