Spent the morning at Achna Dam where I was lucky to get some slightly closer photos of the Pied Kingfisher that has been around there for a couple of weeks now. Not as sharp or as close as I would have liked but never mind!! A good morning out overall with other sightings including an Osprey, Montagu’s Harrier, male Western Marsh Harrier, a Long-legged Buzzard, a Purple Heron, several Common Kingfisher, Wood, Green and Common Sandpipers, Common Snipe, Common Ringed Plover, European Bee-eater, Common Hoopoe, juvenile Masked and Red-backed Shrike, Spur-winged Lapwing, a few Western Yellow Wagtail and a lone White Wagtail.
Tag Archives: Common Sandpiper
Achna Dam 14th September 2020
Went to Achna for first time in several weeks to see if I could find the Pied Kingfisher that had been seen there on Thursday. Surprisingly it was the first bird I saw when I arrived – it called and flew in front of me as it headed to another part of the dam. Later on I saw two in that area – I assume one of those was the one I had seen earlier. No chance of anything other than a record flight shot as they were flying around the area and then disappearing! But it was a great morning’s birding with other birds seen including a Spotted Crake, Little Bittern, Great Crested Grebe, Western Marsh and Montagu’s Harrier, lots of Red-backed and Masked Shrike, many Common Hoopoe, Spur-winged Lapwing, Common Ringed Plover, Wood, Green and Common Sandpiper, Dunlin, Common Snipe, Purple and Squacco Heron, Olivaceous and Willow Warbler.
Waterbird count Larnaca area 18th August 2020
Meneou Pool, Larnaca 10th – 16th August 2020
Meneou this morning 9th August 2020
Some interesting birds at Meneou this morning including at least 230 Black-winged Stilt, plus much smaller numbers of Ruff, Common and Little Ringed Plover, Little Stint, Common and Green Sandpiper and Collared Pratincole. At least eight Little Tern and a juvenile White-winged Tern. Plenty of Yellow-legged Gull roosting on salt flats and flying around the Sewage Works including several juveniles (see photo).
Polis Chrysochou Bay, 13th August 2019
Spent most of the day sea watching in the Polis Chrysochou Bay. The bird of the day was this Whimbrel (photo) which flew in off the sea and started feeding on the beach in front me. Also migrating were some Grey and Purple Heron, Glossy Ibis and Garganey. Other waders seen were a flock of eight Common Sandpiper, four distant Pied Avocet flying west over the sea and two Grey Plover which flew into the bay as I was leaving and couldn’t see where they had landed.
Shrikes on migration.
A few days in the Akamas area 6th – 8th August produced several adult and juvenile Masked Shrike, a male and a female Woodchat Shrike and among the first return migrating Lesser Grey Shrike and Red-backed Shrike. Sea watching was quiet with not much movement yet, although I had several Gull-billed and Whiskered Tern, a flock of 22 Common Sandpiper and an ‘in off’ European Roller as well as a Western Yellow Wagtail feeding in a coastal feed.
Back in Larnaca today I found a resting group of Grey Heron and Little Egret and saw a small group of Glossy Ibis flying over. Little Tern are still fishing offshore and a group of c80 Greater Flamingo are on the Salt Lake which still has some water. Another Lesser Grey Shrike was also there and while I was looking at an Olivaceous Warbler in a track side bush this juvenile Masked Shrike came to check me out.
East of the island 5th January 2019.
