Regular readers may have thought that I have given up on updating this blog. I’ve been so preoccupied with foreign travel, ringing birds, writing ringing reports etc that I haven’t had time to edit and file the thousands of photos taken this year, let alone upload them to the blog and write the necessary accounts.
But at long last here is an account of my trip to Algeria in May.
Why you may wonder did I want to go to Algeria? Its not high on most people’s travel wish list! Well for birders there’s always been one very good reason, Algerian Nuthatch, a species only discovered in 1975 and confined to a tiny area of forest in the coastal mountains. North Africa of course is within the Western Palaearctic, ie Europe, North Africa and parts of the Middle East, the area which many European birders consider as ‘home turf’, but civil unrest in Algeria has prevented any hope of a visit for decades.
By 2019 the situation had improved and the Foreign Office was no longer advising against travel to Algeria. Birdquest advertised an ‘expedition’ to Algeria and Tunisia in search of this species and other specialities. I jumped at the chance, as travelling with a tour company would provide security and the knowledge that they would deal with the situation should anything go wrong. Some small private groups have visited using a local guide but I don’t think I could easily get a group together, as none of my friends appear to wish to visit Algeria, or even know if these private tours are strictly legal.
Further examination showed there were a number of other species that were either lifers or potential lifers (should they be split in the future) in both Algeria and Tunisia, making the trip even more worthwhile. As I was away on the West Pacific Odyssey until 15th April and with Easter in the way I worried that my Algerian visa wouldn’t come through in time. In the event it did arrive with days to spare, but three of the ten clients on the trip weren’t so lucky, two didn’t get their visas through before departure and one had his visa application refused and so all were unable to travel.
We flew to Tunis and spent two days in Tunisia before crossing into Algeria. We returned to Tunis after visiting Algeria and then most of the group continued on to southern Tunisia for a four-day optional extension.
In what seems to be a rule left over from the civil war, Algeria doesn’t allow the use of any unauthorised binoculars or telescopes, although bizarrely cameras, including those with telephoto lenses are OK. Our Tunisian guide Mohammed Ali is packing up our optics, which were left in the care of the hotel manager in Tabarka in north-western Tunisia. A few thousand pounds worth of gear in that box!
Crossing into Algeria took three hours of faffing at the border but eventually we were on our way with a police car escort front and back.
Our journey took us inland through fields adorned with swathes of poppies …
Eventually we reached the coast and headed for the town of Jijel.
Although Algeria must receive very few tourists, the tourist hotel was attractive and the staff welcoming.
The sign means ‘do not flick cigarette butts’ but I prefer to interpret it as ‘no shadow puppets allowed’
There was some coastal scrub in the immediate vicinity of the hotel where we saw some interesting birds like Melodious Warbler …
… and African (or Ultramarine) Blue Tit.
It was clear that we wouldn’t be allowed to go anywhere in Algeria without a police escort, whether this was designed to protect us from the locals or (more likely) to protect the locals from us, wasn’t clear. I guess they thought that we might be attempting to distribute anti-government propaganda. No, we just wanted to see a nuthatch!
By the time we reached the nuthatch site our escort had grown to six police cars and about 18 policemen.
Add to that three forestry officials (including the top boss), two nuthatch researchers (the only locals that we needed as they knew where the birds were), two journalists and a photographer. If you include Tunisian guide Mohammed-Ali and Mark from Birdquest that means 26 people are needed to get seven clients onto the bird!
Much of the Kabylie mountains are deforested, which is why the Algerian Nuthatch is considered endangered, but some forest areas remain.
Our first stop was in Djimla Forest, mainly Algerian Oak with some Algerian Fir and Atlas Cedar.
The forest holds many birds that would be found in deciduous forests in Europe, like this Hawfinch …
… but also some North African specialities such as this Atlas Flycatcher. My only birding visit to the Mahgreb region was in January 1990 so summer migrants like this species weren’t around at that time of year.
