April 09th, 2016

9/4/2016

Cyprus Bird watching Tours - BIRD is the WORD Tour, Troodos and Paphos 07+08/04/16

I spent Thursday guiding Dr Martin Perrow (of ECON Ecological Consultancy) and his father Herbert around the sites in Troodos, all endemic species and sub-species, the regional endemic Common Crossbill and also Masked Shrike being the targets. Naturally a trip in Troodos was not going to produce a big list however we managed many species and saw great numbers of each species,
however we only managed to hear a Cyprus Scops Owl calling briefly making it impossible to locate. During the tour nearly every species that we saw was calling or in song as you would expect this time of year. Many species were displaying to mates and collecting nesting material, making the day all the more special.
Friday afternoon into early evening (a short tour) I guided Martin around Paphos and the Foothills. This tour was so Martin could see the species that he had missed during his stay. Pallid Harrier, Long-legged Buzzard and Cyprus Scops Owl were the targets. During this tour we had fantastic photo opportunities throughout with some great species. We unfortunately didn't manage to find a Pallid Harrier however we had 2 Montagu's Harriers come in off the sea. A pleasant surprise at Mandria was a Turkestan Shrike (red-tailed shrike), a Cyprus Rarity. Apparently the bird had been discovered earlier in the day by Albert Stocker. It was amazing to see the bird, observe for some time and get some great photos.
We then headed to Anarita Park, a well known Harrier roost site in hope of finding a Pallid Harrier. Sadly no harrier species present but we did get some great views and photo opportunities with both male and female Cyprus Warbler, Woodchat Shrike, Masked Shrike and Little Owl. A Long-legged Buzzard was hovering above the quarry.
The plan for an afternoon tour was so that we could get Scops Owls at night. We headed to a special site in Episkopi and were treated to many Cyprus Scops Owls all being very vocal and allowing some great views.
A thoroughly enjoyable two day tour with great company, great views, great photo opportunities and a Cyprus Rarity!

Full Species List:
Black Francolin, Chukar Partridge, Common Quail, Cattle Egret, Glossy Ibis, Common Kestrel, Montagu's Harrier, Common Buzzard, Long-legged Buzzard, Common Moorhen, Eurasian Stone Curlew, Spur-winged Lapwing, Yellow-legged Gull, Baltic Gull, Common Wood Pigeon, European Turtle Dove, Eurasian Collared Dove, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Little Owl, Eurasian Scops Owl (O.s cyprius), Common Swift, Eurasian Hoopoe, Woodchat Shrike, Masked Shrike, Turkestan Shrike, Eurasian Jay (G.g glaszneri), Eurasian Magpie, Eurasian Jackdaw, Hooded Crow, Coal Tit (P.a cypriotes), Great Tit, Crested Lark, Greater Short-toed Lark, Barn Swallow, Red-rumped Swallow, Common House Martin, Zitting Cisticola, Cetti's Warbler, Eastern Olivaceous Warbler, Sardinian Warbler, Cyprus Warbler, Eurasian Wren (T.t cypriotes), Short-toed Treecreeper (C.b dorotheae), Song Thrush, Eurasian Blackbird, Common Nightingale, Whinchat, Northern Wheatear, Eastern Black-eared Wheatear, Cyprus Wheatear, House Sparrow, Spanish Sparrow, Yellow Wagtail, Grey Wagtail (h), Tree pipit (h), Red-throated Pipit (h), Common Chaffinch, European Serin, European Greenfinch, European Goldfinch, Common Crossbill (L.c guillemardi), Corn Bunting.

62 Species

April 09th, 2016

Cyprus Bird watching Tours - BIRD is the WORD Tour, Troodos and Paphos 07+08/04/16

Bird is the Word

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