We recently finished a Birding Northern Morocco trip and just uploaded the trip report. You can find it here. It contains a full description of the itinerary, with pictures taken during the trip. It also has an annotated list of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and insects! On this post we mention some of the highlights of this trip.
Birding Northern Morocco highlights
- We found one of the targets, and in good numbers, almost right out of the plane. Seeing up to 11 African Royal Terns, a species recently split from the American Royal Tern, was certainly a highlight.
- We got phenomenal views of one of the main targets of the trip: the Lanner Falcon. We had two adult Lanner Falcons at pleasure in our scopes, and also got great views of the birds in flight. That same morning we saw 2 Great Bustards from the last surviving population in Africa.
- Seeing up to nine Marsh Owls at dusk near the Merja Zerga Lagoon was certainly one of the best moments of the tour.
- The boat trip at Merja Zerga lagoon and the visit to a Eleonora’s Falcon colony provided excellent views and photography opportunities.
- The Zaër Forest was productive after some work. We ended up seeing our three targets on site: Barbary Partridge, Double-spurred Francolin and Black-crowned Tchagra.
- The visit to the old Roman city of Volubilis was a welcome addition to the trip.
- A couple of Levaillant’s Woodpeckers provided some of the best experiences of the trip at Dayet Aoua.
- We heard and saw the recently split Maghreb Wood Owl, closely related to the Tawny Owl. You can hear a recording of this bird here.
- The Zaida Plains provided a welcome change of scenery. Here we found some desert specialties including one of our main targets: the Dupont’s Lark.
The most remarkable highlight of the Birding Northern Morocco trip was hitting all the targets while having a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. And let’s not forget the abundant and good food! This all made for a great trip to some of the most unexplored sites of Morocco.
You can find more information about birding in the region on these posts:
Contact us if you are interested on a Birding Trip to Morocco!