Cyprus Bird Watching Tours - BIRD is the WORD - Akrotiri + Paphos 04/11/2019
On the 4th I guided Joan and Keith around the Akrotiri and Paphos sites.
We started at Phassouri where many finches were flitting around. From the Tower hide we had Penduline Tit, Bluethroat and Common Kingfisher showing well at times and Hooded Crows were mobbing a Common Buzzard in the eucalyptus trees and then on the ground of-which appeared to have prey.
Moving to the second hide there was a group of Spur-winged Lapwings which were flushed by a Marsh Harrier. A Jack Snipe was seen in flight and a few Common Snipe were flushed. Not much else showed aside some Teal, Cattle Egret and Little Egret. As we left a pair of Marsh Harrier were calling to each other and flying close over the hide. Further down a small party of Northern Lapwing were showing in the distance and a flock of Starling were feeding on the ground.
We had a quick stop at the environmental center to scope the Flamingos and then ventured to a section of the gravel pits, seeing many Black Redstart on the wires and houses in the Village.
Ladies Mile was the next destination seeing many Black-headed Gull and a few Mediterranean Gull plus some Armenian Gulls. Numbers of Little Stint had increased significantly, as well as Dunlin. A Common Snipe landed a few meters from the car and provided great views and photo ops.
We started at Phassouri where many finches were flitting around. From the Tower hide we had Penduline Tit, Bluethroat and Common Kingfisher showing well at times and Hooded Crows were mobbing a Common Buzzard in the eucalyptus trees and then on the ground of-which appeared to have prey.
Moving to the second hide there was a group of Spur-winged Lapwings which were flushed by a Marsh Harrier. A Jack Snipe was seen in flight and a few Common Snipe were flushed. Not much else showed aside some Teal, Cattle Egret and Little Egret. As we left a pair of Marsh Harrier were calling to each other and flying close over the hide. Further down a small party of Northern Lapwing were showing in the distance and a flock of Starling were feeding on the ground.
We had a quick stop at the environmental center to scope the Flamingos and then ventured to a section of the gravel pits, seeing many Black Redstart on the wires and houses in the Village.
Ladies Mile was the next destination seeing many Black-headed Gull and a few Mediterranean Gull plus some Armenian Gulls. Numbers of Little Stint had increased significantly, as well as Dunlin. A Common Snipe landed a few meters from the car and provided great views and photo ops.
A quick stop at Zakaki sadly produced a heavily oiled Grey Heron.
We didn't stick around for long and headed to Bishop's Pool. Again at Bishop's Pool, a concerning absence of Ferruginous Duck, though Many Shoveler and Teal were on the water as well as a female Pochard. A Sparrowhawk did a low fly over and then we headed to Kensington Cliffs where the Griffon Vultures unfortunately didn't show.
We drove back to Paphos and stopped at Mandria for lunch. We managed to get great views and photo ops with Laughing Dove, and good views of Skylark, Water Pipit, Red-throated Pipit and Corn Bunting.
Our last stop was Anarita Park for Finsch's Wheatear and Little Owl, unfortunately none of the Little Owls were showing but we got some good views of Finsch's Wheatear finishing the day with 63 Species.
We didn't stick around for long and headed to Bishop's Pool. Again at Bishop's Pool, a concerning absence of Ferruginous Duck, though Many Shoveler and Teal were on the water as well as a female Pochard. A Sparrowhawk did a low fly over and then we headed to Kensington Cliffs where the Griffon Vultures unfortunately didn't show.
We drove back to Paphos and stopped at Mandria for lunch. We managed to get great views and photo ops with Laughing Dove, and good views of Skylark, Water Pipit, Red-throated Pipit and Corn Bunting.
Our last stop was Anarita Park for Finsch's Wheatear and Little Owl, unfortunately none of the Little Owls were showing but we got some good views of Finsch's Wheatear finishing the day with 63 Species.
Speciest List: Chukar Partridge (h) Black Francolin Mallard Northern Shoveler Common Teal Common Pochard Little Grebe Greater Flamingo Cattle Egret Grey Heron Little Egret Common Kestrel Western Marsh Harrier Eurasian Sparrowhawk Common Buzzard Long-legged Buzzard Common Moorhen Common Coot Northern Lapwing Spur-winged Lapwing Jack Snipe Common Snipe Little Stint Dunlin Armenian Gull Yellow-legged Gull Black-headed Gull Mediterranean Gull Rock Dove Common Wood-pigeon Eurasian Collared-dove | Laughing Dove Common Kingfisher Eurasian Magpie Eurasian Jackdaw Hooded Crow Great Tit Eurasian Penduline tit Crested Lark Eurasian Skylark Zitting Cisticola (h) Cetti's Warbler Eurasian Reed-warbler Common Chiffchaff Blackcap Sardinian Warbler Common Starling European Robin Bluethroat Western Black Redstart Common Stonechat Finsch's Wheatear House Sparrow Spanish Sparrow White Wagtail Red-throated Pipit Water Pipit (*Caucasian Water Pipit) Common Chaffinch European Serin European Greenfinch European Goldfinch Common Linnet Corn Bunting 63 |