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Cyprus Weekly
Birding Highlights for the Week Ending 2 Jun
Jay at The Persephone Trail – Troodos on 29 May.
* indicates that a photo of the species is included please visit Flickr site to view or click on the link.
Monday and a bank holiday continuing in the North with a shave and a great lunch before heading home. On Tuesday morning I visited the Larnaca area. With the lake drying out quickly the Greater Flamingos have departed and passage waders appear to have all but passed through. Breeding Black-winged Stilts and Spur-winged Plovers were much in evidence with the latter having 4 chicks present. A pair of Black-headed Yellow Wagtails (feldegg) appear to be breeding and a pair of Purple Herons flushed from the reeds. A little further out on the salt lake on an island, a pair of Little Terns were present and are likely to breed. As I was departing 5 Ruff flew in and as I was reaching the car, I noticed 2 small blue butterflies which turned out to be Small Desert Blues*, hardly surprising given the profusion of the host plant present – a new butterfly for me.
I drove to the Larnaca Sewage Works area where the usual breeding waders, Little Grebes, Mallards and Coots were present. 4 Little Terns flew out to see and a pair of lingering Northern Shovellers were a good month tick. A little further along which was of a bit more interest were a pair of Curlew Sandpipers on Spiro’s Pool along with a Kentish Plover and 5 Little Terns. On the buoys offshore 6 Shags were sat. After a bit of shopping we went home via Akhna Dam where 16 (a good count) Little Egrets were seen. Also present was a Roller, a Squacco Heron, a couple of Fan-tailed Warblers and an Eastern Olivaceous Warbler. I proceeded to the other side of the dam to conduct the Dragonfly survey.
On Wednesday, it was necessary for me to travel to Troodos for an overnight stay to conduct some Troop Commander duties. It did allow me a little time to go for a walk in the afternoon around the nearby Persephone Trail. Always a good place to see the mountain specialities, I was very successful. Jays were obvious along with the usual suspects and I managed to get a month tick with 2 calling, flyover Crossbills. Of the summer breeders, a pair of Masked Shrikes and a Hoopoe was seen as was a couple of Cyprus Wheatears. Very interesting was a Scops Owl calling at 1530, although it remained well hidden. Also of interest were some new orchids. With the season being a long one in Cyprus, although the lowland species have now finished the mountain species show from May to August. With this in mind I saw 3 new species, 2 in full flower and 1 in bud. Violet Limodore* (Limodorum arbortivum) was quite stunning although Lesser Butterfly Orchid* (Platanthera holmboei - the same one as in the UK) was not so impressive. A rarer species the Dense-flowered Helliborine (Epipactis condensata) was also present but not yet in flower. There was another present which I photographed but I am currently unsure of its ID – it could be one of two, so knowing where it is, I’ll wait for it to develop in the next 6 weeks. I returned home the next day and finished last week’s blog which was long overdue, before flaking on the settee in the heat (there’s nothing else for it during the summer afternoons).
On Friday afternoon with the cleaner arriving at lunchtime, we decided to get out of the house; so to Cape Greco, some birding and a Cyprus Special sandwich – what better combination to kick the weekend off. In any event the birding was a bit dull with only a Turtle Dove being present but the sandwich was a joy as usual. A stop at Sotira on the return journey was a little more rewarding with 3 Purple Herons and 2 Grey Herons flying from the reeds.
Saturday and June already. I visited Akhna Dam noting nesting Swallows in the village and a couple of flyover Rollers along with the commoner species required to kick start the month list. Akhna Dam held 3 Rollers, a good number of Little Egrets still with 15 being on view along with at least 4 Squacco Herons. At least 5 Eastern Olivaceous Warblers were singing with 2 being seen and Fan-tailed Warblers (Zitting Cisticolas) were very vocal as they bounced around in front of me. In the North in the afternoon at Gulserin Pond a lone Greater Flamingo was my first ever June tick for the species and at least 10 Glossy Ibises were feeding. Of most interest was a pair of Slender-billed Gulls that looked like they could be attempting to breed. The Black-winged Stilts and Spur-winged Plovers all had chicks at the remaining Famagusta wetland sites and a couple of Squacco Herons were at Fresh Water Lakes North and South. At the South lake at least 10 Glossy Ibis chicks were seen but were outnumbered by the throng of Cattle Egret juveniles. The heaving mass of Common Swifts continue above the quarters every evening at Ay Nik which is quite a spectacle as they nearly part your hair in the garden.
On Sunday and forced to go to Mr Pound in the North (it should actually be called Mr 4 Turkish Lira), to benefit from the “too good to miss” lady’s sandals extravaganza, having finished we headed to Koprulu Dam. From my usual spot I couldn’t see much of interest, so I drove around to the East of the dam and climbed up on the banks of the dam. Immediately I saw 3 adult Spoonbills, and eventually 3 female Red-crested Pochards, 3 drake Ferruginous Ducks, a Squacco Heron and a Reed Warbler. I returned home to watch the cricket and was mightily depressed as England were thrashed by New Zealand – not a good way to end the week.
Highlight of the Week: Not much about except for resident breeders.
Other Interesting Finds: 2 Small Desert Blue butterflies at Larnaca Salt Lake and a couple of new Orchids in the Troodos area.
Look Forward: A quiet week to look forward to so I may be able to get out a bit more.
