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March 17th, 2018

17/3/2018

 

Cyprus Bird Watching Tours - BIRD is the WORD - 3 Day Tour; Paphos, Akrotiri, Troodos and Larnaca 14, 15+16th/03/2018

Caspian Plover Cyprus Birding Birdwatching tours ecotours birdlife wildlife rarity
Caspian Plover - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
On the 14th I had the pleasure of guiding Dave and Anna on a 3 day tour across the island. Migration still wasn't rolling quite the same as previous years for this time but we did manage to get some good migrants and a total of 114 species.
Starting out in Paphos we headed for the Sewage works and got the usual Spur-winged Lapwing and Cattle Egret, a few Hoopoes were still in the area allowing very close views and photo opportunities but no surprises.
Eurasian Hoopoe Cyprus Birding Birdwatching tours ecotours birdlife wildlife
Eurasian Hoopoe - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
Next stop was Mandria where we managed to locate the nesting Laughing Doves, we saw over 5 in a small area with one being very close to the car. A large flock of Spanish Sparrows provided some incredibly close viewing. Moving through the sand pit we managed to find many Isabelline and Northern wheatears scampering about near a few Greater Short-toed Larks and a small party of tawny pipits that were at times very close to the car. I heard two Yellow Wagtails fly over head and managed to track them as they came down.
They were a Black-headed Wagtail and a "Superciliaris" race which we managed to view for only a minute before they was scared off by the large group of Greenfinch that are still in the area. I scouted the coast for possible shorebirds, but there was quite a few fisherman near the water that would have scared anything off. As we were checking the European Shags on the rocks we observed something quite peculiar. A young bird (from last year) harassed one of the adults
and looked as though there was going to be a squabble, but the adult actually fed the youngster. Definitely not a young bird from this year as it is too early, so a very strange thing to see. We checked the Picnic area and surroundings to see more Greater Short-toed Lark and Isabelline Wheatear and then moved on. We had a quick run around Timi beach but there was little there aside a few skylark in the air, flushed by dog walkers.   
Then on to Anarita park which was currently holding military exercizes of which we were told by other birders that there was immense disturbance in the area prior to our arrival ... and then I heard news of a Caspian Plover being discovered at Mandria near the picnic site where we just was ... so it must have just come in off the sea. We managed to get a Cetti's Warbler out in the open very close to the car which was great but brief as it always is with this shy species. 
Inside the quarry we had a male and female (Dark throated) finsch's wheatear sitting together, which is possibly the first time I have ever seen that happen. A male Blue Rock Thrush posed high on the rocks only allowing its face to be seen for a very lengthy period. A pair of adult Bonelli's Eagles flew over low which was amazing to see, an area they usually hunt in though I haven't seen them there much at all this year. We moved round to the shrubs where we located male and female Cyprus Warbler with great views. There was many Paphos Blue Butterflies on the wing still. Heading to the peak of the site we was treated to some incredibly low flying Alpine Swift and Common Swift with an early Pallid Swift coming down close also. We also had a pair
of Lesser Kestrel fly over.  
Laughing Dove Cyprus Birding Birdwatching tours ecotours birdlife wildlife
Laughing Dove - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
Yellow Wagtail Superciliaris Cyprus Birding Birdwatching tours ecotours birdlife wildlife
Yellow Wagtail ("Superciliaris" race) - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
I asked Dave and Anna if they wanted to go for the Caspian Plover, to which they were very excited and happy to do so ... after all who doesn't want to see such a smart rarity. Sure enough it was there and was incredibly confiding, after only being there a few minutes it scurried towards the car for some amazing views and photo opportunities. After spending quite a bit of time here we headed to Asprokremnos Dam car park to eat our lunch. 
After lunch we moved on to Anarita Masts which had quite a few Red-throated Pipit still around. Also there was quite a few Vagrant Emperor dragonflies feeding in the open areas.
Our final stop for the day was to be at Minthis Hills to see if any Cretzschmar's bunting were on territory already but sadly we ran out of time and so used the remaining time at Nata Ford (now a bridge) where we saw Little Ringed Plover on territory already, and some Red-rumped Swallows coming down for some clay for their nests. Further down the river we managed quite a few Eurasian Stone Curlew, mostly flight views and some distant scoped views ... they did fly very
close to us at one point though. Black Francolins were heard in the area but not seen, and no sign of the Great Spotted Cuckoos that are usually present. We stopped at Episkopi Monolith on the way back but no Peregrines were on the rock, though we did see one very high before the monolith. A Verbascum Levanticum was just coming into flower on the rock which was nice to see. A fantastic first day with a Rarity totaling 57 species.
Finsch's Wheatear Cyprus Birding Birdwatching tours ecotours birdlife wildlife
Finsch's Wheatear (M&F) - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
Red-throated Pipit Cyprus Birding Birdwatching tours ecotours birdlife wildlife
Red-throated Pipit - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
Alpine Swift Cyprus Birding Birdwatching tours ecotours birdlife wildlife
Alpine Swift - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
Picture
Verbascum Levanticum - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
Eurasian Stone Curlew Cyprus Birding Birdwatching tours ecotours birdlife wildlife
Eurasian Stone Curlew - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
The next day we headed to Akrotiri. First stop was Phassouri Marsh which had Serin feeding on the ground on entrance and a pair of Black Francolin meters from the car in the road. I could tell it was going to be a great day!
