Blog Archives

May 29th, 2018

29/5/2018

Cyprus Bird Watching Tours - BIRD is the WORD Tour - Paphos & Akrotiri 28/05/2018

On the 28th I had the pleasure of guiding Jayne and David around the Paphos foothills and Akrotiri sites. We started out in the foothills where we got some fantastic views of Black-headed Bunting singing and good views of a pair of Black Francolins in a vineyard.
Many Corn bunting were flying around and singing, even some young. A small mixed flock of House and Spanish Sparrow were feeding and also taking more nesting material from dead wood. Moving through to Minthis we failed to find any Cretzschmar's Bunting which was odd considering how many I saw there a few days prior. The fact they were not calling or singing didn't help. But we did see many Eurasian Hoopoe at their nesting grounds including one that caught a large grub and fed its young in an olive tree.
We cut through Episkopi (paphos) admiring many rollers on the way and also getting good views of a juvenile Great Spotted Cuckoo and then searched through Anarita Park. We was lucky to see a few Red-footed Falcons still present and also a male Lesser Kestrel still hanging around. A pair of little owls were on show, one perched on a small stick provided great photo opportunities. Two of their young were sitting on top of their nesting boulder adjusting their eyes. At one point one of the adults seemingly went to attack a Sling-tailed Agama lizard that was next to it, but missed...and ended up landing on the pathway we were to take. So I managed to park just meters from it.

We then searched for some Cyprus Warblers, of which we found an adult male who sat in the broom shrub next to the car for a lengthy amount of time. Unfortunately he wouldn't sit at the top and so despite nice close photos, none of them were clean.
Then we begun our journey to Akrotiri. As we arrived at Zakaki a Eurasian Hobby flew towards the car quite low on the dual carriageway, a nice welcome. We could only see Mallard at Zakaki and didn't spend too long at this vastly neglected site.

Moving on to the Salt Lake we managed to get great views and photos of Black-winged Stilt, Little Stint, Common Ringed Plover, Ruff and White-winged Tern. We briefly saw a few yellow wagtail but they quickly vanished into the shrub as well as a Black-winged Stilt chick. Many Sand
Martin were flying over here and we had a young Barn Swallow being fed by an adult on the ground very close to the car. Many Greater Flamingo were still present here of which we got great views of, a few Slender-billed Gulls were still present but distant. A huge flock of yellow-legged gulls took off on our arrival. Dissapointingly only one Eleonora's Falcon was seen here which is unusual considering it is one of their favoured hunting grounds.
Aside birds we came across a few pairs of Tiger Beetles copulating.

A quick check along lady's mile didn't produce anything, though the strip was incredibly busy due to being a public holiday.
We had our lunch on the way to Episkopi. A few Alpine Swift were darting around here, sometimes very low and a few Eleonora's Falcons were present but not the kind of numbers expected at this time of year. The Griffon Vultures sadly didn't show, though we did get a few close flyby's by a Peregrine Falcon ending the tour with 53 species which is not too bad considering the time of year.

Species:
Chukar Partridge
Black Francolin
Mallard
Greater Flamingo
Little Egret
European Shag
Lesser Kestrel
Common Kestrel
Red-footed Falcon
Eleonora's Falcon
Eurasian Hobby
Peregrine Falcon
Black-winged Stilt
Common Ringed Plover
Kentish Plover
Little Stint
Ruff
Yellow-legged Gull
Slender-billed Gull
White-winged Tern
Rock Dove
Common Wood-pigeon
(h) European Turtle-dove
Eurasian Collared-dove
Great Spotted Cuckoo
(h) Common Cuckoo

Little Owl
Common Swift
Pallid Swift
European Roller
Eurasian Magpie
Eurasian Jackdaw
Hooded Crow
Great Tit
Crested Lark
Sand Martin
Barn Swallow
Common House-martin
Zitting Cisticola
(h) Cetti's Warbler
Eurasian Reed-warbler
(h) Eastern Olivaceous Warbler
Sardinian Warbler
Cyprus Warbler
Cyprus Wheatear
House Sparrow
Spanish Sparrow
Yellow Wagtail
European Greenfinch
European Goldfinch
Common Linnet
Corn Bunting
Black-headed Bunting
53

