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Tdgraves less big year 2018


Tdgraves

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5 hours ago, Peter Connan said:

But you have a good chance at ground Hornbill.

 

Specially around Punda Maria!

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I should also mention that we saw two pairs of blue cranes on our approach to Cape Town, but there was nowhere suitable to pull over (and we were at the end of a long journey!)

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We had a few days of annual leave left for the year and after using two of them for my sister's wedding, we decided to go to Marrakesh for a bit of sunshine and R&R. We have never been before and were lured by a good deal on the hotel. These were all taken in the hotel gardens and were new to us.

 

Four Seasons, Marrakesh, 5/11/18

 

Canon 7D mark II, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 800, f 5.6, 1/1600

 

large.J19A6513.JPG.31611803a0aeaac30d700

 

395) North west African common blackbird (Turdus merula mauritanicus) 

Edited by Tdgraves
typo
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Four Seasons, Marrakesh, 4/11/18

 

Canon 7D mark II, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 400, f 7.1, 1/1000

 

large.J19A6411.JPG.e6562bd1490a9d951070b

 

Canon 7D mark II, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 640, f 7.1, 1/800

 

large.J19A6453.JPG.49746dede12eea8d008ac

 

396) Common bulbul

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Four Seasons, Marrakesh, 4/11/18

 

Canon 7D mark II, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 500, f 7.1, 1/1250

 

large.J19A6427.JPG.020b4f28d6209483789bf

 

397) Spotless starling

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Four Seasons, Marrakesh, 5/11/18

 

Canon 7D mark II, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 1250, f 5.6, 1/1000, EV +1/3

 

large.J19A6536.JPG.9cb8d55c5b91852a8cd6e

 

Canon 7D mark II, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 1250, f 6.3, 1/800

 

large.J19A6525.JPG.4de3e313ea882156cd3fa

 

398) Sardinian warbler

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Four Seasons, Marrakesh, 5/11/18

 

Canon 7D mark II, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 800, f 7.1, 1/800

 

large.J19A6547.JPG.ea881637e12caad960a12

 

Canon 7D mark II, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 320, f 6.3, 1/640

 

large.J19A6566.JPG.465c740c5ad20b22e0a67

 

Canon 7D mark II, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 320, f 5.6, 1/500

 

large.J19A6572.JPG.4dc61b6d640f7b8ae72f4

 

399) House bunting

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We also saw a chiff chaff and an unidentified yellow bird. I had thought that these were Spanish sparrows, but they are just house sparrows..

 

large.J19A6432.JPG.f5133ae706dbe37c39eca

 

large.J19A6430.JPG.d06d3686692abb8410eab

 

large.J19A6585.JPG.7aca3dd6161a263614d19

 

large.J19A6405.JPG.7012172982a0d9574f1a1

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A good short break - and now up to 399! You must have one waiting for us.....

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7 minutes ago, TonyQ said:

A good short break - and now up to 399! You must have one waiting for us.....

 

@TonyQ this was just at the hotel....

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As we were in Marrakesh, it was suggested that we do a day trip into the Atlas mountains. If we were doing a day trip, then it may as well be birding....

 

This is the first time that I have been on a specific bird tour (apart from with @Peter Connan ;)) and it was a bit daunting doing this online. I have no idea what the going rate should be for the services of a guide and vehicle with driver and given that Morocco runs on bartering, this made it all the more tricky. Anyway, I managed to find a guide who was free and we came to a mutually agreeable price.

 

The day didn't start well, as I messed up the room service breakfast order (I forgot to put a time on it), so it didn't arrive (the restaurant didn't open until 7am, our departure time). We had both come down with a nasty cold since arriving in Morocco and it was particularly bad for me on that day, which made me less than enthusiastic, still, it couldn't be helped and we were off.

 

Mohammed our guide, had send through a few page document of the intended route and what we could expect to see and largely, it was very accurate. The vast majority of what we saw was new for us, except I think from memory, a kestrel and a Northern wheatear. It was cold and misty as we started, but once we climbed above the cloud layer, it was blue skies and sunshine all of the way. We went up to Toubkal, a ski resort and as it was some kind of a holiday, it got busy with people around lunch time, especially as the first snow of the season had fallen.

