About Me

Paris, Ile de France, France
conservation biologist, father, WP lister, bird ringer, life enjoyer

31/08/2010

Back to April 2010 - Western Sahara

While driving south to Dahkla and Awserd with my Moroccan colleague Hamid Rguibi-Idrissi, we stopped at the place where three pied crows had been observed earlier this spring, and were delighted to find three nests built on a pylon with one occupied by an incubating bird: Pied Crow is a new breeding bird for the WP!

The nest site of the first breeding pied crows for the WP, in spring 2010. A beautiful pylon in the desert. Born to be wild...


From their pylon, the crows have this view on the desert and their rubbish feeding station. The pylon keeper explained that the crows have been present for three years and have raised a yound in 2009; hence there were three birds this spring - while the third bird disappeared (was chased?) when the pair laid again. Don't miss having some fried fish at the restaurant of the gas station, the rests will contribute to feed the only WP family of pied crow!


One the the two adults we observed, flying back to the nest.


A zoom to the nest occupied in spring 2010.


This saharan journey produced many other good birds, including seabirds and passerines.

A typical Moroccan Cormorant


A black-breasted breeding Moroccan cormorant - any mixed genes?


Caspian Terns


Royal Terns


2CA Audouin's Gull


At Khnifiss lagoon, the breeding Cape Gulls were accompanied by a first-summer bird with an all dark tail, but the regular adult overflying the car park showed a desperate Great Black-backed-like wing tip pattern - though the white inner marks on median primaries were not obvious - what is this bird? hybrid of some kind? Cape x Yellow-legged?


Within the passerines, the highlight was cricket warblers at km41 before Awserd


Hoopoe Lark close to Dahkla


A Bar-tailed Desert Lark near Awserd


A Black-crowned Finch Lark near Awserd


A male Trumpeter Finch by the pied crows


The place where we saw cricket warblers - km41 before Aswerd.


Wad zahar, near Khniffis - a hotspot for migrating warblers.


Welcome to Dahkla - the only ostriches you'll see in Morocco!
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1 comment:

  1. Unknown28 February 2015 at 22:43

    The cormorants in marocco, egypt are the most important key to know the origin of human language.
    I found some fundamental equality between Japanese(ax 10,000 years speaking same tongue) and ancient egyptian medhu-netiels(ax 20,000 years curved hierograph). Probably maroccian would be older than them because maroccian cormorants ever more than anywhere else, it'd be a key.

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