May 23rd, 2018

23/5/2018

Cyprus Bird Watching Tours - BIRD is the WORD Tour - Paphos x2 half day tours 19 + 22/05/2018

On the 19th and 22nd I had the pleasure of guiding Mark around the Paphos sites for two half day tours. (I had a bit of a break from photography and so Mark kindly let me display some of his photos from the tour on this report)
The first day we spent in the lower paphos sites, Our first stop was Agia Varvara with Black Francolin in mind. On arrival we saw one briefly on the top of an abandoned building. We heard him call out for a long period of time though he wouldn't show for a second time.
A family of common kestrel were hanging around providing great views as they learned to hunt from their parents.
On the river we had a brief glimpse of a wood sandpiper and some reed warblers. We also had good views of Eastern Olivaceous Warbler, another target species. I had a Garden Warbler briefly show whilst Mark was photographing one of the Olivaceous Warblers.

Eastern Olivaceous Warbler - Mark Woodhead ©

We even had a brief fly by of a Common Cuckoo and Peregrine Falcon, and also a Stone Curlew in one of the orchards along with a Great Reed Warbler singing.
We then moved on to Anarita Park where some Red-footed Falcon were still present along with one Lesser kestrel. At one point a Cyprus Scops Owl called out, but didn'gt continue to call and so we did not spend time in trying to find it.
A family party of Cyprus Warblers showed briefly in the broom shrub as well as a family of Chukar on the plateau.
We made a short trip to the Sewage Plant for Spur-winged Lapwing of which we got fairly easily, there was also a small group of yellow wagtails present but unfortunately we flushed them before getting good views. A Eurasian Stone Curlew showed briefly right next to the car.
A small family of Goldfinch showed well also.
Mandria provided two Greater Short-toed larks just meters from the car, and Asprokremnos Dam car park had a smart male Common Redstart. We managed 44 species for for the half day.

Spur-winged Lapwing - Mark Woodhead ©

Greater Short-toed Lark - Mark Woodhead ©

The second day was in the Paphos Foothills on a cloudy and dusty day.
We started by driving through Episkopi seeing many Cyprus Wheatear and Roller on the way and even managing some decent photo opportunities with the Rollers. Only one Peregrine Falcon showed at the monolith, the young must have fledged.
At Minthis we managed to locate many Cretzscmar's Bunting which was another target species. Many were calling and some in song, on the ground and in the shrubs. A surprise here was a female Marsh Harrier gliding the valley and also two whinchat with one in sub-song which I had never heard before. A spectacled warbler called nearby briefly but was not seen. We continued through to Kathikas for the Black-headed Bunting which was another target species. We managed to find quite a few Black-headed Buntings, with many in song. We also came across another Black-francolin with superb flight views over the car. A small party of Sand Martin flew over here.
We had a quick look around Pano Arodes which produced many Rollers and an Eleonora's Falcon. Unfortunately we did not manage our final target species, the Long-legged Buzzard despite visiting and driving past many of their territories and favoured perching points. We managed 37 species for the half day bringing our total to 54 species.

European Roller - Mark Woodhead ©

Black-headed Bunting - Mark Woodhead ©

Cretzschmar's Bunting - Mark Woodhead ©

Species:
Chukar Partridge
Black Francolin
Lesser Kestrel
Common Kestrel
Red-footed Falcon
Eleonora's Falcon
Peregrine Falcon
Western Marsh Harrier
Eurasian Stone Curlew
Spur-winged Lapwing
Wood Sandpiper
Yellow-legged Gull
Common Wood-pigeon
European Turtle-dove
Eurasian Collared-dove
Common Cuckoo
Cyprus Scops Owl (h)
Little Owl
Common Swift
European Roller
European Bee-eater
Eurasian Hoopoe
Eurasian Magpie
Eurasian Jackdaw
Hooded Crow
Great Tit
Greater Short-toed Lark

