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March 27th, 2019

27/3/2019

Cyprus Bird Watching Tours - BIRD is the WORD - Half day Tour - Paphos 26/03/201

On the 26th I had the pleasure of guiding Dave Dimmock arouond the Paphos sites for a half day tour. I did a tour last year for Dave also which was very productive.
We started out a Timi beach seeing a Common Buzzard enroute. There was plenty of Lesser Whitethroats in every bush and we managed to located a few Ruppell's and Eastern Subalpine Warblers among them. There wasn't much on the water aside a few Little Egrets and a Black-crowned Night Heron flying above being harassed by a hoody.
Eastern Black-eared Wheatears were absolutely everywhere again, enabling some really good views, and more Northern Wheatears had turned up.
Just as we was leaving a Little Ringed Plover flew in and we heard the call of a Spur-winged Lapwing, but was unable to see it.
We then headed to Mandria and did a quick sweep through. It was also teeming with warblers, Eastern Subalpine, Ruppell's Warbler, Lesser and Common Whitethroat and also an Eastern Oprhean Warbler. Tawny Pipit and various Wheatears were in the sand bowl as well as Hoopoe's. We also saw a Crested lark gathering nesting material and being guarded by her mate. A quail called from near us in the dense barley and Black Francolin called too from a distance.
We located a Stone Curlew showing well in the western field and a surprise Northern Lapwing flew over the car.

A quick check at Aspro Dam car park produced a Common Redstart and Black Redstart plus many Alpine Swift low overhead.
Next stop was Anarita Park where we got fantastic photo opportunities with a Cyprus Wheatear and also a pair of Little Owls sat next to each other. Cretzschmar's Bunting also showed well next to the car. The Great Spotted Cuckoos showed well also flying around, perching and being very vocal.

Now knowing that Dave is a Peregrine Falcon guard in the UK I asked if he wanted to visit a site to see our Mediterranean Sub-species. Ofcourse!
So we finished the day watching the Peregrines bring food back to their territory, and also seeing a Cyprus Scops Owl in the foothills...which more than made up for the fact the Cyprus Warblers weren't showing. A super half day tour producing a record breaking 68 species.

Species List:

Chukar Partridge (a.c.cypriotes)
(h)Black Francolin
(h)Common Quail
Black-crowned Night-heron
Little Egret
European Shag (p.a.desmarestii)
Common Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon (f.p.brookei)
Common Buzzard
Eurasian Stone Curlew
Northern Lapwing
(h)Spur-winged Lapwing
Little Ringed Plover
(h)Green Sandpiper
Yellow-legged Gull
Common Wood-pigeon
Eurasian Collared-dove
Laughing Dove
Great Spotted Cuckoo
Cyprus Scops Owl
Little Owl
Alpine Swift
Common Swift
Eurasian Hoopoe
Eurasian Magpie
Eurasian Jackdaw
Hooded Crow
Great Tit (p.m.aphrodite)
Greater Short-toed Lark
Crested Lark (g.c.cypriaca)
Sand Martin
Barn Swallow

Red-rumped Swallow
Common House-martin
Zitting Cisticola
Cetti's Warbler
Willow Warbler
Common Chiffchaff
Blackcap
Common Whitethroat
Lesser Whitethroat
Eastern Orphean Warbler
Rueppell's Warbler
Sardinian Warbler
Eastern Subalpine Warbler
Song Thrush
European Robin
(h)Common Nightingale
Western Black Redstart
Common Redstart
Common Stonechat
Northern Wheatear
Eastern Black-eared Wheatear
Cyprus Wheatear
Isabelline Wheatear
House Sparrow
Spanish Sparrow
White Wagtail
Yellow Wagtail (Flava))
Black-headed Wagtail
Tawny Pipit
Meadow Pipit
Red-throated Pipit
European Greenfinch (c.c.muehlei)
European Goldfinch
Common Linnet
Corn Bunting
Cretzschmar's Bunting