Back after a few weeks away and spent the day on the east of the island. All wetlands now have a lot of water and from the weather forecasts more is to come. Visited Oroklini, Akhna Dam, Paralimni Lake and the coastal sites of Agios Trias, Kermia and Macronissos Beaches. Highlights were:
Oroklini Marsh
Western Marsh Harrier 1
Northern Lapwing c70+
Spur-winged Lapwing 5+ (see photo)
Black-winged Stilt 5
Northern Pintail 2m and 1f
Red-crested Pochard 1m and 1f
Ferruginous Duck 2
Northern Shoveler 80+
Greater Flamingo 73
Grey Heron 1
Common Teal 30+
Common Starling 1
Cattle Egret 140+ evening roost
Akhna Dam
Great Crested Grebe 1
Grey Heron 2
Great Cormorant 6
Woodlark 3 (1 singing from wire)
Eurasian Skylark h
Common Starling 5
Corn Bunting 1
Paralimni Lake – a lot of water
Grey Heron 17
Northern Lapwing 79
Ruff 5
Common Redshank 1
Greater Flamingo 112
Common Teal 5
Western Marsh Harrier 2
Common Starling 8
Pied Avocet 2
Laughing Dove 1+
Agios Trias
Greater Sandplover 4
Grey Plover 11
Common Sandpiper 2
Cape Greco
Black Redstart 2f
Cyprus Warbler 1m
Eurasian Skylark h
Kermia Beach
Grey Plover 1
Macronissos Beach
Kentish Plover 4
Potamos Liopetriou
Little Egret 1
Common Sandpiper 1 (see photo)
Ormidia
European Shag 4
Oroklini Beach
Black-headed Gull c100
Caspian Gull c10
Armenian Gull 10+
Mediterranean Gull 1 ad
JUMBO Drainage Channel
Laughing Dove 1
Spur-winged Lapwing 4
Polis Chrysochou Bay 11th August 2018
Sea watching at Polis Chrysochou this morning 6.30 – 8.30 am produced good numbers of migrating Glossy Ibis plus Purple, Grey and Squacco Heron, Cattle and Little Egret, Black-winged Stilt (see photo), Garganey, Gull-billed Tern, Common Sandpiper and Kingfisher and European Bee-eater.
Larnaca area this morning 30th July 2018
Migration slowly getting busier with c50 Collared Pratincole in the fields near Larnaca Sewage Works and a group of 13 Common Sandpiper resting on the rocks on the nearby coast this morning. Feeding on the Sewage Pools were Gull-billed, Whiskered and White-winged Tern. A couple of Slender-billed and Black-headed Gull were present as were more than 100 Greater Flamingo, a couple of Black-winged Stilt, 23 Ferruginous Duck, a Common Greenshank, six Grey Heron and six Cattle Egret, plenty of Spur-winged Lapwing and both the long-staying unseasonable Great Crested Grebes.
Larnaca Sewage Works 20th July 2018
Two unseasonal species this morning at Larnaca Sewage Works. Two Great Crested Grebe and three Common Tern (one in photo below). A single Great Crested Grebe had been there on 9th July but it has now been joined by another. A very early date for this passage migrant/winter visitor.
Also present were a flock of 60 plus Greater Flamingo, a Slender-billed Gull, ten Black-headed Gull, a few Common Sandpiper and at least ten Ferruginous Duck.
East of the island 27th February 2018
Went out hoping for some early migrants today. No luck with that although had some good birds including at least six singing male Cyprus Warbler at Cape Greco. Two photographed below.
Other sightings of note included:
Agia Trias
Greater Sandplover 3
Grey Plover 10
Kentish Plover 2
Konnos Bay
Eurasian Shag 1
Cape Greco
Cyprus Warbler 6 singing males
Macronissos Beach
Common Sandpiper 1
Potamos Liopetriou
Great Cormorant c70 migrating NE 13:40
Ormideia Fishing Harbour
Audouin’s Gull 1
Common Buzzard 1
Eurasian Shag 2
Oroklini Beach
Great Cormorant 90+ migrating W 15:15
Sandwich Tern 1
Armenian Gull 2 imm
JUMBO Drainage Channel
Spur-winged Lapwing 8
Common Sandpiper 1
Oroklini Marsh
Greater Flamingo 50+
Northern Pintail 1m and 1f
Gadwall 1m and 1f
Black-necked Grebe 1
Ferruginous Duck 7
Red-Crested Pochard 1m and 1f
Black-tailed Godwit 1
Ruff 4
Black-winged Stilt 8
Spur-winged Lapwing 5
Common Redshank 2
Little Egret 2
Cattle Egret c250
Western Marsh Harrier 1