Army Ornithological SocietyCyprus Weekly
Birding Highlights for the Week Ending 31 Mar
Woodchat Shrike at Ayia Napa Sewage Works 29 Mar
* indicates that a photo of the species is included please visit Flickr site to view http://www.flickr.com/photos/birder639/sets.
Now that it’s light enough it allows me a couple of hours birding after work on a Monday. So this Monday it was a visit to Paralimni Lake, where numerous waders are now passing through including, Marsh, Wood and Green Sandpipers along with Redshanks, Greenshanks, Black-winged Stilts, Kentish Plovers and Black-winged Stilts. 3 Great and 5 Little Egrets with a couple of Grey Herons and the usual Cattle Egrets added to the numbers but a Curlew was a surprise. As I moved closer to the reed beds, my first Great Reed Warbler, a Sedge Warbler and a Little Crake were seen and on Sotira Pond at least 18 Garganeys.
On Tuesday I headed for the Cape Greco area which was pretty quiet, except for a couple of Hoopoes, Isabelline Wheatears and at least 2 singing male Cyprus Warblers. Under the army camp at least 2 Cyprus Wheatears are now holding territory. At Ayia Napa Sewage Works it sounded pretty quiet although after a walk around the trees at least 5 Tree Pipits and a Eastern Bonelli’s Warbler called and was fly catching. A male Masked Shrike was good to see and silvia warblers were much in evidence with Lesser Whitethroats, Spectacled and Blackcaps being present. A male Marsh Harrier drifted overhead and 2 Green Sandpipers were on the lagoons as I left. Good numbers of Vagrant Emperors* are still present.
I returned via Paralimini Lake which is now looking like a fantastic site and so it proved to be. A good hour was spent at the site which provided views of 24 Marsh Sandpipers, at least 1200 Ruff, along with Wood and Green Sandpiperes. Numbers of Black-winged Stilts and Spur-winged Plovers are building and a lone Greenshank was also present. An unseasonal Turnstone amongst the many Kentish Plovers was a surprise and patient scanning of the reeds gave views of Sedge Warblers, Lesser Whitethroats, a Cetti’s Warbler and a nice male Little Crake. Some nearby shooting flushed 5 Garganeys and considering 18 were present yesterday, one can guess the fate of the others. I flushed a Purple Heron – the first this year for me and 6 Great Whites and 5 Little Egrets with 4 Cattle Egrets completed the heron bonanza.
Wednesday and a Silver Lunch in the Mess – ‘nuff said! You all know the routine by now. I had a day off on Thursday and once I had managed to surface, I headed off to North and there wasn’t much to shout about. 2 juveniles stood in the sea was a strange sight at Clapsides Beach and at Fresh Water Lake South a Glossy Ibis was in the Cattle Egret breeding colony and a late Heuglin’s Gull was a good record. I also managed to find a migrating 1w Little Gull but then returned home – still with a headache.
Good Friday and off to Cape Greco – migrant hunting stopping on route at Paralimni Lake. A good decision as I found a female Rock Thrush eating insects, a flock of 31 Greater Short-toed Larks were also present. On to Cape Greco and a few migrants were about, the pick being a couple of Cretszchmar’s Buntings and a beautiful male Pallid Harrier – in off the sea. It was obviously Tree Pipit day with numerous birds flying over calling. At Ayia Napa Sewage Works, I photographed a male Ortolan Bunting* and saw couple of Masked Shrikes and a Woodchat Shrike*. I left and saw probably my last Black Redstart of the season. At Paralimni Lake on the way home, no birds to speak of but the colony (the largest in Europe) of Dark Spreadwings* had started to emerge with at least 12 being present. An adult Armenian Gull at Larnaca Sewage Works was a late record as were a couple of 1w Caspians and an adult Baltic Gull. Stopping at Oroklini Marsh on the way home gave views of 2 pairs of Red-crested Pochards, 3 Spotted Redsanks and a couple of female Little Crakes fed in the open. At Dolphin rocks, 2 Med Gulls and at least 80 Slender-billed Gulls were present with the now dwindling flocks of Black-headed Gulls.
On Saturday, I visited Clapsides Beach where 7 Audouin’s Gulls loafed with a Sandwich Tern and a single Grey Plover, which was a good late record. At Fresh Water Lake South the Little Gull was still present with 5 Slender-billed Gulls, resplendent in pink breeding plumage. I visited Paralimni lake at the end of the day to see a female Little Crake and a male Spotted Crake. As I scanned the Yellow Wagtails, the majority being Black-headed, I first saw a Water Pipit and then a Grey-headed Yellow Wagtail (thunbergi).
On Easter Sunday another early morning visit to Cape Greco paid dividends with my first Pied Flycatcher of the year. I had arranged to meet 2 visiting birders who are doing survey work for BirdLife Cyprus, good company and very talented birders. Later at the Ayia Napa Sewage Works, a male Eastern Orphean Warbler, a Ruppel’s Warbler, several Lesser Whitethroats, a Tawny Pipit and 3 species of Wheatear with a male Masked Shrike also showing well. As we walked around, the Dutch birder and the German birder I was with (exceptional young birders), pointed out an Orchid – I looked at it and realised it was a new one for me. When I analysed the photos at home, it was a Bornmueller’s Ophrys (Ophrys bornmuellrii), only right that they found it with a name like that. As I left, 2 Red-rumped Swallows did a flyby. On the track to Ayia Napa Football Pitches, I stopped to photograph a butterfly that caught my attention and indeed it turned out to be a new species for me in the form of an Eastern Dappled White* At the football pitches, another Masked Shrike (female) and a male Black Francolin. A detour to Ayia Thekla provided views of probably the last remaining wintering Greater Sand Plover (columbinus). I stopped at Paralimni Lake as usual and there 3 Black-eared Wheatears, a Northern and a Cyprus gave great views. The Spotted Crake and Little Crake showed once more, this time a male and on the flats 3 Greater Sand Plovers in superb breeding plumage of the race crassirostris. Obviously migrants as the wintering race are colombinus with much smaller bills. We saw the Cyprus endemic Cyprus Grass Snake swimming in Sotira Pond and one of the birders I was with caught a Black Whip Snake* which I of course had my picture taken with. A female Ortolan Bunting rounded off a good day.
For pictures of birds with a * please click on the following Flickr links:
- Ortolan Bunting at Ayia Napa Sewage Works.
- Common Buzzard at Cape Greco.
- Tree Pipit at Ayia Napa Sewage Works.
- Lesser Whitethroat at Ayia Napa Sewage Works.
- Reed Warbler at Larnaca Salt Lake North.
Highlight of the Week: Nothing in particular but some good year ticks although migration remains slow, a mixed number of species is passing but not in volume.
Other Interesting Finds: The Eastern Dappled White butterfly, another new orchid with the total now on 27 species. The emergence of the Dark Spreadwing colony at Sotira Pond and of course the Black Whip Snake were all notable experiences.
Look Forward: More of the same with additional migrating species hopefully – and of course my birthday on the 2nd.
If you are planning a visit or require more info please feel free to contact me at: birder639@yahoo.com
Mark Easterbrook
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