68

March 26th, 2019

26/3/2019

Cyprus Bird Watching Tours - BIRD is the WORD - Tour - Akrotiri + Paphos 25/03/2019

On the 25th I guided Ashley and Maureen around the Akrotiri and Paphos sites.
As we set off from Paphos to join the Motorway we was greeted with a Great Spotted Cuckoo being chased by a magpie, flying right for the car. Brief but exciting views!
Our first stop was Zakaki marsh. It was fairly quiet as far as marshland birds are concerned though we did have a tamarisk bush full of Lesser Whitethroat and Chiffchaff, with a Cetti's showing briefly too. Around the side we were treated to a Wryneck, a bit distant and concealed at times but still a good sighting. Many Swifts and Swallows were in the Sky. We managed to pick out a few Pallid Swift and Red-rumped Swallow amongst them. A small migrating flock of Great Cormorant were seen over the eucalyptus trees. After we flushed a snipe and had brief views of Sedge Warbler and a singing Reed Warbler at the top of a reed, we moved on.
Ladies Mile was absolutely teeming with Lesser Whitethroat and Common Whitethroat. We had quite a few Ruppell's Warblers, mainly female though and a single female Eastern Subalpine Warbler. Cretzschmar's Bunting and Red-throated Pipit were near the port along with many Eastern Black-eared Wheatear. Tawny Pipit and Greater Short-toed Lark were feeding on the ground showing very close as did quite a few Hoopoes and stunning Woodchat Shrike showing close at the top of a bush.
On the water we had a Greater Flamingo and some Little Egret. But no Gulls.
On a shallow body of water we saw many Kentish Plover, with a Dunlin and some Little Stint among them.
We scouted the Salt Lake with a Black Francolin flying over the car en-route. The salt lake held many Greater Flaming and Slender Billed Gull. A small group of Greater Flamingo were courting, which was great to see.
Phassouri was more rich in life than my previous visit. A newly arrived party of Glossy Ibis were at the far west, many Cattle Egret had arrived feeding around the cattle, and a newly cut field was full of various Yellow Wagtails including a Syke's (Beema).
At the water body at the gravel pits there was many waders, Green Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Marsh Sandpiper, Greenshank and many Little Ringed Plover. Further in to the gravel pits we saw a Collared Flycatcher, my first black and white flycatcher for the year and an instant favourite for the day!

Our next destination was Kensington Cliffs where we ate our lunch. The Griffon Vultures didn't show unfortunately, though we did get cracking views of a male Blue Rock Thrush, many Cyprus Wheatears in song, Alpine Swift flying over and also a Long-legged Buzzard that decided to fly close over our heads. The Long-legged Buzzard was Maureen's favourite bird of the day, and what a bird it is (Ashley's was the Marsh Sandpipers, a very elegant species).
We then headed back to Paphos and tracked down some Laughing Doves at Mandria and some big flocks of Greater Short-toed lark and many Hoopoe and various Wheatears (mainly Black-headed).
Then on to Anarita Park for Cyprus Warbler, which showed well but distant and for brief moments due to the increase in wind. We also saw Chukar, Great Spotted Cuckoo and Little Owl here to wrap up the day managing a total of 86 species!

Species List:

Chukar Partridge
Black Francolin
Mallard
(h)Little Grebe
Greater Flamingo
Glossy Ibis
Cattle Egret
Grey Heron
Little Egret
Great Cormorant
European Shag
Common Kestrel
Long-legged Buzzard
Common Moorhen
Common Coot
Little Ringed Plover
Kentish Plover
Common Snipe
Marsh Sandpiper
Common Greenshank
Green Sandpiper
Wood Sandpiper
Little Stint
Dunlin
Ruff
Yellow-legged Gull
Black-headed Gull
Slender-billed Gull
Rock Dove
Common Wood-pigeon
Eurasian Collared-dove
Laughing Dove
Great Spotted Cuckoo
Little Owl
Alpine Swift
Common Swift
Pallid Swift
Eurasian Wryneck
Woodchat Shrike
Eurasian Magpie
Eurasian Jackdaw
Hooded Crow
Great Tit
(h)Eurasian Penduline tit

