Marbled duck and black-crowned tchagra in Morocco

Posted on December 27, 2010 by petrel41

This video says about itself:

Footage of Marbled Duck taken in Almeria, Spain, by Speyside Wildlife guide, Mark Denman. There are currently less than 100 pairs in Spain and Mark’s Speyside Wildlife group saw 4 during their trip in January 2010!

16 December 2010.

After yesterday, today we are on our way to Souss-Massa national park, not far south from Agadir.

Spotless starlings near houses.

As we arrive in the coastal dunes area, a group of over twelve black-bellied sandgrouse. Both males and females. Then, stray dogs arrive and make the sandgrouse fly away.

As we approach the national park: great tit sound. Moussier’s redstart.

House buntings near a farm.

A black-headed gull.

In the water: coot and moorhen.

A common bulbul in a treetop.

A blue rockthrush.

Two black-crowned tchagras in a tree.

Cattle egrets follow a tractor on a field on the other side of the water.

Two little grebes are swimming close to a landing where common sandpipers are resting.

In a shrub, a cirl bunting.

A spotless starling and common bulbul in a palm tree.

This is a spotless starling video, recorded in Spain.

A dark clouded yellow butterfly.

A blackbird and a chaffinch near a farm.

At 12:50, we arrive at the official national park entrance.

On a sandbank, a grey heron and a juvenile spoonbill.

A hummingbird hawk-moth near flowers.

Two bar-tailed godwits on a bank.

A greenshank. Greenshank photos: here.

Two oystercatchers between a grey heron and a great cormorant on a sandbank.

Sanderlings running along the high tide line on the beach.

Many antlion made insect traps in the sand along the footpath.

On our way back, we see nine marbled ducks, and a ringed plover, on a sandbank.

A little owl on a rock. Little owl photos: here.

Six greenshanks on the other side of the water.

October 2011: Staff at Natural England‘s Holkham National Nature Reserve have discovered what is thought to be only the second established breeding area in Britain for the mysterious yet savage antlion, an insect whose larvae excavate cone-like pits and lurk in wait for other insect prey. And its numbers on site appear to be increasing: here.

Aberkane, M., Chettibi, F., Bakhouche, B., Draidi, K., Bouslama, Z. & Houhamdi, M. 2013. Breeding ecology of the Marbled Duck Marmaronetta angustirostris at Boussedra march (Annaba, Northeast of Algeria). Annals of Biological Research 4 (10):103-107. PDF.

Etayeb, K. S., Yahia, J., Berbash, A., Wattier, R., & Brochet, A.-L. (2014). First Breeding Evidence of Marbled Duck (Marmaronetta angustirostris) in Libya. Waterbirds 37(1): 107–110. doi:10.1675/063.037.0114: here.

The Birds of Msinsi Nature Reserve (durbanbereanature.wordpress.com)
Effect of eggs origin and age on chick productivity in the Black-bellied Sandgrouse (northafricanbirds.wordpress.com)

Hermit ibises and whimbrel of Morocco

Posted on December 26, 2010 by petrel41

This video is called Bald Ibis Ibis chauve Geronticus eremita. Feeding along the road south of Tamri, Morocco, May 2010.

After the morning, in the afternoon of 15 december our aim is to see one of the most threatened birds in the world: the hermit ibis. Apart from very few individuals in Syria, all survivors of this species, once widespread, now live in the coastal region north of Agadir in Morocco.

However, first we see a little ringed plover. And an Audouin’s gull and great black-backed gulls.

Then, a beautiful songbird which is rather common in Morocco: a Moussier’s redstart.

An osprey flies over a river delta. A Kentish plover.

Further north, a bit more inland, a coot in a river. A painted lady butterfly.

On a steep hillside, a typical habitat for the species, a black wheatear.

Still no ibis. We go further north. Then, one ibis flying along the rocky coast.

After a walk, about twenty bald ibises resting on a sandstone coastal ledge, above ten meter above the sea level. They share that rock with great cormorants and a rock pigeon. Soon, the ibises fly away, to feed near the road.

Many holes in the sandy soil. They are dug by rodents, gerbils. There are various gerbil species in Morocco: one of them is the small Egyptian gerbil. However, these holes are by a bigger species. In Europe, wheatears often nest in rabbits’ burrows. Maybe the Moroccan wheatear species nest in gerbils’ burrows.

17:45. It is nearly sunset. Along the coast, gannets flying. And a whimbrel, calling.

Hermit ibises in the Netherlands: here.

Austria Aims For Mars Via Morocco (marsdaily.com)
PHOTO: This Sheep Just Realized How Close It Is To Death (huffingtonpost.com)
Western Saharans protest EU-Morocco fishing accord (star-telegram.com)
Morocco considers legalization of marijuana (voiceofrussia.com)
My Life in Morocco – Video Blog (sowhymorocco.wordpress.com)

Birds of Morocco, first morning

Posted on December 26, 2010 by petrel41

This is a common bulbul video.

15 December 2010.

After our arrival yesterday, first today, the centre of Inezgane, a suburb of Agadir.

We see birds living close to houses here. House sparrows. Collared doves. And a common bulbul.

Then, to the Oued Sous river delta. Many magpies: the blue-eyed Moroccan subspecies.

This video says about itself:

Quite common near Agadir. A very distinctive bird. Agadir, Morocco, May 2010.

An osprey eating a big fish on a sandbank.

Many grey herons and little egrets.

A black-tailed godwit.

A female stonechat in a bush.

A great grey shrike on top of another bush.

Spanish sparrows in a leafless tree.

A black-winged stilt. A spoonbill.

A male stonechat.

On a wall, a black redstart.

Ten meter to its left on that wall, a pied wagtail.

A Sardinian warbler.

A migrant from Europe, a chiffchaff.

A kestrel flying to an electric light pole.

A common sandpiper.

Dorcas gazelle

On the other side of the river, three Dorcas gazelle.

Over a hundred serins in a leafless tree.

A Barbary falcon sitting high in a higher tree.

A bluethroat.

A great egret. Greater flamingos.

Four Barbary partridges on a stony hill.

A redshank and a black-winged stilt flying away together.

Barn swallows flying.

We arrive at the Atlantic ocean.

On the beach: lesser black-winged gulls and yellow-legged gulls.

Five sanderlings flying.

Two great cormorants.

A juvenile gannet above the sea.

Sandwich terns near the river mouth.

Black-headed gulls.

As we walk back: a squacco heron and a curlew.

Birds in the province around Agadir: here.

Greig-Smith, P. W. (2014). Use of habitats by resident and migrant birds in and around a golf course on the Atlantic coast of Morocco. Bird Study 61(1): 111–120. doi:10.1080/00063657.2014.882289: here.