On Saturday 02 April 2011, after breakfast at the town of Azrou in the Middle Atlas, I and my friends Imad Cherkaoui, Said Lahrouz and Adel Bouajaja headed to the lakes of Aguelmam Sidi Ali and Aguelmam Afenourrir. We birded en route to Timahdit before reaching the lakes. We were interested, among others, in breeding populations of Ruddy Shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea) which both lakes hold an important breeding population. By the way this species was a ‘lifer’ for me along with many other species which I will write about later. All photographs by Said Lahrouz except the last one obviously. Here are the passerines and non-passerines parts of the report respectively.
Ruddy Shelducks from Aguelmame Sidi Ali:
Ruddy Shelducks from Aguelmame Afenourrir:
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Note on the toponymy: Aguelmam means lake in Tamazight (Berber) language. e.g. “Aguelmam n Sidi Ali” translates as "Lake of Sidi Ali
We get them over here, but they are a rarity, lovely birds.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed them. Thanks for your king comment!
ReplyDeleteI do'nt think they are considered 'wild' records in the UK - there were good numbers of breeding birds at Ouzarzate last June along with Marbled Teal......
ReplyDeleteHi StourbridgeRantBoy, Yes you are right, the British Ruddy Shelducks are introduced, but genuine vagrant wild birds may turn up sometimes, probably from the Eastern populations. But it’s difficult to tell them apart. Good that you enjoyed them here in Morocco though.
ReplyDeleteWhilst on the subject of Wildfowl - i am over for a couple of weeks birding May 7-21 Larache to Essouria with stops inbetween - i presume Red Knobbed are present at a few sites but what about wild White Headed Duck? Is this species present at any reliable site?
ReplyDeleteLaurie -
As you said Red-knobbed Coot is easier to see at many sites and is quite abundant. For the White-headed Duck, in your itinerary you can see it at the reserve of Sidi Bou Ghaba. See this post:
ReplyDeletehttp://moroccanbirds.blogspot.com/2011/01/return-of-white-headed-duck.html
Laurie, can you email, see the email under "about us"?
ReplyDeleteNo probs - had trouble with my internet access as i live mainly on a boat and left a couple of requests via a local library - should have it sorted by the weekend -
ReplyDeleteLaurie -