Army Ornithological SocietyCyprus Weekly
Birding Highlights for the Week Ending 20 Oct
Terek Sandpiper at Oroklini Marsh on 18 Oct
* indicates that a photo of the species is included please visit Flickr site to view or click on the link.
After a long day at work I decided to unwind and visit Akhna Dam for a few hours – not an unusual occurrence in itself. When I arrived, I was immediately greeted by 2 large dark shapes in the open near to the tamarisk bushes and on the dried out mud. I raised my bins and bingo – 2 Black Storks*; an adult and an immature, a year and site tick. This kicked off a splurge of photographs and an hour and a half’s worth of quality birding. I worked my way around the site finding the Spoonbill with the broken leg once more amongst a group of Little Egrets. 2 Greenshanks called as they flushed from the water’s edge and 4 Lapwings also alighted. A lone female Redstart caught flies and returned to a nearby perch and a single Squacco Heron flushed from the reeds. I made my way around to the mouth of the southern arm where the reed bed has been fairly productive recently. It is clear that Bluethroats have arrived in good numbers, with one being of the svecica – Red Spotted form and a Sedge Warbler is still hanging on. As I walked amongst the mud in the reeds I sensed a movement down to my right and an adult Spotted Crake made its way along the reeds. Try as I might the camera’s auto focussed failed me on this occasion as I continually focussed on the reeds in front of the bird, a good bird nonetheless! A flurry of activity saw a Common Starling flushing from the reeds, 2 Whiskered Terns came in over the dam feeding actively and 3 Cormorants flew over heading south east. Above me a heaving mass of c600 Swallows were feeding which contained 1 House Martin that I could pick out.
As I was leaving the area, my attention was caught by a Cetti’s Warbler type call that wasn’t quite right. I moved around to an area where I could see the front of the reed bed and watched the water’s edge. I firstly caught a movement and then a glimpse of a bird walking slowly amongst the tamarisk roots and broken reeds. I noticed it had fairly obvious pink legs and was plain on the back, with a large rounded tail. It was lost to view but then about 5 minutes later it flew from the reed bed to another and continued to walk around. Having seen it in flight with it’s brown plumage with rufous tones and noted its behaviour which I remembered seeing many years ago at Akhna Dam, I was fairly certain of what I was looking at. I found the bird once more in amongst the reeds crawling around, noted its lightly streaked sides of the breast, plain off white underparts and supercillium extending behind the eye and for sure it was my first Savi’s Warbler of the tour. Having found a River Warbler in August, there was little difficulty in recalling the differences. A great bird seen more in the spring than the autumn and often caught by ringers, sight records are not as common. The secret to Akhna Dam is to work the area thoroughly and I tend to stick to 2 or 3 defined areas of habitat. There must be many birds that pass through unnoticed due to the size of the site but my system and strategy has produced some good birds to date. At Avgorou on the way home, a Stonechat flew in front of the car and a Red-back Shrike sat atop its lookout post. What a great start to the week!
As I was eating my breakfast, I heard the call of a European Beeater to find a relatively late group of 21 over the house – a good way to start a Tuesday. We visited the north to book a restaurant for tomorrow evening and I stopped at the Fresh Water Lake South, where a Great White Egret, a couple of Black-winged Stilts, a Spotted Redshank and Common Redshank were present with c50 Spur-winged Plovers. I headed to Akhna Dam and many of the same species were present including the 2 Black Storks, Savi’s Warbler and 2 Spotted Crakes*, that performed a little more openly than the previous evening. A Dunlin and Curlew Sandpiper were seen and a Greenshank heard as a Hobby flew through the site. 3 Bluethroats* were noted with one posing in the open as the light faded. A couple of Robins were heard and c120 White Wagtails flew to roost.
