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December 29th, 2019

29/12/2019

 

Cyprus Bird Watching Tours - BIRD is the WORD - Paphos & Akrotiri 28/12/2019

Picture
Greater Sand Plover - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
On the 29th I guided Rita and Wilkie around Akrotiri and Paphos.
It was a much quieter day than the previous day although we still managed 53 species even though the tour was called short an hour due to bad weather.
We set out at the Paphos Headland with Greater Sand Plover in mind. On the corner point looking past the many Golden Plover there were three Greater Sand Plover that we managed good close views of. The only other birds of note were Common Sandpiper, Skylark and many Meadow Pipit as well as a fantastic murmuration of Starling. 
We then ventured to the Sewage Plant and saw the Cattle Egrets and a few Spur-winged Lapwing of which numbers seem to be down. 
Next stop was for the Finsch's Wheatear at Anarita Park of-which two showed quite nicely although there was not much else around of note aside Corn Bunting which were surprisingly already in song. 
Mandria was the next stop where Laughing Dove and Red-throated Pipit showed well and also a Water Pipit, no sign of any Hen Harriers though unfortunately.
We then continued to Akrotiri stopping at Phassouri Marsh first which was fairly quiet and so we moved on to the Sylvania Restaurant spot to scope the Flamingos of which there was a small party displaying.
Zakaki held very little, the Bluethroat that was present yesterday didn't show and the gull selection at Ladies Mile was very limited in comparison although there did seem to have been a lot more Armenian Gulls present.
Driving to Kensington Cliffs we had a fly over Peregrine Falcon and at which point the weather turned for the worse and so we decided against visiting the site.
We finished with 53 Species.
Species List:

Black Francolin    
Mallard    
Common Teal
Greater Flamingo
Cattle Egret
Grey Heron
Little Egret
Great Cormorant   
European Shag  
Common Kestrel   
Peregrine Falcon
Western Marsh Harrier  
Water Rail
Common Moorhen  
Common Coot
Spur-winged Lapwing
Eurasian Golden Plover
Greater Sand Plover
Green Sandpiper 
Common Sandpiper 
Armenian Gull 
Yellow-legged Gull 
Caspian Gull 
Black-headed Gull 
​
Common Wood-pigeon   
Eurasian Collared-dove
Laughing Dove
Common Kingfisher
Eurasian Magpie    
Eurasian Jackdaw   
Hooded Crow
Great Tit
Eurasian Penduline tit
Crested Lark  
Eurasian Skylark
Zitting Cisticola  
(h) Cetti's Warbler
Common Starling 
(h) European Robin
Western Black Redstart
Common Stonechat
Finsch's Wheatear
House Sparrow 
White Wagtail
Meadow Pipit 
Red-throated Pipit
Water Pipit (*Caucasian Water Pipit)
Common Chaffinch 
European Serin 
European Greenfinch    
European Goldfinch
Common Linnet
Corn Bunting

53

December 27th, 2019

27/12/2019

 

​Cyprus Bird Watching Tours - BIRD is the WORD - Akrotiri & Paphos 27/12/2019

Picture
Bluethroat - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
On the 27th I guided Tim and Alice around the Akrotiri and Paphos sites.

We started off at Phassouri Marsh where many Marsh Harrier and Penduline were seen along with Water rail. At the entrance to the site a Pale Morph Common Buzzard sat out in the open for a while and then flew off in the distance, the first time I had seen this colour phase in Cyprus.
We headed along the marsh banks seeing little aside Common Kingfisher. At the second hide we had great views of Common Kingfisher, Water Pipit and Shelduck flew overhead among many Common Snipe. Spur-winged Lapwing and Coot were on the Scrape. Reed Warbler called from the reed but were shy.
Picture
Common Shelduck - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
Further down we were treated to great views of both male and female Black Francolin and also a pair of Cattle Egret roadside. A lone Little Egret was also feeding among the cattle.
We then ventured to the environmental center to scope the Flamingos.
Next was Ladies Mile which was fairly quiet aside the bulk of the Gulls. We managed to pick out Armenia, Caspian, Heuglin's, Mediterranean and a Slender-billed Gull among the Black-headed Gulls.
At Zakaki Marsh we was treated to great views of a Bluethroat, and concealed views of Moustached Warbler.
Next we headed to Kensington Cliffs where only one Griffon Vulture showed but amazingly there was two Cyprus Warbler calling and showing nearby. We stopped here for lunch and then continued to Paphos.
At Mandria we had some smashing views of Red-throated Pipit and the many Skylark. We also got close to a Laughing Dove here and distant views of a Bonelli's Eagle being mobbed by Hooded Crows. We stopped for coffee at a taverna and headed to the Sewage Plant where the Spur-winged Lapwings were proving tricky though a Green Sandpiper was unusually showy.
Next we went for the finsch's wheatear at Anarita Park which we got pretty decent views of two. A male Goshawk swooped in and attacked a Common Kestrel right above us which was a bonus. On the way to Episkopi we had brief views of Woodlark and Corn Bunting and at Episkopi we managed to see the Cyprus Scops Owl which is amazingly still around. 
Picture
Cyprus Scops Owl - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
​We finished the day with an impressive 67 species for this time of year.
Species List:

