Cyprus Bird Watching Tours - BIRD is the WORD - Tour - Paphos 27/04/2019
On the 27th I guided Jules around the Paphos sites. Jules had done a fair bit of birding at the popular sites and used my service to find a few of the species that had evaded him i.e Bonelli's Eagle, Cretzschmar's Bunting and Black-headed Bunting.
We set out straight to the foothills where we got incredible views of Bonelli's Eagles perching not far away for lengthy times and also flying low, a great start to the day. A Hoopoe showed well as we left the site and many Serin were in song.
Next we headed to kathikas for Black-headed Bunting, we actually found quite a few and got great views and photo opportunities with them. As we left the site a Black Francolin showed close at the side of the road.
We set out straight to the foothills where we got incredible views of Bonelli's Eagles perching not far away for lengthy times and also flying low, a great start to the day. A Hoopoe showed well as we left the site and many Serin were in song.
Next we headed to kathikas for Black-headed Bunting, we actually found quite a few and got great views and photo opportunities with them. As we left the site a Black Francolin showed close at the side of the road.
We then had a look around Pano Arodes which proved great for Common Cuckoo (including a hepatic morph) and Great Spotted Cuckoo.
Then we traveled to Neo Chorio for Cretzschmar's Bunting. Unfortunately none actually showed, called or sung here which is unusual though we got great views of many Cyprus Warbler, Cyprus Wheatear and hundreds of Blackcap. Pied and Spotted Flycatcher were in the area on the way to the picnic site and a Eurasian Hobby flew close overhead.
We swept through Androlikou in hope of getting a late Eastern Bonelli's Warbler and was unsuccessful with that, though we did see the local Masked Shrike, brief views of a Wood Sandpiper flushed from a pool and some great views of Ortolan Bunting.
We stopped for some food and then continued back to Paphos to check out Minthis Hills for Cretzschmar's Bunting. They took a long time to show, though we had a Common Rock Thrush nearby to keep us occupied until they finally presented themselves.
We stopped for some food and then continued back to Paphos to check out Minthis Hills for Cretzschmar's Bunting. They took a long time to show, though we had a Common Rock Thrush nearby to keep us occupied until they finally presented themselves.
We stopped at a Cyprus Scops Owl roost on the way to Episkopi and saw two sitting close together. At Episkopi we had views of one of the Peregrines on territory. Moving into the valley we managed to get a view of Eastern Olivaceous Warbler, something Jules wanted to see as his only other sighting of the species was a scruffy one.
As we headed back we stopped for a young Chameleon crossing the road, which we helped and snapped a few photos of too. Targets achieved, not the highest bird count but some great species and fantastic views. 47 Species.
As we headed back we stopped for a young Chameleon crossing the road, which we helped and snapped a few photos of too. Targets achieved, not the highest bird count but some great species and fantastic views. 47 Species.
Species List: Chukar Partridge Black Francolin Common Kestrel Eurasian Hobby Peregrine Falcon Bonelli's Eagle Wood Sandpiper Common Wood-pigeon European Turtle-dove Eurasian Collared-dove Great Spotted Cuckoo Common Cuckoo Cyprus Scops Owl (h)Little Owl Common Swift Eurasian Hoopoe Masked Shrike Eurasian Magpie Eurasian Jackdaw Hooded Crow Great Tit Crested Lark Barn Swallow Common House-martin | Cetti's Warbler Sedge Warbler Eastern Olivaceous Warbler Blackcap Lesser Whitethroat Sardinian Warbler Cyprus Warbler Whinchat Cyprus Wheatear Common Rockthrush Spotted Flycatcher European Pied Flycatcher House Sparrow Spanish Sparrow Tree Pipit Red-throated Pipit European Serin European Greenfinch European Goldfinch Common Linnet Corn Bunting Ortolan Bunting Cretzschmar's Bunting Black-headed Bunting 47 |