First record of a House Bunting (Bruant du Sahara, Emberiza sahari) at Dakhla : a bird singing downtown (see map) on 4 March (Jean Chevallier). The closest record is at Tarfaya, 550 km to the North.
Première mention du Bruant diu Sahara (House Bunting, Emberiza sahari) à Dakhla : un oiseau chanteur sur la façade d’une maison en construction en centre ville (voir carte) le 4 mars (Jean Chevallier). La mention la plus proche était à Tarfaya, 550 km plus au Nord !
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An earlier record of House Bunting at Dakhla (Update 15 March 2017, 6PM)
Pedro Fernandes heard and photographed two birds – a probable pair – at Dakhla downtown on 20-ish February (‘Heard it singing pretty much all the days I was in Dakhla at the hotel— but if memory serves me, at least once as well near the covered market’)
Pedro Fernandes nous informe qu’il a vu et photographié deux oiseaux – un couple probable – à Dakhla vers le 20 février (‘Heard it singing pretty much all the days I was in Dakhla at the hotel— but if memory serves me, at least once as well near the covered market’)
(http://ebird.org/ebird/view/ checklist/S34784553)
Hi Patrick,
I would add that it was surely a pair, saw the female, heard the male singing. Heard another male singing somewhere around this area: https://www.google.com/maps/place/23%C2%B041'34.1%22N+15%C2%B056'18.0%22W/@23.6928045,-15.9394471,419m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d23.692802!4d-15.938322 on the 24th of February.
I cannot be sure if I heard a male singing in yet another location nearby, it is possible.
Had noticed there were no eBird sightings of Tibib that far south, but information for the Western Sahara is far from perfect on eBird, so I thought it was probably not too relevant. Glad I took that picture, though.
Best,
Pedro Fernandes,