It wasn’t long until we were shown a pair of Algerian Nuthatches. Smaller than the familiar Eurasian Nuthatch, the main distinguishing feature is the black fore-crown. From Wikipedia: It was first discovered on October 5, 1975, at the Djebel Babor in the Petite Kabylie range in northern Algeria, by a team led by a young Belgian agronomist Jean-Pierre Ledant. The Algerian Nuthatch is a resident bird of five areas of mountain forest in northeast Algeria, with the fifth breeding site just discovered in spring 2018. Its range is limited by the availability of woodland, and it occurs only above 1,000m, with the population density increasing with altitude.
After enjoying some time with the nuthatches we returned to the hotel. The birds were quite unconcerned with our presence and we had decent naked-eye views and via our cameras. The forestry guys had a couple of old pairs of bins but using them was like looking though the bottom of a milk bottle.
The hotel was on the beach with a nearby stream that held the occasional wader like LRP.
Once again we couldn’t go anywhere without the police (they had even confiscated the driver’s driving licence) and that afternoon they just decided to not bother turning up. So we were stuck to the immediate vicinity of the hotel where all we could do is wander round and photograph common species like Spanish Sparrow and listen to the Nightingales.
However one bird we found around the hotel was most noteworthy. This is the numidus race of Great Spotted Woodpecker which differs from the European races by the thick black, red-tinged breast band and a degree of red suffusion on the belly. When you consider how close Levaillant’s (Green) Woodpecker and Iberian (Green) Woodpecker are to European Green Woodpeckers then it is most surprising that this form hasn’t been split.
The day ended with a lovely sunset seen from the hotel.
The following morning (once the police escort had arrived) we set off down the coast.
Our main target was to see Barbary Macaques, truly wild ones unlike the introduced animals on Gibraltar.
I was surprised to find singing Iberian Chiffchaffs along the coast as I thought they only occurred in western Iberia and south-westernmost France. Later on we saw and heard the so-called ‘Ambiguous’ Reed Warbler, a race of African Reed Warbler that breeds in the Western Palaearctic.
We then headed back into the mountains to another forested area, Taza National Park.
The sign says the area was designated in 1983 to protect Algeria’s only endemic bird which was first described from here (not sure about the ‘from here’ bit) in 1975.
It was an extensive area of forest with rather more fir and cedar among the oaks than Djimla.
As well as more nuthatches we had excellent views of Levaillant’s Woodpecker …
… a displaying male Firecrest …
… the yellow-breasted ledouci race of Coal Tit …
… and most importantly the mauritanica race of Tawny Owl which has been posted as a potential split on the IOC website since we returned. As well as having excellent views the bird sang for us giving a great opportunity to compare the vocalisations.
Later we wandered back down the road seeing a few more birds such as Subalpine Warbler of the north African race inortata.
The following morning we waited for our police escort to take us to the border. Having ascertained that the driver had been given his licence back we decided that they were no longer bothered with us and we set off without them.
This gave us the chance to stop at the lovely city of Constantine. As well as admiring the view we were able to add Pallid and Alpine Swift and the Algerian race cirtensis of Western Jackdaw to our list. From Wikipedia: Constantine is situated on a plateau at an elevation 640 metres (2,100 ft) above sea level. The city is framed by a deep ravine and has a dramatic appearance. The city is very picturesque with a number of bridges over Rhumel River and a viaduct crossing the ravine. The ravine is crossed by seven bridges, including Sidi M’Cid bridge.
From this arch …
… we obtained great views over the surrounding countryside.
From here there was little to do but drive to the border (formalities weren’t as bad on the way out), pick up our optics and have lunch at the hotel in Tabarka and head for Hammamet, just south of Tunis. Here one of the party left to fly home and the rest of us stayed overnight for the extension to southern Tunisia.
I know its corny …
… but lets end with another couple of shots from the hotel at Jijel.
Algeria had been a short but very interesting trip. I obtained two life birds with a few more as insurance against future taxonomic change. The difficulties of birding with a police escort and without optics are obvious and I picked up a nasty bout of food poisoning, but all in all, I’m very glad I took the opportunity to join this tour.
The next post will deal with our experiences in Tunisia.
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