Cyprus - our final day of birding...

This afternoon I've finally had the chance to edit the last of my photos from Cyprus, taken on our last day's birding of the holiday (back on the 7th of April).

We spent the day around the Aphrodite Trail and the Baths of Aphrodite at the start of the Akamas Peninsular, and we managed a great selection of birds...

Of course the first birds we got on arrival were the Eastern Olivaceous Warblers which were not hard to find around the entrance to the caravan park. An Eastern Bonelli's Warbler was also calling and singing in the gully. An Isabelline Wheatear was the first we'd seen here, and when we reached the north end a stunning first-summer male Pallid Harrier flew over.

We next started the 7.5km round walk of the Aphrodite Trail. It led out across the scrubby hillsides, reaching the top of the hills and descending down the very steep cliffs. Cyprus Wheatears were the most obvious bird throughout, and we estimated seeing 15 on the walk. Serins were also in the upland woodlands, a bird which didn't seem very easy to see at lower altitudes.

When we reached the highest point of the hills, we picked up a falcon close to us, and were really surprised to see a pale morph Eleonora's Falcon - a lifer we thought we'd be much too early to get. 3 Masked Shrikes were also up here, and I finally managed to see Cretzschmar's Bunting with 2 singing males, which was the last of my targets.

Other sightings included a first-summer Steppe Buzzard, Hoopoe and our only Meadow Pipit of the trip, while the nearby Smygies Picnic Site gave us more Cyprus Wheatears and two day-calling Cyprus Scops Owls.

First-summer male Pallid Harrier

Eastern Olivaceous Warblers

Cretzschmar's Bunting

Masked Shrike

Steppe Buzzard

Isabelline Wheatear

Cyprus Wheatears

Eleonora's Falcon - very distant at this point!

Red-rumped Swallow

Eastern Bonelli's Warbler - call and song

Cyprus - Birding around the villa...

After our morning of the second day at the Baths of Aphrodite, we spent the afternoon in and around our villa in Latchi, and the birding there was actually surprisingly good!

We'd noticed a scrubby area over the back fence and with a decent flock of sparrows we decided to check it out. One of the first birds we saw in the sparrow flock was a male Spanish Sparrow - a lifer we'd really hoped to get on the trip. We spent a while watching the group which in the end contained 5+ males and probably a similar number of females.

We moved to the next bushes and I saw a bird perched on the edge. Raising the bins we were pleased to see a female Masked Shrike, another new one for us. Other sightings in the area just over our back fence included a pair of Cyprus Wheatears, Sardinian Warblers, Fan-tailed Warblers, Crested Larks and a Hoopoe.

Later in the afternoon, a Black Francolin started calling from the field behind the villa, and we decided to check it out. We followed a small track up into the field and two Francolins were calling, one from just a few metres away, and despite the close range seemed impossible to get a view of. Eventually, my dad managed to pick it up in the field margin, although it quickly vanished again. He headed back inside, while I stayed on the track a bit longer. It reappeared and showed really well, without disappearing.

In the evening a steady passage of Swallows took place overhead, and a group of 40+ Red-rumped Swallows were great to see.

Black Francolin and recording below

Spanish Sparrows

Masked Shrike

Fan-tailed Warbler

Cyprus Wheatear

Sardinian Warbler

Starred Agama

Cyprus - Baths of Aphrodite (part one)...

Last weekend we arrived back from a holiday in Cyprus, and I'm starting to be able to go through my photos from an awesome week. I'll probably do four or five blog posts over the next weeks detailing one or two days at a time...

The first one is about our first morning at the Baths of Aphrodite, not far from where we based ourselves in Latchi. My first lifer of the trip came almost immediately with an Eastern Olivaceous Warbler in the gully by the entrance to the caravan park. Also, we had become aware of the number of Blackcaps at the site - we estimated 50+ on this visit.

Moving along the dirt track, we had our first three of many Cyprus Wheatears, as well as a Northern sat up in a bush. The distinctive insect-like song of the male Cyprus Wheatear was a sound we would hear a lot during the week!

We also flushed a ringtail harrier, and with five primary 'fingers' and quite bulky features it was apparent that this was a female Hen Harrier. A phyllosc flitting around a bush proved to be an Eastern Bonelli's Warbler, and we got some stunning views in a clifftop bush at the east end of the caravan park.

When we reached this end, another ringtail harrier lifted off from the cliff side, and this time it was a female Pallid Harrier, providing a really good comparison to the earlier Hen. Walking back to the car park, a Wood Warbler was the best migrant we could find - in the trees above the 'bath', while a Long-legged Buzzard moved north over the ridge.

Back at the car park, a large group of hirundines had appeared, and comprised mainly Swallows, House Martins and Swifts, but also 5+ Red-rumped Swallows and our only Crag Martin of the trip. A great first morning birding!

The next blog post will be on the surprisingly good selection of birds around our villa in Latchi...

Male Cyprus Wheatear at the Baths of Aphrodite

Female Cyprus Wheatear

Eastern Bonelli's Warbler

Wheatear

Crag Martin