Three days in Marrakesh

If you're thinking that's quite a long way from Sheepcote you'd be right ! In every sense !!
Flying in at night under cover of darkness was to experience the difference in the quality of the light. Not a mass of harsh lighting illuminating the city, but instead a gentle glow, a soft sort of desert orange, demarcated sharply at the edge of the city where it became black.

Having been transported to our Riad in the medina, I awoke to the unfamiliar sound of a noisy bird. Lying in bed as it got light I just couldn't put an ID to this bird; a slight warble but more "exotic" sounding, and much louder ! It and they (for there were many) turned out to be Common Bulbuls, which were indeed common all over the city, and very noisy.

At breakfast on the roof terrace I was introduced to House Buntings, very much like House Sparrows (with which they were frequenting) in their behaviour, hanging out around the tables for some discarded crumbs. Quite smart birds which I endeavoured to get some photos of whilst eating pancakes with jam and drinking coffee.

A low square tower with walls coloured in a beautiful earthy orange and  oxidised-Copper green roof tiles was home to a number of Pallid Swifts, which were flying so low and fast past me as I was trying to eat my breakfast that I was having trouble in concentrating on the task in hand (literally). I don't think I've ever seen them so close before, showing their scaly bellies and "saddle-back" darker mantles, and generally appearing much browner than the Swifts we know and love from the few brief months they call England home. I whiled away several hours trying to get some (any) half-way decent photos of them careering past and still failing.
Another species of Swift, Little, was easily seen from a roof-top café, as they dipped into an unoccupied building to a presumed nest-site. A slower-flying more compact bird, with a square tail and white rump extending around the sides so as could be seen from below quite easily.

White Storks were to be seen fairly widely around the city, but especially at the Badi palace (a ruin with surrounding walls) where I counted nine nests on the tops of the walls in something like 100 metres. With a backdrop of satellite dishes and TV aerials atop the flat roofs the nesting Storks looked quite incongruous; rather the snow-covered Atlas mountains in the background.

Undoubtedly the highlight in birding terms was a light phase Booted Eagle which drifted over the riad's roof terrace whilst I just happened to be searching the skies for anything interesting ! I did manage some fairly okay photos of this bird, whilst another presumed Booted Eagle being mobbed by a White Stork was too distant to photograph. These were locally nesting birds I assume.

Probably the next best sighting was a fast fly-past Lanner falcon whilst sitting in another roof-top café (handy view points), rather too briefly unfortunately. Other species noted included Spotless Starling and Collared Dove, the latter of which is a relatively recent colonist to Morocco.

Booted Eagle

Common Bulbul

House Bunting

White Stork

Pallid Swift

Sea-watching in Sussex

This Easter I have put some time in to pursuing the art of sea-watching. It's probably a real "Marmite" activity, you either love it or hate it. For myself I enjoy staring into the open expanse of the sea and then suddenly coming across a tadpole-like stream of Common Scoter (and trying to pick out a Velvet !), or finding a high-flying flock of Brent Geese majestically working their way steadily towards their Arctic breeding quarters. There's something quite magical in witnessing that for me.

So my Bank Holiday weekend started, er well last Thursday actually. Two and a half hours at Splash Point in a light SSW. A steady flow of birds, just about enough to keep an interest. Some of the birds came in quite close, including a nice flock of four (s-p) Red-throated divers and a single Black-throated. Still a few Brents passing east (24 in total), although the majority have already gone through earlier in the year. Most of the (Common) Scoter flocks were quite distant, including one flock of c30 birds containing at least one but probably three Velvet Scoter; but there were a few closer birds where the dark black males were more discernible from the browner females. Four Common Terns were the first for the year for me; Sandwich Terns were passing at a steady trickle. Two flocks of Whimbrel (4 and 5) east gave a bit of variety to the species composition for the day.

On to the Good Friday, where  forecasts earlier in the week were giving SE winds, which is what you want in Spring (theoretically at least). In reality the wind turned to NW and the birds....were not to be seen this side of the Channel. The highlight was a Willow Warbler on the end of the west arm of Brighton marina.

Two days later, Easter Sunday, the rain set in for most of the day; when it cleared, the wind had veered round to a light S/SE and it was sunny ! Don't you just love the English weather. Two and a half hours at Brighton marina were productive in quality rather than quantity. Several flocks of Whimbrel (18,20,4), two Swallows in/off the sea, 5 Brents, several Gannets, one Common Tern, 3 Commic and a steady movement of Sandwich Terns. Eight Purple Sandpiper were inside the marina as were 44 Turnstone. But pride of place goes to the close-in Arctic Skua (another was further out, both dark phase), giving great views, and an absolutely stunning summer-plumaged Black-throated diver which flew past really close-by. It's what makes the hours of sea-watching worthwhile !

The weekend was brought to a finish by a further two hours at the marina on the Bank Holiday Monday in a very light ENE. A good selection of species with reasonable numbers of Cmn Scoter, Sandwich Tern, and fewer Gannets. Two (pairs ?) of Shelduck made for a change; I always like watching them migrate over the sea as they're quite striking birds, contrasting sharply with a dark sea background. Four Little Gull were a bit distant but their black hoods and dark underwing were clearly visible. Two Med Gulls were much closer giving themselves away with their soft mewing calls; classy adult s-p birds. Two Razorbills flew close enough to be able to see that one was an adult s-p and the other was a first summer bird (retaining some juvenile feathers and having an overall browner appearance). Good views of a s-p  R-T diver were had not too far out. Finally three flocks of Whimbrel flew east (2,4,9), with two calling that beautiful fluty sound that they make (evocative of their more northerly breeding sites such as Shetland) and flying right over my head (fantastic views), whilst four did likewise before landing on Brighton beach.

Sometimes birding is about the expectation, the possibility of what might turn up; sea-watching accentuates that and you've often only got a fairly limited amount of time to get onto the bird, to check it's ID. It's challenging ! Now what's the weather forecast like for the next week or so......