Spent the hottest day of the year doing my first stint of raptor counting of the autumn at Akrotiri on Friday. A few Western Marsh Harrier were on the move as was a male Montagu’s Harrier and a Pallid/Montagu juvenile. Other birds of interest were three Isabelline Wheatear, some Eleonora’s Falcon, several Red-backed and Lesser Grey Shrike, a Woodchat Shrike, lots of Common Snipe, Grey and Squacco Heron and Cattle (see photo), Great White and Little Egret, Glossy Ibis, Western Yellow Wagtail, Ruff and Wood Sandpiper, European Roller and Greater Flamingo.
Two flocks of 220 and 60 White Storks were the highlight of the waterbird count around Larnaca this morning. Numbers of Black-winged Stilts on Meneou Pool are slowly dropping as they start to leave (see photo of a juvenile there).
Black-winged Stilt, Meneou 18th August 2020 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Interesting sightings included:
Meneou Pool
Black-winged Stilt 133
Common Ringed Plover 10 (incl six that flew out to sea)
Kentish Plover 3
Little Stint 111
Ruff 20
Grey Heron 6
Greater Flamingo 4 (1 juv)
Glossy Ibis 1
Common Sandpiper 10
Green Sandpiper 6
Little Ringed Plover 4
Western Yellow Wagtail 1h
Slender-billed Gull 2
Black-headed Gull 1
Temminck’s Stint 1
Curlew Sandpiper 2 (1 ad and 1 juv)
Little Egret 2
Larnaca Airport Pools South
White Stork 218 roosting at 08:15.
Spur-winged Lapwing 1
Larnaca Sewage Works
Spur-winged Lapwing 33
Mallard 236
Great Cormorant 1
Ruff 9
Common Coot 4
Grey Heron 4
Greater Flamingo 1 juv
Common Sandpiper 2
Common Shelduck 1
Larnaca Salt Lake
Greater Flamingo 3 juvs
Masked Shrike 2 juv
Red-backed Shrike 1 m
White Stork c60 gaining height and moving SE N of Tekke Mosque at 10:15
Meneou Pool is the only one of those scattered around Larnaca Salt Lake to have water in it at present and its muddy edges are just right for feeding waders. Since Monday I’ve been lucky enough to see several of the rarer waders to Cyprus there – a Red Knot on 11th & 13th August, two Sanderling on 10th and 11th and then three Broad-billed Sandpiper on 14th. None of them approachable for photos except this morning when one Broad-billed Sandpiper was close enough for me to get the cropped photo below. Also around in variable numbers each day were Common and Little Ringed Plover (also photographed today), Little and Temminck’s Stint, Ruff, Dunlin, Curlew Sandpiper, Common Greenshank, Common Redshank, Marsh Sandpiper, Collared Pratincole, Little Tern, White-winged Tern, Garganey, Black-headed Gull, Slender-billed Gull, Teal, Grey Heron, Glossy Ibis, Little Egret, Stone Curlew, Spur-winged Lapwing, Common Snipe, Common, Wood and Green Sandpiper and many Black-winged Stilt.
Broad-billed Sandpiper, Meneou Pool 16th August 2020 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Common Ringed Plover, Meneou Pool 16th August 2020 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Little Ringed Plover, Meneou Pool 16th August 2020 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
I don’t remember as much water in Achna Dam before as I found today . But even so I managed to have a good walk in several areas and found some interesting birds. Its getting hotter though now so I guess walks of an hour or more will soon be out of the question!
Birds seen included:
Glossy Ibis 13
Squacco Heron 8
Gull billed Tern 12
Spur winged Lapwing 8
Great Cormorant 2
Grey Heron 3
Great Crested Grebe 1 ad
European Roller 1
Cattle Egret 2 (one with stick in bill)
Little Egret 2
Little Bittern 1f
Purple Heron 1
Common Hoopoe 4
Black winged Stilt 2
More sea watching today and some good waders around – Eurasian Oystercatcher moving very quickly west close to shore, flock of 14 Common Redshank, another of 28 Ruff, a juvenile Collared Pratincole and single Ruddy Turnstone and Little Ringed Plover. Also small flocks of Grey and Purple Heron and Glossy Ibis, single Cattle Egret and Black-crowned Night Heron, Garganey, a lone Elenora’s Falcon heading east and two Slender-billed Gull. The photos are the best of a bad bunch of photos taken today – blame the speed of the birds, the harsh light and of course the photographer!
Ruddy Turnstone, Polis Chrysochou Bay, 26th August 2019 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Common Redshank, Polis Chrysochou Bay, 26th August 2019 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
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.
Whimbrel, Polis Chrysochou 13th August 2019 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
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.
Greater Flamingo, Larnaca Sewage Works 15th September 2018 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Did the waterbird count this morning around Larnaca. Most of the birds were at the Sewage Works – Greater Flamingo, Little and Cattle Egret, Grey and Purple Heron, Glossy Ibis, Kentish and Common Ringed Plover, Little Stint, Sanderling, Ruff, Marsh Sandpiper, Curlew Sandpiper, Black-winged Stilt, Spur-winged Lapwing, Common Redshank, Northern Shoveler, Common Teal, Garganey, Ferruginous Duck. Plus migrating Montagu’s and Pallid Harrier, lots of European Bee-eater, an Isabelline and Northern Wheatear, Red-backed (see photo), Masked and Lesser Grey Shrike. Good morning’s birding.
Red-backed Shrike, Larnaca 15th September 2018 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Spent the last few days in north west corner of island – joining BirdLife Cyprus’ members weekend there which included a boat trip to Cape Arnaouti from Latchi Harbour.
My birding highlights included Baltic Gull, Gull-billed Tern, flocks of Purple & Grey Heron and Glossy Ibis, several Red-backed and Masked Shrike, a migrating European Sparrowhawk, flocks of European Bee-eater (see photo), an Ortolan Bunting, several autumn plumage Cyprus Wheatear (see photo), Red-rumped Swallow, Alpine Swift, a juvenile Pallid Harrier, Whinchat and a Common Hoopoe.
Cyprus Wheatear, Droushia 8th September 2018 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
European Bee-eater, Arodes 9th September 2018 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
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.
Black-winged Stilt, Polis Chrysochou Bay 11th August 2018 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
The area is drying out but along with Larnaca Sewage Works, it is still probably the best birding location on the island at the moment. Plenty of Little Ringed Plover (see photo), Kentish Plover and Little Stint along with Glossy Ibis, Slender-billed Gull, a Broad-billed Sandpiper, a Spotted Redshank, Common Greenshank, Common Snipe, two Collared Pratincole, a Temminck’s Stint and a Gull-billed Tern. A female Western Marsh Harrier is putting the birds up frequently as she quarters the area and Elenora’s Falcon fly over from time to time.
Little Ringed Plover juv, Akrotiri 8th August 2018 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Cyprus Birding Tours 