randombirder

Following on from a trip to the Oued Souss region last October, this time it was the Atlas Mountains and the Tagdilt Track - a path well trodden within the birding community. The sites were relatively easy to find, the birds however less so and time was tight. After a smooth and punctual flight from Gatwick on easyJet, and a night spent in a riad close to the airport, the next day was a short walk to the airport and the hire-car pick up for the first stop at Oukaimeden in the Atlas Mountains. Oukaimeden swarmed with local visitors revelling in the residual snow that had largely disappeared but was sufficient enough for sledging and skiing at the higher levels. Feeling a bit disoriented, the landscape was vast and mountainous. Red-billed chough and alpine chough swirled around at height in impressive numbers. Pushing through the throng while evading the hawkers, the crimson-winged finch foraged around the market stalls on scraps, largely remnants of nuts spilled off the wooden trelli...