Cyprus Bird Watching Tours - BIRD is the WORD - Half day Tour - Paphos 28/02/2019
Desert Wheatear - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
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.
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.
Common Stonechat - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
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.
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.
Spur-winged lapwing - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
Eurasian Hoopoe - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
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.
Finsch's Wheatear - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
Isabelline Wheatear - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
Woodlark - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
| 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 |
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