Cyprus April 2019 Part 4

CYPRUS

APRIL 3rd - 6th 2019

AKROTIRI PENINSULA

A big area to cover and we started at the tower hide i believe to be Zakaki pools where there was not to see at first as the reeds had grown quite tall, Gary picked out a Little Crake that showed on and off, around 16 Purple Herons flew in and dropped into the reeds and out of sight. A Red-rumped Swallow flew around the hide with a coupe of Swallows. Checking the pool fringes by the roadside, another Little Crake was picked out and showed much better

Little Crake

At Lady's mile beach, 10 Armenian Gulls were on the sea at fairly close quarters just off the restaurant. Other gulls were scattered around on the surrounding pools including 6 Slender-billed Gulls, 1 Baltic Gull and 2 Black-headed Gulls.

Armenian Gull

Slender-billed Gulls

Baltic Gull

Other than that it was pretty quiet around the pools and only a Whinchat, a Northern Wheatear and 2 Black-eared Wheatears were noteable

We moved onto Akrotiri marsh where several Black Francolin were heard calling from nearby fields and a Nightingale was seen. Not a lot was seen from the hide but nearby a nice Squacco Heron was feeding along with 12 Cattle Egrets

More photos from our trip can be viewed on Gary Thoburns website on this link

https://garytsphotos.zenfolio.com/p169422004

Squacco Heron - Akrotiri marsh

One of the hides at Akrotiri marsh

A few more pics from the trip

Wheatears - Larnaca pools

Sea Caves near Cape Greco

The view west from Greco looking towards Ayia Napa

Masked Shrike

Armenian Gulls - Akrotiri/Ladys Mile

Cyprus April 2019 Part 3

CYPRUS

APRIL 3rd - 6th 2019

AYIA NAPA SEWAGE WORKS

We found the track that leads upto the sewage works but the off road track that leads upto the back of the sewage works was pretty in-passable in the hire car we had, instead we drove upto the top end of the road where the entrace gates were and kind of jammed into a large grassy area (presumably someones front garge) with water sprinlers and surrounding trees and scrub. Gary soon picked out a flycatcher and upon studying we soon realised it was a smart male Semi-collared Flycatcher posing nicely on the surrounding fencing and the sprinklers allowing photo's to be obtained. We also picked out at least 2 male Collared Flycatcher and a nice female Collared was found too. We were surprised to find 2 male 'eastern' Common Redstarts here and the trees held good numbers of Wood Warbler, Eastern Bonelli's Warbler, whilst the scrub produced a very skulky male Subalpine Warbler, a Tree Pipit also dropped in.
Other birders reported a Long-legged Buzzard but unfortuantley we failed to connect with this bird here. A good area to check out especially when Greco starts to get busy with tourists! and great photo opportunities as with patience the birds pop up on the exposed branches and fences

Semi-collared Flycatcher (male)

Collared Flycatcher (male)

Collared Flycatcher (female)

Wood Warbler

Eastern Bonelli's Warbler

Tree Pipit

PARALIMINI LAKES

Water levels were great here due to Cyprus having one of their wettest winters for a good few years, by the shooting range, this area was great for scanning the lakes and checking through Wagtails aswell as waders, we spent a few hours here as there was many hiding places the birds could get to. Resident birds included Spur-winged Plovers and Black-winged Stilts whilst a Marsh Harrier occassionally hunted nearby flushing everything. 

Waders included Ruff, Little-ringed Plover, Marsh Sandpiper with the odd Green and Wood Sandpiper's. A distant Temminck's Stint was a nice find by a fellow group of birders that had joined us with scopes. Garganey and at least 4 Ferruginous Ducks were un the deeper water, a flock of 14 Night Herons flew around the lake, presumably migrating, smaller birds were represented with various races of Yellow Wagtails and searching through these revealed a smart male Citrine Wagtail and a Water Pipit. The surrounding scrub produced a Wryneck and a Wood Warbler

Paralimini lakes from the shooting range

Water Pipit

Ruff and Marsh Sandpiper

Male Citrine Wagtail

Please read part 4 covering the Akrotiri peninsula 

Cyprus April 2019 Part 2

CYPRUS

APRIL 3rd - 6th 2019

CAPE GRECO/ SEA CAVES AREA

A couple of mornings were spent around the Cape produced a good mixture of grounded migrants and passage overhead and whilst we were here we were lucky to witness some pretty good falls. Aswell as the speciality species as mentioned in part 1, any areas of scrub produced birds, Lesser Whitethroats were everywhere, with many of the expected migrants found but a few jewels were found with a smart 'samamisicus' Redstart found which posed for photos, a Wryneck, several Spectacled Warblers, Ruppells Warblers popped up here and there. 

Eastern Common Redstart - Cape Greco

Ruppells Warbler

Spectacled Warbler

Wryneck

Small numbers of Ortolan and Cretzschmar's Buntings were also seen, whilst small number of Tawny Pipit were seen migrating through but could not be found grounded. A flock of Bee-eaters were heard high up, whilst raptors were represented with a Osprey, a couple of Pallid Harriers and a distant Hobby. A few Black-eared Wheatears were also found as was a pair of Blue Rock Thrushes. Shrikes were represented with at least a pair of Masked Shrikes with one observed feasting on a Painted Lady! and a single Woodchat Shrike.

