Greenwings: Morocco, High Atlas, 16th - 23rd May 2023

[David M]

This was a reconnaissance tour and was my first time out of Europe for butterflies. The planning of it stretches back nearly 4 years but Covid meant that it took till 2023 to come off.

I was joined by 10 experienced butterfly enthusiasts, all specially hand-picked for an inaugural first tour to a north African country.

As a result, the company was very good throughout the week, although the tour itself was hard going for a variety of reasons.

We expected infrastructure in Morocco to be poorer than in Europe so we were prepared for that. However, we didn't expect to arrive on the day when a two month heatwave with no rain whatsoever was superseded by cool, wet conditions, which made finding butterflies far harder than any of us anticipated.

It also made driving very challenging. The roads, at best, were sub-standard, and at worst almost impassable and quite dangerous. In addition, any built up area seemed to have multi-dozens of people standing in the road and mopeds, tuk-tuks and animals all vying for road space.

Nonetheless, it was a highly interesting week with several of the endemics seen, although the general lack of suitable butterfly habitat was a major disappointment.

[David M]

Day 1 - 17th May

My intention was to spend the first day at the ski resort at Oukaimeden, as Michel Tarrier, author of the book Les Papillons du Maroc, had informed me that this was easily the best general habitat for butterflies in this part of the High Atlas.

Reaching this destination proved harder than anticipated. We tried to go via the town of Ourika, but the road was closed off by the turning we needed to take and we had to undertake a major diversion to find a way up there.

Even worse, the fog was thick from about 2,200m and when we arrived at the site it was cool and the sun shone only in a few isolated places where it had broken through the swirling mist.

Unsurprisingly, few butterflies were flying, although there were several Bath Whites, which were the commonest species all week, and a couple of Black-Eyed Blues:

Given the lack of people at this location on such a poor day, we ended up being pestered by itinerant merchants to buy fossils, honey, beads, etc. This all got rather tiresome so we moved to a different area where we managed to find a few butterflies either in flight or roosting. These included Mazarine Blue, Small Copper and even a Western Dappled White.

However, the two most interesting finds were this Rosy Grizzled Skipper:

and, best of all, our first endemic - Spotted Adonis Blue:

It's fair to say that an opening day involving around 5 hours driving for just 13 species of butterfly was not what we expected.

[David M]

Day 2 - 18th May

We thought bad light would stop play today given the weather forecast. I wrote off any plans to go to altitude but I fancied it'd be worth exploring a lower elevation site, if only to familiarise ourselves with it prior to a second visit when (if) the sun ever broke through.

So, we travelled a relatively short distance (30km) towards the town of Amizmiz, which took about an hour, giving an indication as to the state of the roads here.

Surprisingly, when we arrived we were under just about the only blue patch in the whole sky, and we had several decent length bright intervals to assist us:

We were in an overflow area of a river where there was some decent habitat, although there was still a goat-herder, who I immediately gave 15 dirhams to in order to assure we were largely left alone:

Several butterflies were noted almost immediately, including False Mallow Skipper, Common Tiger Blue, Southern Blue, and this African Grass Blue:

As the sky brightened, so butterfly activity increased, with Lang's Short Tailed Blue, Esper's Heath (lyllus) and Wall Brown being observed.

Somebody then remarked that they'd seen a Desert Orange Tip, and a walk towards the bridge revealed several caperberry bushes growing where at least a dozen of this species were flying:

Pride of place though went to Mediterranean Tiger Blue, found resting in a grassy area. Having seen several Common Tiger Blues this individual was immediately recognisable as different and is clearly a female:

It clouded over a little after midday, so our hunt for Allard's Silver Line was fruitless, but the views over the surprisingly large conurbation of Amizmiz were attractive:

[David M]

Day 3 - 19th May

We finally had a sunny morning, although the forecast suggested cloud would build during the course of the day.

It was therefore imperative to drive to altitude early in the day and we did just that, negotiating the chaos of downtown Imlil to arrive at Tizi n'Tamazert just after 10.15am.

We got quite a shock to see the fresh snow on the mountains that had fallen the previous night, with two backpackers telling us it had actually snowed for two hours yesterday evening in Imlil itself:

We spread out and walked around the mountain track where we found one of our major targets of the trip - the stunning Vaucher's Heath:

This is one of the most beautiful butterflies I have ever seen:

One of the group spotted a Dark Giant Grayling but despite waiting around for a further 20 minutes it did not reappear.