On the water were two Squacco herons providing great views and a Little Egret. Little Grebe and Coot were chasing each other and Penduline Tit were heard in the reeds but again not located. There wasn't much round the other side aside another male black francolin which we scoped. 
Black Francolin Cyprus Birding Birdwatching tours ecotours birdlife wildlife
Black Francolin - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
We checked an area of the Gravel Pits for a Bimaculated Lark that had been found there recently, but there was nothing around, not even any Short-toed Larks. Around the church we checked out some of the orchids, Orchis Fragrans was blooming better now, O.Iricolor and O.Kotschyi were still out too. Here we also saw some Cyprus Chamomile (Tristhemis tricolor). 
We checked some of the bushes in the area for migrant warblers, but the best we could find was two Common Stonechats.
We continued on to Lady's Mile, seeing a Marsh Harrier on the way. We had to drive past military exercizes on the salt flats which was quite exciting. A small party of Kentish Plover were scurrying around a pair of gunners who were prone, though we thought it best not to stop. At Ladies mile we managed to see plenty of Isabelline Wheatear and a few northern and a few Hoopoes. There was a lot of Linnet and Greenfinch flying around. A group of waders were behind the shrubland, mainly ruff but with little stint and kentish plover. Later on we had a pair of Curlew here. By the port we looked through the gulls to see Armenian, Caspian, Yellow-legged, Black-headed and Slender-billed Gull. A Black-winged Stilt and Spur-winged Lapwing were also here. A flock of herons were distant out at sea but coming closer, we waited around until they were close enough to identify, which turned out to be Grey Herons .... no luck with any early Purples.
Zakaki Marsh was dreadful with only a Grey Wagtail about so we moved on quickly wasting no time. Though we did find an Epaulet Skimmer Dragonfly and also a Slender Skimmer which is possibly the first record of the year.
Orchis Fragrans Anacamptis Orchid Cyprus Birding Birdwatching tours ecotours birdlife wildlife
Orchis Fragrans - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
Slender Skimmer Dragonfly Odonata Cyprus Birding Birdwatching tours ecotours birdlife wildlife
Slender Skimmer - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
Eurasian Curlew Cyprus Birding Birdwatching tours ecotours birdlife wildlife
Eurasian Curlew - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
We headed to the Zakaki run-off which was quite wet. We managed to see a Spectacled Warbler, but mainly in flight and not hanging around the tops of the shrubs considering the wind. We scoped through the greater flamingo and many waders.
We found Common and Little Ringed Plover here as well as a few large groups of Ruff, Kentish Plover, Little Stint, a possible temminck's stint though I was too slow to get the scope on it before it flew away and a stunning water pipit provided great scoped views for a decent amount of time. A few yellow wagtails and Short-toed larks flew over as well as a decent flock of Common Snipe overhead. We briefly managed a Merlin in flight moving very quickly towards Lady's Mile.
Unfortunately we couldn't get to the water flow because of the dampness of the ground and so continued to Bishop's Pool to eat our lunch. We did see a pair of Broad Scarlet Dragonflies on the way, a Tiger Beetle Species, a Marbled Orb Weaver Spider and more Mosquitoes than we'd have liked.
Tiger Beetle Species Cyprus Birding Birdwatching tours ecotours birdlife wildlife Cindella
Tiger Beetle Sp. - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
At Bishop's Pool there was still some Waterfowl around. Ferruginous Duck were our targets here of which we saw many. Whilst eating our lunch a pair of Lesser Emperor dragonflies were fighting, two males. A Winter Damselfly decided to come and land right next to us on  blade of grass. We had two surprises here, a Black-crowned Night Heron decided to fly in pretty much towards us providing incredible views and photo opportunities. The other was a female Goshawk shooting across the corner of the lake at a small group of feral pigeons. A species I can't recall seeing at this site before.
Black Crowned Night Heron Cyprus Birding Birdwatching tours ecotours birdlife wildlife
Black-crowned Night Heron - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
We decided to check for the Bimaculated Lark again on the way back which was a good decision! Half way down the track a small party of Short-toed Larks were feeding and the much much larger Bimaculated Lark stood out well allowing us very close
for long periods of time to snap some amazing photos and superb views. A scarce migrant in Cyprus.
We then finished up at Kensington Cliffs where a pair of Griffon Vultures put on a some good flight display. Unfortunately the area they were landing in was conceiled from our view point but we had fantastic flight views. A small group of 
cormorants flew over head here. Some endemic Veined Sainfoin was in flower here providing its lovely aroma. 
Driving back on the motorway we was treated to a rare occurrence of a second plumaged Bonelli's Eagle swooping down a few times over a group of feral pigeons on a farm hutch near the Aphrodite's Rock area. Sadly there was no stopping here 
or any sign of an entrance to the area ... though we was close enough to see clearly with the naked eye. A fantastic end to a fantastic days guiding seeing a total of 80 species! 
Bimaculated lark Scarce Cyprus Birding Birdwatching tours ecotours birdlife wildlife
Bimaculated Lark - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
Griffon Vulture Cyprus Birding Birdwatching tours ecotours birdlife wildlife
Eurasian Griffon Vulture - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
Day 3 was to be spent in the mountains and the larnaca area.
On the way up to the mountains we was treated to a pair of Bonelli's Eagles flying low over the Diarizos Valley, a good start. The abundance of Rock cress (Arabis Purpurea) on the way up was pleasant to see. Arriving at Platres we went looking for early nightingales setting up territory. We was unsuccessful, it didn't seem like any had arrived yet. We got a lovely male Serin singing away in a tree above us and there was Wren singing closer to the water flow. There was plenty of our Endemic Aphrodite's Spurge growing here and an Arum species not yet in flower. Quite a few