If you are planning a visit or require more info please feel free to contact me at: birder639@yahoo.com
Mark Easterbrook
CommentsAOS Eastern Germany Trip
Last day birding and still no Middle-spotted Woodpecker that we can confirm. Our last stop was by a mature wood and even though there was evidence of woodpecker activity we dipped! The consolation prize was Wood Warbler and Icterine Warbler so it was not too disappointing. We also added Pheasant to the list and after all our checks we had 122 birds for the trip. Our star bird was the Great Reed Warbler in the quarry that was in full voice in the open, completely obvious to our presence. We were in the Drömling for a few hours birding with a White Stork nest metres from the path. Various warblers sang and a Golden Oriole was heard, as one was every day if not seen. A Crane took off from a field and a pair of Marsh Harriers patrolled another. After a couple of hours we headed for Hannover Airport and a wait for our flights. An excellent trip and our thanks to Andrew Rose for organising the trip.
CommentsAOS Eastern Germany Trip
Our last full day in eastern Germany and we started on an old military training area complete with observation posts and a concrete map of the area. If one can become blasé about Hawfinches, this morning was the day! They were the most common species and were everywhere. The second most common bird was Woodlark though we did manage to find a Great Grey Shrike and Hoopoe as well as a female Cirl Bunting. The cloud was low as we walked amongst the new wind turbines but there were plenty of birds on show. We then headed for Belziger where grass fields were the order of the day. Quail called and there were plenty of Skylarks and raptors including an Osprey and a large adult White-tailed Eagle. We found Corn Bunting, Whinchats and Skylarks amongst the grass and Oil-seed rape field. Our target species was seen as it landed and disappeared in the grass but later a full female was seen in the open before walking into the long grass. The Great Bustard is a magnificent bird and easily out-clipped the Cranes that were present. This was a target rich environment but we still had one site to visit before heading west. Our next stop was on the Elbe and soon after crossing the river on a ferry we reached an ox-bow lake where birds were seen in their multitude. It was an excellent site with Garganey and Common Tern however, the stars were the Black Terns including two on their nests. We then headed west, whilst it rained, to Wolsburg to find a hotel. We had a change of plan and decided not to stay a 2nd night in the “collective” as we could spend a few hours in the Drömling area before heading to the airport. A very large meal and a few beers in our new hotel near Wolfsburg rounded off an excellent few days birding with a species list of 118.
CommentsAOS Eastern Germany Trip
An excellent day with Marsh Fritillary, Brimstone, Orangetip, Gizzled Skipper and Small Blue plus a host of others and we even managed a few birds taking our total to 102. Our first stop was at Wulfener Bruch where we spent all morning. This was another wet meadow area with some lakes. Our first bird was Grasshopper Warbler with 4 calling by the stop. During the walk Wryneck and Savi’s Warbler were added and Golden Oriole flew by on a few occasions. At a lake there was a nice viewpoint where we saw a range of ducks including Red-crested Pochard. At another lake a Whiskered Tern flew around with the Swifts. During our visit we met two wardens, Jacob and Andreas, who looked after all the reserves in the area and informed us about another place not in our guide book. After lunch at “the Golden Arches”, where Serin serenaded us, we parked by an old military training area, Oranienbaumer Heide. There are still signs of old tank training and ammunition storage. The area is huge and we managed only a small part in the north. We added Bullfinch, Crossbill and the star of the day a Great Grey shrike. Dark clouds gathered and driving north on the autobahn we could see the wall of water approaching. We drove through a major storm to our new hotel by the “tractor factory”. It then continued raining as we tucked into asparagus soup and various meats; we were close to the asparagus centre in eastern Germany.
CommentsAOS Eastern Germany Trip
The internet in our hotel tonight is giving me cause to despair unlike our birding today. We woke to the sound of rushing water which was the stream rather than rain. Our first stop was at some fish ponds where we were not welcome, as soon as we appeared the wardens arrived. Fortunately we could do most of the watching from the road. It was a succesful visit as Bittern boomed and Swifts and House Martins flew around. Red and Black Kites flew over our heads. There were several species of ducks and various warblers sang. A Blue-headed Wagtail and a Stonechat perched up high for us. Our next stop was at the local village where we walked along a track down towards a marsh by a reservoir. On one side of the track a Peregrine was tucking in to a unlucky bird and on the other side Kestrels patrolled the grass fields and Kites soared above the ridge. An Osprey sat in a dead tree at the marsh. We then travelled back into the Harz for a walk in the woods where birding was by sound rather than sight. Amongst the birds added were Black Woodpecker and Nuthatch. Our next stop was further to the east and whilst we drove there was some rain but it did stop for our visit to an Imbiss. At the quarry we found a Little-ringed Plover and then a pair of our target birds, Bee-eaters, that sat on the hedgeline providing excellent views. The omens were good as the noisy Great Reed Warbler was found singing from the top of a bush. A pair of Marsh Harriers showed us how to pass prey effortlessly. We also added Wheatear and Sand Martin to our list. Our next and final stop was by the River Elbe where we walked through woods and fields to get to the river. The highlight of our walk (or was it a trek?) was a juvenile White-tailed Eagle. A Barred Warbler sang from deep in a bush and a fleeting glimpse of a probable Middle-spotted Woodpecker set our expectations for tomorrow. Our list for the trip stood at 92 species when we called it a day and headed to our hotel. Takeaway pizza and a few beers was a fitting end to the day.
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