Cyprus Bird Watching Tours - BIRD is the WORD - Tour - Paphos 15/03/2019
On the 15th I guided Judy and Sheldon around Paphos. The weather was not forecast to be on our side and so I knew it was going to be tricky birding.
We started at the headland where there was a quite a few groups of Yellow-legged Gull and also a Heuglin's Gull among them. Corn Bunting were singing from inside the fence area and we got to scope a few. As we walked further down
we got great scoped views of 2 Great Spotted Cuckoos sitting on the low shrub, and one was chased towards us by a Magpie which flew meters above our heads. Judy said this was already her star bird of the day.
The coast held no shorebirds, but we did see a small flock of Garganey migrating along the coast. The Meadow + Red-throated pipits and skylarks were unsettled on the ground, the wind and rain picked up and so we left the site, seeing a pair of Common Kestrels mating in the fort window just before we got in the car.
Our next stop was the Sewage Plant where many Spur-winged Lapwing were on show. We had great views of a Hoopoe on a powerline and also got good views of a Red-throated pipit in the tree. A Robin showed fairly well too and song thrush were in large numbers darting from tree to tree. A small party of hirundines were feeding over an alfalfa field, with a few red-rumped swallows among them.
After a short stop at Timi seeing Northern Wheatear, a Sparrowhawk and a pair of Chukar nice and close we headed to Mandria and was treated to a sunny spell. At the western entrance there was many hirundines and even an Alpine Swift among them. We got great views of a Laughing Dove and a very showy and sleepy Stone Curlew.
We continued along the coast, small groups of Linnet were feeding in the sand bowl and also a pair of Isabelline Wheatears. We had a Common Kestrel hovering just above the car at a few sections and managed some great views of a male sitting on a shower pipe.
A lone juvenile shag was sitting on the rocks out at sea, and moments later we saw an adult in flight low over the water. As we were leaving we managed to see a male Black Francolin showing incredibly well by the side of the road.
After grabbing some drinks at a cafe we moved on to Asprokremnos dam where a male Blue Rock thrush was showing in the distance and 3 Hoopoes showing close in the trees and on the ground. A large group of Grey Herons were over the water flying towards us and eventually over the dam wall. We stopped here to have our lunch.
We then moved on to Anarita masts which held nothing and by which time the weather had taken a turn for the worst again, this time with thunderstorms. We went to Anarita park but due to the weather and hail there wasn't much to see aside woodlark, and so we called it a day a few hours early, managing 48 species on a wet and stormy day.
We started at the headland where there was a quite a few groups of Yellow-legged Gull and also a Heuglin's Gull among them. Corn Bunting were singing from inside the fence area and we got to scope a few. As we walked further down
we got great scoped views of 2 Great Spotted Cuckoos sitting on the low shrub, and one was chased towards us by a Magpie which flew meters above our heads. Judy said this was already her star bird of the day.
The coast held no shorebirds, but we did see a small flock of Garganey migrating along the coast. The Meadow + Red-throated pipits and skylarks were unsettled on the ground, the wind and rain picked up and so we left the site, seeing a pair of Common Kestrels mating in the fort window just before we got in the car.
Our next stop was the Sewage Plant where many Spur-winged Lapwing were on show. We had great views of a Hoopoe on a powerline and also got good views of a Red-throated pipit in the tree. A Robin showed fairly well too and song thrush were in large numbers darting from tree to tree. A small party of hirundines were feeding over an alfalfa field, with a few red-rumped swallows among them.
After a short stop at Timi seeing Northern Wheatear, a Sparrowhawk and a pair of Chukar nice and close we headed to Mandria and was treated to a sunny spell. At the western entrance there was many hirundines and even an Alpine Swift among them. We got great views of a Laughing Dove and a very showy and sleepy Stone Curlew.
We continued along the coast, small groups of Linnet were feeding in the sand bowl and also a pair of Isabelline Wheatears. We had a Common Kestrel hovering just above the car at a few sections and managed some great views of a male sitting on a shower pipe.
A lone juvenile shag was sitting on the rocks out at sea, and moments later we saw an adult in flight low over the water. As we were leaving we managed to see a male Black Francolin showing incredibly well by the side of the road.
After grabbing some drinks at a cafe we moved on to Asprokremnos dam where a male Blue Rock thrush was showing in the distance and 3 Hoopoes showing close in the trees and on the ground. A large group of Grey Herons were over the water flying towards us and eventually over the dam wall. We stopped here to have our lunch.
We then moved on to Anarita masts which held nothing and by which time the weather had taken a turn for the worst again, this time with thunderstorms. We went to Anarita park but due to the weather and hail there wasn't much to see aside woodlark, and so we called it a day a few hours early, managing 48 species on a wet and stormy day.
| Species List: Chukar Partridge Black Francolin Garganey Grey Heron European Shag Common Kestrel Eurasian Sparrowhawk Eurasian Stone Curlew Spur-winged Lapwing Heuglin's (Siberian) Gull Yellow-legged Gull Common Wood-pigeon Eurasian Collared-dove Laughing Dove Great Spotted Cuckoo Eurasian Hoopoe Alpine Swift Common Swift Eurasian Magpie Eurasian Jackdaw Hooded Crow Great Tit Crested Lark Eurasian Skylark | Wood Lark Barn Swallow Red-rumped Swallow Common House-martin Zitting Cisticola (h) Blackcap (h) Sardinian Warbler (h) Cyprus Warbler Song Thrush European Robin Western Black Redstart Common Stonechat Northern Wheatear Isabelline Wheatear Blue Rock-thrush House Sparrow White Wagtail Meadow Pipit Red-throated Pipit Common Chaffinch European Greenfinch European Goldfinch Common Linnet Corn Bunting 48 |
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