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October 14th, 2019

14/10/2019

 

Cyprus Bird Watching Tours - BIRD is the WORD - Akrotiri/Paphos 11/10/2019  

Picture
White Stork - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
On the 11th I guided Sara and Garry around the Akrotiri and Paphos sites.
We started at Phassouri Marsh where a Glossy Ibis was feeding close to the road as well as many cattle egrets. A female Sparrowhawk swooped in low being chased by Hooded Crows, moorhen were darting around the pools and shrubs and a Great Reed Warbler was showing briefly in the reeds as well as Common Kingfisher.
Picture
Common Kingfisher - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
On the way to the first hide we had fantastic views of many Black Francolin on both sides of the road, of which many were calling. We didn't see much at the hide aside Spur-winged Lapwing, and the scrape held little aside garganey and teal. A Juvenile Red-footed Falcon flew over us but didn't stick around. Just as we were leaving, a Great Egret flew in and then out again and a marsh harrier was patrolling the reed edge.
As we headed to the Gravel Pits Sara and Garry said to stop the car, and to the right were two White Storks quite close in the field. One had a damaged leg which may well have been shot (gun fire was heard prior), so I contacted the authorities. Not the nicest thing to happen during a tour.
After seeing some more Black Francolin, with some meters from the car we headed to the gravel pits which was full of newly arrived Stonechats, but not much else. 
We didn't spend much time here and continued to the salt lake. Unfortunately the Greater Flamingos had abandoned their new nests, which had looked incredibly promising. There was quite a few newly arrived gulls on the salt lake, a few Slender-billed Gulls were here, a flock of Black-headed gulls ... plus some large gulls. We picked out Caspian Gull, Yellow-legged and a young Armenian as well as quite a few White-winged and Whiskered Terns that seemed quite active but not feeding nearby. There was also some distant ruff and a small party of Common Ringed Plover darting around ... likely trying to evade the Eleonora's Falcons hunting in the area.
We stopped for a coffee at Ladies mile and then checked the pools to find a pair of Temminck's Stint among the Little Stint, Kentish Plover and Ringed Plover.
As we headed back to the Akrotiri strip we was lucky in seeing a Hobby in a eucalyptus tree and even though we flushed it, it kept landing a few trees down.
Next stop was Kensington Cliffs where we had our lunch and then got close views of Eleonora's Falcons, unfortunately the Griffon Vultures were not around.
Picture
Eleonora's Falcon - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
Heading back to Paphos we stopped to see 2 Adult Bonelli's Eagles which glided towards us not so high. 
Our first site in Paphos was Mandria, where the Laughing Doves showed well. We had smashing views of Red-throated Pipit right by the car and some good photo ops and on the way out we got another Bonelli's Eagle, this one being a second plumaged bird.
Lastly we headed to the Sewage Works, and saw Spur-winged Lapwing which weren't at their usual spots. Grey wagtail were briefly seen, one chasing the other through the bougainvillea and also one feeding with Yellow Wagtails on the alfalfa fields.
We finished up with 68 Species.  
Picture
Red-throated Pipit - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
Species List:

Black Francolin     
Mallard    
Garganey   
Common Teal
Greater Flamingo
White Stork
Glossy Ibis
(h)Little Bittern
Cattle Egret
Grey Heron
Great Egret
Little Egret
European Shag  
Common Kestrel   
Red-footed Falcon    
Eleonora's Falcon  
Eurasian Hobby
Western Marsh Harrier  
Eurasian Sparrowhawk
Bonelli's Eagle    
(h)Water Rail
Common Moorhen  
Common Coot
Spur-winged Lapwing
Common Ringed Plover 
Kentish Plover    
Little Stint 
Temminck's Stint 
Ruff 
Armenian Gull 
Yellow-legged Gull 
Caspian Gull 
Black-headed Gull 
Slender-billed Gull 
Whiskered Tern
White-winged Tern
Rock Dove 
Common Wood-pigeon   
European Turtle-dove
Eurasian Collared-dove
Laughing Dove
Common Kingfisher
European Bee-eater   
Red-backed Shrike 
Eurasian Magpie    
Eurasian Jackdaw   
Hooded Crow
Great Tit
Crested Lark  
Barn Swallow 
Zitting Cisticola  
(h)Cetti's Warbler
(h)Sedge Warbler
Great Reed-warbler
Willow Warbler 
(h)Blackcap 
Common Whitethroat
Sardinian Warbler
Common Stonechat
House Sparrow 
Spanish Sparrow    
White Wagtail
Yellow Wagtail (*Flava)   
Grey Wagtail 
(h)Tree Pipit 
Red-throated Pipit
European Greenfinch    
European Goldfinch
68

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