Some different birding today visiting Oroklini, Akhna, Paralmini area and Agia Napa coast.
Birds seen, including a lovely juvenile Great White Pelican:
Oroklini Marsh morning and late afternoon
Common Crane 1 juv still present 16:45
White Stork 1 still present 16:45
Grey Heron 1
Spur-winged Lapwing c30
Common Teal c30
Common Redshank 3
Bluethroat 1
Eurasian Skylark 7 over
Greater Flamingo 58
Black-winged Stilt 1
Black-headed Gull 30+
Cattle Egret c250 coming into roost late pm visit
Common Ringed Plover 2
Little Stint 15+
Common Starling 7
Akhna Dam
Great White Pelican 1 juv (see photos)
Cattle Egret 1
Little Egret 5
Squacco Heron 1
Moustached Warbler 1
Whiskered Tern 1
Grey Heron 6
After our day out around Cape Greco on Monday, I took Barry today to Akhna Dam, Oroklini and Larnaca. A very windy day which affected the kind of species we saw but we had some excellent views of some great birds and took the total number of species seen over the two days to 103.
We started our day today at Akhna Dam. A Great White Pelican has been moving between Akhna and Larnaca since early November 2016 and today was at Akhna. We watched him preening for a while and also saw a Great Crested Grebe, a singing male Spectacled Warbler, several Grey Heron, a hunting Western Marsh Harrier, a small group of overflying Ruff and a lone Little Ringed Plover. We then headed towards Oroklini Marsh. On the spur of the moment I decided we should check out the beach first just in case there were any gulls there. There wasn’t a single gull present but hovering over the shallow water there we saw a Pied Kingfisher. It had been seen at the Marsh earlier in the week but not since Monday. We were really pleased and watched it for a while as it hovered and then flew to a wire near us calling. It returned to the sea and then flew east. The bird of the day and it wasn’t even lunch time.
At Oroklini we visited both hides and had great views of Greater Flamingo, Spur-winged Lapwing, Black-winged Stilt, Northern Pintail, Red-crested Pochard, a Black-necked Grebe, Lesser Whitethroat, Eurasian Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler and best of all a showy Bluethroat. Although we heard Eurasian Penduline Tit we couldn’t spot it in the reeds. A quick stop at the drainage channel further west along the coast added Common Kingfisher to our growing day list and as we drove through Livadia village we found three Laughing Doves near the church there.
It was very windy around Larnaca Salt Lake and the Sewage Pools area. Two Sandwich Tern were fishing offshore and from the hide we saw 18 Ruddy Shelduck, six Common Greenshank and two Eurasian Wigeon in with the Northern Shoveler, Eurasian Teal and Mallard there. A lone Audouin’s Gull sat on Spiros Pool and our only wheatears of the day were in that area – an Isabelline and a female Northern. We saw a migrating male Western Marsh Harrier and then moved to Meneou Pool where there were several Greater Flamingo, some Kentish Plover, a Common Ringed Plover, a few Little Stint, over forty Black-winged Stilt and some Ruff and Marsh Sandpiper. We visited nearby fields in the village of Pervolia and were pleased to see a singing male Black Francolin out in the open and then two migrating Pallid Harrier flying low over the fields fighting against the wind.
A quick scan of the main Salt Lake produced six Black-necked Grebe, around forty Slender-billed Gull and a couple of hundred Greater Flamingo. We finished the day in the north-east corner of the Salt Lake where we spent around an hour watching a female Little Crake feeding in a run off channel. Also there were Eurasian Reed and Cetti’s Warbler, a Water Pipit, Common Snipe, Grey Wagtail, several Red-rumped Swallows and a Water Rail. Some great birds to finish a great day out.
Total species seen – 82
Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Black-necked Grebe, Great Cormorant, Great White Pelican, Cattle Egret, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Greater Flamingo, Ruddy Shelduck, Eurasian Wigeon, Eurasian Teal, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler, Red-crested Pochard, Western Marsh Harrier, Pallid Harrier, Common Kestrel, Black Francolin, Water Rail, Little Crake, Common Moorhen, Eurasian Coot, Black-winged Stilt, Kentish Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Common Ringed Plover, Spur-winged Lapwing, Little Stint, Ruff, Common Snipe, Common Redshank, Marsh Sandpiper, Common Greenshank, Green Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Common Black-headed Gull, Slender-billed Gull, Audouin’s Gull, Yellow-legged Gull, Sandwich Tern, Common Woodpigeon, Eurasian Collared Dove, Laughing Dove, Common Swift, Common Kingfisher, Pied Kingfisher, Crested Lark, Eurasian Skylark, Barn Swallow, Red-rumped Swallow, Common House Martin, Meadow Pipit, Water Pipit, Grey Wagtail, White Wagtail, European Robin, Bluethroat, Common Stonechat, Isabelline Wheatear, Northern Wheatear, Song Thrush, Cetti’s Warbler, Zitting Cisticola, Sedge Warbler, Eurasian Reed Warbler, Spectacled Warbler, Sardinian Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Common Chiffchaff, Great Tit, Eurasian Penduline Tit, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Hooded Crow, House Sparrow, Spanish Sparrow, Common Chaffinch, European Greenfinch, European Goldfinch, Corn Bunting
Little Crake, Larnaca Salt Lake, 17th March 2017 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Pied Kingfisher, Oroklini 17th March 2017 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Great White Pelican, Akhna Dam 17th March 2017 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Morning out around Larnaca. No sign of the Greater White-fronted or Greylag Geese at the Sewage Works although they may well have been in the fields.
