MOROCCO: Birding the Hamada

A Hamada  is a type of desert landscape consisting of largely barren, hard, rocky plateaus, with very little sand. Here we spent two nights in the scenic town of Boumalne Dades well known amongst birding groups for the famous Tagdilt Track. We had some fantastic sightings in this area with our 4X4 vehicles allowing us to explore large areas of this often seemingly birdless habitat, but we worked it hard and highlights included: Numerous Temminck's Larks, Red-rumped Wheatears and Desert Wheatears along with the odd Black-eared Wheatear. Fantastic views of the highly sought after Thick-billed Larks and 3 Cream-coloured Coursers (seemingly low in number compared to previous years), Bar-tailed Lark and Desert Lark, flocks of Black-bellied Sandgrouse and the often tricky to find Mourning (Maghreb) Wheatear (3 birds - 2 males and 1 female) and of course the superb Pharaoh Eagle Owl!

Hamada: Tagdilt Track area

The highly prized, Thick-billed Lark

Thick-billed Lark

Andrew enjoying his first Thick-billed Larks

Desert Picnics

Temminck's Lark

Male Red-rumped Wheatear

Pharaoh Eagle Owl

Cream-coloured Courser

Male Desert Wheatear

Bar-tailed Lark

Desert Lark

Boumalne Dades

Mourning (Maghreb) Wheatear