Crested Lark
Sand Martin
Barn Swallow
Common House-martin
Zitting Cisticola
Cetti's Warbler
Eurasian Reed-warbler
Great Reed Warbler (h)
Eastern Olivaceous Warbler
Blackcap
Garden Warbler
Sardinian Warbler
Cyprus Warbler
Spectacled Warbler
Whinchat
Common Redstart
Spotted Flycatcher
Cyprus Wheatear
House Sparrow
Spanish Sparrow
Yellow Wagtail (flava, feldegg)
European Greenfinch
European Goldfinch
Common Linnet
Corn Bunting
Cretzschmar's Bunting
Black-headed Bunting
54

May 13th, 2018

13/5/2018

Cyprus Bird Watching Tours - BIRD is the WORD Tour - Troodos 11/05/2018

On the 11th I had the pleasure of guiding John and Lesley around the Troodos sites. Lesley was quite keen on botany also, so I made sure we saw some good species and many endemics on the way. We started the day on the outskirts to find some Black-headed Bunting. We found some fairly quickly with many in song and providing some fantastic views of this colourful specialty. Corn bunting could be heard around the vineyards, some Common Linnets landed close to the car at one point but views were very brief. Not far away we found a singing male Cretzschmar's Bunting on territory providing great lengthy scoped views.
A pair of Masked Shrike evicted a Jay from a pine tree right next to where we parked the car which was incredible to see. The masked Shrikes provided some impressive views. A Hoopoe flew into a small valley though we couldn't find it on the ground, or a Nightjar that was churring very close to us. Quite a few red-rumped Swallow flew over here with nests in the area.
We then headed to the Troodos Square stopping at platres on the way for Grey Wagtail and to an area that usually has a good number of Short-toed Treecreepers. Sure enough I heard some and managed to track them down, providing pretty decent and lengthy views.
A Pair of Jays were foraging on the ground not far from where we was standing though they flew off the second they noticed us. A Woodlark was singing but we was unable to find him, though later on the way back we saw him in flight, though he was quite high up in display.
Many Swifts were shooting around collecting recent emerging orange flying insects. Many Pallid swifts were showing today with decent sized groups of them moving among the Common Swift and coming down low, even head height at times. I heard an Eastern Olivaceous Warbler singing
in a bush next to where I parked the car, some brief phishing got him sitting on the top of the bush showing incredibly well for around 20 seconds.

Next stop was Livadi tou Passia where sadly the Crossbill were not showing, we even came back to this site later to eat our lunch in hope they would show, but they didn't. We also saw a Hoopoe in flight here quite close, but it vanished among the dense woodland.
Our next site was giant junipers where a flock of around 30 European Bee-eaters were resting in the pines and also hunting the flying insects. This is not a species I expected to see that day and was a bit of a treat. There didn't seem to be much here, we did get some more great views of masked shrike, I noticed a male catch a bug and not eat it, and then flew to a tree and then out. On further inspection it was actually a nest with a female inside, though we kept our distance and scoped them, not observing for long so as not to disturb them at this very sensitive period. I did take a photo from distance but do not wish to encourage people photographing nests, it is something I am strongly against.
On the way out we heard a Turtle Dove calling.

The next site was the Botanical Garden. On entry we saw a female blue rock thrush calling out constantly from a rock, and from the return calls we located the male. An obvious breeding pair who were successful last year. We managed very good views of both male and female, and managed good photo opportunities of the male. A few crag martin flew down to the river quite a few times. In the botanical garden we had incredibly close views of a Jay on the ground, Serin were darting around and another surprise bird was a Cyprus Warbler singing in the top of a pine tree, though the pine was outside the botanical garden on a lower height, so the bird was near enough eye level with us. A great way to wrap up a good day birding in the mountains managing 41 species, which is a good count for the mountains this close to summer.
*Note we did also visit Prodromos dam for flora and in desperation for the Crossbill

Species:
Cretzschmar's Bunting
Black-headed Bunting
(h) Corn Bunting
Spotted Flycatcher
Common Linnet
European Serin
European Goldfinch
European Greenfinch
European Chaffinch
Masked Shrike
Eurasian Jay (G.g.glaszneri)
Hooded Crow
Eurasian Magpie
Blackbird
Red-rumped Swallow
House Martin
Crag Martin
Barn Swallow
Common Swift
Pallid Swift
European Nightjar
Common Kestrel
House Sparrow
Sardinian Warbler
Cyprus Warbler
Eastern Olivaceous Warbler
Eurasian Wren (T.t.cypriotes)
Great Tit (P.m.aphrodite)
Coal Tit (P.a.cypriotes)
Eurasian Hoopoe
Grey Wagtail
Cyprus Wheatear
(h) Common Nightingale
Woodlark
Dorothy's Short-toed Treecreeper (C.b.dorotheae)
European Turtle Dove
(h) Common Cuckoo
European Bee-eater
Blue Rock Thrush
41