Greater Short-toed Lark
Crested Lark
Sand Martin
Barn Swallow
Red-rumped Swallow
Common House-martin
Zitting Cisticola
Cetti's Warbler
Sedge Warbler
Eurasian Reed-warbler
Common Chiffchaff
Blackcap
Common Whitethroat
Lesser Whitethroat
Rueppell's Warbler
Sardinian Warbler
Cyprus Warbler
Eastern Subalpine Warbler
Song Thrush
(h) Nightingale
Common Stonechat
Northern Wheatear
Eastern Black-eared Wheatear
Cyprus Wheatear
Isabelline Wheatear
Blue Rock-thrush
Collared Flycatcher
House Sparrow
Spanish Sparrow
White Wagtail
Yellow Wagtail (*Flava)
Black-headed Wagtail
Sykes Wagtail
Tawny Pipit
(h)Tree Pipit
Meadow Pipit
Red-throated Pipit
European Greenfinch
European Goldfinch
Common Linnet
Corn Bunting
Cretzschmar's Bunting

86

March 23rd, 2019

23/3/2019

Cyprus Bird Watching Tours - BIRD is the WORD - Tour - Akrotiri + Paphos 22/03/201

On the 22nd I guided Terry Thomas around the Akrotiri and Paphos sites. We started out early at Akrotiri, visiting Zakaki Marsh first. The birds were tough work here aside a large group of Little Egret roosting in the tall eucalyptus trees at the back. We had brief views of Eurasian reed Warbler and Sedge Warbler, a few penduline Tits called though we was unable to find them. Cetti's warbler and Lesser Whitethroat showed briefly in a tamarisk bush and a Common Swift was feeding above the hide. As we left the site a Common Kingfisher swooped in a showed nice and close but was reluctant to perch. As we approached the car a Savi's Warbler sounded from across the road, but it wouldn't show.
Ladies Mile must had seen a huge clear out over night as there was literally only 4 gulls in the area, all Armenian with a single Black-headed Gull hiding near the port. 2 Greater Flamingo were on the pools and a few Little Egret, but that was all. We saw a large flock of Greater Flamingo flying along the coast as well as a small group of Grey Heron in the distance.
By the port we had excellent views of a Tawny Pipit and a small party of Greater Short-toed Lark. Also we watched a stunning male Black Francolin which was a target species. Also a few Hoopoes showed very well close to the car.

Many Lesser Whitethroats later (and a brief view of a Common Whitethroat) we headed for the Gravel Pits where we had lengthy views of another Black Francolin and brief flight views of a male and female. Along the coastal point there was huge rafts of a mixed flock of Garganey, Pintail, Northern Shoveler and a few Mallard. The numbers of the flocks must have exceeded 7-8,000 easy! And to the left we got to witness some of the best of the Painted Lady migration currently in progress, seeing hundreds at a time swarm low continuously. What a spectacle!
Along this stretch we had a few Northern and Isabelline Wheatears along with a Cyprus Wheatear.
At a wetland area nearby we was treated to some waders. Many Green Sandpiper, Marsh Sandpiper, a single Wood Sandpiper and Greenshank and maybe over 15 Common Snipe with plenty of Little Ringed Plover being very vocal and displaying.

Kensington Cliffs was the next destination where we had amazing views of Alpine Swift swooping near our heads. 3 Griffon Vultures were showing well on the cliff and we had another come in and land, which had obviously just been feeding as its face was blood-stained.
Our next site was to be Anarita Park as Finsch's Wheatear was the other target species. Sadly they had left, likely the night before (with the winter clearout) but we had great views of Cretzschmar's Bunting, Corn Bunting, Northern, Isabelline, Cyprus and Eastern Black-eared Wheatear, Little Owl, Cyprus Warbler (both male and female) and 2 Great Spotted Cuckoos harrassing the Magpies. A pair of Red-rumped Swallow were hanging around their nesting tunnel providing incredible views.

