Window to Wildlife

We convened for a morning walk at 7am, despite it still being dark at the allotted meeting time! However by the time we had walked down the road to join the path to the river light had dawned. At the river we had superb views of a vibrant Grey Wagtail, bobbing its tail in its characteristic fashion. Crossing over the bridge we strolled through ‘The Flower Garden’, a popular public space with seating areas and children’s swimming pools, then skirted round to a small orchard where we found an African Blue Tit showing well. As we retraced our steps a probable Subalpine Warbler was heard, but couldn’t be located. After breakfast we headed for the Ouikaman ski resort, pausing en route when Bernie somehow managed to hear a Levaillant’s Woodpecker calling as we drove along a road overlooking a lush river valley. This was soon spotted moving up the trunk in a nearby tree, before flying to the top of a telegraph pole where it remained for several minutes, enabling everyone to get decent views o...

We arrived in Marrakesh around lunchtime to warm sunshine. Despite scanning the airport surroundings there was no sign of House Bunting, and travelling through the city there were tantalising glimpses of birds which were mostly impossible to identify as we drove past. Feral Pigeons were plentiful and Wood Pigeon and Collared Dove were also seen. We stopped for a late lunch in the city before driving to our first accommodation in the Ourika Valley, arriving late afternoon. View from hotel We convened in the courtyard at 5.30pm and set off for a walk towards the river.  In the scrubby bushes and trees we found Blackcap and Common Bulbul. A Grey Wagtail darted up the river and Great Tit and Chaffinch sang from the canopy. Viewing was often tricky, with small leaves partially obscuring the birds, but eventually we had superb views of African Chaffinch, incredibly bright and clear markings compared to our own UK based bird. These have recently split as a completely separate species, whe...