11-Day Morocco Birding Tour from Casablanca: Middle Atlas, Sahara & Oukaimeden

Your driver-guide meets you at Mohammed V Airport in Casablanca and you set off north along the Atlantic coast to Rabat, about an hour and a half away.

Depending on your arrival time, you can stop at the mouth of the Bou Regreg, below the walls of the Kasbah of the Udayas, for gulls, Little Egrets and waders on the mudbanks.

You check in to your accommodation in Rabat for two nights.

A day in the cork oak woodland of the Zaër, south-east of the capital. You walk quietly along the forest tracks for Levaillant's and Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Short-toed Treecreeper and African Blue Tit, while Booted Eagles and Black-shouldered Kites hunt over the clearings.

The Zaër is also one of the very last refuges of Double-spurred Francolin in North Africa. It is rare and hard to see, but the early morning gives the best chance of hearing it call.

In the afternoon, if you wish, you can visit the lake of Sidi Bou Ghaba near Mehdia for Marbled Duck and Red-knobbed Coot before returning to Rabat.

Leaving the coast, you drive inland past Meknes and climb into the Middle Atlas, where the air cools and oak woods replace the farmland.

At Dayet Aoua, a lake ringed by forest, you search the water for Red-knobbed Coot, Ferruginous Duck, Ruddy Shelduck and Great Crested Grebe, and the woods around it for Hawfinch, Short-toed Treecreeper and Atlas Pied Flycatcher in season.

You spend the night in Azrou, a market town at the edge of the cedar forest.

A day of changing landscapes. From the cedars you cross the high plateau to Midelt, with stops on the open steppe for larks and wheatears.

South of Midelt the road follows the Ziz Valley through its gorges, where Bonelli's Eagles sometimes hunt along the cliffs, and Blue Rock Thrushes and Trumpeter Finches live among the rocks.

In the late afternoon you reach Merzouga, at the foot of the Erg Chebbi dunes, for three nights: two in a guesthouse by the sand and one in a desert camp.

Your first full day in the desert concentrates on the dunes of Erg Chebbi and their fringes. Bar-tailed and Desert Larks feed on the sandy flats, White-crowned Wheatears sing from the walls of the villages, and Brown-necked Ravens are never far away.

When winter rains have filled it, the lake of Dayet Srji below the dunes can hold Greater Flamingos, Ruddy Shelducks and waders, an unforgettable desert scene.

In the late afternoon a camel caravan takes you across the sand to your camp, arriving as the sun goes down behind the dunes. Dinner is cooked over the fire, the drums are played late into the evening, and you sleep in a mid-range luxury desert camp (luxury camp on request).

Today you explore the vast stony hamada and the small oases around Merzouga. Early in the morning, sandgrouse fly in to drink at pools and wells, and the oasis gardens are the place to look for Desert Sparrow and Fulvous Babbler.

On the open plains you search for larks, including Greater Hoopoe-Lark and, with luck, Thick-billed Lark, together with Cream-coloured Courser and Desert Wheatear.

The evening is spent looking for Pharaoh Eagle-Owl at a known rocky site and, from spring, Egyptian Nightjar at dusk.

You leave the Sahara after breakfast and head west towards the High Atlas, stopping in the palm groves of Tinejdad for any migrants.

In the Todra Gorge the cliffs echo with Crag Martins and Rock Doves, Blue Rock Thrushes sing from the walls and Bonelli's Eagles may pass overhead.

You continue to Boumalne Dades, where a kasbah-style guesthouse is your base for two nights beside the Tagdilt plateau.

A full day on and around the Tagdilt track, without the pressure of a long drive. You start at dawn, when the larks are singing and Cream-coloured Coursers run across the stones, and search patiently for Thick-billed and Temminck's Larks.

Desert Larks and Trumpeter Finches haunt the rocky edges, and Red-rumped Wheatear and Long-legged Buzzard are often seen. In the afternoon you can explore the Dades Gorge for cliff-nesting birds.

You return to your guesthouse in Boumalne for a second night.

Heading west, you stop at the El Mansour Eddahbi reservoir near Ouarzazate for waterbirds before climbing into the High Atlas.

On the slopes of the Tizi n'Tichka, juniper and broom scrub are good for Tristram's Warbler and Barbary Partridge. After crossing the pass you drop towards the Ourika valley and climb again to Oukaimeden.

You spend the last two nights of the tour at Oukaimeden, high in the mountains.

A full day on foot at Oukaimeden, one of the best high-altitude birding sites in North Africa. In the early morning Crimson-winged Finches come to drink at the streams, and Alpine Choughs wheel over the ski slopes.

On the pastures you look for Atlas Horned Lark, Rock Sparrow and Black Redstart, and in summer Atlas Wheatear and Water Pipit. Prehistoric engravings of animals and weapons are carved on rocks around the plateau.

The cool mountain evening is spent at your hotel.

After a final early walk on the plateau, you drive down into the Ourika Valley, where the walnut woods give a last chance for Levaillant's Woodpecker and Moussier's Redstart.

You reach Marrakech around midday.

Your driver takes you to Menara Airport or your hotel, and your birding tour ends.