Lunch was taken a little further down the track in the hope that we might find another but it had begun to cloud over by this point and no butterflies at all were seen.

We moved down to the river at Aroumd in the early afternoon where the views were impressive but the butterflies less so:

There were plenty of Bath Whites, but precious little else which rather summed up our first three days. I don't usually bother with Glanville Fritillaries when abroad, but seeing this one gave me an excuse to point my camera at something:

[David M]

Day 4 - 20th May

It was time to bite the bullet and drive through the worst set of roadworks I've ever seen on the way to Tizi n'Test and beyond.

The journey was sheer purgatory and we ended up stopping far earlier than planned due to vehicle fatigue!

With hindsight, given the drought leading up to our tour, it would have been better not to have bothered going beyond the col, as this area within sight of the Anti-Atlas is generally arid even in a normal spring.

In spite of three stops, very little was seen, although there were good numbers of Desert Orange Tips flying around the steep hillsides by the road.

On the way back, we finally found a verdant area at one of the hairpins so we pulled in to take a look. I was glad we did, because for the first time we saw a good range of butterflies in the steep sided road margins.

One of the first to be spotted was False Ilex Hairstreak:

Soon after, we found Moroccan Small Skipper:

The highlight though was seeing several Iolas Blues around the bladder senna bushes. This is form debilitata and it is very scarce in Morocco:

One final stop was made near to arable land close to Tinmel Mosque:

Again, very little was flying and with the group feeling the effects of the hours on the road we made our way back to the hotel.

[John Vergo]

That Iolas Blue, is high on the wish list for the Greece tour David

[petesmith]

Sounds like quite a challenging trip in many ways so far, but that Vaucher's Heath is absolutely stunning!!!

[David M]

That Iolas Blue, is high on the wish list for the Greece tour David

You won't be seeing the debilitata form, John, but I hear that the season is a little behind in Greece so we should find them by the lake.

[David M]

Sounds like quite a challenging trip in many ways so far, but that Vaucher's Heath is absolutely stunning!!!

'Challenging' is the right word, Pete! Worth all the inconvenience to see that amazing butterfly though.

[David M]

Day 5 - 21st May

The only place with anything like a reasonable forecast today was Marrakesh itself, so we set out early to check out a palmerie north of the city.

This journey was again difficult, having to negotiate heavy downtown traffic to reach our destination.

The place was parched due to the long, dry spell and the only butterflies seen were Bath White, Lang's Short Tailed Blue and Small Copper.

Once back in Ouirgane, it started to rain....and heavily!! It was just 16c and the irony was that back home in Swansea it was 20c and gloriously sunny!!

With mediocre weather predicted for our last day, it's true to say that we were all getting a little tired of it.

[David M]

Day 6 - 22nd May

In spite of the weather forecast, we had no option but to trek back up to Oukaimeden this morning, in the hope that the cloud would stay away and that we could have an hour or two surrounded by butterflies.

Once again, there was mist on the way up and we had to go past my site for Allard's Silver Line as it was shrouded by the cloud.

Luckily, once we reached the ski station, what mist there was seemed to be clinging to the slope behind the ski lifts, although the temperature was just 5c and there was some fresh ice on the ground!!

We pressed on into an attractive valley with a stream running through it:

The next couple of hours were spent largely in sunshine, although except for a handful of Queen of Spain Fritillaries, there were hardly any butterflies. There was a complete absence of lycaenids too, making me wonder if the freezing night had killed them in their roosts close to the ground.

Eventually, success was had by way of this Moroccan High Brown Fritillary:

Sadly, it flew on soon after this image so I was unable to get a shot of the green undersides.

Soon after, the first of two Aetherie Fritillaries appeared:

When the mist rolled in, I also found this Sooty Orange Tip roosting on a brassica. I potted it, warmed it up a little and then set it free:

The poor thing was so cold it made no attempt to fly even when returned to the flowers:

When we returned to the vehicles, two of the group who had been up to higher altitude reported that they had seen a Dark Giant Grayling. The rest of us decided to go and take a look but conditions were now very misty:

There were still pockets of ice in places too:

We started the descent with the heating on in the vehicle, bemused at how such conditions were possible at 31 degrees north on 22nd May!!

