Southern Spain and Northern Morocco
MARCH 7TH - 14TH 2011 - £950 + flights (approx £50 - £100)
Enjoy an early spring week-long break in two very exciting bird-watching destinations found in Southern Spain and Northern Morocco.
This dual destination tour will take in Spain's southern mountainous areas near Ronda to look for Blue Rock Thrush, Rock Bunting,
Rock Sparrow, Griffon Vultures and Bonelli's Eagle. There may also be a few wintering birds around which include, Siskin, Blackcap,
Chiffchaff, Brambling, Redwing, Ring Ouzel and Alpine Accentor.
You will also visit the coastal lagoons, salt-pans, estauries and pine woods found along the southern shore. In the pine woods and
surrounding areas we can look for Iberian Green Woodpecker (sharpii), Great Spotted Woodpecker, Wryneck, Hawfinch, Nuthatch, Crested Tit,
Firecrest, Cirl Bunting and many more. The open lagunas support many Herons, Egrets, Storks, Ibis and many waders and wildfowl.
The reed-beds may hold Zitting Cisticola, Penduline Tit, Bluethroat and hundreds of Chiffchaff. A visit to the migration hot-spot around
Tarifa and Gibraltar is always an exciting prospect, where you can look for early spring migrants such as Black Kites as they amble across the Straits
in their thousands as well as White Storks and Lesser Kestrels, it is also a good time to look for the Great Spotted Cuckoo.
In Northern Morocco our prized birds will be the Marsh Owl and Double-spurred Francolin with a supporting cast of Red-knobbed Coot, Common Crane, Moustached Warbler, Black-crowned Tchagra and many more.
You will visit the 'Merjas of the Rharb' a series of lagoons and marshes found just south of Larache which attract an impressive number of wintering birds and passing migrants. Your Moroccan experience will also include a day long visit to the nature reserve of Moulay Bousselham which incorporates the internationally important wetlands of the Merja Zerga. The Merja Zerga is one of Morocco largest lagoons (30km2) and is surrounded by large areas of low vegetation, this is where we will look for the elusive Marsh Owl. The large lagoon is also an important staging and wintering place for ducks and waders. We visit the area when bird numbers are at their peak, thousands of Wigeon, Common Teal, Northern Shoveler, Pintail, Shelduck and Gadwall assemble in huge rafts. There is always the possibilty of finding Marbled Duck, Red-knobbed Coot, Ruddy Shelduck, Ferruginous Duck and Red-crested Pochard
To the north of Asilah the river (oued) Tahadart empties into the Atlantic Ocean and the surrounding mudflats and marshes are also excellent for a wide variety of wildfowl, gulls,terns and waders. A late afternoon visit will increase our chances of finding Caspian, Lesser-crested or even a Royal Tern
Your visit will culminate with a tour of the Zaer where we look for the much sought-after Double-spurred Francolin and a supporting cast of many woodland species.
ITINERARY
Day 1-4
This action-packed week commences with a morning arrival at Malaga international airport, after loading up the bus we head straight for our first birding destination just a few minutes away from the airport. The Rio Guadalhorce Paraje Natural sits at the mouth of the river just a few miles from the metropolis of Malaga. At any time the year this is an excellent birdwatching centre and a great introduction to Spanish birds.
It is not unusual to see 50 species in a 2-3 hour visit including goodies such as White-headed Duck, Red Crested Pochard, Garganey, Audouin's Gull, Southern Grey Shrike, Eurasian Spoonbill, Bluethroat, Caspain Tern, Osprey, Booted Eagle and many more.
Over the next three days you will visit, several other coastal locations with reedbeds, lagoons, salt marshes and sandy beaches. You will venture into cork oak woodlands, pine forests and open heathland as well as large open plains and rice paddies giving you opportunity to amass quite list of Spanish specialities and over-wintering northern birds. A visit to the 'lake district' will give us the opportunity to look for a vast variety of species which may include: Little Bustard, Greater Flamingo, Clandra lark, Golden Plover, Wryneck, Golden and Bonelli's Eagles, now that's a mouth watering list!
Day 5
Today we drive down to Tarifa to catch an early morning ferry to Tangier, whilst crossing the Strait of Gibraltar we may see Northern Gannet, Shearwaters, Dolphins or possibly a whale. After passing through customs (sometimes this can be a little tedious) we meet our Moroccan driver with his minibus and we take the old coast road south, we travel at a steady pace so that we can stop whenever and wherever we like. We will take our picnic lunch in the marshlands just north of Larache, the rest of the afternoon will be spent searching the lagoons, the estuary and marshes which should produce exciting birds such as Red-knobbed Coot, Purple Swamphen, Glossy Ibis and many ducks and waders. If we are really lucky we may get a sighting of the much sort after Moustached Warbler and above us raptors should include Marsh Harrier and the Long-legged buzzard.
Our last port of call will be the beach area where we will look for Audouin's and Slender-billed Gulls, we may also see some Terns there with the large Sandwich Tern being dwarfed by the huge Caspian Tern. Finally we check into our hotel in Larache with plenty of time to relax before dinner.
day 6
Following an early breakfast we set off southward heading for the Merja Zerja lagoon at Moulay Bousselham. arriving quite early our aim is to spend most of the morning touring the area visiting many vantage points to view this impressive lagoon. The marshland and open vegetation around the perimeter of the lagoon is home to the Marsh Owl, we will try our best to locate this little gem before retiring for lunch at Moulay Bousselham.
The rest of the afternoon will be spent looking at three other smaller lagoons to the north. The Merjas of the Rharb - Halloufa, Bargha and Oulad Sgher are the three main Merjas (lagoons and marshes) of the Rharb. They attract impressive numbers of wintering wildfowl and passage waders during migration. here we can look for Red-knobbed Coot, Black-necked Grebes, Cattle Egrets, Greater Flamingo, Eurasian Spoonbill, Glossy Ibis, Squacco Heron and Black-crowned Night Heron. These merjas often attract huge numbers of gulls and very often at this time of year you may see Whiskered, Black or even White-winged Terns. Raptors may include Osprey, Marsh Harrier, Peregrine Falcon, Lesser Kestrel and Booted Eagle. Up to 20 species of waders may be seen during our visit and the coastal lawns, hedges and farms attract such species as Stone Curlew, Crested Lark, Zitting Cisticola, and Sardinian Warblers. As the day draws to a close we head off back to Larche for our second night and a well deserved dinner.
Day 7
After another early breakfast we load up the bus, bid farewell to our friends at the hotel and head off south towards Casablanca. Our first birding destination this morning is a visit to the Zaer region. The Zaer form the western part of the Central Moroccan Plateau and contain some of the original cork oak and Sandarac woods. These woodlands hold a rich avifauna and where up to 100 breeding species have been recorded, these include Black-winged Kite, Black-crowned Tchagra and our target species Double-spurred Francolin we will have two opportunities for this species, one late afternoon and another during a very early morning excursion.
Day 8
Our last day - there will be an early morning excursion to visit the woodland areas around Sidi-Yaya which will give us our best opportunity to see the Double-spurred Francolin. After breakfast we drive further south to Casablanca stopping at a couple of coastal sites before heading off to the airport for our return flight to the UK
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What’s included?
- 7 nights half-board accommodation
- All ground transport including airport transfers
- Ferry Fees
- The services of the guide
- A ‘Wingspan’ species checklist
- What’s not included?
- Travel insurance
- Flights (Cheap flights are available to Malaga and from Casablanca to the UK. In March 2010 the prices were at low as £35 one-way - inclusive of taxes with Easyjet!)
- Lunches, Drinks and purchases of a personal nature
