Morocco
This visit was part of a two country tour (also visiting Spain).
The Morocco leg of our trip was based around Larache with our main target species the rapidly declining Marsh Owl. A species is a victim of ongoing encroachment of humans and their efforts to reclaim marshland and turn it into arable and grazing opportunities, thus reducing the hunting grounds for these owls.
Following a visit to a large local forested area, we headed to the marshes in the hope of finding the main target of our trip, the Marsh Owl.
As darkness fell, the first couple of owls took to the air, some way off from where we stood, quartering hunting for their prey. Another two individuals were spotted on the ground, hiding amongst tussocks of reedy grass. Suddenly, a flurry of some SIXTEEN owls took to the sky having been disturbed by some locals out walking their dogs. The light for photography was pretty poor, permitting just a few record shots, but to have seen these owls was a major "WOW!"
The next day turned out to be very warm and sunny, fortunately so, as we spent a few hours in a couple of small open boats motoring around the river mouth of the Merja Zerga National Park. Gratefully we were able to benefit from a gentle and slightly cooler, refreshing breeze. Though it had still been hot, the time we spent was well worth it - Caspian Tern and Lesser-crested Terns were both additional life sightings for me.
The Morocco leg of our trip was based around Larache with our main target species the rapidly declining Marsh Owl. A species is a victim of ongoing encroachment of humans and their efforts to reclaim marshland and turn it into arable and grazing opportunities, thus reducing the hunting grounds for these owls.
Following a visit to a large local forested area, we headed to the marshes in the hope of finding the main target of our trip, the Marsh Owl.
As darkness fell, the first couple of owls took to the air, some way off from where we stood, quartering hunting for their prey. Another two individuals were spotted on the ground, hiding amongst tussocks of reedy grass. Suddenly, a flurry of some SIXTEEN owls took to the sky having been disturbed by some locals out walking their dogs. The light for photography was pretty poor, permitting just a few record shots, but to have seen these owls was a major "WOW!"
The next day turned out to be very warm and sunny, fortunately so, as we spent a few hours in a couple of small open boats motoring around the river mouth of the Merja Zerga National Park. Gratefully we were able to benefit from a gentle and slightly cooler, refreshing breeze. Though it had still been hot, the time we spent was well worth it - Caspian Tern and Lesser-crested Terns were both additional life sightings for me.
