Army Ornithological SocietyCyprus Weekly - Final Edition
The Final Curtain
After 3 years and about 160 BLOGs, this is the final curtain. I’ve been struggling to find time to write the BLOG in the last couple of weeks and with it being June (the worst month for birding in Cyprus), I’ve also struggled for material, and so all in all, it’s probably time to call it a day, as I depart the island on 11 Jul and am on a Mediterranean cruise next week.
During my time on the island, I’ve submitted circa 35000 records detailing 305 species and managed to photograph many of them. My Cyprus list stood at 263 when I arrived and is now at a very respectable 320. 4 lifers were seen on the Island; Saker, River Warbler, Asian Buff-belled Pipit and Crimson-winged Finch, with an additional 2 being seen in Turkey – Brown Fish Owl and Red-fronted Serin. I’ve submitted rarity reports and supporting evidence for 37 rarity occurrences and so far, with a few pending, all have been accepted, including a few “MEGAs” like the 2nd record of Menetries’ Warbler, 5th record of Goosander, 14th record of River Warbler and recently the 1st record of Lesser Flamingo.
Despite the fact that writing the BLOG every week was a bit painful at times, on the whole, I’ve really enjoyed doing it and providing information to visitors. During my last 3 years and as a result of writing the BLOG, I’ve guided, assisted or provided information to in excess of 50 visiting birders and at a fraction of the price that they might have been charged elsewhere – so I’m very pleased about that!
The 2 tours I organised for the Army Ornithological Society – 1 in the Spring and 1 in the Winter of 2014 were very successful with lots of new birds for all those participating. The best moments; finding a male Hooded Wheatear at Cape Greco on the final day of the Spring tour and getting a Wallcreeper for Tim Cowley in Avgas George on the Winter tour.
In many ways, I have mixed emotions about leaving Cyprus. Of course I’ll miss the birding with Rollers, Beeaters and Spur-winged Plovers to name but a few in my back yard but there are also reasons why I’ll be glad to depart. Sadly, despite the country being full of potential for birders the mass slaughter of millions of birds through netting, liming and shooting continues unabated and if anything, it’s got a lot worse during the last 3 years. Europe, The Cypriot Government, Birdlife Cyprus and the SBA Police seem unwilling or unable to take any real, meaningful action to address and defeat this disgusting, cruel and barbaric practice. Lobbying and campaigning are all very well but it doesn’t save any birds without practical intervention on the ground.
I do not discriminate between the political boundaries of the country or Birdlife Cyprus and KUSKOR as birds do not adhere to political boundaries and more needs to be done to produce a set of records that represents occurrences across the island if any meaningful data is ever to be collated. How it can be described as Birdlife Cyprus that doesn’t represent the Island holistically is beyond me.
Not to end on a low, a big thank you to all the friends I’ve met in Cyprus and visitors who’ve assisted me, joined me in the field and shared bird sightings, which have all added to a fantastic birding experience. Special thanks to the kindred spirit and long standing friend Colin Richardson.
Finally, a thank you to all the BLOG readers (I really have no idea how many), who have followed the exploits of a manic birder and twitcher. I hope you’ve all enjoyed the read and found some useful information on the Birds, Orchids, Butterflies and Dragonflies of the country as a result.
Many thanks and perhaps I’ll see you all around the course.
Yours Aye
Mark Easterbrook - The Bird Finder General - “It’s All About The List”!
Roger Dickey | 22nd Jun 2015 01:16 PM
It has been a great read and we’ve all shared in your enthusiasm Mark. A huge thanks from us all. A gap that can’t be filled!
mark wilde | 27th Jun 2015 01:28 PM
Thanks for the blog have enjoyed reading it sorry we never got to meet up , good luck and good birding wherever you go