Cyprus Bird watching Tours - BIRD is the WORD Tour, Akrotiri 26/03/17
On the 26th I had the pleasure of guiding Eleanor around the sites of Akrotiri and Episkopi. Eleanor was happy to go with the flow and enjoy the birding with no target species aside Glossy Ibis of which unusually none have been seen so far this year. We started out at Zakaki and results were similar to the previous tour, only with Baillon's Crake staying out in the open for much longer and a fly by of the first reported Sand Martin of the year. There wasn't any Yellow Wagtails present but we saw many at the Salt Lake, where there was a very large number of waders, Dunlin, Little Stint, Kentish, Little and Common Ringed plovers, Ruff, Green and Wood Sandpiper, a Greenshank and a lone Eurasian Curlew a bit further out. Spectacled warblers were singing in the shrubs, and there was many Greater Flamingos on the Lake. In the distance towards the masts a small party of Gull-billed Terns flew across. At Lady's Mile a Hoopoe entertained along with an assortment of Pipits (Red-throated, Tree and Meadow) in a relatively small area. Baltic, Armenian, Caspian and Black-headed Gull were present, the Med gulls weren't in sight and yet again no slender-billed gulls nor any sign of the Marsh Sandpiper. We had very close views of a male Black Francolin that actually flew towards us in the car, possibly the best views I've ever had of the species ... within 5 meters! Bishops Pools provided great views of Black-crowned Night Heron and Squacco Heron of which we sat and ate our lunch infront of. The Gravel Pits was a little quieter than on the previous tour though we did find two Eastern Black-eared Wheatears that I missed previously, A Bimaculated Lark was singing for a short period, though couldn't be found on the ground nor in the sky. We then proceeded to Kensington cliffs where many Cyprus Warblers were singing and 3 Griffon Vultures flew over low on arrival. Then a quick trip into the foothills to get great views of Cyprus Warbler and Cyprus Wheatear. Here we observed a European Serin in display flight, something I have never seen before (so was naturally the highlight of the tour for me). At this site we also managed to see orchids such as Orchis Syriaca and the "hard to find" Ophrys Israelitica (and we saw our Endemic Orchid "Ophrys Kotschyi" at the Gravel Pits earlier that day). So 80 species of bird, another successful tour with great company.
| Species: Common Teal Mallard Garganey Northern Shoveller Ferruginous Duck Black Francolin Little Grebe Greater Flamingo Great Cormorant Grey Heron Little Egret Squacco Heron Black-crowned Night Heron Western Marsh Harrier Common Kestrel Water Rail (heard) Little Crake Baillon's Crake Common Moorhen Eurasia Coot Common Ringed Plover Little Ringed Plover Kentish Plover Eurasian Curlew Common Greenshank Green Sandpiper Wood Sandpiper Little Stint Dunlin Ruff Baltic Gull Yellow-legged Gull Caspian Gull Armenian Gull Black-headed Gull Gull-billed Tern Common Wood Pigeon Eurasian Collared Dove Common Swift Eurasian Hoopoe Bimaculated Lark (heard) Crested Lark Sand martin Barn Swallow Red-rumped Swallow House Martin White Wagtail Yellow Wagtail (Black-headed) Tree Pipit Meadow Pipit Red-throated Pipit Song Thrush Zitting Cisticola Cetti's Warbler Sedge Warbler (Heard) Eurasian Reed Warbler Common Chiffchaff Eurasian Blackcap Lesser Whitethroat Eastern Orphean Warbler Ruppell's Warbler Sardinian Warbler Cyprus Warbler Spectacled Warbler Common Nightingale (heard) European Stonechat Cyprus Wheatear Eastern Black-eared Wheatear Great Tit Eurasian Penduline Tit Magpie Eurasian Jackdaw Hooded Crow Cretzschmar's Bunting Common Chaffinch European Greenfinch European Goldfinch Common Linnet European Serin House Sparrow 80 |  Baillon's Crake - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Baillon's Crake - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Black-crowned Night Heron - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Black-winged Stilt - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Crested Lark - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved  Ruff - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved Site's visited: Zakaki Marsh, Lady's Mile, Akrotiri Salt Lake, Bishop's Pool, Akrotiri Gravel Pits, Kesington Cliffs, Souni Hills. |
Black-crowned Night Heron - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
Ophrys Kotschyi - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
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