A couple of hours around the Sewage Works area with Ruddy Shelduck, Pied Avocet, Eurasian Stone Curlew, Caspian Gull, Baltic and Heuglin’s Gull, Slender-billed Gull, Ferruginous Duck, Black-necked Grebe, Gadwall, Common Shelduck, Sandwich Tern, Lesser Short-toed Lark, Eurasian Curlew and Barn Swallow.
Plus the sight of a Western Marsh Harrier trying hard to put the flock of Eurasian Coot to flight so it could catch one – it had no joy while I was watching it, gave up and flew away. But I had the feeling it would go back and keep trying until it was successful.
Western Marsh Harrier over Eurasian Coot Larnaca Sewage Works 7th February 2016 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Eurasian Stone Curlew Larnaca Airport Pools South 7th February 2016 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Greater Flamingo Larnaca Salt Lake 16th January 2016 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Spent quite a long time today counting Greater Flamingos. 12,000 plus in the Larnaca area. Hundreds of Northern Shoveler, Eurasian Teal and Common Shelduck; twenty five Black-necked Grebe, three Gadwall, a Ferruginous Duck, eight Eurasian Wigeon and seven Greater White-fronted Geese at Larnaca Sewage Works. A small flock of less than thirty Eurasian Golden Plover at Spiros Pool with two Sandwich Tern offshore. Among the many Common Black-headed Gull it was good to find a Little Gull on Meneou Pool.
A lot of disturbance around the Salt Lake including some idiots walking in the water to get nearer to the Greater Flamingos there. Away from them in a quieter area there was a Temminck’s Stint, a few Little Ringed and Common Ringed Plover, seven Common Snipe and larger numbers of Kentish Plover, Dunlin, Little Stint and Common Redshank.
The White-headed Duck were still at Oroklini when I popped in there before heading home.
Did the waterbird count at Larnaca and late in the afternoon visited Oroklini. The Red-breasted Goose is still at the Sewage Works together with five Greater White-fronted Geese. A Pied Avocet was the best wader and the Red Knot is still present. A young Peregrine Falcon flew in and snatched up a Coot only to be forced to drop it by an adult Peregrine that came swooping in. Both Peregrines flew off calling and briefly grappling. The Coot was left there although it was gone when I revisited in the afternoon.
The Ruddy Shelduck is still at Oroklini and there were three Temminck’s Stint and six Common Snipe feeding as well as a Bluethroat and Water Pipit.
Full list of sightings:
Larnaca Sewage Works
Greater Flamingo 56 (only one adult)
Pied Avocet 1
Common Shelduck 1
Black-winged Stilt 8
Little Stint c50
Common Redshank 6
Dunlin 9+
Ruff 3
Common Ringed Plover 1
Baltic Gull 1 juv
Armenian Gull 11
Marsh Sandpiper 1
Greater White-fronted Goose 5
Red-breasted Goose 1
Black-necked Grebe 1
Northern Pintail 6
Red Knot 1
Peregrine Falcon 2
Larnaca Desalination Plant Fields
Eurasian Skylark 100+
Calandra Lark 5
Eurasian Golden Plover 4
Common Starling 11
Larnaca Salt Lake
Greater Flamingo 6
Eurasian Teal 13
Little Ringed Plover 5
Common Ringed Plover 25
Spur-winged Lapwing 2
Common Redshank 30
Dunlin c100
Kentish Plover c140
Little Stint 30+
Western Marsh Harrier 1
Water Pipit 2
Oroklini Marsh
Spur-winged Lapwing 35
Ruddy Shelduck 1
Cattle Egret 60
Common Snipe 6
Little Stint 2
Temminck’s Stint 3
Common Ringed Plover 5
Little Ringed Plover 2
Water Pipit 1
Water Rail h
Eurasian Penduline Tit h
Northern Pintail 2
Common Starling 40
Bluethroat 1
Corn Bunting 8
Oroklini Beach
Sandwich Tern 2
Common Black-headed Gull c150
Had a great view of this Cyprus rarity that was first found yesterday. Also present were four Greater White-fronted Geese, a Red Knot, a Grey Plover, two Marsh Sandpiper, four Black-winged Stilt, an Armenian Gull, a male and female Tufted Duck, a Black-necked Grebe, three Eurasian Wigeon, a Bluethroat and the usual Northern Shoveler, Eurasian Teal, Dunlin, Little Stint, Common Redshank, Eurasian Coot and Greater Flamingo.
Nearly fifty Eurasian Golden Plover were on the fields close to the coast as were many Eurasian Skylark and Red-throated Pipit. Two Sandwich Tern were fishing off shor
Larnaca Sewage Works
Common Crane 9 (also seen later gaining height and heading out S over the sea)
Eurasian Spoonbill 1
Mediterranean Gull 1
Slender-billed Gull 6
Grey Plover 1
Northern Lapwing 1
Ruddy Turnstone 1
Marsh Sandpiper 1
Black-winged Stilt 8+
Little Stint 12+
Common Ringed Plover 5
Common Redshank 10+
Greater Flamingo 62
Ferruginous Duck 4
Tufted Duck 1m and 1f
Common Pochard 1f
Northern Pintail 4
The six Common Crane were back on the Sewage Pools this morning and the long-staying Ruddy Shelduck was still there. There were many Eurasian Teal, Northern Shoveler, Mallard, Eurasian Coot, Little Grebe, Little Stint, Dunlin, Kentish Plover, Common Ringed Plover and several Black-winged Stilt. There were also single Grey Plover, Ruddy Turnstone and Northern Lapwing as well as more than sixty Greater Flamingo.
Also in the area was a late Northern Wheatear and at least six Red-throated Pipits. There were plenty of Common Stonechat setting up territories and away from the coast at Panagia Stazousa I counted at least 12. There were also several singing European Robin, a Little Owl and two late Cyprus Wheatear in that area.
Common Crane Larnaca Sewage Works 21st October 2015 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Ruddy Shelduck Larnaca Sewage Works 21st October 2015 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Not a lot of water, even the Sewage Works Pools are emptying but some interesting birds with a Red-breasted Flycatcher (not a male though 😦 ) as a bonus!
Larnaca Sewage Works
Bluethroat 1
Spur-winged Lapwing 9
Greater Flamingo 66
Northern Shoveler c300
Eurasian Teal c150
Black-winged Stilt 13
Grey Heron 2
Great Egret 1 (flew off heading E)
Dunlin c60
Little Stint c40
Ruddy Shelduck 1
Ruff 5
Pintail 3
Northern Lapwing 1
Kentish Plover 16
Common Ringed Plover 17
Marsh Sandpiper 1
Eleonora’s Falcon 2 flew over fast heading W
Red-breasted Flycatcher 1
Spiros Pool
Spur-winged Lapwing 30
Common Crane 6 (in pm were on Sewage Pools)
Common Ringed Plover 25
Ruff 5
Water Rail 1h
Common Redshank 1
Common Snipe 1h
Yellow-legged Gull 27 flew over
Red-throated Pipit 2+h
Three great days out with Robert and Ruth visiting Akrotiri, the sites around Larnaca and those around Cape Greco. Although migration was not as busy as we would have expected at this time of September we still had some great birds while missing out on some usual sitters such as Zitting Cisticola! We had over 100 European Honey Buzzards on at Akrotiri on 18th; displays by flying Eleonora’s Falcons at Akrotiri Gravel Pits, Larnaca Sewage Works and Kensington Cliffs; close views of Long-legged Buzzard at Panagia Stazousa; a probable Saker at Cape Greco (we are checking our photos); Temminck’s Stint and Marsh Sandpipers; six Eurasian Spoonbill at Larnaca Sewage Works; three Demoiselle Crane flying up over Lady’s Mile on 18th; Gull-billed and White-winged Terns; Greater Sand Plover near Kermia Beach 21st; more juvenile Red-backed Shrikes than we thought possible; several Cyprus Wheatear and a showy female Cyprus Warbler when the males let us down; and so many flocks of European Bee-eaters.