A quick jolly to Oroklini Marsh on Thursday afternoon confirmed that the Terek Sandpiper was still present, although remained impossible to photograph. It consorts with Redshanks which flush at the drop of a hat and hence the Terek flies with them – damn annoying! A Great White Egret was still present along with the lonely looking Shellduck and small waders were well represented with Dunlins, Little Stints and Curlew Sandpipers being present. The waders along with a good number of Spur-winged Plovers were regularly flushed by a sub-adult male Marsh Harrier. Onward to Akhna Dam after being given the run-around by the Terek for about 2 hours, without photographic success! At Akhna Dam the excitement of the last couple of days has subsided with the Black Storks and Savi’s Warbler moving on. The Spoonbill with the broken leg remained in situ and an Osprey paid a visit as I was scouring the reed beds only to find Bluethroats, Reed Warblers and Willow Warblers. 2 Green Sandpipers flushed, but if that was the highlight, you know things are getting desperate. A couple of Beeaters flew over and in the fields above the dam, 7 Red-throated Pipits called as they went, a Corn Bunting perched briefly and 5 Yellow Wagtails lingered.
On Friday we made for the north and Hisarkoy where our friend Tony Hutchinson lives, he’d agreed to let us stay for the night in order to be at Cape Kormakiti early on Saturday morning to do a spot of seawatching. We travelled via Oroklini where I managed to get a good shot of the Terek Sandpiper*. Onward via IKEA in Nicosia – there’s always a penalty and then we crossed the border to the west of Nicosia. We arrived at Tony’s at about 1400 and he gave me directions to Kalkanli Dam just to the east of Morphou. The dam was an excellent site and having not visited previously, I was surprised at what I found. 2 Great White Egrets and 2 Marsh Harriers were present although the highlight was the amount of wildfowl: 146 Ferrruginous Ducks (I’ve never seen so many), 71 Pochard, 1 female Wigeon, 11 Teal ,15 Mallard, 7 Pintail and 21 Shoveller, along with hundreds of Coot and Little Grebes. A lone adult Black-winged Stilt looked misplaced. At Hisarkoy a Redstart flitted about and 5 late Beeaters were over the road.
On Saturday I was at Capt Kormakiti for 0800 and at least 16 Stonechats were in the area. At the water tank at the beginning of the cape, 2 Sardinian Warblers, 2 Lesser Whitethroats, a Redstart, female Blackcap and a Spotted Flycatcher were active. As I moved along the cape a juvenile Red-backed Shrike was leaving it late to reach its wintering grounds. I settled down for a few hours sea-watching and the first birds of any note were 5 Pintails and a male Peregrine coming in off the sea. As I continued to watch a steady stream of Scipoli’s Shearwaters passed from east to west but only 1 Yelkouan. 9 Black-headed Gulls moved through with 3 Slender-billeds following behind and a juvenile Shag overtook them. Perhaps the biggest surprise was the first Sandwich Tern of the season and a lone Serin was also unlikely. 7 Corn Buntings fed in stubble as I left the cape and headed towards Cape Kormakiti Lake or Kouracam Lake. Sardinian Warblers were everywhere in the woodland and a Long-legged Buzzard and Sparrowhawk were overhead. Another Serin was in a tree and at the lake proper we were greeted by a pair of superb Bonelli’s Eagles. As we scanned the lake and walked around a Chiffchaff was amongst the Willow Warblers, a Little Bittern fed in the open and my first Water Rail for many months took a bit of “digging out” On Sunday whilst returning home we stopped at the Fresh Water Lake South in Famagusta where a Redstart, Great White Egret and a Baltic Gull were the highlights.
Having been away from Akhna Dam for a couple of days, I headed there in the afternoon. An Osprey was still present although waders had reduced with only 8 Ruffs being present. The highlight was hearing and then seeing 4 Penduline Tits – the first for the winter as a Sparrowhawk flew over me and a late Reed Warbler fed in the reed bed. A couple of Bluethroats were as usual elusive and a couple of Snipe and a Jack Snipe flushed. As I was leaving the site, 3 Whiskered Terns were over the dam and 16 Common Cranes* circled and then headed off in “V” formation to the south west.
Highlight of the Week: Black Storks* and a new patch tick with the added bonus of a Savi’s Warbler the same day – both year birds. The first Penduline Tits of the winter was a good find and sea watching is always enjoyable.
Look Forward: A day’s leave on Monday, although migration is waning but the search for winter visitors will commence.
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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