Eastern Festoon (Endemic Sub-species) Butterflies flying around here was a surprise to me as I didn't realize their range extended to this high altitude.
Coming back out of this area a Collared Flycatcher flew into a tree not far away but was well concealed. I walked down for a closer view but flushed it into another tree higher up which was even harder to see into. We got flight views of the bird which had to do. Usually Collared flycatchers are much later than Pied and Semi-collareds in Cyprus, I would have thought Semi-collared but saw the "full collar" on the bird in flight.
Rock Cress Arabis Purpua Cyprus Birding Birdwatching tours ecotours birdlife wildlife
Rock Cress - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
Aphrodite's Spurge Euphorbia Veneris Cyprus Birding Birdwatching tours ecotours birdlife wildlife Endemic
Aphrodite's Spurge - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
Next we checked the square which had quite a few of our Coal Tits around providing good views. The star bird here was a Hawfinch in summer plumage providing incredible views and photo opportunities. 
Moving down to the picnic sites we came across Dorothy's Short-toed Treecreepers (a target species) which provided good views, though mainly in the shade. A small party of Siskin showed well coming down for water. We found a few cyprus crocus' though they were at the end of their cycle. There was another Hawfinch around but only seen in flight. We saw a few Blackbirds but most species seemed short in numbers and we unfortunately did not manage to locate any Crossbill or Jays.
We did find the Dutchman's Pipe vine (eastern festoons host plant) and also some Buttercups (Ranunculus cadmicus cyprius ... an endemic sub-species).
We had a walk around the Botanical Gardens, Anna wanted to see some violets and so was quite impressed with the Viola species.
Hawfinch Cyprus Birding Birdwatching tours ecotours birdlife wildlife
Hawfinch - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
Dwarf Pansey Viola kitaibeliana Cyprus Birding Birdwatching tours ecotours birdlife wildlife
Dwarf Pansey - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
Cyprus Buttercup Endemic Subspecies Cyprus Birding Birdwatching tours ecotours birdlife wildlife Ranunculus cadmicus cyprius
Cyprus Buttercup - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
Then onward to Larnaca. On the way we saw a Common Buzzard being mobbed by some Hooded Crows and then further on a Hen Harrier being mobbed by a Sparrowhawk. A good bit of action to make the lengthy journey seem less.
Arriving at Menou we stopped infront of the Greater Flamingos and had lunch. A small group of Little Stint flew along the water towards the airport with a larger wader among them. A Greater Sand Plover had been reported there the day prior and it could well have been that, sadly we was unable to locate the area they landed.
Heading towards the Sewage Pools hide there was a fall of warblers. Eastern Sub-alpine, Chiffchaff and Ruppell's Warbler were everywhere in the low shrubs and acacia. A few Spectacled Warblers briefly showed also. A Tree pipit briefly landed in some nearby shrub calling on take off.
There wasn't much on the water and the winds had picked up making it uncomfortable. A quick browse through provided a Yellow Wagtail (feldegg), Spur-winged Lapwing, Mallard, Black-necked Grebes in summer plumage, Little Grebe, some Pochard, Common Teal and Northern Shoveler. There was probably more around though we decided to move on due to the windy conditions. 
Moving on to the salt lake we manage to spot a small group of Black-crowned Night Heron along the coast that looked as though they would land in the trees, but turned out to be just fighting the wind.
Ruppell's Warbler Cyprus Birding Birdwatching tours ecotours birdlife wildlife
Ruppell's Warbler - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
Black Crowned Night Heron Cyprus Birding Birdwatching tours ecotours birdlife wildlife
Black-crowned Night Heron - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
The Salt Lake held a few Redshank and Ruff, Greater Flamingo and Black-headed and Slender-billed Gulls. The other side was full of life, a pair of Bluethroat had a squabble (one red spotted and one white spotted), my first Wood Sandpiper of the year showed well as did two Common Kingfisher. There was a few Green Sandpiper in the area also which were more timid. Around 6-7 Common Snipe were in the area but very hard to see on the banks. A Little Egret and Spur-winged lapwing were flushed and a Water Pipit posed nicely on a metal pole. An extremely obliging Chukar appeared infront of us feeding which may have been injured. Some intense birding to finish the day which held 75 species ... bringing the total to 114 with much of the Island seen and providing some great memorable moments as well as a Cyprus rarity.
Water Pipit Cyprus Birding Birdwatching tours ecotours birdlife wildlife
Water Pipit - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
Chukar Partridge Island Cyprus Birding Birdwatching tours ecotours birdlife wildlife
Island Chukar - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
Caspian plover rarity Cyprus Birding Birdwatching tours ecotours birdlife wildlife
Caspian Plover - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
Common teal
Mallard
Northern shoveler
Common pochard
Ferruginous duck
Chukar
Black francolin
Little grebe
Black-necked grebe
Greater flamingo
Great cormorant
European shag
Grey heron
Little egret
Squacco heron
Cattle egret
Black-crowned night heron
Griffon vulture
Western Marsh harrier
Hen harrier
Eurasian sparrowhawk
Northern goshawk
Common buzzard
Long-legged buzzard
Bonelli's eagle
Lesser kestrel
Common kestrel
Merlin
Peregrine falcon
Common moorhen
Eurasian coot
Eurasian Stone curlew
Spur-winged lapwing
Common Ringed plover
Little ringed plover
Kentish plover
CASPIAN PLOVER
Black-winged stilt
Common snipe
Eurasian curlew
Common redshank
Green sandpiper
Wood sandpiper
Little stint
Dunlin
Ruff
Yellow-legged gull
Caspian gull
Armenian gull
Black-headed gull
Slender-billed gull
Rock dove
Common Wood pigeon
Eurasian Collared dove
Laughing dove
Alpine swift
Common swift

