MOROCCO BIRD WATCHING TOURS 11 DAYS

 MOROCCO BIRD WATCHING TOURS 11 DAYS

https://www.touringmaroc.com/morocco-eco-tours-bird-watching

                                                                                     
Day 1:  MARRAKECH
Arriving Marrakech by flight. Transfer airport-hotel.Discover the city of Marrakech ,oververnight in Hotel.
If you arrive in the moorning , We can drive to the foothills of the Atlas mountains ,an excellent place to start our birding holiday. Diner and overnight in Marrakech.
Day 2: MARRAKECH 
After breakfast , excursion to-Ourika valley , it 's one of the most beautiful valleys in hight atlas.the luxuriant Valley of Ourika rises gently up to the preliminary hills of the High Atlas where small typical villages have nested. It is a pure and magnificent place where silence is only " disturbed " by birds singing, water streams and wagtails. Ourika is famous for itspottery, minerals and crystals,you will have time to visit the Berber Market which takes place on Mondays in sitti fatma village .to do some trekk through the berberian villages and explore its famous waterfalls ,return to Marrakech. Optional : Berber Evening Fantasia chez Ali. Overnight in Marrakesh 
Day 3: MARRAKECH - DADES VALLEY
This full day excursion will take you deep into the high atlas  mountain,up  to the top of tichka pass and over to telouet and its famous Kasbah of  Pasha  Glaoui, you will head towards ait ben hadou kasbah ,continuation to  ouarzazate ,there you will have time  for lunch and visit of the 17th  century kasbah of taourirt and the atlas studio.after lunch ,you head towards to Rose valley, we will take our time, stopping at a few convenient locations which will produce and exciting number of interesting birds such us Levaillant´s Woodpecker, Mourning Weathear, Desert Lark or Trompeter Finch. A short walk through a small stream surrounded by olive and palm trees use to be very good for migrants. Drive to Dades Valley and the route of  the 1000 kasbahs  with impressive views to the Dades river. Diner and overnight in Hotel.
Day 4: DADES VALLEY -TAGDILT -DADES VALLEY
Early morning we will visit the famous and exciting Tagdilt Track. an excellent spot for some very special birds. Careful searching of the area could reveal Cream coloured Courser, Black-bellied & Crowned sandgrouse, Thick-billed, Bar-tailed, Desert and Temminck's Horned Larks, as well as Red-rumped and Desert Wheatears and Trumpeter Finch and Houbara Bustard .  After lunh and depending of the midday temperatures we can walk through a river bed with good chances of Hoopoe , Bee-eater or Orphean Warbler.Overnight in Boulmane Dades. 
Day 5: DADES VALLEY - MERZOUGA
From Boulmane to Merzouga. After a last look at the Tagdilt Track we drive on towards our secluded auberge at Merzouga, situated right on the edge of the Sahara where we will stay the next three nights. The drive east will no doubt be punctuated with stops to check out the numerous wadis and palm-fringed oases, as we look for Bluecheeked Bee-eater, Lanner and migrants such as Subalpine Warbler, European Bee-eater amongst others . A short walk before Merzouga will give us the chance to see the magnificent desert race of Eagle Owl in one of the two spots we know. Overnight in Hotel Ksarbicha
Day 6 & 7:  MERZOUGA DESERT 
The oasis of Merzouga  and surrounding palm trees attracts a good variety of migrants, and the immediate area is worth checking at every opportunity for species such as Hoopoe, Woodchat Shrike, Wryneck, Rufous Bush Robin or Nightingale. We will spend two days checking various sites around the edge of the red sand dunes of the Erg Chebbi - the largest dune system in Morocco . Our major prize should be found around the various cafes that are dotted about the landscape, and in one of these remote outposts we hope to find the elusive Desert Sparrow. Other species we will search for include Fulvous Babbler, Hoopoe Lark, African Desert Warbler and Brown-necked Raven. There are sometimes seasonal lakes, which attract numerous wildfowl and waders such as Marbled Duck