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Paphos-Akrotiri-Larnaca 11+13+14-12-15

15/12/2015

 
On the 11th a three day tour commenced with Chris (one of the most knowledgeable birders that I had ever come across). Finsch's Wheatear was the target and also Chris wanted to see some gull species throughout the tours. Gull identification generally not being my strong point, however I did a bit of brushing up before the tours.
The first day in Paphos turned out to be very fruitful, Heuglin's Gull, Greater Sand Plover, Whimbrel, Caspian Gull, Great Crested Grebe and Finsch's Wheatear being the highlights.
The Lower Ezousas Pools had now completely dried up and despite the water department saying they would re-fill it they had not. So a vast number of birds had moved on, of which would prove to be very difficult to find anywhere else in Paphos.
Kouklia Soakaways was my back-up plan to the Lower Ezousas Pools but sadly that site had still been badly neglected, with reeds completely over-running the pool.

Areas Visited:
Akti Beach, Paphos Headland, Lower Ezousas Pools + Sewage Works, Anarita Park, Mandria, Asprokremnos Dam, Kouklia, Achelia Dam.

Species Seen+heard:
Great Tit
Great Cormorant
Common Kingfisher
Yellow-legged Gull
European Stonechat
Meadow Pipit
Sardinian Warbler
House Sparrow
Greater Sandplover
Dunlin
European Golden Plover
Whimbrel
Ruddy Turnstone
Black Redstart
Crested Lark
Skylark
European Shag
Linnet
Blue Rock Thrush
Common Starling
Chiffchaff
Zitting Cisticola
Spur-winged Lapwing
Cattle Egret
Common Kestrel
Common Buzzard
White Wagtail
Hooded Crow
Collared Dove
Wood Pigeon
Green Sandpiper
Heuglin's Gull
Red-Throated Pipit
Water Pipit
Mallard
Finsch's Wheatear
Great Crested Grebe
Common Teal
Little Egret
Grey Heron
Serin
Goldfinch
Little Owl
Caspian Gull
Little Grebe
Chukar
Jackdaw
Woodlark
Greenfinch
Magpie
Coot
Common Snipe
Chaffinch
Long -Legged Buzzard
Robin
Blackcap (Heard)

56

Day two of the tour was to be in Akrotiri, the only lifer that Chris could have possibly got in Cyprus was a Finsch's Wheatear of which we already got in Paphos ... so now it was to be a numbers game but with Gulls in mind. However Akrotiri was the quietest I had ever seen it and the birding was hard work. I can only assume that there had been great disturbances as Phassouri Marsh prior to our arrival as there was barely a bird in sight. Consistently every year I get Moustached Warbler, Penduline Tit, Little Crake, Spotted Crake, Common Kingfisher, Water Rail and Reed Bunting here and occasionally a Great Bittern ... but only common species were present, and many common species weren't! 
Zakaki Marsh was also quiet although thankfully someone had cut the reeds down enabling views into the pool. Whoever that was has my utmost respect as the site was largely neglected pretty much since last winter. 
We still managed to see some good gull species and a decent bird count. Highlights were Armenian Gull, Sandwich Tern, Ferruginous Duck, Bluethroat and Griffon Vulture.

Areas Visited:
Phassouri, Salt Lake, Bishop's Pool, Lady's Mile, Zakaki, Kensington Cliffs, Mandria.

Species Seen+heard:
Chaffinch 
Great Tit
Spanish Sparrow (Heard)
Marsh Harrier
Black Francolin
Common Buzzard
Buethroat
Zitting Cisticola
European Stonechat
Cetti's Warbler (Heard)
Cattle Egret
Common Kestrel
Moorhen
Starling
Hooded Crow
Jackdaw
Magpie
Greater Flamingo
Mallard
Ferruginous Duck
Common Teal
Little Grebe
Northern Shoveller
Blackbird
Coot
Grey Heron
Collared Dove
White Wagtail
Grey Wagtail
House Sparrow
Crested Lark
Chukar
Chiffchaff
Yellow-legged Gull
Armenian Gull
Black-headed Gull
Sandwich Tern
Common Redshank
Linnet
Gadwall
Water Rail (Heard) 
Griffon Vulture
Red-Throated Pipit 
Water Pipit
Meadow Pipit
Skylark
Black Redstart
Robin
Wood Pigeon
Northern Lapwing
Shag

