Cyprus Bird watching Tours - BIRD is the WORD Tour, Paphos & Akrotiri 17/04/17
Black Francolin - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
On the 17th I guided Tomino around the sites at Paphos and Akrotiri. We started at the Sewage works for Spur-winged Lapwing of which most were out on the fields very close. On arrival we had very lengthy and close views of a Male Black Francolin, European Turtle Dove, and good views of a Great Reed Warbler which really set the foundation of the tour. We had a HUGE swarm of Yellow Wagtails (mixed flava and feldegg mostly) that was being closely watched by an obliging Woodchat Shrike and a few flocks of Black-winged Stilts flying over the sea. We then moved on to Anarita Park where we were greeted with close views of Great Spotted Cuckoo and Lesser Kestrel, plus many great close views of Ortolan Bunting, Cyprus Wheatear and Whinchat. A Collared Flycatcher was showing but distant. A Common Nightingale, Wryneck, Woodchat Shrike and Cyprus Warbler all in the same shrubby area was a treat to see.
Little Owl - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
On to Nata Ford where we had a Night Heron and Stone Curlew fly over, Great Reed Warbler, Eurasian Reed Warbler and Sedge Warbler in the Orchard plus a Great Tit bringing food into a nest. Little Egret, Wood Sandpiper, White Wagtail and Little Ringed Plover were on the water plus Red-rumped Swallows coming down to collect mud for their nests. We had a quick browse through Mandria where the only birds on offer seemed to be Greater Short-toed Lark, Northern Wheatear and an Isabelline Wheatear. Our first stop at Akrotiri was Zakaki Marsh which has become vastly overgrown with reeds again. Here we did not spend long, we managed a very brief view of Little Bittern and some Mallard were right at the back. Lady's Mile was teeming with waders, very large numbers of Ruff, also plenty of Little Stint. Further up we even managed two Little Terns and a big flock of migrating flamingo. We managed cracking views of a Wryneck perched in a bush infront of the car on the way to the salt lake and on Salt lake itself was more or less the same as Lady's Mile aside a late Greater Sand Plover in winter plumage (obviously not a breeder this year).
Purple Heron - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
On the Salt Flats to the south we found 3 Purple Heron on the ground. We checked the Gravel Pits and came across two Masked Shrike, a Spotted Flycatcher, Ortolan Bunting, Tree Pipit and an Eastern Bonelli's Warbler all in close proximity. Tomino was in awe at the sheer beauty of the masked shrikes. We made a quick pass through Phassouri marsh for Marsh Harrier and Glossy Ibis of which there were many plus the first European Bee-eater I had seen of the year, then we continued to Kensington Cliffs. Here we had an incredibly close encounter with Cyprus Warbler, a Griffon Vulture, two Peregrine falcon and plenty of Pallid, Common and Alpine Swifts flying at head height! We also managed a newly arrived Eleonora's Falcon and a surprise fly past of a female merlin to wrap the day up! An exciting way to end the tour, managing 90 Species in total!
Eurasian Wryneck - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
| Species: Mallard Chukar Black Francolin Greater Flamingo Purple Heron Little Egret Squacco Heron Cattle Egret Black-crowned Night Heron Little Bittern Glossy Ibis Griffon Vulture Western Marsh Harrier Long-legged Buzzard Lesser kestrel Common Kestrel Eleonora's Falcon Merlin Peregrine Falcon Common Moorhen Eurasian Coot Eurasian Stone Curlew Spur-winged Lapwing Little Ringed Plover Kentish Plover Greater Sand Plover Black-winged Stilt Common Snipe Marsh Sandpiper Wood Sandpiper Common Sandpiper Little Stint Ruff Yellow-legged Gull Little Tern Common Wood-pigeon European Turtle Dove Eurasian Collared Dove Great Spotted Cuckooo Little Owl Alpine Swift Common Swift Pallid Swift Eurasian Hoopoe European Bee-eater Eurasian Wryneck Greater Short-toed lark Crested Lark Sand Martin House Martin Barn Swallow Red-rumped Swallow White Wagtail Yellow Wagtail (Feldegg + Flava) Tree Pipit Zitting Cisticola Cetti's Warbler Sedge Warbler Eurasian Reed Warbler Great Reed Warbler Eastern Olivaceous Warbler Eastern Bonelli's Warbler Eurasian Blackcap Common Whitethroat Lesser Whitethroat Sardinian Warbler Cyprus Warbler Spectacled Warbler Spotted Flycatcher Collared Flycatcher Nightingale Common Redstart Whinchat Northern Wheatear Cyprus Wheatear Eastern Black-eared Wheatear Isabelline Wheatear Great Tit Masked Shrike Woodchat Shrike Magpie Eurasian Jackdaw Hooded Crow Ortolan Bunting Corn Bunting European Greenfinch European Goldfinch Common Linnet House Sparrow Spanish Sparrow 90 species |  Eleonora's Falcon - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Alpine Swift - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Eurasian Griffon Vulture - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Eurasian Griffon Vulture - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Eurasian Wryneck - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Greater Flamingo - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Kentish Plover - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved |
Little Stint - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
Ortolan Bunting - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
Spur-winged Lapwing - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
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