Cyprus Bird Watching Tours - BIRD is the WORD - Tour - Paphos + Akrotiri 10/04/201
On the 10th I guided Simon, Chris and Gill around the Paphos and Akrotiri sites. I had previously guided them on a tour some years ago in November.
We started out at Phassouri Marsh where Serins greeted us at the entrance which we later got better views of. The main hide wasn't rich with life, a Great Reed Warbler was singing in the reeds behind and a Squacco Heron and Little Egret plus a Glossy Ibis were feeding in the distance. The center reeds have grown considerably making views of the pool difficult. A few Garganey were moving about but very hard to get a view.
At the last water body there was a very large flock of Glossy Ibis with many Ruff and Wood Sandpiper feeding. Snipes were heard and seen frequently.
The Rabbit Shed pool was full of life. The best birds we had here were two Collared Pratincoles, a pair of Spur-winged Lapwing and a Pair of Marsh Sandpiper. A Spotted Redshank and Greenshank were present too along with many Little Ringed Plovers being very vocal and mobile. A Purple Heron flew in from the reedbed and landed, a welcome sight.
We started out at Phassouri Marsh where Serins greeted us at the entrance which we later got better views of. The main hide wasn't rich with life, a Great Reed Warbler was singing in the reeds behind and a Squacco Heron and Little Egret plus a Glossy Ibis were feeding in the distance. The center reeds have grown considerably making views of the pool difficult. A few Garganey were moving about but very hard to get a view.
At the last water body there was a very large flock of Glossy Ibis with many Ruff and Wood Sandpiper feeding. Snipes were heard and seen frequently.
The Rabbit Shed pool was full of life. The best birds we had here were two Collared Pratincoles, a pair of Spur-winged Lapwing and a Pair of Marsh Sandpiper. A Spotted Redshank and Greenshank were present too along with many Little Ringed Plovers being very vocal and mobile. A Purple Heron flew in from the reedbed and landed, a welcome sight.
Collared Pratincole - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
Along the gravel pits track we had close views of Black Francolin .. but brief views as it dropped down from a shrub a few seconds after I stopped the car. And across the path were many recently arrived Whinchats which posed nicely for us. We had very close views of a Great Spotted Cuckoo sitting in a Tamarisk Bush near a concealed pool.
We then headed to the first hide at Phassouri where Simon spotted a male Little Crake which we all got brief views of moving through the dense vegetation.
After a quick stop at the Environmental Center and viewing the Greater Flamingo on the Salt Lake doing their courtship dance we headed to ladies Mile which was very quiet concerning passerines and waders. We didn't spend long here and proceeded to Kensington Cliffs where the Griffon Vultures unfortunately didn't show.
We then returned to Paphos and only Simon stayed on for the other half of the tour. We headed to Agia Varvara and managed to locate all 3 crake species (Little, Spotted and Baillon's Crake). We then had a quick pass through Anarita Park which produced little aside a Blue Rock Thrush, Common and Great Spotted Cuckoo. We passed through Episkopi (seeing many Cyprus Wheatears en route) up to Minthis Hills to get Cretzschmar's Bunting, a target species. Sure enough we found one feeding meters from the car. On our way back down we stopped at a Cyprus Scops Owl roost and got great views of one. We then dropped down and watched the Peregrine Falcon pair feeding.
We then headed to the first hide at Phassouri where Simon spotted a male Little Crake which we all got brief views of moving through the dense vegetation.
After a quick stop at the Environmental Center and viewing the Greater Flamingo on the Salt Lake doing their courtship dance we headed to ladies Mile which was very quiet concerning passerines and waders. We didn't spend long here and proceeded to Kensington Cliffs where the Griffon Vultures unfortunately didn't show.
We then returned to Paphos and only Simon stayed on for the other half of the tour. We headed to Agia Varvara and managed to locate all 3 crake species (Little, Spotted and Baillon's Crake). We then had a quick pass through Anarita Park which produced little aside a Blue Rock Thrush, Common and Great Spotted Cuckoo. We passed through Episkopi (seeing many Cyprus Wheatears en route) up to Minthis Hills to get Cretzschmar's Bunting, a target species. Sure enough we found one feeding meters from the car. On our way back down we stopped at a Cyprus Scops Owl roost and got great views of one. We then dropped down and watched the Peregrine Falcon pair feeding.
Cretzschmar's Bunting - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
On the way back to the hotel we stopped at Timi where many Glossy Ibis and Little Egret were still present and feeding in the picnic sites and beyond. Many Wood Sandpipers were still around here and we also saw Eastern Bonelli's Warbler and Wood Warbler. I got a brief view of a Red-breasted Flycatcher which are very scarce in Cyprus and only the second one I had ever seen.
We managed 87 species for the day and Simon walked away with many lifers.
We managed 87 species for the day and Simon walked away with many lifers.
Glossy Ibis - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
| List of Species: Chukar Partridge Black Francolin Mallard Garganey Little Grebe Greater Flamingo Glossy Ibis Squacco Heron Cattle Egret Purple Heron Little Egret Common Kestrel Peregrine Falcon Long-legged Buzzard Little Crake Baillon's Crake Spotted Crake Common Moorhen Common Coot Black-winged Stilt Spur-winged Lapwing Little Ringed Plover Common Snipe Spotted Redshank Marsh Sandpiper Common Greenshank Green Sandpiper Wood Sandpiper Common Sandpiper Ruff Collared Pratincole Yellow-legged Gull Caspian Gull Baltic Gull Black-headed Gull Rock Dove Common Wood-pigeon Eurasian Collared-dove Great Spotted Cuckoo Common Cuckoo Cyprus Scops Owl Alpine Swift | Common Swift Pallid Swift Eurasian Hoopoe Eurasian Magpie Eurasian Jackdaw Hooded Crow Great Tit Crested Lark Sand Martin Barn Swallow Red-rumped Swallow Common House-martin Zitting Cisticola Cetti's Warbler Sedge Warbler Eurasian Reed-warbler (h)Great Reed-warbler (h)Eastern Olivaceous Warbler Eastern Bonelli's Warbler Wood Warbler Blackcap Common Whitethroat Lesser Whitethroat Sardinian Warbler (h)Common Nightingale Common Redstart Whinchat Northern Wheatear Eastern Black-eared Wheatear Cyprus Wheatear Isabelline Wheatear Blue Rock-thrush Red-breasted Flycatcher House Sparrow Spanish Sparrow White Wagtail Tree Pipit Red-throated Pipit Common Chaffinch European Serin European Greenfinch European Goldfinch Common Linnet Corn Bunting Cretzschmar's Bunting 87 |
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