51

The final day of the tour was to be in Larnaca which is generally the best place to be in Cyprus in the Winter. Here we managed to get Slender-Billed Gull and Mediterranean Gull, unfortunately none of the Audouin's or Pallas' Gulls were present. Highlights in Larnaca were White-fronted Goose, Tufted Duck, Ruddy Shelduck, Common Shelduck, Temminck's Stint and the Islands 16th Record of White-Headed Duck (since 1989), discovered by Chris.. of which they had never been seen before at Oroklini Lake, 3 individuals (females/immature) was a very important record of this Endangered Species! It was a lifer for me and one I have wanted for many years, so I was incredibly happy.

Areas Visited:
Larnaca Sewage Works, Oroklini Lake, Airport Field, Dolphin Rocks.

Species Seen+Heard:
Slender Billed Gull
Black-headed Gull
Mediterranean Gull
Armenian Gull
Caspian Gull
Yellow-Legged Gull
Little Stint
Ringed Plover
Dunlin
Common Redshank
Ruff
Northern Shoveller
Northern Pintail
Gadwall
Widgeon
Tufted Duck
Ferruginous Duck
Common Teal
Mallard
White-fronted Goose
Marsh Harrier
Sardinian Warbler
Spectacled Warbler
Chiffchaff
House Sparrow
Red-Throated Pipit
Meadow Pipit
Crested lark
Skylark
Black Francolin
Great Cormorant
Hooded Crow
Common Kestrel
Greater Flamingo
Common Shelduck
Ruddy Shelduck
Black-necked Grebe
Little Grebe
Coot
Moorhen
Northern Lapwing
Corn Bunting
White Wagtail
Zitting Cisticola
European Stonechat
Temminck's Stint
White-headed Duck
Cattle Egret
Grey Heron
Spur-winged lapwing
Common Snipe
Ringed Plover
Barn Swallow
Goldfinch
White Wagtail

55
 
So 92 Species seen in total, a very good count for winter! 
Greater White Fronted Goose Ruddy Shelduck Cyprus Birding Tours Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Cyprus Bird Watching Cyprus Birding Cyprus Birding Guide Cyprus Ornithological Tours
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Greater Sand Plover Ruddy Turnstone Cyprus Birding Tours Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Cyprus Bird Watching Cyprus Birding Cyprus Birding Guide Cyprus Ornithological Tours
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Great Cormorant Grey Heron Caspian Gull Mallard Cyprus Birding Tours Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Cyprus Bird Watching Cyprus Birding Cyprus Birding Guide Cyprus Ornithological Tours
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Paphos 03/12/2015

3/12/2015

 
I spent the day guiding guiding Paul Hackett around Paphos. Paul is a master at Digiscoping (a Panasonic Lumix Ambassador + Kowa Optics & Digiscoping Consultant, and a teacher of digiscoping), and although I have seen people digiscoping I wasn't entirely familiar with the art. I was very impressed with his results and his technique of which he managed to get some very good photos! Paul had said his Target Species were Cyprus Warbler, Eleonora's Falcon, Finsch's Wheatear, Moustached Warbler and also wanted to see a Wallcreeper. Straight off I had to inform him that the Eleonora's were already on their way to Madagascar and that Cyprus Warbler was going to be extremely difficult concerning they would all be on their short distance migration to return February/March ...although there was a chance of getting them at a site that I had seen one last year this time (an area of possible resident birds).
We set out early and despite the weather forecast predicting clear sunny skies, it was relatively cloudy which really tampered with how I wanted to start the tour ... 
so I changed the plan quickly and moved on. Our first stop was to be Asprokremnos Dam in search of the Cyprus Warbler. We visited 3 parts of the dam and were unfortunately
unsuccessful in finding a Cyprus Warbler, it was fairly quiet at the dam although there was quite a movement of Great Cormorants flying in and also a few Grey Herons present.
The highlight here was seeing a big female Peregrine Falcon on an aerial at the south-east side.

