Sunday 18th May 2025: Morocco day 3

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, rather strange looking ducks with a ludicrously oversized blue bill.

White-headed Duck

Spoonbill were present in fair numbers, foraging on the shore line, and a Little Egret also fed around the lake margins. On the open water we noted Great Crested Grebes and a Little Grebe swimming. In the shallows lanky Black-winged Stilts strode purposefully probing for food, and a Red-knobbed Coot close to the road gave excellent views of its nominate features! Elsewhere, both the common Coot and Moorhen were also found, some nurturing young.

Red-knobbed Coot

After some time scanning the lake, we took a leisurely walk through the woods. A pair of African Chaffinch foraging on the forest floor gave excellent views, showing their green backs and paler pink chests, which distinguish them from our familiar common Chaffinch. The African Blue Tit, with dark head, also showed well as it flitted about the reeds and low branches at the water’s edge. Other typical woodland species seen were Great Tit, Serin and Great Spotted Woodpecker. 

In the afternoon we headed to another area of marshland. Our target bird here was the range-restricted Marsh Owl, northern Morocco being the only area where it is found within the Western Palearctic region. With the help of a local guide and some young shepherds, this was quickly found and flushed, before settling in the long grass in a spot which enabled good scope views - a great bird. Walking to the site, Bernie spotted a Montagu's Harrier hawking the fields, and then we had a Marsh Harrier over the reedbeds. In the fields we picked up Yellow Wagtail and Crested Lark, making a productive walk to end our day.

Marsh Owl (David Park)