| 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 - Anser albifrons & Ruddy Shelduck - Tadorna ferruginea Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  White-headed Duck - Oxyura leucocephala (16th Cyprus record since 1989) & Coot - Fulica atra Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Slender-billed Gull (Central) - Chroicocephalus genei Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved |  Greater Sand Plover - Charadrius leschenaultii & Ruddy Turnstone - Arenaria interpres Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Whimbrel - Numenius phaeopus Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Hooded Crow - Corvus cornix (consuming a feral pigeon) Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Spur-winged Lapwing - Vanellus spinosus Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Green Sandpiper - Tringa ochropus Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Little Owl - Athene noctua (with pellet) Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Eurasian Skylark - Alauda arvensis Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Red-throated Pipit - Anthus cervinus Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Caspian Gull - Larus cachinnans & Great Cormorant - Phalacrocorax carbo & Grey Heron - Ardea cinerea & Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos & Hooded Crow Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Finsch's Wheatear - Oenanthe finschii Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Finsch's Wheatear - Oenanthe finschii Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Blue Rock Thrush - Monticola solitarius Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Common Starling - Sturnus vulgaris Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Long-legged Buzzard - Buteo rufinus Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Bluethroat - Luscinia svecica Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Ferruginous Duck - Aythya nyroca Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Gadwall - Anas strepera Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Yellow-legged Gull - Larus michahellis Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Black-headed Gull - Chroicocephalus ridibundus Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Armenian Gull - Larus armenicus Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Water Pipit - Anthus spinoletta Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Marsh Harrier - Circus aeruginosus & Common Teal - Anas crecca Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Sandwich Tern - Thalasseus sandvicensis Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Mediterranean Gull - Ichthyaetus melanocephalus & Northern Shoveller - Anas clypeata & Common Teal - Anas crecca Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  White-headed Duck - Oxyura leucocephala (16th Cyprus record since 1989) & Coot - Fulica atra Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Common Shelduck - Tadorna tadorna Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Corn Bunting - Emberiza calandra Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved |
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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 - 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.
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) *** The blog layouts are not available to those viewing on a mobile device. Bird is the WordArchives
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