(h) Chukar Partridge    
Black Francolin    
Common Shelduck    
Mallard    
Northern Shoveler
Common Teal
Greater Flamingo
Cattle Egret
Little Egret
Great Cormorant   
Common Kestrel   
Griffon Vulture
Western Marsh Harrier  
Northern Goshawk
Common Buzzard
Bonelli's Eagle    
Water Rail
Common Moorhen  
Common Coot
Spur-winged Lapwing
Common Snipe 
Green Sandpiper 
Heuglin's (Siberian) Gull 
Armenian Gull 
Caspian Gull 
Black-headed Gull 
Slender-billed Gull 
Mediterranean Gull   
Rock Dove 
Common Wood-pigeon   
Eurasian Collared-dove
​
Laughing Dove
Cyprus Scops Owl
Common Kingfisher
Eurasian Magpie    
Eurasian Jackdaw   
Hooded Crow
Great Tit
Eurasian Penduline tit
Crested Lark  
Wood Lark
Eurasian Skylark
Cetti's Warbler
Moustached Warbler
Eurasian Reed-warbler
Common Chiffchaff 
Blackcap 
Sardinian Warbler
Cyprus Warbler 
(h)European Robin
Bluethroat
Western Black Redstar
Common Stonechat
Finsch's Wheatear
House Sparrow 
White Wagtail
Meadow Pipit 
Red-throated Pipit
Water Pipit (*Caucasian Water Pipit)
Common Chaffinch 
European Serin 
European Greenfinch    
European Goldfinch
Common Linnet
Corn Bunting
Common Reed Bunting
​

67

December 06th, 2019

6/12/2019

 

​Cyprus Bird Watching Tours - BIRD is the WORD - Paphos Half-day Tour 02/12/2019

On the 2nd I guided Dave around Paphos. We started at the Headland for Greater Sand Plover of which there was two, a small group of Golden Plover were present also and a murmuration of Starling. 
Our next stop was the Sewage Works where we saw a Peregrine Falcon on some pylons. The Spur-winged Lapwings were unusually no-where to be seen. 
We then ventured to Agia Varvara where three Snipe were feeding at the edge of the pool. We then headed to Anarita Park for Finsch's Wheatear which showed well. A short trip around Mandria produced little and at Asprokremnos dam there were some Great Egrets which were behaving oddly, landing on the water.  
We then headed to Episkopi for the Cyprus Scops Owl and lastly Minthis Hills where we saw just a Grey Heron.
We finished the half day with 39 Species. 

Species List:

Common Teal
Little Grebe
Grey Heron
Great Egret
Little Egret
Great Cormorant   
Common Kestrel   
Peregrine Falcon
Common Moorhen  
Eurasian Golden Plover
Greater Sand Plover
Common Snipe 
Yellow-legged Gull 
Common Wood-pigeon   
Eurasian Collared-dove
Laughing Dove
Cyprus Scops Owl
(h)Common Kingfisher
Eurasian Magpie    
Eurasian Jackdaw   
Hooded Crow
Crested Lark  
Wood Lark
Eurasian Skylark
Zitting Cisticola  
Common Chiffchaff 
Sardinian Warbler
Common Starling 
Common Stonechat
Finsch's Wheatear
House Sparrow 
White Wagtail
Grey Wagtail 
Meadow Pipit 
Red-throated Pipit
European Greenfinch    
European Goldfinch
Common Linnet
Corn Bunting

39

December 02nd, 2019

2/12/2019

 

Cyprus Bird Watching Tours - BIRD is the WORD - Paphos and Akrotiri 29/11/2019

Picture
Northern Lapwing - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
On the 29th I guided Martijn around the Paphos and Akrotiri sites.
We started out at the Avagas Gorge for Wallcreeper though it didn't seem to be present, we did get good views of Robin, Black Redstart and a Sparrowhawk.
Picture
European Robin - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
Next we stopped at the Paphos sewage works where both Northern and Spur-winged Lapwing were present. A quick visit to Mandria produced Skylark and various Pipits as well as Laughing Dove.
Picture
Laughing Dove - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
We then ventured to Akrotiri which seemed unusually quiet. Ladies Mile had some Redshank and the usual Black-headed Gulls with Yellow-legged and Armenian among them. 
We stopped at Bishop's Pool for waterfowl, seeing mostly Common Teal, Pintail, Shoveler and Mallard. We stopped at the Environmental Center to see the Flamingo's and then our final stop was Kensington Cliffs of which the Griffon Vultures didn't show.
We finished the tour with 46 species. 
Species List:

Mallard    
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Common Teal
Little Grebe
Greater Flamingo
Cattle Egret
Little Egret
Common Kestrel   
Western Marsh Harrier  
Eurasian Sparrowhawk
Common Moorhen  
Common Coot
Northern Lapwing
Spur-winged Lapwing
Common Redshank 
Armenian Gull 
Yellow-legged Gull 
Black-headed Gull 
Rock Dove 
Common Wood-pigeon   
Laughing Dove
Common Kingfisher
Eurasian Magpie    
Eurasian Jackdaw   
Hooded Crow
Great Tit
Crested Lark  
Eurasian Skylark
Zitting Cisticola  
Cetti's Warbler
Blackcap 
Sardinian Warbler
(h)Eurasian Wren
Eurasian Blackbird    
European Robin
Western Black Redstart
Common Stonechat
House Sparrow 
White Wagtail
Meadow Pipit 
Red-throated Pipit
European Serin 
European Greenfinch    
European Goldfinch
Common Linnet

46 
    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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