Our last stop was Mandria where we saw a few Laughing Doves, another Black Francolin showing well, A Stone Curlew and many Yellow Wagtails including the "superciliaris" intergrade. No sign of the Lesser Short-toed Lark and Bimaculated Lark that I had found the previous days.
Despite the winter clearout we still managed 80 species for the day, but very unfortunate with the Finsch's Wheatear.

Species List:

Black Francolin
(h) Common Quail
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Mallard
Garganey
Greater Flamingo
Cattle Egret
Grey Heron
Great Egret
Little Egret
European Shag
Common Kestrel
Griffon Vulture
Western Marsh Harrier
(h)Water Rail
Common Moorhen
Common Coot
Eurasian Stone Curlew
Spur-winged Lapwing
Little Ringed Plover
Common Snipe
Marsh Sandpiper
Common Greenshank
Green Sandpiper
Wood Sandpiper
Armenian Gull
Yellow-legged Gull
Black-headed Gull
Rock Dove
Common Wood-pigeon
Eurasian Collared-dove
Laughing Dove
Great Spotted Cuckoo
Little Owl
Alpine Swift
Common Swift
Pallid Swift
Common Kingfisher

Eurasian Hoopoe
Eurasian Magpie
Eurasian Jackdaw
Hooded Crow
Great Tit
(h)Eurasian Penduline tit
Greater Short-toed Lark
Crested Lark
Barn Swallow
Red-rumped Swallow
Common House-martin
Zitting Cisticola
Cetti's Warbler
(h)Savi's Warbler
Sedge Warbler
Eurasian Reed-warbler
Common Chiffchaff
Blackcap
Common Whitethroat
Lesser Whitethroat
Sardinian Warbler
Cyprus Warbler
Song Thrush
Common Stonechat
Northern Wheatear
Eastern Black-eared Wheatear
Cyprus Wheatear
Isabelline Wheatear
House Sparrow
Spanish Sparrow
White Wagtail
Yellow Wagtail (*Flava, *Superciliaris)
Black-headed Wagtail
Tawny Pipit
Meadow Pipit
Red-throated Pipit
European Greenfinch
European Goldfinch
Common Linnet
Corn Bunting
Cretzschmar's Bunting

80

March 16th, 2019

16/3/2019

Cyprus Bird Watching Tours - BIRD is the WORD - Tour - Paphos 15/03/2019

On the 15th I guided Judy and Sheldon around Paphos. The weather was not forecast to be on our side and so I knew it was going to be tricky birding.
We started at the headland where there was a quite a few groups of Yellow-legged Gull and also a Heuglin's Gull among them. Corn Bunting were singing from inside the fence area and we got to scope a few. As we walked further down
we got great scoped views of 2 Great Spotted Cuckoos sitting on the low shrub, and one was chased towards us by a Magpie which flew meters above our heads. Judy said this was already her star bird of the day.
The coast held no shorebirds, but we did see a small flock of Garganey migrating along the coast. The Meadow + Red-throated pipits and skylarks were unsettled on the ground, the wind and rain picked up and so we left the site, seeing a pair of Common Kestrels mating in the fort window just before we got in the car.
Our next stop was the Sewage Plant where many Spur-winged Lapwing were on show. We had great views of a Hoopoe on a powerline and also got good views of a Red-throated pipit in the tree. A Robin showed fairly well too and song thrush were in large numbers darting from tree to tree. A small party of hirundines were feeding over an alfalfa field, with a few red-rumped swallows among them.
After a short stop at Timi seeing Northern Wheatear, a Sparrowhawk and a pair of Chukar nice and close we headed to Mandria and was treated to a sunny spell. At the western entrance there was many hirundines and even an Alpine Swift among them. We got great views of a Laughing Dove and a very showy and sleepy Stone Curlew.
We continued along the coast, small groups of Linnet were feeding in the sand bowl and also a pair of Isabelline Wheatears. We had a Common Kestrel hovering just above the car at a few sections and managed some great views of a male sitting on a shower pipe.
A lone juvenile shag was sitting on the rocks out at sea, and moments later we saw an adult in flight low over the water. As we were leaving we managed to see a male Black Francolin showing incredibly well by the side of the road.
After grabbing some drinks at a cafe we moved on to Asprokremnos dam where a male Blue Rock thrush was showing in the distance and 3 Hoopoes showing close in the trees and on the ground. A large group of Grey Herons were over the water flying towards us and eventually over the dam wall. We stopped here to have our lunch.
We then moved on to Anarita masts which held nothing and by which time the weather had taken a turn for the worst again, this time with thunderstorms. We went to Anarita park but due to the weather and hail there wasn't much to see aside woodlark, and so we called it a day a few hours early, managing 48 species on a wet and stormy day.