Flora and Fauna:
Cynoglossum montanum subsp. extraeuropaeum
Poppy of Troy
Strawberry Tree
Rose Acacia (invasive)
Black Locust (invasive)
Sequoyah Tree (introduced)
Platanthera holmboei
Limodorum abortivum
Red Valerian
Paeonia mascula
Aphrodite's Spurge
Anchusa azurea
Viola alba
Vicia tennifolia subsp. dalmatica
Orobanche cypria
Cyprus Cedar
Allium exaltatum
Ornithogalum chionophilum
Scorzonera troodea
Meklei's Poppy
Troodos Chamomile
Cynoglossum troodi
Alyssum Troodi
California Poppy (introduced/invasive)
Centaurea aegialophila
Scutellaria cypria
Rock Rose
Tassle hyacinth
Silene Vulgaris

Shaggy Ink Cap (fungi)

Cyprus Water Frog

Sling-tailed Agama
Troodos Lizard

Clouded Yellow
Bath White
Large White
Small White
Red Admiral

May 08th, 2018

8/5/2018

Cyprus Bird Watching Tours - BIRD is the WORD Tour - Akrotiri 07/05/2018

On the 7th I had the pleasure of guiding Antonis, Holly and Wendy around the Akrotiri peninsular. The morning was a little overcast with Black-crowned Night Herons flying in and out of Zakaki Marsh, and many Reed Warblers flitting around the reeds.
We headed for the Salt Lake. Only a few Temminck's Stints were present among the Little Stints before the lake itself, along with 3 Collared Pratincoles. Holly managed to spot a Rufous-tailed Rock thrush sitting in a low shrub which provided excellent lengthy views.

On the salt lake itself we browsed through the many waders spotting a Ruddy Turnstone in Summer plumage and a Grey Plover in winter plumage, over 5 Curlew Sandpipers and the usuals with Ruff and Little Stint the most abundant. The part melanistic Greater Flamingo was showing well again among the large flock that were displaying, we also spotted a fair sized flock flying in to the salt lake. A few female Pintail were the only waterfowl.
Moving on to lady's mile we was treated to seeing a Grey Plover in summer plumage, a pair of Black-winged Stilts copulating briefly and many Little Tern diving meters from the car with one even presenting a fish to its mate ... though this moment was short lived as a grounded Little Tern nearby was not in the mood for seeing this happen a few meters from him and chased them off. We didn't have many great photo opportunities during this tour aside the Little Terns, Temminck's and Little Stint and Eleonora's Falcon.

Bishop's pool held small numbers of birds, many Ferruginous duck were present though which was the target here. We stopped here to have our lunch.
Next destination was the gravel pits where we had good views of Woodchat Shrike, Red-backed Shrike and Winchat.
We stopped at Phassouri which held very little and then ventured to Kensington Cliffs where we had great views of many Eleonora's Falcons and Alpine Swift, though sadly the Griffon Vultures didn't show.
We decided to check the Salt Lake for a second time, driving past bishops pool I spotted a Golden Oriole land in one of the trees, also a few bee-eaters were about now.
We didn't see much else on the Salt Lake aside a Spotted Flycatcher and ended up with 70 species.