We then moved on around the back way to Anarita Park where a Little Owl was being very showy and settled on a large rock ... enabling good photo opportunities. A drive into the quarry did not produce much and moving further up to the farm we bagged one of the target species; Finsch's Wheatear. A lovely male bird showing well and surprisingly not moving a lot from this area. From here we moved closer to the Army base in hope of finding some Blue Rock thrush that were sadly not present, however we did find some Woodlark. 

I decided to take Paul through Agia Varvara and up to the top area in hope of finding some good species along the way, there didn't seem to be much around aside Meadow Pipits and I suspect many species were startled by hunters running their dogs in the area.

We then headed to the Lower Ezousas Pools which has now turned into a few puddles. There we had fantastic views and photo opportunities of Moustached Warbler and Bluethroat.
We also saw a Siberian Chiffchaff next to a Common Chiffchaff, which was very good for comparison and both calls were heard. Both Chiffchaffs were bathing in a puddle and then spend a long time preening in the sun. Then a quick look up produced 18+ Common Kestrels approaching the area. Quite an unusual spectacle but has been noted year after year. It is suspected that these birds are coming down from the foothills and mountains to take advantage of the insects in the air and also to escape the much colder climate at higher elevation. We checked through each individual just incase there were other falcons among them.



Bluethroat Cyprus Birding Tours Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Cyprus Bird Watching Cyprus Birding Cyprus Birding Guide Cyprus Ornithological Tours
Bluethroat - Luscinia svecica Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
After a lengthy stay at the Ezousas Pools we had a quick run around the Sewage Works fields which was fairly quiet, 4 Cattle Egret were being very obliging however none of the resident Spur-winged Lapwings were on show.

We then had some lunch and headed to the Akamas in search of the Wallcreeper, on the way we came across a diversion in Lemba which funnily enough alerted us to a common kestrel running towards us in the road and taking something from the road. It then hopped onto an a churned up agricultural field next to the road allowing for some good close up feeding shots. 

A 45 minute walk into the Gorge through rough terrain and a 10 minute wait and there they were, 2 birds, always worth the effort.
We spent the remainder of our time here and soaked in the beauty of these magnificent birds and managed a few good shots too. This is the second time Paul had seen Wallcreeper and despite having seen 2 lifers, he stated it was the highlight of the day, and I couldn't think of a better way of showing how truly amazing these birds are other than sharing that with you! Paul also managed to see 3 Blue Rock Thrush here and also a few Cyprus Wren.
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Wallcreeper - Tichodroma muraria Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
So all in all a great day of birding especially for this time of year.
 
Species Count:    

Wallcreeper, 
Black Redstart, 
Wren, 
Rock Dove, 
Great Tit, 
Jackdaw, 
Magpie, 
Hooded Crow, 
Sardinian Warbler, 
Blackbird,
Sparrowhawk, 
Robin, 
Grey Wagtail, 
Blue Rock thrush  
Moustached Warbler, 
Cetti's Warbler, 
Common Kestrel, 
Moorhen, 
Water Rail, 
Chaffinch, 
Song Thrush, 
Blackbird, 
Zitting Cisticola, 
Chiffchaff, 
Siberian Chiffchaff 
Stonechat, 
Bluethroat, 
Woodpigeon, 
Blackcap.
Meadow Pipit, 
Cattle Egret, 
Collared Dove, 
White Wagtail, 
Serin, 
Linnet, 
Corn Bunting, 
Spanish Sparrow.
Great Cormorant, 
Grey Heron, 
Peregrine Falcon, 
Goldfinch, 
House Sparrow, 
Crested Lark, 
Skylark, 
Corn Bunting, 
Woodlark, 
Finsch's Wheatear, 
Little Owl, 
Greenfinch


49
    Mostly all photos are taken with a
    - Canon 7D mkii (older photos with mk1)
    and a
    - Canon 400mm Ef-s USM l f5.6 Lens. 
    - no teleconverter.

    Macro: 
    Tamron sp 90mm f017
    (older: Canon sx50 HS)


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