Considering that I always say I don’t really like gulls I seem to be spending a lot of time watching them at the moment. Spent a while watching this Little Gull on Lady’s Mile – it appears to be dirty – possibly oiled – but was very active and able to fly well. Also got another photo of one of the three Common Gulls present – this time in the sunshine, as opposed to the rain last weekend – and an adult Armenian Gull making fun of me its seemed.
Little Gull, Lady’s Mile 13th January 2017 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Common Gull, Lady’s Mile 13th January 2017 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Armenian Gull, Lady’s Mile 13th January 2017 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
A break from the rain today and I started at Akhna Dam which now has almost double the amount of water than when I last visited. Plenty of Eurasian Coot and some Grey Heron but more interesting was the female Red-crested Pochard, two Great Crested Grebe and the immature Great White Pelican that has been in the area since mid November 2016. At the coast at Agia Trias I found three Grey Plover, two Greater Sand Plover and three Common Sandpiper (see photo). An immature Slender-billed Gull flew in for a few minutes and then flew off again south (see photo).
A quick look at Cape Greco with only a female Blue Rock Thrush, a female Hen Harrier and Cyprus Warbler of note. Single Little Egret were on Kermia Beach, Makronissos Beach and Dekeleia. Nearly twenty Armenian Gull, a big male Caspian Gull and an adult Mediterranean Gull were on Oroklini Beach and a large flock of Common Starling were flying around before roosting. There were four Temminck’s Stint and six Common Ringed Plover at the JUMBO drainage channel. I finished the day at the Larnaca Sewage Works hide. No sign of the Pallas’ Gull that have been there for a few days but there were seven Greater White-fronted Geese in the fields.
Chukar 11th January 2017 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Common Sandpiper, Agia Trias, 11th January 2017 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Both Common Gull and Mediterranean Gull are uncommon winter visitors to Cyprus- the latter more frequent than the former.
The Common Gull below was photographed in the rain on 7th January 2017 in the sea off Lady’s Mile, Limassol and the Mediterranean Gulls on Oroklini Beach on 8th January 2017 in yet more rain.
Common Gull, Lady’s Mile 8th January 2017 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Once again some good birds in Nicosia; this time at Athalassa Dam where highlights were ten Tufted Duck, a Black-necked Grebe and two fishing Whiskered Terns (unusual for January, they are usually passage migrants through Cyprus).
Main birds seen:
Black-crowned Night Heron 2 ad
Cattle Egret 1
Little Egret 2
Grey Heron 3
Great Cormorant 2
Black-necked Grebe 1
Common Pochard 1m
Ferruginous Duck 3
Tufted Duck 10 (inc 4 males)
Grey Wagtail 2
Eurasian Blackbird 2m
Whiskered Tern 2
Northern Shoveler c80
Eurasian Teal c50
Mallard c40
Common Chiffchaff 20+
Black-crowned Night Heron, Athalassa Dam, Nicosia, 6th January 2017 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
First day out birding of 2017 on my return from UK. As I had missed out on adding Common Gull to my 2016 Cyprus list I was determined to get it for my 2017 list. So I decided to go to Lady’s Mile at Akrotiri where at least three of this uncommon Cyprus winter visitor have been present. I saw my target birds and in with the 1000+ wintering Common Black-headed Gull I also found a first winter Slender-billed Gull and three first winter Mediterranean Gulls. There were also several wintering Armenian and Caspian Gulls.
Other birds of interest in the area included:
Zakaki Marsh
Western Marsh Harrier 3 (in air at same time)
Eurasian Penduline Tit 1+ heard
Common Reed Bunting 1 heard
Gadwall 2f
Phassouri Reed-beds
Western Marsh Harrier 2
Spanish Sparrow 20
Germasogeia Dam
Cyprus Warbler 1m
Corn Bunting 22
Long-legged Buzzard 2
Great Egret 1
Adult Armenian Gull, Lady’s Mile 5th January 2017 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
First winter Mediterranean Gull, Lady’s Mile 5th January 2017 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Real winter’s weather for our day and a half out birding. Picking up Richard and Brad from Larnaca Airport midday Saturday we headed for Oroklini Marsh. We spent time in both hides there and were out of the rain at least. On the Paralimni coast at Agia Trias we weren’t so lucky and a biting wind there cut our birding short, while the gathering gloom and storm clouds as we reached Makronissos Beach meant we could have done with a torch to help us find the birds. A chilly, cloudy start on Sunday found us in the hide at Larnaca Sewage Works and although we got quite cold in the wind, the weather improved as we got to the Salt Lake and the sun finally came out. We even managed to eat our picnic lunch outside in the Panagia Stazousa valley and stayed out until the sun set at Agios Sozomenos outside Nicosia.
Birding highlights per location:
Saturday 17th December:
Oroklini Marsh – Cattle Egret, Greater Flamingo, Common Pochard, Western Marsh Harrier, Northern Lapwing, Spur-winged Lapwing
Xylofagou – Long-legged Buzzard perched on road side electricity pole.
