Cyprus Bird Watching Tours - 2 Day tour Paphos and Akrotiri with Max 13+14/05/2021
On the 13th Max and I set out for Akrotiri to do some general birding before venturing up to Troodos for a few target species; Dorothy's Short-toed Treecreeper, Cyprus Scops Owl and Red Crossbill.
Our first stop was the run off at the Salt Lake where there was a few waders to pick through. Oddly a few grey plovers were present in winter plumage among the many little stint and curlew sandpipers with a few ruff here and there. A big party of Little Terns were present with one displaying with a fish. Shortly after a White-winged Tern flew in and joined them. A pair of Sanderling were on one of the islands but seemingly disappeared by the time I put the scope in their direction.
We then checked Zakaki marsh for Caspian reed warbler of which there was a few and a Night Heron flying over.
Next was the Gravel Pits where we was lucky to see a small party of very late Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters.
We then ventured to Akrotiri/phassouri Marsh which had good levels of life. A few marsh sandpiper and little stint were the highlights here, as well as glossy ibis, lesser grey shrike and black-winged stilt.
On the way to Troodos we checked a vinyard for Black-headed Bunting, of which there was a few on the wires.
Our first stop in Troodos at the meteorological site provided good views of jay, masked shrike and eastern olivaceous warbler.
Moving to livadi tou passia we got great views of a Red Crossbill family, Spotted Flycatcher, Coal Tit and our target Dorothy's Short-toed Treecreeper.
We checked a few nest boxes for Cyprus Scops Owl and although one was likely being used we didn't manage to see it.
We finished the day with 76 Species
Highlight from the second day in Paphos was seeing a Great Spotted Cuckoo in flight at a Bonelli's Eagle territory of which sadly seems to have been abandoned. A Peregrine Falcon on territory, hearing a few Cyprus Scops Owls close but sadly not getting any views, great views of multiple Little Bittern at a suspected nesting site, A Purple Heron, A late Greater Short-toed Lark and a stunning Collared Pratincole in pristine plumage bringing our two day total to 92 Species.
Our first stop was the run off at the Salt Lake where there was a few waders to pick through. Oddly a few grey plovers were present in winter plumage among the many little stint and curlew sandpipers with a few ruff here and there. A big party of Little Terns were present with one displaying with a fish. Shortly after a White-winged Tern flew in and joined them. A pair of Sanderling were on one of the islands but seemingly disappeared by the time I put the scope in their direction.
We then checked Zakaki marsh for Caspian reed warbler of which there was a few and a Night Heron flying over.
Next was the Gravel Pits where we was lucky to see a small party of very late Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters.
We then ventured to Akrotiri/phassouri Marsh which had good levels of life. A few marsh sandpiper and little stint were the highlights here, as well as glossy ibis, lesser grey shrike and black-winged stilt.
On the way to Troodos we checked a vinyard for Black-headed Bunting, of which there was a few on the wires.
Our first stop in Troodos at the meteorological site provided good views of jay, masked shrike and eastern olivaceous warbler.
Moving to livadi tou passia we got great views of a Red Crossbill family, Spotted Flycatcher, Coal Tit and our target Dorothy's Short-toed Treecreeper.
We checked a few nest boxes for Cyprus Scops Owl and although one was likely being used we didn't manage to see it.
We finished the day with 76 Species
Highlight from the second day in Paphos was seeing a Great Spotted Cuckoo in flight at a Bonelli's Eagle territory of which sadly seems to have been abandoned. A Peregrine Falcon on territory, hearing a few Cyprus Scops Owls close but sadly not getting any views, great views of multiple Little Bittern at a suspected nesting site, A Purple Heron, A late Greater Short-toed Lark and a stunning Collared Pratincole in pristine plumage bringing our two day total to 92 Species.
| Species List: Black Francolin Mallard Little Grebe Greater Flamingo Glossy Ibis Black-crowned Night-heron Squacco Heron Cattle Egret Little Egret Common Kestrel Eleonora's Falcon Western Marsh Harrier Common Moorhen Common Coot Black-winged Stilt Spur-winged Lapwing Grey Plover Common Ringed Plover Kentish Plover Marsh Sandpiper Common Greenshank Wood Sandpiper Sanderling Little Stint Curlew Sandpiper Ruff Yellow-legged Gull Little Tern White-winged Tern Common Wood-pigeon European Turtle-dove Eurasian Collared-dove Laughing Dove Alpine Swift Common Swift Pallid Swift European Roller Blue-cheeked Bee-eater European Bee-eater Eurasian Hoopoe Lesser Grey Shrike Masked Shrike Eurasian Golden Oriole Eurasian Jay (Garrulus glandarius glaszneri) Eurasian Magpie Eurasian Jackdaw Hooded Crow Coal Tit (Parus ater cypriotes) Great Tit (Parus major aphrodite) | Crested Lark (Galerida cristata cypriaca) Sand Martin Barn Swallow Red-rumped Swallow Common House-martin Zitting Cisticola Cetti's Warbler Eurasian Reed-warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus fuscus) Eastern Olivaceous Warbler Sardinian Warbler Eurasian Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes cypriotes) Dorothy's (Short-toed) Treecreeper (Certhia brachydactyla dorotheae) Eurasian Blackbird (h)Common Nightingale Spotted Flycatcher House Sparrow Yellow Wagtail (*M.f.thunbergii) Grey Wagtail Common Chaffinch European Serin European Greenfinch (Chloris chloris muehlei) European Goldfinch Common Linnet Red Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra guillemardi) Corn Bunting (h)Cretzschmar's Bunting Black-headed Bunting 76 Great Spotted Cuckoo Chukar (Alectoris chukar cypriotes) Spanish Sparrow Long-legged Buzzard Whinchat Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus brookei) Rock Dove (h) Cyprus Scops Owl Little Owl Eurasian Stone Curlew Little Bittern Purple Heron Great Reed Warbler (h)Sedge Warbler Greater Short-toed Lark Collared Pratincole 92 |
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