TRANSFER TO AGADIR WITH STOPS AT AOULOUZ GORGE - SIDI QAAZIZ PLAINS - OUED SOUS ESTUARY
WEATHER: clodless, sunny day, very warm in the afternoon 25C.
Our first birding of the day was made at the hotel in Taliouine, we met at 6am and realised that 6 was a tad too early, it was still dark! By the time we walked down to the riparian woodland the light had arrived and the sun came up, over the distant mountains.
Three Great Spotted Woodpeckers were drumming, we saw two of them. A Cirl Bunting was singing and we had the constant calls of the Common Bulbul and the trilling of the Greenfinches. We hit a purple patch in one of the alfalfa fields when we found 3 Orphean Warblers, 2 Blackcaps, a male Common Redstart and two Tree Pipits.
a male Blackcap
Orphean Warbler
Tree Pipit
African Chaffinch
Our vist to the Gorge just outside of the town of Aoulouz was a bit disappointing because of the lack of water, only one Little Egret was seen, one White Stork, a couple of Moorhens and a little Grebe. We did finally get to see a Cetti's Warbler also Reed Warbler, Sardinian Warbler and lots of Common Bulbuls.
the track into the gorge
Black-crowned Tchagra
Our saving grace was the sighting of two very nice raptors and a Black-crowned Tchagra. The raptors were of a Barbary Falcon and a pair of Bonelli's Eagles.
Spanish Pond Terrapins
A stop in to open plains a few kilometers further on was made to look for Black-winged Kite which did not appear. We saw lots of Woodchat Shrikes, a Great Grey Shrike, Crested larks, Linnets, Sardinian Warblers and not much else, it wass getting very warm so we didn't stay too long, the heat haze was proving to be a problem too.
After stopping to buy lunch supplies we drove into Taroudant to eat it, we found shaded seats in the municiple park alongside the main road. From there we drove all the way into Agadir and to the Qued Sous Estuary.
Our fortunes changed for the better, but only slightly! We arrived just as the high tide was turning which was perfect for wader watching, we walked upriver to view a couple of sandbanks which was covered in gulls and waders. We saw Greater Flamingos, Eurasian Spoonbills, Glossy Ibis, Grey Heron, Little Egrets and a large Gull roost. Most of the gulls were Lesser Balck-backed, with some Yellow-legged Gulls, Black-headed, Mediterranean and Slender-billed Gulls. A nice mixture! With them were about fifty Gull-billed Terns and Two Caspain Terns.
Slender-billed Gull with a Caspian Tern and a Black-headed Gull photo-bombing them in the background.
There were waders galore, we saw 20 species, none of them rare or unusual but as I love wader watching I was in heaven. At one stage an Osprey dropped in for a bath and flushed the lot of them! The Osprey caused panic too when it took off and landed in a nearby dead tree.
Curlew Sandpipers and a Greater Ringed Plover
On the scrubland a Stone Curlew was flushed accidentally and later a Common Quail was also flushed. We watched Zitting Cisticolas, lots of Mageb Magpies, Sardinian Warblers and Crested Larks.
Our walk along the river bank towards the beach was tharwted by the security guards, The President was in residence in the nearby Palace and the path to the beach was blocked with no access. So we had to make do with sightings from the car park.
a summer plumage Redshank, it looked stunning
A large roosting flock of Sandwich Terns were joined by more of the smaller gulls, we also logged Whimbrel, Curlew, Redshank , Greenshank, Sanderling, Dunlin, Little Stint, Turnstone and many more.
We left the area around six, the security was annoying which stopped us seeing more species although we did clock 80 species today!!