A lovely sunny day around Limassol visiting Germasogeia, the Akrotiri sites and Curium. Highlight was finally catching up with
one of the Booted Eagles that is around Phasouri at the moment. Also good to see a newly arrived Great Spotted Cuckoo at Akrotiri Gravel Pits and six Eurasian Crag Martin at Germasogeia.
List of interesting sightings:
Germasogeia Dam
Eurasian Crag Martin 6
Common Sandpiper 2
Western Marsh Harrier 1
European Serin 60+
Lady’s Mile
Slender-billed Gull 2 (see photo of immature)
Armenian Gull 20+
Caspian Gull 1
Zakaki Marsh
Eurasian Penduline Tit 2
Akrotiri Marsh (Phasouri Reed-beds)
Booted Eagle 1 dark morph to north of area being mobbed by Hooded Crows
Common Buzzard 3
Western Marsh Harrier 2
Great White Egret 3
Water Pipit 1
Western Water Rail 1h
Hawfinch 2+ (One seen and 1+ h)
Common Snipe 40
Woodlark 7
Eurasian Blackbird 1m
Cattle Egret 4 (see photo)
Akrotiri Gravel Pits
Great Spotted Cuckoo 1
Sandwich Tern 1 along coast
Common Buzzard 1
Meadow Pipit 50+
Kourio Stadium
Cyprus Warbler 2m
Cattle Egret, Phasouri, 21st January 2020 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
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).
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
Spent the morning at Germasogeia Dam where I found at least three Bluethroat which were great to watch although not keen to have their photo taken! A trip around the Akrotiri sites later produced three more Bluethroats, a couple of Common Kingfisher, a large flock of Dunlin and Little Stint, three Temminck’s Stint, some Water Pipit and Woodlark, a Hen Harrier and several Western Marsh Harrier, three Water Rail and at least two Eurasian Penduline Tit.
Photo of a juv Slender-billed Gull with a Black-headed Gull behind taken at Lady’s Mile.
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
Another disappointing waterbird count in the Larnaca area this morning. Best birds were three Common Pochard, four Common Snipe (see photo) and the long-staying Mediterranean Gull.
Other birds seen:
Meneou Pool
Little Stint 1
Kentish Plover 2
Larnaca Sewage Works
Grey Heron 3
Common Coot 5
Mallard 122
Common Teal 51
Northern Shoveler 4
Spur-winged Lapwing 6
Common Pochard 2m and 1f
Great Cormorant 7
Western Marsh Harrier 1
Northern Pintail 2f
Common Shelduck 1
Red-throated Pipit 1h
Common Redshank 1h
Red-backed Shrike 1 juv
Common Whitethroat 1
Plenty of the usual wintering ducks around – Northern Shoveler, Common Teal for example. Interesting birds seen during the count included: Greater White-fronted Goose (see photo), Black-necked Grebe, Ferruginous Duck, Tufted Duck, Northern Pintail, Eurasian Wigeon, Common Redshank (see photo), young Baltic Gull and Slender-billed Gull, adult Citrine Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Water Pipit, Bluethroat (see photo), Common Snipe, Northern Lapwing, Spur-winged Lapwing, Water Rail, Reed Bunting and a feeding male Penduline Tit (see photo).
A morning’s birding with Anthony and Sarah around Akrotiri hoping to see a good variety of species. We started at Zakaki Marsh where many Grey Heron were flying down to feed behind the reeds. A juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron flew up from in front of the hide as we arrived and although we could hear many more we only got good views of one adult as it flew over the area. A Squacco Heron also flew across and a female Western Marsh Harrier quartered the reeds before swooping into the reeds where it presumably caught prey. An adult Water Rail was feeding in front of the hide and several Eurasian Reed Warbler were flitting in the reeds. Anthony and Sarah were especially pleased to see the Common Kingfisher that perched on a reed in front of the hide for several minutes.
Moving to the eastern edge of the Salt Lake we found an Isabelline Wheatear, a Lesser Grey Shrike and a female and a male Red-backed Shrike. An adult and a juvenile European Roller sat on the wires along Lady’s Mile and were very obliging. The Salt Lake itself had very little water but we spent some time watching the dozen or so Eleonora’s Falcon that were resting on the Salt flats and drinking and bathing in the water from the run off – a great spectacle.
There were several Kentish Plover feeding on Lady’s Mile itself as well as a couple of Little Stint and Dunlin which we saw as we drove to Bishop’s Pool. The first birds we saw there were a couple of Ferruginous Duck and then three Glossy Ibis feeding at the back of the pool. Two Black-winged Stilt were also there as were four Green Sandpiper and a Wood Sandpiper. A couple of Little Egret were feeding around the edge and some Northern Shoveler were resting in with the resident Mallard and Little Grebe. A couple of European Turtle Dove flew over. We could have spent longer there to be honest but we moved on the Akrotiri Gravel Pits adding Red-rumped Swallow and Sand Martin to the morning’s list as we went.
We had another Lesser Grey Shrike in the church yard as well as an Olivaceous Warbler, two Spotted Flycatcher and another two Isabelline Wheatear. It was now getting warmer and the birds were quieter although we did find a Common Greenshank and a Kentish Plover as we went through the area to our last stop at Phasouri Reed-beds. We heard and then saw a Yellow Wagtail and our last new bird of the morning was a Whinchat sitting on a fence. A good morning’s birding at the start of autumn migration although we were disappointed not to see any large raptors.
Total number of species – 45
Ferruginous Duck, Northern Shoveler, Mallard, Little Grebe, Greater Flamingo, Rock Dove, Common Woodpigeon, European Turtle Dove, Eurasian Collared Dove, Common Swift, Western Water Rail, Common Moorhen, Common Coot, Glossy Ibis, Black-crowned Night Heron, Squacco Heron, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Black-winged Stilt, Kentish Plover, Dunlin, Little Stint, Green Sandpiper, Common Greenshank, Wood Sandpiper, Yellow-legged Gull, Western Marsh Harrier, European Roller, Common Kingfisher, Common Kestrel, Eleonora’s Falcon, Red-backed Shrike, Lesser Grey Shrike, Hooded Crow, Great Tit, Crested Lark, Olivaceous Warbler, Eurasian Reed Warbler, Red-rumped Swallow, Sand Martin, Spotted Flycatcher, Whinchat, Isabelline Wheatear, House Sparrow, Western Yellow Wagtail.
Red-backed Shrike, Akrotiri Salt Lake, 5th September 2017 (c) Cyprus Birding Tours
Cyprus Birding Tours 