Cyprus Bird watching Tours - BIRD is the WORD Tour, Akrotiri & Troodos 24/03/17
| On the 24th March I had the pleasure of guiding Tomas Hedmark around the Akrotiri and Troodos Sites, a great day providing 88 Species and a good laugh too. It was a lovely clear and hot day, perfect for birding. We started at Zakaki where our first birds were a Baillon's and Little Crake, plus Penduline Tit, Garganey and Ferruginous Duck (the latter being one of Tomas' target species). Not a bad start to the tour which only picked up further when (I believe) the first Squacco Heron of the year turned up. There was unfortunately an absense of Slender-billed Gulls at Lady's Mile, and the Marsh Sandpipers present had obviously moved on ... but a stunning adult Baltic Gull kept following us around. A quick look on the Salt Lake provided great views of a heated conflict between two Isabelline Wheatears, the winner was observed eating a caterpillar on the way back. There was a small group of Greater Short-toed larks in the air but we didn't manage any views of them on the ground. Then we was treated to a male Pallid Harrier hunting the salt lake shrub and then joined up with a Female near the masts. A trip around the Gravel Pits provided an Ehrenberg's Redstart (Eastern Common Redstart), a Eurasian Hoopoe, plenty of Cretzschmar's Bunting, an Eastern Bonelli's Warbler hover hunting over a shrub and some excellent close views of Eastern Subalpine Warbler. A visit to the foothills of Akrotiri provided great views of Cyprus Warbler and Cyprus Wheatear in song. Troodos was exceptional , the snow had just melted with a few patches here and there, and all the sites were open to the public. We had exceptional views of a Dorothy's (Short-toed) Treecreeper in song with plenty of others around and also our Coal Tit. We heard the calls of a Goshawk, and pursued ... only to find a pair of Jays mimicking! We managed to find plenty of Siskin, Hawfinch and to our surprise ... the Countries 9th Pine Bunting! A stunning male bird on the ground, not too far away from the (1of2) endemic Crocusses (Crocus Cyprius) that are abundent at this site. A great way to wrap the tour up with a Cyprus Rarity. |  Baltic Gull - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Cretzschmar's Bunting - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Crocus Cyprius - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Crocus Cyprius - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Eurasian Hawfinch - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved |
| Species: Common Teal Mallard Garganey Ferruginous Duck Chukar (A.c.cypriotes) Black Francolin (Heard) Little Grebe Greater Flamingo Grey Heron Little Egret Squacco Heron Great Bittern (roadkill) Pallid Harrier Common Buzzard Common Kestrel Water Rail (heard) Little Crake Baillon's Crake Common Moorhen Eurasian Coot Common Ringed Plover Little Ringed Plover Kentish Plover Black-winged Stilt Common Snipe Green Sandpiper Little Stint Dunlin Ruff Baltic Gull Yellow-legged Gull Caspian Gull Armenian Gull Mediterranean Gull Black-headed Gull Common Wood Pigeon European Turtle Dove Eurasian Collared Dove Common Swift Pallid Swift Eurasian Hoopoe Crested Lark (G.c.cypriaca) Greater Short-toed Lark Barn Swallow House Martin White Wagtail Yellow Wagtail (Black-headed) Tree pipit Meadow Pipit Water Pipit Eastern Mediterranean Winter Wren (heard) (T.t.cypriotes) Eurasian Blackbird Song Thrush Zitting Cisticola Cetti's Warbler (heard) Sedge Warbler Eurasian Reed Warbler Common Chiffchaff Eastern Bonelli's Warbler Eurasian Blackcap Lesser Whitethroat Eastern Subalpine Warbler Sardinian Warbler Cyprus Warbler Spectacled Warbler Nightingale Western Black Redstart Common Redstart (P.p.samamisicus ) European Stonechat Cyprus Wheatear Isabelline Wheatear Coal Tit (P.a.cypriotes) Great Tit (P.m.aphrodite) Dorothy's Treecreeper (C.b.dorotheae) Eurasian Penduline Tit Eurasian Jay (G.g.glazneri) Magpie Eurasian Jackdaw Hooded Crow Pine Bunting Cretzschmar's Bunting Corn Bunting (heard) Common Chaffinch European Greenfinch Eurasian Siskin European Goldfinch Common Linnet Hawfinch House Sparrow 88 |  Dorothy's (Short-toed) Treecreeper - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Eastern Subalpine Warbler - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Eurasian Reed Warbler - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Ferruginous Duck - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Garganey - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Pallid Harrier - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Pallid Harriers - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved Sites Visited: Zakaki Marsh, Lady's Mile, Akrotiri Salt Lake, Bishop's Pool, Akrotiri Gravel Pits, Phassouri Reedbeds, Souni Hills, Troodos Square, Livadi Tou Passia, Amiantos/Giant Junipers. |
Little Crake (fem) - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
Pine Bunting (9th Cyprus Record) - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
Squacco Heron - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
RSS Feed
