James Dee Birding

I had stopped at this location on my way South to Dakhla a few weeks previously and saw the potential, so a revisit seemed to make sense.  I ended up, unexpectedly staying for three nights, two by choice and one extra because of a sandstorm that reduced visibility down to a few metres at times. I arrived in the late afternoon on the 28th January to three Barbary Partridges  gliding across the road.  To make use of the remaining hours of light, I set out on a patrol of the area right away.  It includes a freshwater run-off from the nearby reservoir, and is used to feed irrigation ditches that have various purposes.  The local berber makes good use of this supply and grows various vegetables and waters his cow.  Further up "stream", the it feeds a smallish field of grass that feeds a flock of sheep.  A mile away, it supplies several polytunnels. The Black-winged Kite  that I'd noted whilst passing several weeks earlier was still present, although it...

On the 13th January 2025 I stopped at the intermediate river, Oued Saquiet Al-Hamra, at Laayoune.  I found an ornithological busy environment despite all the rubbish encroaching into the area. I noted 26 species in about an hour,  Amongst the were two Spotted Redshank, eight Marbled Duck, one  Squacco Heron , but of most interest was two  White-winged Black Tern  and two Whiskered Tern , species that are not usually recorded wintering in the Atlantic Sahara region.  I managed to capture photos of these birds and sent then to Rabat based ornithologist Mohammed Hilmi and David Walker, the warden of Dungeness Bird Observatory, for confirmation. On the 26th and 27th January, on my way back from Dakhla and Oued Jenna, I returned to check the area once more.  I noted 48 species from two visits, spending 6hrs 30 mins at the location over the two days, encountering two White-winged Black Terns  and one Whiskered Tern. On the 27th, a  Lesser Whitethro...

 I visited La Sagra south of Dakhla, four times between 15th and 23rd January counting between 150 and 300 C aspian Terns .  

 I set out for the road to Aoussard from Dakhla in the morning of the 27th January .  The first bird of note was a Tristam's Warbler beside the road before the watering hole.  The water tower itself only provided some Collared Dove and a Barn Swallow this time. My next stop was a Oued, spied from the road.  I parked as off road as I dared and began a patrol of the scant trees.  There didn't seem to be any life there at all, but a Cape Hare took off from cover and was soon gone into the near distance. Some D esert Sparrow , revealed themselves, with ten eventually showing quite well.   A Western Subalpine Warbler  also lurked with a Great Grey Shrike sitting undeterred a top one of the acacia trees.   A surprisingly lone Fulvous Chatterer  was also present. I continued to walk out from the road.  Before I could take it in, an owl sprung from a tree right i front of me landing 50 metres away.  I strained to check the specie...

During my nine or so days in and around Dahkla, I looked for Western African Tern  many times, searching through any roosting terns I came across.  Amongst the hundreds of Caspian and Sandwich Terns I only ever saw one on one occasion, which was surprising, as they are sometimes seen in larger groups here. So at 1230 pm on the 16th January, North of the main town, I came across this individual with six  Caspian Terns .  

8th Jan 2025 Got out the van at 8.30am and not long after met with the cave dweller on the outskirts of Imiter. We went to see Pharoah Eagle Owls  first, seeing a pair at two sites. Then, after some searching, a Lanner , maybe two. A female Moussier's Redstart is always good to see.  A walk around the other side of the wadi produced several mroe species such as Trumper Finch , and Temminck's Lark .   And then a   walk on the opposite side of the highway gave us some  Thick-billed Larks .

On the afternoon of 6th January, Sofia and I met with out local guide that Mohammed Hilmi had connected us to, at a gas station.  We jumped into his 4x4 and headed out into the desert.  We made a few stops, seeing various interesting desert species on the way, including African Desert Warbler, five  Greater Hoopoe-Lark , a Scrub Warbler , and 2 Spectacled Warbler . Then we reached the main event.  Our guide took us to a Bedouin's house from where we jumped in the truck and headed further out into the desert.  When we stopped the shepherd directed us to a dry wadi and pointed, but at first ll we could see were stones and desert plants.  It too quite a few minutes of looking to finally see what was right before us.  A resting Egyptian Nightjar . If you take your eye off the bird, it's unexpectedly difficult to relocate it again, even when you know where it is.  After trying a few angles from which to capture a good image, and marvelling at the ...

Not a lot of life at Ouzina at first glance but then the Black-crowned Wheatears, 15, Fulvlous Chatterers/Babblers, Trumpeter Finches, a Greater Hoopoe-Lark, 3 Sardinian Warblers, 2 Brown-necked Ravens and the highlight a Tristam's Warbler .