Interesting sightings include:
Meneou Pool
Greater Flamingo 24
Kentish Plover 27
Little Stint 6
Dunlin 4
Black Francolin 1 singing
Common Ringed Plover 6
Larnaca Airport Pools South
Eurasian Stone Curlew 12
Larnaca Sewage Works
Great Cormorant 8
Barn Swallow 3
Ferruginous Duck 2
Northern Shoveler 35
Eurasian Teal 220
Ruddy Shelduck 11
Green Sandpiper 2
Northern Pintail 1m
Great White Pelican 1
Caspian Gull 1 juv
Yellow-legged Gull 1 ad
Spiros Pool
Eurasian Golden Plover 14
Kentish Plover 2
Common Greenshank 6
Eurasian Wigeon 15
Larnaca Airport Coast
Eurasian Skylark 34+
Meneou Beach
Greater Sand Plover 4 two almost in breeding plumage. Flew off SE when people walked along beach.
Larnaca Salt Lake
Greater Flamingo c2200
Common Shelduck c550
Slender-billed Gull 105
Common Black-headed Gull 1100+
Eurasian Golden Plover 64
Common Redshank 36
Green Sandpiper 1
Eurasian Skylark c20
Common Swift 2
Dunlin c20
Little Stint c30
Northern Shoveler 75
Black-necked Grebe 6+
Spur-winged Lapwing 6
Common Snipe 12
Little Ringed Plover 3
Barn Swallow 5
Kamares area of Larnaca Salt Lake
Laughing Dove 1 (first time reported in this area)
Western Marsh Harrier 1f
Eurasian Teal 4
Yellow Wagtail 1 (same as present since December)
Grey Wagtail 1
Green Sandpiper 4
Common Snipe 4
Water Pipit 1
Moustached Warbler 1 singing
Bluethroat 1
Water Rail 2h
Spur-winged Lapwing 3
Oroklini Beach
Mediterranean Gull 2 ad (one almost full breeding plumage)
Caspian Gull 2
Armenian Gull 6
Sandwich Tern 1
JUMBO Drainage Channel
Spur-winged Lapwing 4
Common Redshank 1
Common Kingfisher 1
Barn Swallow 1
Common Snipe, Larnaca Salt Lake 26th February 2017 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Greater Sand Plover, Meneou Beach, 26th February 2017 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Eurasian Stone Curlew , Larnaca Salt Lake, 26th February 2017 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Mediterranean Gulls, Oroklini Beach, 26th February 2017 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Out counting the waterbirds around Larnaca today was very enjoyable – not a lot of Greater Flamingos to count (last year there were 12000+ on this day!) – but lots of interesting birds including the largest flock of Greylag Geese in Cyprus for more than 30 years, five Pallas’ Gulls, two Common Quail, two Barn Swallow and plenty more. One of the Pallas’ Gulls was sitting at the north end of the Salt Lake with some Greater Flamingos (see record photo below).