Species List:

Chukar Partridge
Black Francolin
Garganey
Grey Heron
European Shag
Common Kestrel
Eurasian Sparrowhawk
Eurasian Stone Curlew
Spur-winged Lapwing
Heuglin's (Siberian) Gull
Yellow-legged Gull
Common Wood-pigeon
Eurasian Collared-dove
Laughing Dove
Great Spotted Cuckoo
Eurasian Hoopoe
Alpine Swift
Common Swift
Eurasian Magpie
Eurasian Jackdaw
Hooded Crow
Great Tit
Crested Lark
Eurasian Skylark

Wood Lark
Barn Swallow
Red-rumped Swallow
Common House-martin
Zitting Cisticola
(h) Blackcap
(h) Sardinian Warbler
(h) Cyprus Warbler
Song Thrush
European Robin
Western Black Redstart
Common Stonechat
Northern Wheatear
Isabelline Wheatear
Blue Rock-thrush
House Sparrow
White Wagtail
Meadow Pipit
Red-throated Pipit
Common Chaffinch
European Greenfinch
European Goldfinch
Common Linnet
Corn Bunting

48

March 09th, 2019

9/3/2019

Cyprus Bird Watching Tours - BIRD is the WORD - Half day Tour - Paphos 08/03/2019

On the 8th I guided Lesley and Bill around the Paphos sites for a half day tour.
We started at the Paphos Headland for Greater Sand Plover, seeing a very smart adult male Wheatear in the car park en-route. We arrived at the corner point, and spotted a Little Ringed Plover near the sea. The Greater Sand Plover were on the south side of the point and all in a line. Their plumage had advanced quite a bit since last seeing them, they were looking very smart. One of them seemed quite small in comparison to the others and also had a bit of an odd white eye ring, maybe a different race. A Golden Plover was staying close to them with some black on the breast starting to show. They got rattled and flew further back along the coast and joined a single Turnstone. As we walked back we was treated to great close views of Red-throated Pipit, some with great plumage, and also a Corn Bunting landed next to us and foraged through the vegetation some meters away. I heard a Great Spotted Cuckoo call from the archaeological grounds, and soon enough I managed to locate it and get it on the scope. Then a Red-rumped Swallow flew low over us providing great views, result!

Our next site was the sewage plant for Spur-winged Lapwings. We must have seen about 20 of them, with two that briefly copulated infront of the car. A Hoopoe showed well under some olive trees in a tiny patch of sunlight shining through, just meters from the car. A huge flock of Serin was moving around the alfalfa fields, flocks of well over 100 each. As we approached the plant, there was a few birds around a puddle, a Song Thrush and a Bluethroat! As we approached the puddle the Bluethroat darted off not to be seen again, though we heard its calls. A water pipit landed infront of the puddle with a red-throated pipit briefly.
Our last site was anarita park for Finsch's Wheatear, which we got great views of and also the Little Owl posed nicely on the rocks and we had another fly by infront of us. We got some great views of Cyprus Warbler, both male and female, though we couldn't locate the chukar that were calling. We did get a great view of a Sling-tailed agama sunning itself on a rock.
A very productive half day tour totaling 51 Species.