Masked Shrike enjoying a Painted Lady

Along the roads Crested Larks were calling away and the odd Chukar were seen both resident species around here and a nice distraction from the migrants, aswell as the distinctive calls of the Zitting Cisticola's. Several Nightingales were seen and heard croaking away and one individual seen late in the evening had us going for Thrush Nightingale but upon checking photos later it just seemed to be a Common one. Hoopoes were seen around both locations too

Crested Lark

Chukar

Black-eared Wheatear

The sea caves area also proved very productive and a female Rock Thrush which was a nice Cyprus tick as it perched up on telegraph wires but unfortunatley never got close enough for photos. The sea caves were also good for Alpine Swifts with a count of 7 birds one afternoon, enjoyed whilst sampling nice ice cream and freshly squeezed orange juice from the convenient ice cream van at the caves! A top place and a large area to search for birds but does get very busy with tourist so recommend a early morning/late afternoon visit

Several Laughing Doves were seen on our journey from our digs in Protaras to the Cape.

There is a cracking snack van by the visitor centre where you can grab freshly prepared sandwiches....the Cyprus sandwich is to die for and will keep you going all day long!

Check out Part 3 which covers Paralimini lakes, Ayia Napa sewage works and the Akrotiri penisula...

Cyprus April 2019 Part 1

CYPRUS

APRIL 3rd - 6th 2019

INTRODUCTION

Nick Bond and Gary Thoburn

When it comes to birding and when Cyprus gets mentioned, it is normally met with discussions on the illegal hunting and trapping to which unfortunatley it is now famous for, but for me potentially this island and with increased coverage, offers birders from far and wide a fantastic destination to observe spring migration in its finest with birds and colour aplenty, its a great place for bird photography too.
Flying from Bristol, myself and Gary Thoburn took the near 5 hour flight to Larnaca and was based in the tourist town of Protaras which is on the south-east peninsula, ideally located for migration hot-spot Cape Greco or Kavo Greko as its known locally, Paralimni Lakes and Ayia Napa sewage works and the salt pans of Larnaca less than a hours drive away. I was here on a working holiday in 2005 and 2006 and Cape Greco was one area I watched regulary. Below is a report of the sites and the birds we encountered there with many photos included taken using my Canon bridge camera. The winter was one of the wettest Cyprus has had for many years which meant the lakes and pools were full, as some are normally already dry at this stage of the year
The weather was largely warm with the odd overcast day, mosquitos were pretty abundant around the wetland areas.
We bumped into several small groups of birders at Greco and Paralimni which was good for sharing information, other sightings were available through various Twitter feeds #cyprusbirds and daily sightings reported on the Birdlife Cyprus email group

For some excellent photos from this trip please see Gary Thoburns website here https://garytsphotos.zenfolio.com/p169422004

LARNACA AREA

We spent a lot of time birding the area upon arrival and pretty much spent the whole afternoon there and also on the afternoon of my last day aswell as only a 10 minute drive from the airport, the whole area can be birded from the car and contains a mixture of scrub along with the salt lakes and pools, the beach is also worth checking out.
Good numbers of Greater Flamingo's were on the pools, Black-winged Stilts were around in good number, whilst Black Francolin and Crested Larks were around and pretty vocal in the surrounding fields. This area is also good for the Spur-winged Plover 2 Little Terns were roosting on a buoy on one of the lakes, a single Gull-billed Tern was fishing offshore. The edges of the pools attracted Yellow Wagtails of various races including some fine Black-headed Wagtails and at least 3 Citrine Wagtails were seen there on my last day. A male Pallid Harrier was seen patrolling the area and a single Masked Shrike was found with several Hoopoes adding a splash of colour. Spiro's Pool hosted several waders including a splendid Greater Sandplover, with a supporting cast of c80 Little Stint, Kentish Plovers, Ruffs and a few Dunlin

Greater Sandplover - Spiro's Pools Larnaca

Greater Flamingo's - Larnaca salt lake

Wader mix - Little Stints, Kentish Plovers and Dunlin

Black-headed 'feldegg' Wagtail 

A Common Kingfisher was seen well from the road, and many passerines were seen around in the scrub including Eastern Orphean, Wood and Eastern Bonelli's Warblers and Lesser Whitethroats, while Northern and Black-eared Wheatears were frequently seen. A couple of Red-rumped Swallows were picked out amongst the hirundines present

Common Kingfisher

Black-eared Wheater

Yellow Wagtail 'dombrowskii' Romanian race - record shot

Spur-winged Plover - showed well around the pool edges

Male Citrine Wagtail - we found 2 males and 1 female here

The view across Spiros Pools, the salt lake in the background aswell as Larnaca airport

CAPE GRECO / SEA CAVES AREA

A whole morning was spent exploring the migration hotspot and watchpoint which is Cape Greco and the area again did not disappoint with a good numbers of birds observed on the deck and mis-vig overhead. This is a good area to connect with 2 Cyprus specialities, The Cyprus Wheatear and the Cyprus Warbler. Both were found fairly easilly and managed to get excellent views of both species

Cyprus Wheatear - at least 2 pairs were present down by the access gates where the road ends

Cape Greco - the scrub is a migrant magnet

Cyprus Warbler - the area surrounding the picnic area hosted quite a few pairs

Continued in Part 2