Pallid swift
Eurasian Hoopoe
Common kingfisher
Bimaculated lark
Greater short-toed lark
Eurasian Skylark
Crested lark
Barn swallow
Red-rumped swallow
Common house martin
White wagtail
Yellow wagtail
Grey wagtail
Tawny pipit
Tree pipit
Meadow pipit
Red-throated pipit
Water pipit
East Mediterranean winter wren (h)
Eurasian blackbird
Song thrush
Zitting cisticola
Cetti's warbler
Eurasian reed warbler
Chiffchaff
Eurasian blackcap
Rüppell's warbler
Eastern Subalpine warbler
Sardinian warbler
Cyprus warbler
Spectacled warbler
Blue rock thrush
Collared flycatcher
European robin
Bluethroat (red spotted and white spotted)
Western Black redstart
Common stonechat
Northern wheatear
Finsch's wheatear
Isabelline wheatear
Coal tit 
Great tit
Dorothy's (Short-toed) treecreeper
Eurasian penduline tit (h)
Magpie
Eurasian jackdaw
Hooded crow
Corn bunting
Common chaffinch
European greenfinch
Eurasian siskin
European goldfinch
Common linnet
European serin
Hawfinch
House sparrow
Spanish sparrow

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    Mostly all photos are taken with a
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    - no teleconverter.

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


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