CYPRUS BIRD WATCHING TOURS
  • Home
  • About
  • Book A Tour
  • The Birds of Cyprus ↧
    • Endemics
    • Regional Specialities
    • Checklist
  • Gallery
  • Tour Reports ↧
  • Dragonfly Tours
  • Home
  • About
  • Book A Tour
  • The Birds of Cyprus ↧
    • Endemics
    • Regional Specialities
    • Checklist
  • Gallery
  • Tour Reports ↧
  • Dragonfly Tours

September 07th, 2019

7/9/2019

 

Cyprus Bird Watching Tours - BIRD is the WORD - Akrotiri 06/09/2019

Picture
Eurasian Curlew - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
​On the 6th I guided Brian around the Akrotiri sites for my first tour of autumn. I had met Brian out here before when he was on an orchid tour with a friend, and had been friends on social media for quite some time.
We set off early morning to the Salt Lake to check for any late parties of Demoiselle Cranes. Unfortunately none had roosted overnight though we had a good view of many Greater Flamingos and Slender-billed Gulls. A Lesser Grey Shrike was moving around the bushes next to us which we got great views of. Bee-eaters were flying high overhead. 
We moved around to the run-off side. Water levels weren't so good but the dryness enabled us to get very close to a Eurasian Curlew feeding through the salt flats, a fairly scarce species in Cyprus. Small parties of Spectacled Warbler were in the shrubs and more Lesser Grey Shrikes. A pair of Hoopoe flew in close to the car but vanished in the shrubland. On the Salt Lake many of the Greater Flamingo were very close and many of their nesting mounds were visible.
Picture
Greater Flamingo - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
They were joined by many coot, Little Egret and a few Glossy Ibis as well as a few Herons hiding behind the shrubs. Eleonora's Falcons were hunting over the salt lake as well as quite a few Marsh Harriers. Here we also had some Slender-billed Gulls and many Yellow-legged Gulls. Small groups of Yellow Wagtail were darting around but small waders were absent from the area. I was a bit disappointed at the lack of Raptors on the ground here as it is a favoured roosting spot, though the close ups of the Curlew more than made up for it.
We then headed to the Gravel Pits. Here we got close to a pair of Hoopoes and a Red-backed Shrike wasn't too far away and Chukar Partridge moving along the rocky ledge.
Picture
Eurasian Hoopoe - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
A couple of Willow Warblers were flitting around by the church. There wasn't a bird to be found around the water bodies and so we ventured to Phassouri, seeing Whinchat, Turtle Dove and Spotted Flycatcher en route.
Many Cattle Egret were around the cattle, and at the main hide a pair of Whiskered Terns took up from somewhere nearby. A Greenshank called and then it was fairly quiet. A pair of Zitting Cistcola were feeding their young quite close to the path. A bit further up a Marsh Harrier was on the ground next to some Hooded Crows. 
Picture
Zitting Cisticola - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
​We entered the tower hide which was fairly dissapointing, only seeing one Reed Warbler, a few Turtle Dove and a few Marsh Harrier.
Our next destination was Bishop's Pool in hope of seeing some migrating raptors there. There wasn't so much on the water aside some Little Grebes, Moorhen and Garganey. There was a single Ferruginous Duck there but only seen briefly. Eleonora's Falcon frequently patrolled the water, a Grey Heron and many Turtle Doves were moving around too. Overhead some Marsh Harrier flew over and also a young Pallid Harrier. 
Next stop was Kensington Cliffs where 3 Griffon Vultures were seen on arrival and another on the cliff face. Many Eleonora's Falcons were flying around not far from us and one dark morph perched on the cliff face meters from us. Right below us from the cliff face a very large adult Green Turtle was swimming in the shallows. We headed inland a bit and had our lunch.
Picture
Eleonora's Falcon - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
Picture
Eleonora's Falcon - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
Picture
Green Turtle - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
We then ventured to zakaki to a dragonfly site as Brian is very keen on dragonflies. Here we got to see Wandering Glider, Broad Scarlet, Black Percher, Slender Skimmer, Violet Dropwing, Red-veined Dropwing and Lesser Emperor. Earlier at the Salt Lake we saw Red-veined Darter and Vagrant Emperor also.
Picture
Black Percher - Cyprus Bird Watching Tours Bird is the Word © Matt Smith All Rights Reserved
Our last stop was at Ladies Mile where quite a few waders were on the small pockets of water, including Kentish and Ringed Plover and also Little Stint. We stopped to see some Sea Daffodils and then finished the tour, seeing Laughing Dove and Baltic Gull on the way back.
We managed 56 species for the day, which is not particularly the best count for this time of year and odd that not a single Honey Buzzard or Black Kite was seen. 
Species List:

Chukar Partridge    
Mallard    
Garganey   
Ferruginous Duck    
Little Grebe
Greater Flamingo
Glossy Ibis
Cattle Egret
Grey Heron
Little Egret
Common Kestrel   
Eleonora's Falcon  
Griffon Vulture
Western Marsh Harrier  
Pallid Harrier
Common Moorhen  
Common Coot
Spur-winged Lapwing
Common Ringed Plover 
Kentish Plover    
Eurasian Curlew
(h)Common Greenshank 
Little Stint 
Yellow-legged Gull 
Baltic Gull
Slender-billed Gull 
Whiskered Tern
Rock Dove 
Common Wood-pigeon   
European Turtle-dove
Eurasian Collared-dove
Laughing Dove

(h)European Bee-eater   
Eurasian Hoopoe 
Red-backed Shrike 
Lesser Grey Shrike
Eurasian Magpie    
Eurasian Jackdaw   
Hooded Crow
Great Tit
Crested Lark  
Sand Martin
Barn Swallow 
Red-rumped Swallow   
Common House-martin    
Zitting Cisticola  
Eurasian Reed-warbler
Willow Warbler 
Sardinian Warbler
Spectacled Warbler  
Whinchat
Spotted Flycatcher
House Sparrow 
Spanish Sparrow    
Yellow Wagtail (*Flava)  
European Greenfinch    
56


Violet Dropwing
Red-veined Dropwing
Broad Scarlet
Red-veined Darter
Slender Skimmer
Keeled Skimmer
Black Percher
Wandering Glider
Lesser Emperor
Vagrant Emperor

African Grass Blue
Painted Lady

Large Whip Snake
Sling-tailed Agama

Sea Daffodil

​Green Turtle 


Comments are closed.
    Mostly all photos are taken with a
    - Canon 7D mkii (older photos with mk1)
    and a
    - Canon 400mm Ef-s USM l f5.6 Lens. 
    - no teleconverter.

    Macro: 
    Tamron sp 90mm f017
    (older: Canon sx50 HS)


    *** The blog layouts are not available to those viewing on a mobile device.

    Bird is the Word



    Archives

    March 2023
    June 2022
    October 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    April 2016
    March 2016
    December 2015
    September 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015


    RSS Feed


    Site Promotion
    • thegamblingbird

    • CABS

    • Life For Birds fb

    • Animal Party Cyprus fb

    • Birdguides.com

    • Stop the Cull

    • Fat Birder

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.