Migration Watch.

This tour has been especially tailored to take in some of the rarest birds in Morocco, whilst also timed to view autumn migration where ‘anything’ might turn-up. We also visit one of the largest breeding colonies in the world for Eleonora’s Falcon! This tour also starts in Marrakech, famous for the historical "Djemâa El Fna" central square, the "Koutoubia" minaret, the beautiful garden of "Agdal", the royal "Menara" and the congress palace.
From Marrakech to the Atlantic coast we will journey into the Anti Atlas Mountains and also stay in the southern deserts. The scenery alone is worth joining the tour for. The first destination will be Essaouira. The journey will take us through many different landscapes from grape producing areas to open desert and juniper woodlands.Here we spent time observing the Eleonora’s Falcon colony (675 breeding pairs recorded in 2001 which is 10% of the world population) and then visiting the Oued Ksob. This river mouth is a very good place to observ many migrants. The next day we will leave for the Paradise Valley. On our way we will stop and spend time at and around Tamri lagoon and shoreline. The lagoon and marshes at Tamri are a favoured area for migrants and the  Bald Ibis on the surrounding dunes. The Paradise valley is a wonderful place to wander and explore, mountain paths, woodland and incredible rock formations.  You can make make journeys into the surrounding valleys and explore the mountain areas for such species as Bonelli’s Eagle, Barbary Partridge, Crossbill and Little Swift etc. It is certainly worthwhile to stay here for more than one day.

From the Paradise Valley we will travel to the desert west of Guelmim. Our journey takes us around the eastern ring road of Agadir and we hope to have time to stop near the roadside a little further south for birding the Oued Massa. The area between Bouizakarne and Guelmim is good for lark species and Fulvous Babblers. After Guelmim we head out into the desert and take a stop near to a small river, where we can walk a little way upstream looking for waders and warblers. This again is an area to stay more than one day. We would recommend a day trip into the surrounding desert and visit to the beach Plage Blanche.

For those who fancy walking along the track westwards there is an old and interesting Foreign Legion Fort (Bou-Jerif) and the surrounding desert can also be quiet interesting.  It is possible to do some sea watching here and also the mouth of the estuary can be very interesting. Leaving this area and heading for the area Sidi R’bat we can stop to take in the wadi and see the breeding site for a pair of Bonelli’s Eagle. We will then proceed to our next destination in the reserve of Oued Massa, a really important place for birds, with beaches, lagoons, desert areas wadi's and marshes. The area is a much favoured one for migrants as well as rare breeding residents. From this reserve we will travel north towards Agadir and near to the royal palace a visit  to the mouth of estuary for the Oued Souss can be very interesting. 

From here we will make our way back to Marrakech. The route takes us through the edges of the High Atlas and is scenically a beautiful route; we will take lunch early into our journey. Finally we will spend a morning to journey into the nearby High Atlas to the Ski resort of Oukaimeden,  We are hoping to bag a few mountain species here and the primary target is Crimson-winged Finch. Chough, Rock Sparrow and Shore (Horned) Lark are others we should see, but if we really get lucky then Alpine Chough might put in an appearance.