Doing the raptor watch at Cape Greco can be a hit or miss affair.  It can get a heavy passage some times – in fact I remember one October 1^st Bank Holiday a few years back when I was at Protaras with Honey Buzzards passing over all day. I think it may be safe to say that larger numbers are more regular through Akrotiri and over the Paphos Plain but bearing that in mind, this morning at the Cape I was kept busy all the time with a steady flow of raptors over the area approaching from both the east off the sea and overland from the north. I am sure that if I had been able to stay into the afternoon that I would have seen more birds.

The numbers of Honey Buzzard didn’t approach the 500 plus seen at Mandria late on Monday morning or the couple of hundred passing through Akrotiri most days at the moment; but I enjoyed myself as the flow of birds meant I had a chance to watch them as well as record their numbers and direction of travel. In total I had nearly fifty Honey Buzzard – coming through in ones and twos and some even passing over the Cava View Point and heading out to sea rather than kettling up to the east of Grecian Park Hotel as is usual. There were also several Marsh Harrier, a couple of Eurasian Sparrowhawk, six Red-footed Falcon, a juvenile Pallid and Montagu’s Harrier, a juvenile Peregrine and best of all a Saker Falcon.

There were not many passerines around and the Cyprus Wheatear seem to have left. Around sixty each of Bee-eater and Barn Swallow flew over and out to sea while I was there and a Spotted Flycatcher flitted from bush to ground and back all morning.