Cyprus Birding Tours

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Tag Archives: Spur-winged Lapwing


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Achna Dam, 28th September 2020

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.

Pied Kingfisher, Achna Dam 28th September 2020 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours


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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.

Achna Dam, 14th September 2020 (c) Cyprus Birding Birds
Spotted Crake, Achna Dam, 14th September 2020 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Distant flight photo of one of Pied Kingfisher, Achna Dam 14th September 2020 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Spur-winged Lapwing, Achna Dam, 14th September 2020 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Masked Shrike, Achna Dam, 14th September 2020 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Common Hoopoe, Achna Dam, 14th September 2020 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours


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Waterbird count Larnaca area 18th August 2020

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

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
Cattle Egret 7
Spur-winged Lapwing 11
Little Egret 9
Wood Sandpiper 1
Common Kingfisher 1


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Meneou Pool, Larnaca 10th – 16th August 2020

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

Broad-billed Sandpiper, Meneou Pool 16th August 2020 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours

Common Ringed Plover, 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

Little Ringed Plover, Meneou Pool 16th August 2020 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours


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Larnaca area 17th July 2020

A surprise today around Larnaca in the shape of a female Red-necked Phalarope – bad record photo below – along with more usual birds in the shape of early passage migrants five Black-headed (see photo) and a Slender-billed Gull, a White-winged, two Common and four Little Tern; at least four Little Ringed Plover and Green and Wood Sandpiper and several breeding Spur-winged Lapwing (photo) and Black-winged Stilt.

Red-necked Phalarope, Larnaca 17th July 2020 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours

Red-necked Phalarope, Larnaca 17th July 2020 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours

Spur-winged Lapwing. Larnaca Sewage Works, 17th July 2020 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours

Spur-winged Lapwing. Larnaca Sewage Works, 17th July 2020 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours

Black-headed Gull, Larnaca Sewage Works, 17th July 2020 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours

Black-headed Gull, Larnaca Sewage Works, 17th July 2020 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours


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Akrotiri morning 2nd July 2020

A morning around the Akrotiri peninsula with some interesting species seen.

Akrotiri Salt Lake
Slender billed Gull 50+
Common Tern 2
Gull billed Tern 4
Caspian Tern 1
Little Tern 15
Spotted Redshank 1
Marsh Sandpiper 4
Wood Sandpiper 1
Green Sandpiper 4
Common Redshank 4+
Greater Flamingo c1000
Little Ringed Plover 4
Little Egret 3
Black winged Stilt 100+

Akrotiri Marsh (Phasouri Reed beds)
Glossy Ibis 24
Little Egret 16 (see photo)
Grey Heron 2
Cattle Egret 8
Spur winged Lapwing 1
Squacco Heron 4
Little Bittern 1m
Eleonora’s Falcon 1
Red rumped Swallow 7 heading S
Black crowned Night Heron 1 juv in flightLittle Egret, Akrotiri 2nd July 2020


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Achna Dam morning 6th June 2020.

Achna Dam 6th June 2020 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours

Achna Dam 6th June 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


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Waterbird count Larnaca area 11th January 2020

 

Spent most of the day doing the Waterbird Count around Larnaca today. Lots of Greater Flamingo and Northern Shoveler to count – and surprisingly also – it took time to count the Little Gull with just over 300 in the area feeding on several pools. Other interesting birds included three Pied Avocet, three Greater White-fronted Geese and 38 Black-necked Grebe.

Meneou Pool
Little Gull 71

Larnaca Airport Pools South
Little Gull 2
Northern Shoveler 276
Greater Flamingo 13
Common Shelduck 2
Caspian Gull c50
Armenian Gull 4
Heuglin’s Gull 1

Larnaca Sewage Works
Western Marsh Harrier 3
Great Cormorant 130
Northern Shoveler 88
Common Teal 429
Greater White-fronted Goose 3
Common Coot 29
Caspian Gull 8
Grey Heron 1
Spur-winged Lapwing 3
Common Redshank 5

Spiros Beach
Little Stint 63
Dunlin 58
Kentish Plover 175
Common Ringed Plover 4

Spiros Pool
Northern Shoveler 130
Eurasian Wigeon 2
Common Redshank 4

Larnaca Desalination Plant fields
Eurasian Golden Plover 5
Dunlin 20
Common Ringed Plover 3

Larnaca Airport Pools North
Pied Avocet 3
Little Gull 124

Larnaca Salt Lake
Little Gull 107
Cattle Egret 3
Greater Flamingo 9000+
Common Shelduck 153
Northern Shoveler 449
Black-necked Grebe 38
Dunlin 38
Little Stint 25
Common Snipe 14
Common Redshank 3
Spur-winged Lapwing 5
Common Ringed Plover 7
Bluethroat 2
Reed Bunting 1
Water Pipit 2

Kiti Dam (full but no waterbirds)
Woodlark 5

Little Gull, Larnaca Salt Lake 11th January 2020 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours

Little Gull, Larnaca Salt Lake 11th January 2020 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours


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Larnaca area 10th December 2019

Out doing the waterbird count today but the best bird was an immature Audouin’s Gull at Oroklini Beach which I visited after I’d finished (see heavily cropped photo).