Agia Trias – Grey Plover 3, Common Sandpiper 1, Yellow-legged Gull 4, Common Kingfisher 1
Larnaca Airport Pools South – Eurasian Stone Curlew 4, Common Starling 1, Black Francolin 5m and 2f, Eurasian Skylark, Common Shelduck 4
Larnaca Sewage Works – Greater White-fronted Goose 6, Ruddy Shelduck 2, Common Shelduck 3, Great White Pelican 1 imm, Eurasian Wigeon 4, Northern Pintail 10m and 2f, Grey Plover 1, Western Marsh Harrier 1,
Larnaca Airport Coast – Eurasian Curlew 2, Western Black Redstart
Pervolia – Corn Bunting 11
Larnaca Salt Lake – Greater Flamingo c600, Common Shelduck c150, Western Marsh Harrier 1, Common Crane 3, Spur-winged Lapwing 4, Common Snipe c15, Green Sandpiper 1, Heuglin’s Gull 2, Caspian Gull, Water Pipit 4, Grey Wagtail, Bluethroat, European Goldfinch 50+
Panagia Stazousa – Hen Harrier 1f, Long-legged Buzzard 1, Common Buzzard 1, Spanish Sparrow, European Serin
Agios Sozomenos – Northern Lapwing, Bluethroat 2, Finsch’s Wheatear 1m and 1f, Blue Rock Thrush 1m
Total species seen: 77
Little Grebe, Great Cormorant, European Shag, Great White Pelican, Cattle Egret, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Greater Flamingo, Greater White-fronted Goose, Ruddy Shelduck, Common Shelduck, Eurasian Wigeon, Eurasian Teal, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler, Common Pochard, Western Marsh Harrier, Hen Harrier, Common Buzzard, Long-legged Buzzard, Common Kestrel, Chukar, Black Francolin, Common Moorhen, Eurasian Coot, Common Crane, Eurasian Stone Curlew, Kentish Plover, Common Ringed Plover, Grey Plover, Spur-winged Lapwing, Northern Lapwing, Little Stint, Common Snipe, Eurasian Curlew, Common Redshank, Green Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Common Black-headed Gull, Heuglin’s Gull, Yellow-legged Gull, Caspian Gull, Common Woodpigeon, Eurasian Collared Dove, Common Kingfisher, Crested Lark, Eurasian Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Water Pipit, Grey Wagtail, White Wagtail, European Robin, Bluethroat, Western Black Redstart, Common Stonechat, Finsch’s Wheatear, Blue Rock Thrush, Eurasian Blackbird, Cetti’s Warbler, Zitting Cisticola, Spectacled Warbler, Sardinian Warbler, Eurasian Blackcap, Common Chiffchaff, Great Tit, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Hooded Crow, Common Starling, House Sparrow, Spanish Sparrow, Common Chaffinch, European Serin, European Goldfinch, Common Linnet, Corn Bunting
Great White Pelican, Larnaca, 18th December 2016 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
A good day around the Larnaca area doing the December waterbird count. Although one of the Sewage Pools is still empty the other one had some good birds including six Greater White-fronted Goose, a Ruddy Shelduck, an immature Great White Pelican, two Common Shelduck, five Black-necked Grebe, nine Eurasian Wigeon, four Common Pochard and two Northern Pintail. Twelve Eurasian Golden Plover were on Spiros Pool and six Eurasian Curlew were in the nearby fields which also had many Eurasian Skylark and Meadow Pipit feeding in them.
Nearly 700 Greater Flamingo were on the main Salt Lake as were around 140 Common Shelduck. An unexpected find were three Common Crane – maybe the same birds that were at Akrotiri Salt Lake recently (see record photo). Flocks of Kentish Plover, Dunlin and Little Stint were feeding on the edges of the water. Towards the north east corner there were more than 20 Common Snipe and a single Temminck’s Stint. Water and Meadow Pipit were around and were put up by hunting Western Marsh and Hen Harrier and two Common Buzzard. In the reeds I found three Moustached Warbler and two Bluethroat, a Water Rail and a Jack Snipe, as well as many Common Chiffchaff, two Grey Wagtail and a first winter Yellow Wagtail.
Common Crane, Larnaca Salt Lake 16th December 2016 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Bluethroat, Larnaca Salt Lake 16th December 2016 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Moustached Warbler, Larnaca Salt Lake 16th December 2016 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Decided not to waste any time today on trying to get photos of Finsch’s Wheatears at a distance (I have more than enough!). But this male sat on a boulder by the roadside as I drove past and allowed me just this one attempt.
Spent an hour at Agios Sozomenos this morning. Everywhere looking very dry again despite the recent rain.
Highlights:
Hen Harrier 1m and 1f hunting in same area and putting up many Meadow Pipits
Bluethroat 1 singing
Finsch’s Wheatear 1m (also singing) and 1f
Northern Lapwing 32 (see photo)
Meadow Pipit 200+
Western Jackdaw 300+
Red-throated Pipit 1 seen
European Serin 4
Eurasian Blackbird 1f
Common Chaffinch 6+
Spectacled Warbler 6+
Western Black Redstart 2
Little Owl 1
Went to Paralimni Lake and sites around Cape Greco. Not a lot to see but some good views of male and female Finsch’s Wheatear, hunting Hen Harrier, Merlin and Peregrine Falcon, my first Audouin’s Gull for a couple of months and a Greater Sand Plover.
Paralimni Lake
Common Starling c130
Western Marsh Harrier 2
Hen Harrier 1 ring tail
Song Thrush 8
Merlin 1
Agia Trias
Grey Plover 2
Greater Sand Plover 1
Cape Greco
Peregrine Falcon 1
Long-legged Buzzard 1 ad
Western Black Redstart 8
Blue Rock Thrush 1f
Finsch’s Wheatear 1m and 1f (poss 2m as he seemed to be everywhere at once)
Cyprus Warbler 1h
Kermia Beach
Audouin’s Gull 1
Makronissos Beach
Kentish Plover 7
Common Sandpiper 1
Corn Bunting 19
Potamos Liopetri
Common Sandpiper 1
Common Kingfisher 1
Male Finsch’s Wheatear, Cape Greco, 6th December 2016 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Cyprus Birding Tours 