Species List:

(h) Chukar Partridge
Cattle Egret
Great Cormorant
Common Kestrel
Spur-winged Lapwing
Eurasian Golden Plover
Little Ringed Plover
Greater Sand Plover
Yellow-legged Gull
Common Wood-pigeon
Eurasian Collared-dove
Great Spotted Cuckoo
Little Owl
Common Swift
Eurasian Hoopoe
Eurasian Magpie
Eurasian Jackdaw
Hooded Crow
Great Tit
Crested Lark
Wood Lark
Eurasian Skylark
Sand Martin
Barn Swallow
Red-rumped Swallow
Common House-martin

Zitting Cisticola
Cetti's Warbler
Common Chiffchaff
Blackcap
Sardinian Warbler
Cyprus Warbler
Song Thrush
European Robin
Bluethroat
Western Black Redstart
Common Stonechat
Northern Wheatear
Finsch's Wheatear
Isabelline Wheatear
House Sparrow
Spanish Sparrow
White Wagtail
Meadow Pipit
Red-throated Pipit
Water Pipit
Common Chaffinch
European Serin
European Greenfinch
European Goldfinch
Corn Bunting

51

March 01st, 2019

1/3/2019

Cyprus Bird Watching Tours - BIRD is the WORD - Half day Tour - Paphos 28/02/2019

On the 28th I guided John, Jane and ken on a half day tour around Paphos.
We started at the Headland in hope of seeing the scarce Desert Wheatear seen some days ago. It was near enough the first bird that we saw and provided incredibly close views at times. A great start. The winds increased at this point to about 20-30mp/h making the walk along the coast a bit chilly. It seemed to have affected the birds as we didn't manage to see any of the shorebirds usually present, though we had great close views of Common Stonechat, Crested Lark, Meadow Pipit and Red-throated Pipit. As we headed back to the car we had lengthy views of a Corn Bunting foraging in the grassy area near the fort.

Our next stop was the Sewage Plant. Here we had incredibly good close views of a recently arrived Eurasian Hoopoe foraging under the Olive trees. There was a huge swarm of Serin feeding in the alfalfa fields, a small party landed near us on the road with others nearby in an olive tree. Past the plant there was around 20 Spur-winged Lapwing showing close but looking very tired with many resting on one leg.
As we was leaving the site I noticed a large raptor in the sky, a 1st plumage Bonelli's Eagle, distant but nice to see.

We continued to Anarita Park for Finsch's Wheatear and Cyprus Warbler. Due to the wind the Cyprus Warblers did not show well, though we had fleeting and obstructed views. We found 2 male Finsch's Wheatears, the first being very shy but the second showing very well. Then we spotted an Isabelline Wheatear terrorize what we think was a caterpillar not far from the car. Near the firing range we had lengthy views of a small party of Woodlark at the side of the road, one was probing through the gravel looking for seed. Our last bird of the day was a Little Owl posing nicely on a boulder, bringing the half day total to 40 species.

Species List:

Great Cormorant
Common Kestrel
Bonelli's Eagle
Spur-winged Lapwing
Yellow-legged Gull
Common Wood-pigeon
Eurasian Collared-dove
Little Owl
Common Swift
Eurasian Hoopoe
Eurasian Magpie
Eurasian Jackdaw
Hooded Crow
Great Tit
Crested Lark
Wood Lark
Eurasian Skylark
Barn Swallow
Common House-martin

Zitting Cisticola
Common Chiffchaff
Blackcap (h)
Sardinian Warbler
Cyprus Warbler
Song Thrush
Western Black Redstart
Common Stonechat
Finsch's Wheatear
Desert Wheatear
Isabelline Wheatear
House Sparrow
White Wagtail
Meadow Pipit
Red-throated Pipit
Common Chaffinch
European Serin
European Greenfinch
European Goldfinch
Common Linnet
Corn Bunting

40