Biking and Birding Morocco 2022 - Oualidia

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The first day of cycling to Oualidia was in lovely sunshine as I had hoped for. There were loads of larks along the roadside. However on the second day the weather took a turn for the worse. In early afternoon a thunderstorm rolled in off the sea. I watched it coming towards me and wondered what the curious orange haze was below the slate grey cloud. I soon found out. As the sun disappeared and wind went from calm to almost storm force in seconds I was sand blasted for a few seconds before being drenched.

I could barely push the bike never mind ride it. I wanted to get to shelter in the town a kilometre or so ahead as I guessed being in an open landscape like this in a raging thunderstorm was not the best place to be. When I reached the edge of town some men in the first building called me over. They were sheltering in a small garage workshop strewn with bits of motorbikes and engines. As I dripped into the shelter I got a round of applause and was handed a towel and a glass of very sweet and beautifully warm tea. After fifteen minutes or so the rain became more what I would call normal and I headed on.

My accommodation in Oualidia was lovely. I had an entire apartment to myself and access to the roof terrace. The host was really friendly and gave me great advice about good spots to go birdwatching locally. They mostly coincided with the guide I had with me. I ended up staying an extra night to get an extra day to look around.

On the first day I explored the beach and the little pools on the southern edge of town. I got great views of black winged stilt, spotted redshank, serin, and Spanish sparrow. As I returned to my accommodation I became aware of group after group of swallows zooming northwards. They only deviated to pick of some unfortunate insect. Migration in full flight.

On the second day I cycled a few miles north to the salt pans. I had a very lazy day walking along little tracks bordeing the pools and just sitting and looking around me. The species list included flamingo, avocet, bluethroat, stilts again, kingfisher and a lot of ducks.

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