Cyprus Bird Watching Tours - BIRD is the WORD Tour - Paphos & Akrotiri 28/05/2018
Little Owl (young) - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
On the 28th I had the pleasure of guiding Jayne and David around the Paphos foothills and Akrotiri sites. We started out in the foothills where we got some fantastic views of Black-headed Bunting singing and good views of a pair of Black Francolins in a vineyard.
Many Corn bunting were flying around and singing, even some young. A small mixed flock of House and Spanish Sparrow were feeding and also taking more nesting material from dead wood. Moving through to Minthis we failed to find any Cretzschmar's Bunting which was odd considering how many I saw there a few days prior. The fact they were not calling or singing didn't help. But we did see many Eurasian Hoopoe at their nesting grounds including one that caught a large grub and fed its young in an olive tree.
We cut through Episkopi (paphos) admiring many rollers on the way and also getting good views of a juvenile Great Spotted Cuckoo and then searched through Anarita Park. We was lucky to see a few Red-footed Falcons still present and also a male Lesser Kestrel still hanging around. A pair of little owls were on show, one perched on a small stick provided great photo opportunities. Two of their young were sitting on top of their nesting boulder adjusting their eyes. At one point one of the adults seemingly went to attack a Sling-tailed Agama lizard that was next to it, but missed...and ended up landing on the pathway we were to take. So I managed to park just meters from it.
Many Corn bunting were flying around and singing, even some young. A small mixed flock of House and Spanish Sparrow were feeding and also taking more nesting material from dead wood. Moving through to Minthis we failed to find any Cretzschmar's Bunting which was odd considering how many I saw there a few days prior. The fact they were not calling or singing didn't help. But we did see many Eurasian Hoopoe at their nesting grounds including one that caught a large grub and fed its young in an olive tree.
We cut through Episkopi (paphos) admiring many rollers on the way and also getting good views of a juvenile Great Spotted Cuckoo and then searched through Anarita Park. We was lucky to see a few Red-footed Falcons still present and also a male Lesser Kestrel still hanging around. A pair of little owls were on show, one perched on a small stick provided great photo opportunities. Two of their young were sitting on top of their nesting boulder adjusting their eyes. At one point one of the adults seemingly went to attack a Sling-tailed Agama lizard that was next to it, but missed...and ended up landing on the pathway we were to take. So I managed to park just meters from it.
Little Owl - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
We then searched for some Cyprus Warblers, of which we found an adult male who sat in the broom shrub next to the car for a lengthy amount of time. Unfortunately he wouldn't sit at the top and so despite nice close photos, none of them were clean.
Then we begun our journey to Akrotiri. As we arrived at Zakaki a Eurasian Hobby flew towards the car quite low on the dual carriageway, a nice welcome. We could only see Mallard at Zakaki and didn't spend too long at this vastly neglected site.
Then we begun our journey to Akrotiri. As we arrived at Zakaki a Eurasian Hobby flew towards the car quite low on the dual carriageway, a nice welcome. We could only see Mallard at Zakaki and didn't spend too long at this vastly neglected site.
Cyprus Warbler - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
Moving on to the Salt Lake we managed to get great views and photos of Black-winged Stilt, Little Stint, Common Ringed Plover, Ruff and White-winged Tern. We briefly saw a few yellow wagtail but they quickly vanished into the shrub as well as a Black-winged Stilt chick. Many Sand
Martin were flying over here and we had a young Barn Swallow being fed by an adult on the ground very close to the car. Many Greater Flamingo were still present here of which we got great views of, a few Slender-billed Gulls were still present but distant. A huge flock of yellow-legged gulls took off on our arrival. Dissapointingly only one Eleonora's Falcon was seen here which is unusual considering it is one of their favoured hunting grounds.
Aside birds we came across a few pairs of Tiger Beetles copulating.
Martin were flying over here and we had a young Barn Swallow being fed by an adult on the ground very close to the car. Many Greater Flamingo were still present here of which we got great views of, a few Slender-billed Gulls were still present but distant. A huge flock of yellow-legged gulls took off on our arrival. Dissapointingly only one Eleonora's Falcon was seen here which is unusual considering it is one of their favoured hunting grounds.
Aside birds we came across a few pairs of Tiger Beetles copulating.
 White-winged Tern - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved |  Tiger Beetle Sp. - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved |
Greater Flamingo - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
A quick check along lady's mile didn't produce anything, though the strip was incredibly busy due to being a public holiday.
We had our lunch on the way to Episkopi. A few Alpine Swift were darting around here, sometimes very low and a few Eleonora's Falcons were present but not the kind of numbers expected at this time of year. The Griffon Vultures sadly didn't show, though we did get a few close flyby's by a Peregrine Falcon ending the tour with 53 species which is not too bad considering the time of year.
We had our lunch on the way to Episkopi. A few Alpine Swift were darting around here, sometimes very low and a few Eleonora's Falcons were present but not the kind of numbers expected at this time of year. The Griffon Vultures sadly didn't show, though we did get a few close flyby's by a Peregrine Falcon ending the tour with 53 species which is not too bad considering the time of year.
Black-winged Stilt - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
| Species: Chukar Partridge Black Francolin Mallard Greater Flamingo Little Egret European Shag Lesser Kestrel Common Kestrel Red-footed Falcon Eleonora's Falcon Eurasian Hobby Peregrine Falcon Black-winged Stilt Common Ringed Plover Kentish Plover Little Stint Ruff Yellow-legged Gull Slender-billed Gull White-winged Tern Rock Dove Common Wood-pigeon (h) European Turtle-dove Eurasian Collared-dove Great Spotted Cuckoo (h) Common Cuckoo | Little Owl Common Swift Pallid Swift European Roller Eurasian Magpie Eurasian Jackdaw Hooded Crow Great Tit Crested Lark Sand Martin Barn Swallow Common House-martin Zitting Cisticola (h) Cetti's Warbler Eurasian Reed-warbler (h) Eastern Olivaceous Warbler Sardinian Warbler Cyprus Warbler Cyprus Wheatear House Sparrow Spanish Sparrow Yellow Wagtail European Greenfinch European Goldfinch Common Linnet Corn Bunting Black-headed Bunting 53 |
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