 

There are 5 near endemics to Morocco, 3 of which were on his wishlist, so I shall start with these....

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Ourika valley, Morocco, 6/11/18

 

Canon 7D mark II, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 3200, f 5.6, 1/250

 

large.J19A6598.JPG.fd21f878bebd1d621b3d3

 

400) Moussier's redstart

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Imnan valley, Morocco, 6/11/18

 

Canon 7D mark II, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 1600, f 5.6, 1/6400 (hadn't changed settings...)

 

large.J19A6946.JPG.b791a243433d2c2611130

 

Canon 7D mark II, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 500, f 7.1, 1/1600

 

large.J19A6954.JPG.12d5670ea97b4b7835827

 

401) Tristram's warbler

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This one is a bit of an EBC...

 

Oukaimeden, Morocco, 6/11/18

 

Canon 7D mark II, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 1000, f 7.1, 1/250 

 

large.J19A6692.JPG.eda4c77c9ab68457e97ca

 

402) Levaillant's woodpecker

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Dave Williams
3 hours ago, Tdgraves said:

This one is a bit of an EBC...

 

402) Levaillant's woodpecker

 

It's a contender for the winning one for 2018!

 

Well done on the 400, an excellent achievement for a "less big year"

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Well done on the 400 club membership.

If this is a less big year what do you count as a full size one?

Look at what you said last December

< as there is no way i’ll be able to get even close to it next year!.

 

54 minutes ago, Dave Williams said:

It's a contender for the winning one for 2018!

I dunno. The first shot of that Tristram's warbler comes fairly close too.

Edited by Galana
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Well done on 400! a lofty total indeed.

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1 hour ago, Dave Williams said:

 

Well done on the 400, an excellent achievement for a "less big year"

 

@Dave Williams shows what I know! I think I was nervous about having two self-drive safaris, both in South Africa. It would definitely have been less big if we had not made a big effort in California and booked the trip to the Atlas...

 

@Galana see above!! ;)

Edited by Tdgraves
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Ourika valley, Morocco, 6/11/18

 

Canon 7D mark II, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 2000, f 5.6, 1/500

 

large.J19A6614.JPG.dafb74dbc390ecb8e6d48

 

403) Rock bunting

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Ourika valley, Morocco, 6/11/18

 

Canon 7D mark II, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 1250, f 5.6, 1/2500

 

large.J19A6617.JPG.2503fe6b49934a028ef07

 

Canon 7D mark II, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 800, f 5.6, 1/320

 

large.J19A6618.JPG.f16f7652b9777ef897e48

 

404) African blue tit

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Ourika valley, Morocco, 6/11/18

 

Canon 7D mark II, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 2500, f 5.6, 1/500

 

large.J19A6632.JPG.a6b1cf138ccddaa311dc5

 

405) Iberian yellow wagtail

Edited by Tdgraves
typo
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Oukaimeden, Morocco, 6/11/18

 

Canon 7D mark II, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 1600, f 5.6, 1/200, EV +2/3

 

large.J19A6652.JPG.773fb6089132e881d3c3e

 

406) Mistle thrush

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Oukaimeden, Morocco, 6/11/18

 

Canon 7D mark II, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 1000, f 7.1, 1/125, EV +1 1/3

 

large.J19A6677.JPG.e07837893280d0da0f1f4

 

Canon 7D mark II, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 2500, f 7.1, 1/500

 

large.J19A6683.JPG.234905928f26de4db1c15

 

407) Cirl bunting

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High Atlas, Morocco, 6/11/18

 

Canon 7D mark II, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 2000, f 7.1, 1/640

 

large.J19A6721.JPG.1b5bee7509ffa16a5fb9d

 

408) African chaffinch

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High Atlas, Morocco, 6/11/18

 

Canon 7D mark II, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 2000, f 7.1, 1/3200, EV +1

 

large.J19A6729.JPG.e8d32e851fefd33f22dfd

 

Canon 7D mark II, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 1000, f 7.1, 1/2000

 

large.J19A6736.JPG.fb55318a52a98a81656d1

 

409) Black wheatear

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