[David M]

This is a list of the butterflies I saw during the week:

1. False Mallow Skipper
2. Rosy Grizzled Skipper
3. Oberthur's Grizzled Skipper
4. Small Skipper
5. Moroccan Small Skipper
6. Geranium Bronze
7. Southern Brown Argus
8. Southern Mountain Argus
9. African Grass Blue
10. Common Tiger Blue
11. Mediterranean Tiger Blue
12. Holly Blue
13. Lorquin's Blue
14. Black Eyed Blue
15. Iolas Blue
16. Lang's Short Tailed Blue
17. Long Tailed Blue
18. Mazarine Blue
19. Spotted Adonis Blue
20. Southern Blue
21. Small Copper
22. False Ilex Hairstreak
23. Cardinal
24. Moroccan High Brown Fritillary
25. Queen of Spain Fritillary
26. Glanville Fritillary
27. Spotted Fritillary
28. Aetherie Fritillary
29. Large Tortoiseshell
30. Red Admiral
31. Painted Lady
32. Iberian Scarce Swallowtail
33. Swallowtail
34. Western Dappled White
35. Desert Orange Tip
36. Sooty Orange Tip
37. Clouded Yellow
38. Cleopatra
39. Large White
40. Small White
41. Bath White
42. Small Heath (lyllus)
43. Vaucher's Heath
44. Wall Brown
45. Spanish Marbled White
46. Speckled Wood
47. Southern Gatekeeper

In addition to the above, there were a few butterflies that others in the group saw but I did not.

These were: Eastern Marbled Skipper, Desert Fritillary and Dark Giant Grayling.

[David M]

Summary

With just 50 species seen during the week here, along with the issues with transport and the general absence of suitable butterfly habitat, this is a destination that won't be revisited.

I daresay if our visit had coincided with good weather conditions we would have picked up a few more species, but even if that were the case I doubt whether a total of 65 could be surpassed.

The Berber people were friendly and helpful, but their default pastime seems to be staring for long periods at you when you are in the field. Their way of life is largely hand to mouth and we lost count of the numbers of people walking along the roadsides in the middle of nowhere to get from one place to another, or thumbing lifts from moped owners to save a bit of time and leg work.

The towns and even the small villages are utterly chaotic. I read that young people congregate on the outskirts of built-up areas in order to receive a mobile phone signal. That explained why every time we approached a residential area we would have to slow down to avoid dozens of children and teenagers beside (and sometimes in) the road.

The food was good and hotel accommodation adequate, although prices are not much less than you'd expect in cheaper European countries such as Spain and Greece.

It was an experience I'm glad I underwent, but I'm in no hurry to repeat it. If I return to Morocco, I will visit the Middle Atlas where the lack of very high altitude should mean rather easier driving conditions and more reliable weather.

[selbypaul]

A fascinating trip report David. It is the type of stuff you describe that is what puts me off visiting really.

However, there is the classic phrase in life "you regret what you don't do, not what you do do" which has been proven with evidence by psychologists.

Like me with Sicily in May 2022, I've forgotten most of the bad bits in relation to the roads, and can only remember the good bits with the butterflies!

[David M]

Wise words, Paul. Fear of the unknown is irrational and best confronted on a regular basis.

Had the weather been warm & sunny every day, I reckon we'd have all forgotten about all the negatives.

Trouble is, when you go on a butterfly holiday and don't see many butterflies it's not an experience you're going to remember with much fondness!

[selbypaul]

I'm confident you'll be back at some point David!

[David M]

I'm confident you'll be back at some point David!

Not to the High Atlas, Paul.....but maybe the Middle Atlas

[Stevieb]

Sorry to hear the trip wasn't what was expected David but I guess this why you have to do the recces.

Great read nevertheless.

[David M]

Thanks, Steve.

If you never go you never know.

Glad that I did purely for that reason.

[Benjamin]

Another excellent report David. The kind of trip that you can cope with if it’s sandwiched between more productive, well known trips - not something you’d want to be your only trip of the year!

Very interesting reading anyway, and good for you for giving it a good go.