Species:
(h) Black Francolin
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Garganey
Ferruginous Duck
Little Grebe
Greater Flamingo
Glossy Ibis
Black-crowned Night-heron
Squacco Heron
Cattle Egret
Grey Heron
Little Egret
European Shag
Common Kestrel
Eleonora's Falcon
Common Moorhen
Common Coot
Black-winged Stilt
Grey Plover
Common Ringed Plover
Little Ringed Plover
Kentish Plover
Marsh Sandpiper
Common Greenshank
Wood Sandpiper
Ruddy Turnstone
Little Stint
Temminck's Stint
Curlew Sandpiper
Ruff
Collared Pratincole
Yellow-legged Gull
Little Tern
Rock Dove

Common Wood-pigeon
European Turtle-dove
Eurasian Collared-dove
Alpine Swift
Common Swift
Pallid Swift
European Bee-eater
Red-backed Shrike
Woodchat Shrike
Eurasian Golden Oriole
Eurasian Magpie
Eurasian Jackdaw
Hooded Crow
Great Tit
Crested Lark
Barn Swallow
Common House-martin
Zitting Cisticola
Cetti's Warbler
Eurasian Reed-warbler
(h) Sedge Warbler
(h) Eastern Olivaceous Warbler
Blackcap
Sardinian Warbler
Spectacled Warbler
Whinchat
Northern Wheatear
Cyprus Wheatear
Rufous-tailed Rock-thrush
Spotted Flycatcher
House Sparrow
White Wagtail
European Greenfinch
European Goldfinch
Common Linnet

70 species

May 04th, 2018

4/5/2018

Cyprus Bird Watching Tours - BIRD is the WORD Tour - Paphos & Akrotiri 01 & 03/05/2018

On the 1st I had the pleasure of guiding David and Maicon around Paphos. We started at the Sewage works where many Cattle Egret were feeding in the fields and many broods of Barn Swallow were lining the wires, with a Sand martin among them.
The Spur-winged lapwings weren't outside the fence at this early time so we checked the pools to which we found Glossy Ibis, Squacco Heron and quite a few Spur-winged lapwing. Towards the solid waste area we got better views of Spur-winged Lapwing and was amazed to find they had a chick already. On the way out we spotted a Stone Curlew in flight but failed to find the point in which it landed.
Then on to Mandria where we had good views of Laughing Dove, Hoopoe, Red-backed and Lesser Grey Shrike. There wasn't much movement out at sea as now the migration has slowed right down and so we didn't stick around. We headed to Agia Varvara which held little and then onto Anarita Park where we was treated to many great views of Red-footed Falcon, Lesser Kestrel, Cyprus Warbler, European Roller, Montagu's Harrier and Red-rumped Swallow.
We moved on through to Episkopi in hope of getting Great Spotted Cuckoo which is a nightmare bird to find this year unfortunately, undoubtedly there being some problems in their wintering grounds considering the sharp decline in populations visiting Cyprus over the past 3 years. Sadly we couldn't locate any Great Spotted Cuckoos, though we did see Eastern olivaceous warbler, Cyprus Wheatear and some more Rollers. Moving up to higher ground we got great scoped views of Peregrine Falcon chicks and briefly heard the calls of a Cyprus Scops Owl echoing against the cliff face.

Moving up to Minthis hills a Long-legged Buzzard was gaining height. At the entrance to Minthis we came across a Cretzschmar's Bunting singing away at the top of a small Hawthorne tree, there was many Corn Buntings along this strip which has been subject to much construction over the past year.
We drove to Kathikas from here and managed to get incredible views of Black-headed Bunting, with all of them singing and even had close views of 2 males fighting on at least 3 occasions. There was a harrier in the distance but too far to identify.

From kathikas we headed up to Pano Arodes where we saw quite a few Golden oriole in flight. I was hoping to get Great Spotted Cuckoo here ... but the best we managed was a Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush and Spotted Flycatcher both managing to get within meters.
As we headed out and journeyed to Evretou Dam we came upon a Long-legged Buzzard perched in a tree very close providing incredible views and an inevitable take-off.
We stopped to eat our lunch at Evretou near the waters edge where Yellow Wagtails approached us and we enjoyed many flocks of Bee-eater flying over. Highlights here was a few Night Heron, Purple Heron, Squacco Heron and a Black-tailed Godwit which was well spotted by David partly concealed in the grass. We also watched a Long-legged Buzzard soaring over the hills and watched the extremely large nesting group of Spanish Sparrow in a large tree. A great day with some very colourful birds totaling 68 species.

The second day we ventured to Akrotiri. We started at the Salt Lake which had been very productive lately. In no time at all we came across many Temminck's and Little Stint, Wood and Marsh Sandpiper. There was a large Flock of Greater Flamingo overhead at various stages and also we had flocks of Glossy Ibis and Collared Pratincole that flew very close to us at times and landed nearby.

