Army Ornithological SocietyCyprus Weekly
Birding Highlights for the Week Ending 3 Feb
Chaffinch at Troodos Village 30 Jan.
* indicates that a photo of the species is included please visit Flickr site to view.
A quick look at Akhna Dam on Monday was very productive. I finally connected with a pair of Penduline Tits which were in the only remaining suitable habitat. The dam is now completely flooded to excess which has killed all of the reed beds. Also present were 3 Reed Buntings – only seen singly until now, 3 Bluethroats, 2 of which were of the White-spotted (cyanecula) form, the other being Red-spotted (sveica). Good numbers of Meadow Pipits and Corn Buntings were also around and a Common Buzzard flew overhead. 2 Chiffchaffs were singing and a Spectacled Warbler performed display flight – Spring seems to be in the air, but with rain forecast for the week, how long will it last?
Rain stopped play on Monday afternoon and with Deb having some major dentistry carried out – que the faithful husband, caring and sharing. Anyway, some very positive news. Through Roger Dickey, the AOS Website and the BLOG, I was contacted by the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS), an organisation proactively doing something about poaching, hunting and other forms of bird persecution. You can read about their exploits and organisation on their web page: http://www.komitee.de/en/homepage . Incidentally, this is the same organisation that Josh Marshall wrote about in the recent Adjutant. I will be actively contributing whilst in Cyprus in whatever way I can with a view to taking part in future expeditions. Their work is carried out not only in Cyprus but also in Sardinia, Italy, Spain and France by volunteers who regularly experience considerable personal danger in trying to protect the things that we all love. A really worthwhile organisation that can only carry out its work that will ultimately save tens of thousands of birds, through charitable contributions. If anybody feels so inclined and wishes to contribute to this great work please read their web page where you will find the following link: http://www.komitee.de/en/donations/membership.
On Tuesday afternoon not much time was available for birding but as we were heading to the north, I managed a couple of sites. At Silver Beach, 19 Curlews was impressive with 4 Golden Plovers and 5 Lapwings. As I moved to the Clapsides Beach area, 2 Kingfishers chased each other, 2 Grey Plovers rested on the rocks and a couple of Kentish Plovers, Redshanks and Spur-winged Plovers fed actively. I ended up at Gulserin Marsh where 3 relatively scarce gulls were present; a 1st Winter Little, adult Slender-billed and 1st Winter Common all rested on the water with 5 Black-winged Stilts and 4 Spur-winged Plovers along the muddy fringes. A Chiffchaff caught flies in the reeds and I flushed a Water Pipit. So onward to Famagusta to waste some daylight shopping!
On Wednesday, I had to head up to Troodos to carry out some MS activities as part of my Troop Commander duties which allowed me a little time to have a look around. The snow was falling heavily so not much birding or indeed birds about. However, I did manage to photograph a male Chaffinch* in the snow with 6 House Sparrows. 2 Great Tit and 3 Coal Tit was seen and a chip-chip call of a Crossbill gave itself away sat high in a Black Pine sheltering from the snow – 121 for the month and year.
I returned to Ay Nik on Thursday morning but not before an interesting drive down the mountain in 8 inches of snow. Shopping in the afternoon put paid to any birding, which was a bit of a disappointment. On Friday with my first batch of visitors for the year arriving in the early evening, plenty of prep was necessary. However, I still managed to fit a bit of birding in over the North. Gulserin Pond held 3 Black-winged Stilts, a Heuglin's Gull, 3 Armenian Gulls and an Audouin's Gull. The highlight at the Fresh Water Lake was a Grey Wagtail.
On Saturday we attended my first KUSKOR field trip in the north. Being met in Famagusta we headed off to many seldom visited wetlands and ponds in the north. Despite many of the areas being dry, an impressive 8 Calandra Larks with 2 in display flight was pleasing at Akova. Whilst at a lake in the southern foothills of the Kyrenian Mountains, a male Finsch's Wheatear was very smart and with females being mainly in the south this winter it was a good sighting. Later at Clapsides Beach 4 Audouin's Gulls was a good count but 13 Stone Curlews on the beach was a strange sight. 4 Sandwich Terns with the gulls was the highest count yet. The immature White Pelican was back at Fresh Water Lake but 657 Cattle Egrets and 5000+ Starlings coming to roost was quite a spectacle.
Sunday had arrived and an earlyish start saw us heading west toward Paphos via Limassol, Lady’s Mile and the south side of the salt lake. A Water Pipit was out in the open at Akrotwri Salt Lake but no waders were present. A pair of Shelduck on the lake were set against a backdrop of a huge amount of Greater Flamingos - at least 8000. In excess of 200 Grey Heron was also noteable. At Bishop's Pool we bagged the White-throated Kingfisher, with 5 beautiful Ferruginous Ducks and 3 Common Pochards also being present. Bitterns at Phasouri Reed Beds provided a dip once more but I did photograph a Cattle Egret* doing what Cattle Egrets do. We did stop at a well known Orchid site at Akrotiri and this didn't disappoint with at least 5 species being out early. At Episkopi as we drove towards Paphos a single Peregrine Falcon soared high above us. Before arriving at the hotel we made a quick detour to Armou village as Colin Richardson had tipped us off that a number of Hawfinches* were in the area. As it was we saw one atop a tree. We retired to the hotel for a well earned beer. The trip list was off to a good start. Did I mention one of my visitors is a very keen birder - or did I need to?
For pictures of birds with a * please click on the following Flickr links:
- Hawfinch at Armou.
- Cattle Egret at Phasouri Reed Beds.
- Finsch's Wheatear at Gecitkale Dam.
- Pintail at Oroklini Marsh.
Highlight of the Week: Two Penduline Tits were a good find at Akhna Dam, although they’ve been reported all month on and off, I’ve found it difficult to connect with them.
Other Interesting Finds: 5 species of Orchid at Akrotiri Salt Lake: Green-winged Orchid - Orchis syriaca, Ophrys elegans, Carmel Orchid - Ophrys flavomarginata, Yellow Ophrys - Ophrys serica & Ophrys levantina, a Tree Frog was also present.
Look Forward: With a couple of days in Paphos, a trip to the North and birding at Cape Greco and Akhna Dam, the coming week could be very productive especially if the recent warm weather brings in some early migrants.
If you are planning a visit or require more info please feel free to contact me at: birder639@yahoo.com
Mark Easterbrook
Terry Clarke | 7th Feb 2013 04:36 PM
I sent you an email regarding these excellent blogs to the birder639 address but not sure if you got it or not.