We were away for the Christmas and New Year period mainly with the aim of getting some winter sun and having Christmas dinner served to us without having to worry about the prep or the washing up. But of course birding is always involved at some point. A destination I was keen to make the most of was Morocco, a country I've never visited before. We had a day in port at Agadir where I went on an organised tour which involved taking land rovers along the coast to the South of Agadir into the Sous Massa National Park. Time was limited and I was relying on what I could see on photo stops or from the vehicle. Having 4x4's meant we could travel off road through some semi desert habitat and we finished with around half an hour at the Oued Massa river mouth.
I ended up with 8 new species, particularly lucky moments were getting a flock of 40 Bald Ibis flying over at one stop and seeing 3 Black-bellied Sandgrouse flying up from the vehicle -put up by a Long-legged Buzzard. The highlight had to be a cracking male Moussiers Redstart.
One species I had hoped to come across was House Bunting, a common species in N Africa and often around human habitation. It was strange to see an Emberiza Bunting behaving in such a different way to other members of this family-you normally think of them as open country birds and fairly unapproachable.
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