Audouin's Gull, Oroklini Beach 10th December 2019 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours

Audouin’s Gull, Oroklini Beach 10th December 2019 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours

Other sightings included:

Meneou Pool
Common Ringed Plover 1

Larnaca Airport Pools South
Grey Plover 1
Armenian Gull c10
Caspian Gull 8+
Heuglin’s Gull 2 ad
Baltic Gull 1 juv

Larnaca Sewage Works
Great Cormorant 431
Bluethroat 1
Common Teal 417
Northern Shoveler 180
Greater White-fronted Goose 2
Eurasian Wigeon 3m and 2f
Great Crested Grebe 1
Northern Pintail 8
Common Shelduck 1
Western Marsh Harrier 1
Armenian Gull 20+
Caspian Gull 30+
Yellow-legged Gull 5
Black-headed Gull 68+

Spiros Pool
Common Ringed Plover 1
Eurasian Golden Plover 175

Larnaca Airport Pools North
Black-headed Gull 35
Slender-billed Gull 3 ad
Common Redshank 43
Dunlin 6

Larnaca Salt Lake
Greater Flamingo 946
Common Shelduck 6
Kentish Plover 2
Common Ringed Plover 5
Spanish Sparrow 10+
Corn Bunting 4
Cattle Egret 3
Black-headed Gull 77

Larnaca Salt Lake north east corner
Water Pipit 1
Common Snipe 29+
Western Water Rail 1h

Kamares area
Jack Snipe 1
Common Snipe 1
Water Pipit 2
Common Kingfisher 2
Western Water Rail 1 seen

Oroklini Beach
Audouin’s Gull 1 imm
Black-headed Gull c150
Little Egret 1
Caspian Gull 4
Armenian Gull 7
Great Cormorant c50 heading E offshore

Oroklini Marsh
Northern Lapwing c60
Northern Pintail 5m
Bluethroat 1h
Spur-winged Lapwing 36+
Little Egret 3
Northern Shoveler 200+
Common Teal 130+
Common Starling c30
Red-crested Pochard 1m and 1f
Greater Flamingo 26
Cattle Egret 32
Ferruginous Duck 1
Common Pochard 2f


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Larnaca area 30th November 2019

Lovely day birding around Larnaca today visiting Panagia Stazousa, Oroklini and the aqueduct at Kamares. Some good birds around although didn’t expect to see a very late Common Whitethroat in with the Blackcaps at Panagia Stazousa.

Main sightings:
Panagia Stazousa
Long-legged Buzzard 3
Common Whitethroat 1
Woodlark 1
Cyprus Warbler 5m and 1f (four males singing)

Pyrga
Common Chaffinch 60+
Cyprus Warbler 1m
Woodlark 6

Kamares Aqueduct
Black-crowned Night Heron 1 juv (see photo)
Common Kingfisher 1
Water Pipit 1
Western Marsh Harrier 2
Spur-winged Lapwing 2

Oroklini Marsh – south area
Common Redshank 6
Water Pipit 1
Northern Lapwing 5
Western Marsh Harrier 2
Laughing Dove 1
Green Sandpiper 1
Black-winged Stilt 13
Little Egret 3
Spur-winged Lapwing 20+

Oroklini Marsh – main lake
Greater Flamingo 7
Common Pochard 1m and 1f
Ferruginous Duck 2
Northern Pintail 1
Barn Swallow 1
Spur-winged Lapwing 20+
Western Water Rail 1h

Oroklini Beach
Pallas’ Gull 1 ad fly past heading W
Audouin’s Gull 1 flying W five minutes later
Sandwich Tern 1
Black-headed Gull 300+

Spiros Beach
Kentish Plover 11
Dunlin 9
Little Stint 4

Black-crowned Night Heron juvenile, Larnaca Salt Lake 30th November 2019 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours

Black-crowned Night Heron juvenile, Larnaca Salt Lake 30th November 2019 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours


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Larnaca area this morning 9th November.

Good morning out around Larnaca in the sunshine. Not a great variety of birds but already good numbers of ducks and flamingos around plus a few more unusual species.

Spiros Pool
Eurasian Golden Plover 18

Larnaca Sewage Works
Common Teal c500
Northern Shoveler 300+
Black-necked Grebe 1
Great Crested Grebe 3
Northern Pintail 1
Armenian Gull 12
Common Shelduck 1
Spur-winged Lapwing 2

Larnaca Salt Lake
Greater Flamingo 1200+
Common Crane 1

Kamares, Larnaca
Bluethroat 1 (see photo)
Black Redstart 1
Eurasian Penduline Tit 1h
Common Kingfisher 1
Common Redshank 1
Green Sandpiper 1
Common Snipe 2
Spur-winged Lapwing 3
Water Pipit 1
Eurasian Sparrowhawk 1 over being mobbed by Jackdaws
Little Egret 2

Panagia Stazousa/Pyrga
Long-legged Buzzard 1
European Serin 30+
Cyprus Warbler 2
Woodlark 7 (see photo)
Eurasian Blackbird 1

Bluethroat, Larnaca 9th November 2019 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours

Bluethroat, Larnaca 9th November 2019 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours

Woodlark, Pyrga 9th November 2019 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours

Woodlark, Pyrga 9th November 2019 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours


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Phasouri Reed-beds (Akrotiri Marsh) this morning 4th November 2019

Although at first it didn’t look very promising at Phasouri this morning, things picked up slowly and I managed to get a good list together including a nice surprise in the shape of a juvenile Lesser Spotted Eagle (see cropped record shot). Other birds seen include:

Eurasian Sparrowhawk 1
Common Crane 1 flew down behind reeds
Jack Snipe 1 in flight
Common Snipe 3
Western Marsh Harrier 2
Common Starling c40
Water Pipit 13
Black Redstart 1
Spur-winged Lapwing 10
Great White Egret 2
Western Water Rail 1h
Red-throated Pipit 1+h
Northern Lapwing 9

Lesser Spotted Eagle, Phasouri 4th November 2019 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours

Lesser Spotted Eagle, Phasouri 4th November 2019 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours