Category: Field Trips

A Day in Casablanca to Recover

Eurasian Thick-knee

My trip to Morocco is off to a fine start, with new experiences and new species. The flight from Seatac the Seattle-Tacoma, WA airport to Charles DeGaulle Airport in Paris was long but uneventful. Delta did a good job of providing vegan meals for me, and we got in at about 8 AM after a 10 ½ hour flight “losing” 9 hours enroute due to time-zone changes. Bruce and I wandered around the airport and tried to rest until or flight to Casablanca left about 12:40, arriving about 2:50, going one time zone back. Customs was an endurance effort, with a 2+ hour cramped line with masses of people, and we saw the customs employees need to exercise great patience as angry parents shouted and pushed and shoved while a trio of young attractive women tried to cut in line, and we all inched our way forward.
After getting our luggage, getting a SIM card for our phones, and buying data and voice time we caught a cab to the Best Western Hotel Toubkal in downtown. We had dinner and managed to stay awake until maybe 8:45 PM and slept well in our twin beds until jet-lagged morning arrived about 3-4 AM and we waited for daylight. This AM we had a good breakfast at the hotel, and went to Par Sindbad near the coastline where a large overgrown abandoned parking lot and entertainment park recommended by Michael Carmody provided an introduction to common Moroccan birds.

A Glossy Ibis, the species of ibis seen in the eastern U.S. flew directly overhead.

Shortly after arriving a pair of Eurasian Thick-knees flew in, a species Bruce had seen in Lesvos, Greece but were a lifer for me. They were a very exotic shorebird to find on our own. We added about 28 more species not including another 2 or 3 left unidentified. Here are a few photos I like best.

Spottles Starlings *Sturnus unicolor* here are very similar in appearance and behavior to the European Starlings that were introduced to the U.S.
I love seeing different doves and pigeons, and this Eurasian Turtle Dove *Streptopelia turtur* was a lifer for me this morning.
Blackbirds *Turdus merula* are common species throughout Europe, as well as in Morocco, and this male and female gave a good comparison showing the sexual dimorphism.
We saw several Sardinian Warblers *Sylvia melanocephala* this morning.

Stay tuned for more Moroccan birding adventures over coming days. Good birding. Good day!

Highlights of an Early Spring E. WA Trip

I found Mountain Bluebirds pretty much everywhere in proper habitat this week. They are one of my favorite birds.

Last week I spent at Lake Chelan in Eastern WA, and got out enough to pick up most of the FOY specialties best seen at this time of year east of the Cascades. I talk about this trip briefly in the intro to The Bird Banter Podcast Episode #10 with John Sterling. Here are photos from the trip managed to capture.

This Loggerhead Shrike who posed on this roadside sign was the only LOSH I saw all week.
This male Dusky Grouse was very hormonally possessed, preening, calling and attacking my car and even pecking at my shoes!
Once I found good sage habitat a bit south of Chelan, this on the Moses Coulee Road, Sage Thrashers seemed to be singing everywhere.
Sagebrush Sparrow was tougher to find, but this one finally popped up.
Say’s Phoebes were essentially everywhere it seemed.
TV
Vesper Sparrow

A good week and good birds.

Golden Eagle; Up Close

An adult Golden Eagle seen today on Gorge Rd, Chelan, WA.

Golden Eagles are a species that is always special to enounter, but where most enocounters are of distant birds. They live in remote areas, and are often seen soaring high in the sky, or perched on a cliff so far away that the first question is whether I’m seeing a bird, not what species is the bird. Today on Gorge Road near Chelan, Washington when I stopped see if I could see the Chukar that were calling, a Golden Eagle was perched in a nearby tree.

I walked along the dirt road to get a better angle when I noted a path to an overlook of the canyon that was shielded by a rocky outcropping. I walked to a spot where the GOEA was maybe 30 yards away, and where I was mostly shielded from view for photos.


Sometimes when you just get out birding special things happen.


Good birding! Good day!