Army Ornithological SocietyCyprus Weekly
Birding Highlights for the Week Ending 20 Jul
Slender-billed Gull at Akhna Dam on 16 Jul
Tuesday was fairly dull with 3 Ferruginous Ducks, 13 Glossy Ibises and several juvenile Squacco Herons at Fresh Water Lake South, Famagusta but disappointingly no sign of the Pied Kingfisher. Akhna Dam was equally quiet although an adult Gull-billed Tern lingered and waders had reduced to 3 Greenshanks, 3 Common Sandpipers, 1 Wood Sandpiper and a couple of Black-winged Stilts. Little Ringed Plovers remained at 8. A Hoopoe flushed from the grass and an Eastern Olivaceous Warbler fed young. 4 Grey Herons were joined by a Squacco and as I left the site I photographed a Little Owl – my first at the site for some time.
Off to the coast on Wednesday afternoon, and result – 5 Kentish Plovers at Ayia Thekla were joined by the first returning Greater Sand Plover. The evening was spent at Akhna Dam, where much the same was present although Green and Wood Sandpiper numbers had risen as had Greenshanks to 5. The adult Gull-billed Tern was still present and was joined by an adult Slender-billed Gull*, although not a rarity, it was my first ever for the site in 6 years of visiting taking my Akhna site list to 210. 3 Hoopoes were present and a flock of 13 Little Ringed Plovers alighted as I arrived.
On Thursday I went to the Larnaca area and it was blowing a hooley. In the airport fields, 61 Yellow-legged Gulls loafed under a sprinkler with c20 Kentish Plovers and 1 Ruff. 4 Greater Flamingos flew west over the sea as I watched. At the sewage works, another Ruff, several Wood Sandpipers and 2 Dunlins were all that I could manage in the very strong wind. Further along the coast at Pervolia no sign of the Calandra Larks – always difficult when they’re not singing although 2 Black Francolins, a male and a female were in the fields with several Fan-tailed Warblers. I stopped briefly at Oroklini Marsh, where the Spoonbills now number 3 and Greater Flamingos 78. A single adult Slender-billed Gull remained but there was little else of interest. At Akhna Dam, the Gull-billed Tern and Slender-billed Gull remained with 3 Greenshanks and 3 Hoopoes. 11 Green Sandpipers were alongside 34 Wood Sandpipers – the most I’ve seen in one sighting and careful scanning revealed a single Little Ringed Plover and Temminck’s Stint. 2 Collared Pratincoles blended into the mud but eventually were teased out and with not much else doing, I returned home.
On Friday we travelled to the north to Alagadi Beach, on the way a Roller was sat on wires at Ay Nik and a Little Owl was heard at Alagadi. A known nesting beach for Green-backed and Loggerhead Turtles. We arrived at 2030 and slept on the beach until about 0030 when news came of a turtle excavating an egg chamber. We waited a little longer until the turtle had started to lay and then approached seeing a fantastic Green-backed Turtle* laying and then camouflaging the nest site – a fantastic moment.
On Saturday, we slept in and I watched the cricket, venturing to Akhna Dam in the evening where a Whiskered Tern had joined the Gull-billed and Slender-billed Gull. The usual waders were present but it was fairly quiet. With migration approaching I went to Ayia Napa Sewage Works and the Cape Greco area early on Sunday morning. I have never seen the area so quiet! However, I did manage a female/immature Eastern Orphean Warbler at the sewage works – the first of the autumn. A few Spectacled Warblers were obvious but no Cyprus Warblers – post breeding, when not singing they can be tricky even at the known nesting sites. The evening at Akhna Dam saw 2 Hoopoes flush as I arrived and on the lagoons all was the same except for 3 Little Stints and a Temminck’s were joined by a Greenshank and a solitary Wood Sandpiper. 3 Common Sandpipers flew in and a moulting adult White-winged Black Tern joined the Whiskered, Gull-billed and Slender-billed Gull*.
Highlights of the Week: In a fairly quiet week the turtle laying was a success but to find the first of a species for the season is always notable, so Eastern Orphean Warbler it is!
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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