We had Eleonora's Falcon flyby's on entrance and on exit of the salt lake. White-winged and Little Terns were both present in decent numbers flying and landing very close
to us at times. The majority of waders were Ruff and Little Stint, though we did pick out a Dunlin and also quite a few Curlew Sandpipers. Seeing a few Black-headed Gull here was a bit of a surprise considering how late into spring we are.
Some Baltic gull showed well in flight and on the ground. There was a decent group of Greater Flamingo at the waters edge that were in display which was great to see especially so close as well. A few Northern Shoveler were among them.

After we was satisfed with our sightings here we moved on to Lady's Mile seeing a Tawny pipit on the way. I made a mistake here in not exploring the southern eastern point here which I am told Greater Sandplover and Broad-billed Sandpiper were seen there in the afternoon.
The water levels at Lady's Mile had reduced dramitically since last being there and seemed ripe for waders now. Though there actually wasn't many around. We did get some more ruff, marsh sandpiper and a greenshank. Also a Black-tailed Godwit among Ruff. Little Tern were in abundance here fishing.

We then moved on to Bishops Pool. Many ferruginous duck were showing and we also had a few late Common Teal and some Garganey. A Little Bittern called from the reeds though we was unable to locate it. A Chiffchaff moved from tree to tree, an unexpected sighting for this time of year (identified on call).
After checking some of Akrotiri Gravel Pits (of which the highlight was seeing two Little Terns plunging into the water around 4 meters from the car and then feeding each other in display) and Phassouri Marsh we stopped for our lunch.
After lunch we headed to Kensington cliffs where we got incredible views of many Eleonora's Falcons playing, hunting and also mobbing the Griffon Vultures that were active on arrival. We also saw lots of Alpine Swift with some flying quite low.
It was quite windy by this point so getting the Griffon Vultures closer to us in flight was not going to happen, though they still provided a good show and ended the tour on a high note. We managed 78 species for the day and brought the total number of species to 100.

Species:
Chukar Partridge
(h) Black Francolin
Mallard
Northern Shoveller
Garganey
Common Teal
Ferruginous Duck
Little Grebe
Greater Flamingo
Glossy Ibis
Black-crowned Night-heron
Squacco Heron
Cattle Egret
Grey Heron
Purple Heron
Little Egret
(h) Little Bittern
European Shag
Lesser Kestrel
Common Kestrel
Red-footed Falcon
Eleonora's Falcon
Peregrine Falcon
Western Marsh Harrier
Montagu's Harrier
Long-legged Buzzard
Eurasian Stone Curlew
Common Moorhen
Common Coot
Black-winged Stilt
Spur-winged Lapwing
Common Ringed Plover
Kentish Plover
Black-tailed Godwit
Marsh Sandpiper
Common Greenshank
Wood Sandpiper
Common Sandpiper
Little Stint
Temminck's Stint
Dunlin
Curlew Sandpiper
Ruff
Yellow-legged Gull
Baltic Gull
Black-headed Gull
Little Tern
White-winged Tern
Rock Dove
Common Wood-pigeon

European Turtle-dove
Eurasian Collared-dove
Laughing Dove
(h) Cyprus Scops Owl
Little Owl
Alpine Swift
Common Swift
European Roller
European Bee-eater
Red-backed Shrike
Lesser Grey Shrike
Eurasian Golden Oriole
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
(h) Eurasian Reed-warbler
(h) Eastern Olivaceous Warbler
Blackcap
Common Chiffchaff
Sardinian Warbler
Cyprus Warbler
Spectacled Warbler
(h) Common Nightingale
Common Redstart
Whinchat
Northern Wheatear
Eastern Black-eared Wheatear
Cyprus Wheatear
Rufous-tailed Rock-thrush
Spotted Flycatcher
House Sparrow
Spanish Sparrow
White Wagtail
Yellow Wagtail (flava, feldegg)
Tawny Pipit
European Greenfinch
European Goldfinch
Common Linnet
Corn Bunting
Cretzschmar's Bunting
Black-headed Bunting

100