the attractive Ferruginous Duck , Greater Flamingo or Marcs Harrier - an amazing sight out here in the desert! It is also worth scanning the skies for visible migration, and as the day warms up it is possible to see good numbers of storks and raptors rising on the thermals and heading north towards their breeding grounds. We will also spend some time at dawn or dusk searching for the rather unpredictable Egyptian Nightjar, which sometimes breeds in nearby wadis. Other species in this area include Short-toed and Bar-tailed Desert Larks, Desert and Black-eared Wheatears, Dartford and Spectacled Warblers, Trumpeter Finch, Southern Grey Shrike and possibly Spotted Sandgrouse. One early morning we will drive through the desert areas near the Algerian border in the search of the reintroduced from captivity Hubara Bustard. Overnight in Merzouga. Hotel Ksarbicha
Day 8: MERZOUGA - OUARZAZATE
Depart from Merzouga to Ouazarzate. We will drive through the Anti-Atlas , the second Moroccan mountain range in importance; a series of rocky hills , cliffs and deep gorges of volcanic geological formations. Roadside birding will produce migrants and lots of wheatears, possible to find a Bonelli´s Eagle nest . Walk around Ouazarzate reservoir with an exquisite selection of birds which include Moussiers Redstart, Wryneck, Western Bonelli´s, Western Orphean , Subalpine & Olivaceus warblers , Desert , Northern & Black-eared Wheatear, Bleu-cheeked Bee-eater, Rock & House Bunting among other migrants.. Overnight in Ouazarzate. 
Day 9: OUARZAZATE -AGADIR
After breakfast we drive from Ouarzazate to Agadir. Today we need to drive to the Atlantic coast. We will stop in the famous medieval Kasbah Ait Benhadou where birding is first class and local specialities include Desert Lark, Trompeter Finch or Mourning Weathear. After Lunch in the scenic Tzin Izhsane we continue to the fertile Sous Valley through scrub thickets and citrus groves where we could find European Roller, Black shouldered Kite or Western Orphean Warbler. We could find anything from Black Kites migrating overhead, Bee-eaters resting on roadside wires, to skulking Subalpine Warblers or a Lanner in a roadside promontory. Several stops will produce interesting migrants passerines, raptors, waders or storks. Overnight in Agadir Hotel Lapergola.
Day 10: AGADIR
The Atlantic Coast -An early start will see us ahead to the Atlantic coast. We will spend the morning in the Sous Massa National Park . We will walk all along this important spot for the endangered Bald Ibis, one of the rarest birds in the planet, with an important bird population, we will search the vegetation along the water's edge for skulking Squacco Heron, , whilst the distinctive call of Black-crowned Tchagras ring out from dense cover. More easily observed birds can include Marbled Duck, Marsh Harrier, Osprey, Black-shouldered Kite, Glossy Ibis, Squacco and Purple Herons, Ruddy Shelduck, Plain Martin and possibly Tawny Eagle. Other possibilities include Savi's, Western Olivaceous and Moustached Warblers, Zitting Cisticola, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Pallid Swift, Red-rumped Swallow, Common Bulbul, Spotless Starling. After lunch we will drive along the semi arid steppes of the Souss valley with good chances for Lesser Short-toed Lark, Cream Coloured Courser, Stone Curlew or sandgrouse. Later in the afternoon we will visit the Oued Sous - a delightful area which is very good for waders, terns and large flocks of roosting gulls, including Slender-billed, Audouin's and Mediterranean. Other species here include Greater Flamingo, Zitting Cisticola and Sardinian Warbler. At dusk we will check a nearby site for Red-necked Nightjar. Overnight in Agadir Hotel Lapergola.
Day 11: AGADIR
After Breakfast and Depending on flight schedules ,we will drive to Tamri where we will see one of the world's biggest colonies of Bald Ibis, and where we hope to see Audouin's Gull, Zitting Cisticola, Barbary Partridge, Moussier's Redstart and Sardinian Warbler. Transfert from Agadir to Marrakesh to take your flight home.