Ceuta, Spain.

Highlights from our second day in Ceuta.

Deb and Ian, Day Six.

Ebird List for Arroyo de Calamocarro.

Ebird List for Poligono 6PP, Ceuta.

Ebird List for Carretera de Benzu, Ceuta.

Ebird List for Paseo de la Marina Española.

Ebird List for Pîsta de Mendicuti.

Ebird List for Calle Independencia, Ceuta.

The star bird of the trip a Black-crowned Tchagra (Chagra de Senegal / Tchagar senegalus).

We woke to to cloud and rain but decided to head out to the spot where we had seen the Levaillant's Woodpecker (Pito real bereber/ Picus vaillantii) yesterday but the rain was quite heavy and the low cloud made it impossible to see anything so we dropped down onto another track which took us down towards the coast but the rain eased off a little as we reached the Arroyo de Calamocarro so we sat in the car and did some birding before do a very short walk as it soon started to rain again.

Yellow-legged Gull (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis).

Species seen included Yellow-legged Gull (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis), Great (Carbonera Común / Parus major) and African Blue Tit (Cyanistes Teneriffae / Herrerillo canario), Eurasian Blackcap (Curruca Capirtada / Curruca capirotada), Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Curruca melanocephala), Common Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula), European Pied Flycatcher (Papamoscas Cerrojillo / Ficedula hypoleuca) and African Chaffinch (Fringilla Africana / Fringilla spodiogenys).

African Chaffinch (Fringilla Africana / Fringilla spodiogenys).

African Chaffinch (Fringilla Africana / Fringilla spodiogenys).

From this spot we headed down to the coast where we went back to the small Embalse surrounded by some small fields and fences which we had found by mistake yesterday, it was quieter but we still managed to see Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinulas chloropus), Yellow-legged Gull, a passage Purple Heron (Garza Imperial / Ardea purpurea) which was sat with a group of Western Cattle Egret (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis), Levaillant's Woodpecker heard only, Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus), African Blue Tit, Common Bulbul (Bulbul Naranjero / Pycnonotus barbatus), Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Curruca melanocephala), Eurasian Wren (Chochin paleártico / Troglodytes troglodytes), Common Blackbird, African Chaffinch and European Serin (Serin Verdecillo / Serinus serinus).

The weather was getting worse so we dropped down into town and eventually found a parking space near a bar, we spent a while and it turned into a three coffee stop, partly because it continued to rain and the coffee was really good.

After sometime and feeling slightly hyper we headed out again and popped to a nearby beach were we saw Common Sandpiper (Andarrios Chico / Actitis hypoleucos), Ruddy Turnstone (Vuelvepiedras Común / Arenaria interpres), Yellow-legged Gull (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis), Sandwich Tern (Charrán Patinegro / Thalasseus sandvicensis) and Little Egret (Garceta Común / Egretta garzetta).

Santuario de Santa María de África.

The rain continued so we went into town and found another parking space eventually and walked around the streets for a while, as the weather started to improve slightly we became aware that there were lots of raptors above us, most were European Honey Buzzard (Aberjero Europeo / Pernis apivorus) but there were also some Booted Eagles (Aguila Calzada / Aquila penntuas) and Black Kites (Milano Negro / Milvus migrans).

Passage Raptors.

We also saw lots of migrating Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) butterflies even though it was raining, Melodious (Zarcero políglota / Hippolais polyglotta) and Willow Warbler (Mosquitero Musical / Phylloscopus trochillus), Common Bulbul and Spotted Flycatcher (Papamoscas Gris / Muscicapa striata).

Murallas Reales.

Murallas Reales.

As we were walking back to the car park we called in at Heladería La Golosa and had what must be up there with the best Ice-creams we had ever had, after finishing it we decided to spend the rest of the day up at Pîsta de Mendicuti where we got the chairs out and spent quite a while scanning the scrub around us, after a while we could here the call of our main target the Black-crowned Tchagra (Chagra de Senegal / Tchagar senegalus) but it was well below us so we were scanning the scrub hard but we didn't have any luck.

Our view for the last few hours on Ceuta.

European Roller (Carraca / Coracias garrulus).

Deb and Ian looking for the Tchagra.

About 15 minutes later it called again but it was much closer but still we couldn't see anything, a little while later it called again and then flew very quickly to our right giving us brief but good views. 

African Blue Tit (Cyanistes Teneriffae / Herrerillo canario).

African Blue Tit (Cyanistes Teneriffae / Herrerillo canario).

African Blue Tit (Cyanistes Teneriffae / Herrerillo canario).

We continued to watch other species including a good number of European Honey Buzzard which were still passing over as well as Short-toed Snake (Culebrera Europeo / Circaetus gallicus) and Booted Eagle, Eurasian Sparrowhawk (Gavilán Común / Accipiter nisus), Northern Goshawk (Azor Común / Accipitor gentillis), Western Marsh Harrier (Aguilucho Lagunero Occidental / Circus aeruginosus), a few Black Storks (Cigüena Negra / Ciconia nigra), a European Roller (Carraca / Coracias garrulus), European Bee-eater (Abejaruco Europeo / Merops apiaster), Levaillant's Woodpecker, Eurasian Golden Oriole (Oropéndola Europea / Oriolus oriolus), Northern Raven (Cuervo grande / Corvus corax), Great (Carbonera Común / Parus major) and African Blue Tit, Barn Swallow (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica), Eurasian Blackcap, Short-toed Treecreeper (Agateador Europeo / Certhia brachydactyla), European Pied Flycatcher (Papamoscas Cerrojillo / Ficedula hypoleuca), Spotted Flycatcher, Eurasian Wren (Chochin paleártico / Troglodytes troglodytes), Wall Brown (Lasiommata megera) and some young Wild Boar (Jabalí / Felis silvestris).

Eurasian Sparrowhawk (Gavilán Común / Accipiter nisus).

Wall Brown (Lasiommata megera).

After a while we suddenly heard the Tchagra again but this time it was close behind us and when we turned around we found the bird sat in a bush a few meters away giving us great views for a few seconds.

Black-crowned Tchagra (Chagra de Senegal / Tchagar senegalus).

The Tchagra disappeared so Deb went for a walk to photograph some of the flowers and whilst she was doing this the Tchagra few from behind her and sat right in the open next to her in a tree.

Levaillant's Woodpecker (Pito real bereber/ Picus vaillantii).

Levaillant's Woodpecker (Pito real bereber/ Picus vaillantii).

Levaillant's Woodpecker (Pito real bereber/ Picus vaillantii).

It was getting close to the time for us to go and catch our ferry back to Mainland Spain after having a great trip bird wise even though the weather had not been great, I missed the Maghreb Owl (Cárabo del Magreb / Strix mauritanica) and we had both dipped the House Bunting (Escribano sahariano / Emberiza sahari) but as we were driving slowly in traffic towards the port a nice male bird flew across the road in front of us, a great way to finish off the trip there.

Curly Rockrose (Cistus crispus).

Narrow-leaved rock-rose (Cistus monspeliensis).

Our crossing was delayed by an hour and there were further delays in the port as it appeared there had been an incident of some sort but we eventually reach our hotel, knackered but happy with the trip.