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Sunday 29th June 2025: Cuiaba and Pantanal, Brazil Day 1

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We started with a whimper, our first bird out of the airport being a feral pigeon! However, things quickly picked up, with a Great Kiskadee and a Chalk-browed Mockingbird both posing on a lamppost as our suitcases were put in black sacks, in preparation for the dusty panteneria highway ahead. Having arrived early in the morning, we went straight to the Amazon Hotel for breakfast. Unexpectedly, a Cattle Tyrant was sat on a wire outside the hotel, which seemed rather strange for such an urban environment. After eating, several of us gathered behind the hotel, where after some debate we called the circling swifts as Neotropical (or Fork-tailed) Swifts, then we also found and identified Grey-breasted Martins soaring over the hotel rooftop. As it was peak time for birding, our guide Roberto decided to maximise our opportunities by visiting a local park in Cuiaba rather than setting straight out on our journey towards the Pantanal, and we quickly started to build our list. In the car park Ro...
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Wednesday 4th June 2025: Red-necked Phalarope at Cuckmere Haven

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 We had planned a trip to Ashdown Forest today in search of some heathland birds, but when news of a Red-necked Phalarope came through at Cuckmere Haven, we decided that had to trump our other targets, as this rare passage migrant was unlikely to hang around. We arrived to news that the bird had flown just before we got there, which was very frustrating. However, the opinion was it hadn’t gone far, and sure enough, around half an hour later the bird was relocated at the first meander of the river.  The most striking observation of the bird was its diminutive size. It was unfortunately at some distance, and looked tiny, but we were able to get decent views through the scope, and it is a very attractive and colourful bird. Although they are renowned for their habit of spinning in circles to disturb insects on the water, we did not observe such behaviour. We did however see it purposefully dipping its head and bobbing its tail in a distinctive fashion.  This was my fourth si...
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Thursday 22nd May 2025: Return to Marrakesh

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 We spent the whole day travelling from the mountains to Marrakech, ready for an early check-in tomorrow, so there was little birding to be had. A Little Owl showed very well from the road, our first and only one of the trip. At a short stop to stretch our legs, with a view across a vast reservoir, Dave spotted a gorgeous male Sardinian Warbler feeding in the low vegetation, which although mobile, eventually gave good views for some of us. And finally, at a coffee shop in the valley, we had great views of another Woodchat Shrike. Common Bulbul and Melodious Warbler provided the sound accompaniment! Little Owl (David Park) Woodchat Shrike (David Park)
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Wednesday 21st May 2025: Morocco

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We set off at 05.40 for the Zaida plain again in search of the elusive DuPont’s Lark. We had been promised that finding the bird would be far easier this morning as the birds would be singing, but we arrived to silence, save for some burbling contact calls of Greater Short-toed Larks. We spread out to scan the land, and I confess for me this was without hope or expectation of success. However, after around 20 minutes, our guide received a recording from the driver of a bird he had heard singing, so we hot-footed it back to the bus, and drove a short distance to where it had been found. Positioning ourselves in front of the rising sun, it did not take long for our guide to relocate the target bird, and we enjoyed a number of appearances, with some musical display flights and excellent scope views as it perched up on the low lying thyme bushes.  A great result making our early start worthwhile. Several Greater short toed larks were also seen scurrying amongst the vegetation and as we...
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Tuesday 20th May 2025: Morocco

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Inspired by our walk yesterday, we were joined by the rest of the group at 6.45 to seek some of the species we had seen yesterday. The day got off to a cracking start, with a pair of displaying Rollers, which then perched on the wire giving excellent views from the bedroom . A Great Tit also showed well in a nearby tree.  Descending to the road, where we met the rest of the group, there were lots of singing Corn Buntings, and a number of Quail called from the depths of the wheat fields, with one sounding incredibly close, but still impossible to locate. Continuing along the track, we again found a Cirl Bunting, although less close than yesterday, and a Moussier’s Redstart moving amongst the rocks and trees on the sandstone escarpment. A Woodchat Shrike showed well in some distant scrubby bushes, and we heard the beautiful song of a Wood Lark.  Returning to the hotel for breakfast and to pack, a short stroll to the pool area gave us a lovely Melodious Warbler, with yellowish to...
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Monday 19th May 2025: Morocco

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We had an early start this morning heading off at 05.30 for the king’s hunting lodge at Zaida Plains in search of another specialist bird, the  Double-spurred Francolin. We heard several birds calling, including one at close range, but unfortunately our guide’s efforts to flush it out were not successful. There was some compensation though with distant views of  Barbary Partridge feeding on an  open slope, then a further sighting of  two birds on the track in front of us, flying off with a brief flash of grey back and rufous flanks as they departed, a new tick for me. In this open woodland area, we also enjoyed good views of a pirouetting Spotted Flycatcher seen at close range and a burbling Western Olivaceous Warbler which posed obligingly in a prominent position atop the bush. Both African Chaffinch and African Blue Tit were seen well, and a Nightingale endlessly poured out its beautiful song. Turtle Doves purred from the treetops, and several Common Bulbul feasted...
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Sunday 18th May 2025: Morocco day 3

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This morning we headed to a large lake, the shore lined with shady eucalyptus trees, where we took a gentle stroll through the narrow woodland, a popular picnic site with the locals. As we arrived and set up our scopes, we were watched by numerous Black Kites circling overhead and across the landscape. Several Marbled Ducks were quickly found, showing brilliantly in the scopes, but just a tad too distant for good photos. Nevertheless, this was a vast improvement on my previous sighting of the species, a  brief glimpse in flight on our previous trip to Morocco. Marbled Duck  There were plenty of groups of  Red-crested Pochard females leading their brood across the water, but we were unable to locate any of the more colourful males. Another highlight here was the endangered White-headed Duck, again seen in good numbers around the pond. In the UK, many Ruddy Duck have been culled in an effort to protect this rare duck from cross-breeding, so it was good to find them here, ra...
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