Greater Flamingo and a Great Black-backed Gull, Larnaca Salt Lake, 14th January 2017 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Meneou Pool
Common Redshank 4
Greater Flamingo 97
Common Shelduck 43
Common Ringed Plover 2
Kentish Plover 2
Larnaca Airport Pools South
Eurasian Stone Curlew 5
Larnaca Sewage Works
Eurasian Curlew 17
Great Cormorant 24
Greater White-fronted Goose 8
Eurasian Wigeon 16
Western Marsh Harrier 1
Eurasian Teal 736
Northern Shoveler 16
Mallard 232
Great Black-headed Gull (Pallas Gull) 2 ad and 2 imm
Black-necked Grebe 3
Northern Pintail 4
Tufted Duck 1m
Caspian Gull 3
Meadow Pipit c30
Great White Pelican 1
Mediterranean Gull 1 imm
Spiros Pool
Greater Flamingo 37
Eurasian Wigeon 3
Eurasian Golden Plover 336
Larnaca Airport Coast
European Shag 2
Larnaca Airport Pools North
Greater Flamingo 37
Common Shelduck 26
Northern Shoveler 41
Kentish Plover 4
Common Redshank 3
Dunlin 12
Larnaca Salt Lake
Common Starling 50
Greater Flamingo 1028
Common Shelduck 576
Common Ringed Plover 8
Little Stint 39
Common Redshank 7
Common Black-headed Gull 261
Greylag Geese 57 (presumably same birds as those at Akrotiri during the week)
Dunlin 62+
Hen Harrier 1
Black-necked Grebe 12
Slender-billed Gull 1 ad
Caspian Gull 60+
Armenian Gull 24
Great Black-headed Gull 1 ad
Common Quail 2 flushed
Corn Bunting c60
Common Buzzard 2
Common Snipe 4
Spanish Sparrow 20+
Common Reed Bunting 1h
Western Marsh Harrier 1
Song Thrush 2
Eurasian Blackbird 1
Marsh Sandpiper 1
Common Greenshank 1
Kamares area
Spur-winged Lapwing 3
Common Chiffchaff 50+
Moustached Warbler 1
Yellow Wagtail 1 1st winter bird – same as seen there in mid Dec
Common Snipe 1
Green Sandpiper 1
Common Redshank 1
Common Ringed Plover 1
Western Jackdaw 15
Barn Swallow 2
Western Marsh Harrier 1
Water Pipit 2
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
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
Most of my time out today was spent doing the Waterbird count around Larnaca. After the rain a few weeks ago there is still some water in parts of the Salt Lake and isolated patches of water contained some good birds. Best birds were a Common Crane flying over the Sewage Works, a Gadwall and three Black-necked Grebe on the Sewage Pools, eight Eurasian Stone Curlew and eight Eurasian Curlew, hunting Western Marsh and female Hen Harrier, flocks of Eurasian Skylark, two Bluethroat (see photo), six Temminck’s Stint, a Water Rail and around thirty Common Snipe in the north east corner of the Salt Lake.
Akhna Dam had less birds than when I visited a month ago although there was a Great White Pelican there and some recently arrived thrushes including Song and Mistle Thrush and Fieldfare. More than sixty Spur-winged Lapwing were at Oroklini together with twenty four Northern Lapwing, around fifty Greater Flamingo and a Great Egret.
Bluethroat, Larnaca Salt Lake 18th November 2016 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Joined the BirdLife Cyprus trip to the Karpasia this weekend with the highlights 86+ Common Crane heading S over Agios Therissos 16.50 9th October, six on southern coast 17.45 9th October, three in same area 08.00 am 10th October, c80 again there 08.00am 11th October and 17 in off sea Agios Phylonas 11.00am 11th October. Around 12.45 11th October 28 Great White Pelican were seen circling up and gaining height to the east of the village of Galinoporni on the south coast and then heading SE out to sea.
Common Crane Agios Therissos 9th October 2015 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Common Crane Agios Therissos 9th October 2015 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Went to Agia Napa Sewage Works and Football Fields and then Oroklini and the Larnaca coast this morning. Really pleased to catch up with the male and female Cinereous Bunting that had been reported at the Agia Napa Sewage Works on Saturday. They don’t usually hang around but these birds are an exception to that. There were also several Ortolan and Cretzshmar’s in the area. I counted thirteen male Red-backed Shrike around there as well as nine females and one juvenile. There were many Willow Warbler and Lesser Whitehthroat and I also saw two Common Whitethroat, an Eastern Orphean Warbler and a couple of Eastern Olivaceous Warbler. European Bee-eater were flying over and there were two Eurasian Hoopoe, seven Spotted Flycatcher and a juvenile Common Cuckoo. All Masked Shrike seen were adult and there I only saw one Lesser Grey Shrike.
At Agia Napa Football Fields though there were at least twenty one Lesser Grey Shrike and just a few female Red-backed Shrike. Six Pallid Swift were flying over and there were also a couple of Whinchat. The water has nearly all gone from Oroklini Marsh but as I approached I saw a Great White Pelican flying over the motorway and it landed in the water as I parked. There were also over forty Spur-winged Lapwing on the mud together with several Common Ringed Plover, a Little Ringed Plover and some Little Stint.
On the fields next to the Larnaca Desalination Plant there was a flock of at least three hundred Yellow Wagtail feeding together with a Whinchat and an Isabelline Wheatear.
Spotted Flycatcher Agia Napa Sewage Works 3rd September 2014 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Cyprus Birding Tours 