Highlights per location and date
Friday 18th September
Phassouri Reed Beds – European Honey Buzzard c130, Sand Martin 100+, Red-rumped Swallow 20+, Ortolan Bunting 1
On Saturday I had been surprised to see Ruff on Spiros Pool which appeared to be completely dry; visiting the area briefly yesterday I saw a Western Marsh Harrier put up many waders from that location. I returned for a search today and found water in the area near the Sewage Plant and Desalination Buildings. A good collection of waders and mosquitos awaited me. These included a Black-tailed Godwit (probably the same as seen at the Sewage Works last week), two Grey Plover moulting from their breeding plumage, a Temminck’s Stint, a Sanderling, several Wood Sandpiper, two Dunlin, a Curlew Sandpiper, two Little Ringed Plover and around ten Common Ringed Plover, four Common Snipe and tens of Ruff and Little Stint. Several Black-winged Stilt were there and a juvenile Collared Pratincole flew away as I arrived. Four Greater Short-toed Lark flew over the area calling and there were at least three Yellow Wagtail. The Western Marsh Harrier was still quartering the area.
After the excitement of finding a juvenile Rose-coloured Starling on the coast near the airport boundary fence, I then watched a young Peregrine Falcon chase a feral pigeon while being mobbed by two Commom Kestrel.
As I arrived at the Sewage Works pools a Long-legged Buzzard was soaring over the area. On the water were an adult and two juvenile ‘Baltic’ Gulls, an eclipse plumage Northern Pintail, at least four Garganey, six Northern Shoveler and a Eurasian Teal. A few waders around the edge of the pools – Common Sandpiper, Common Redshank, Ruff, Common Ringed Plover, Spur-winged Lapwing and Black-winged Stilt.
Had my first Pallid Harrier of the autumn today with a juvenile quartering the fields near Larnaca Desalination Plant. A Common Kingfisher was on the coast there and several Yellow Wagtail were in the fields. It was strange to see around twenty Ruff on the bone dry Spiros Pool.
On the Sewage Pools there were seven Garganey, around four Northern Shoveler and at least one Eurasian Teal – migrants mixed in with the resident Mallards. Around the edge were also some migrant waders – a Black-tailed Godwit, a Sanderling, two Common Ringed Plover, a Common Redshank, around twenty Little Stint, five Common Sandpiper and a Green Sandpiper. Two moulting adult White-winged Tern were flying over the water together with a juvenile. There are still good numbers of Black-winged Stilt and Spur-winged Lapwing there.
Near Tekke Mosque there were two Lesser Grey Shrike and two male, three female and a juvenile Red-backed Shrike.
Early start to avoid the humid heat of Larnaca today. Larnaca Sewage Works had most species including migrating Common Ringed Plover, Wood and Common Sandpiper, Dunlin, Common Redshank, White-winged and Whiskered Tern. Two adult Slender-billed Gull were present, three Grey Heron flew over heading W and a Eurasian Curlew that flew in briefly was later seen heading E. There was a single Greater Flamingo also with the usual resident Mallard, Coot and Little Grebe and a good number of Spur-winged Lapwing and Black-winged Stilt – both with several juveniles.
More than two hundred Kentish Plover were roosting on Spiros Beach in a post-breeding flock which contained many juveniles.
Little Stint were feeding around the edge of the main Salt Lake where there were also more Black-winged Stilt and Spur-winged Lapwing. Two European Roller and a male Red-backed Shrike were near Tekke Mosque.
This Zitting Cisticola was one of a family party around the hide at Larnaca Sewage Works this morning. Also flying around the area were an adult and juvenile Little Tern and a Whiskered Tern which was still in breeding plumage.
Zitting Cisticola Larnaca Sewage Works 18th July 2015 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Cyprus Birding Tours 