We left Rabat and drove for 2.5 hours towards Ifrane after breakfast, and as we neared our destination we passed a small flock of 5 Lesser Kestrels perched on telegraph wires. Then as we crossed some rocky hills, we stopped when a fine looking male Atlas Wheatear was spotted close to the road. Out we jumped and enjoyed a lengthy session watching a pair of these striking looking birds.
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| Atlas Wheatear |
Continuing on, we reached a nice patch of forest and spent a truly enjoyable couple of hours following a trail through open woodland and notched up a number of new trip ticks. Around the bushes at the edge of the forest were several singing Melodious Warblers, along with a superb Western Subalpine Warbler and best of all, a cracking male Moussier’s Redstart. Wow! in fact we saw plenty of these superb redstarts but never had the chance to get a decent photo. Inside the forest we were looking for Atlas Flycatcher but never had a sniff of one, although a fine Levaillant’s Woodpecker provided some distraction, and our first Long-legged (Atlas) Buzzard was also much appreciated by all. With African Chaffinches and African Blue Tits also present and seen repeatedly, it was certainly a great session.
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| Atlas Flycatcher |
After lunch at a nearby restaurant we spent the next few hours in a different patch of forest, and this one had plenty of dead trees and more Oak present. This was obviously conducive to Atlas Flycatcher as we saw many here and spent quite a long time watching them, noting the males large white forehead patch and extensive white on the wings. We also saw a few more Levaillant’s Woodpeckers, as well as Common Redstart, 4 Common Rollers, a Firecrest, Eurasian Nuthatch and more African Blue Tits & Chaffinches. We even tracked down a calling Maghreb (Tawny) Owl at its day roost on top of a broken tree.
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| Maghreb Owl |
Our isolated and really lovely Pension wasn’t far away and once we had checked in we had a walk around the nearby scrub and farmland notching up a fine selection of species, with Hawfinches being the pick of the bunch. But numerous singing Common Nightingales provided a perfect backdrop to some more Melodious Warblers, and both Corn & Cirl Buntings.
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| Melodious Warbler |
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| Western Subalpine Warbler |
Our last morning was spent revisiting the same areas as yesterday. So we had a 7.30am breakfast and then headed up to the hills where we wanted to see Atlas Wheatear again, which we did. In fact there were maybe 4 pairs in the same area as yesterday, when we only saw one pair in the late morning yesterday! As we spread out across the hillside, an extremely confiding male Moussier’s Redstart gave superlative photo opportunities for everyone and we could truly appreciate each and every feather as it posed beautifully, even singing on occasion. There was also at least 3 males and a female Spectacled Warbler found nearby, and we also had Booted Eagle, Atlas Long-legged Buzzard and numerous Northern Ravens flying over.
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| Moussier's Redstart |
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| Spectacled Warbler |
After a nice relaxed couple of hours here, we dropped down into the nearby forest where some of the group went off in a successful search for yesterday’s Western Orphean Warbler. Some better views of Western Subalpine Warbler were also wanted and a male duly obliged, although proved to be tricky for photos as he decided to sing right from the top of a conifer, some 30 feet above us! Numerous Melodious Warblers were perched out singing from surrounding bushes, African Chaffinches were around and more African Blue Tits were seen. And that was basically our lot.
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| Atlas Wheatear |
We headed back to the hotel to shower and pack and then drove up to Fez Airport for our flight back to the UK and conclusion of a very successful tour.
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