MOROCCO: THE ZAERS - LAC de SIDI BOURHABA - MERJA ZERGA

Shortly after 5am we were driving along quiet roads towards an area known as The Zaers, on our quest for another tricky WP species – Double-spurred Spurfowl. An hour later we were walking amidst an area of rolling hills covered in scrub, where both Short-toed and Booted Eagles were seen. It was pretty cool this early and not much was calling, apart from numerous Common Nightingales and several European Turtle Doves. Our first African Chaffinches and African Blue Tits were largely ignored as we were single-minded in our pursuit of the spurfowl. Eventually one began calling, and then another but both were in areas where we had no chance of spotting them. So we walked further and came to a viewpoint where there were a couple of wide tracks and open areas. Sure enough, a pair were first found by Ian quite distantly but perfectly decent views through the powerful Swarovski scope were enjoyed by everyone and the pressure was off. We could hear another bird calling close by, but again on a dense brush-covered slope. Fortunately another spurfowl appeared on the track below us a short while later, again giving decent scope views. A Barbary Partridge appeared a couple of times as well whilst we scanned, but after around an hour and a half as the weather became warmer it was apparent we weren’t going to get any better views so walked back to the car.

White-headed Ducks

Following a really nice breakfast in a town we headed to Lac de Sidi Bourhaba, one of the famous sites in Morocco, where we spent a pleasant hour watching 65+ White-headed Ducks, along with numerous Red-crested & Common Pochards, Ferruginous Ducks, along with several Marbled Ducks and Red-knobbed Coots. Both Booted Eagles and Black Kites showed overhead as well in the clear blue skies.

Marbled Ducks

Red-knobbed Coot

From here we drove further north along the coast to probably the most famous birding site in the whole country – Merja Zerga. We picked up a local man who took us through the strawberry farms and out into the marsh where Marsh Owl was our next quarry. 

Marsh Owl - Western Palearctic royalty!!!

Sure enough it didn’t take long for us to get a couple of flybys from an adult bird and we thoroughly enjoyed getting stunning views without having to work too hard (for a change)!