[The Hairy Highlander]

Tuesday 18th Aug.

Myself, my partner Ingrid and our little girl Nighinn were off on our holidays to visit Ingrid’s parents in Pissouri, Cyprus. Personally, I couldn’t wait to get there; the timing of the trip was just about PERFECT for me to get the chance to see a very rare and elusive European migrant species, an autumn specialty on Cyprus – the magnificent DEMOISELLE CRANE!
After our 4½ hr flight from Edinburgh we touched down at Paphos airport at 22:15, the doors of our plane open and we step out into an evening heat wave...easily 30c and about 90% humidity. Bob and Helen (Ingrid’s parents) were there ready to greet us and to take us to their house where we would be staying for the duration of our 14 day trip. Bob tells me that the pool is perfect for a dip even though it’s getting close to 23:00, so when we arrive in Pissouri, I help unload the luggage and get ready for a swim. Bob then tells me that the fridge is full of Keo – a local Cyprus lager and a good one at that!
3 pint size tins later I’m getting itchy feet, so I go for a walk just up the road to see if there’s any sign of LITTLE OWLS. As I round a bend, a small shape on the road catches my attention, something had just moved, I had no idea what it was so I got a little closer and stood still and listened. It was silent at first, I could hear some squeaks followed by some shuffling, and then from out of the grass comes a little nose and a pair of long ears, then finally it shows itself, it was a LONG-EARED HEDGEHOG. If only I had taken my camera with me! As I stood there watching the little mammal snuffling about only 4ft away, another Hedgehog dashes from the grass and down into a ditch, that was all I needed to convince myself I could get some photographs so I ran back to the house, grabbed the camera and returned only to find they had disappeared.....typical, I never learn! This only made me more determined to find them again though, so on the way back to the house, I diverted down a track and stood crouched down and as still as I could.......within 2 minutes, to my disbelief, there from out of the scrub came the Hedgehogs, totally unaware of my presence and rustling about for ants! This time the camera was in hand and I managed to get some shots of before they scurried away....What an excellent omen for the rest of the trip I thought, I’d been on the island for less than 3 hrs and I had my first lifer under my belt!

[The Hairy Highlander]

1 - A view from our plane
2 - Huge thunderhead over central europe
3 & 4 - Long-eared Hedgehog

[The Hairy Highlander]

Wednesday 19th Aug.

ASPROKREMNOS DAM & POOLS

Buoyed by the experience of the previous night’s action I was awake and ready to go out and check my local patch by 06:30. I was going to head over to Asprokremnos Dam to investigate the overflow pools which are to be found at the south of the Asprokremnos reservoir below the dam wall. The arrangement was made that I’d be allowed to use Bobs car whenever I needed to providing he didn’t need it himself, it just so happened that he didn’t need it so the first adventure was ON!
20 minutes later and I arrive at the pools. There has been a major lack of water on Cyprus for a few years now and this year was a bad year, the lack of rain and searing heat had taken its toll on the water levels of the reservoirs and the Aspro pools were at the lowest level I had seen them, basically just a muddy puddle. I instantly thought about my chances of seeing any Herons or Craiks, no chance was my conclusion! As I got closer to the pool, 2 Green Sandpiper lifted from the muddy edge and shot of in the direction of the reservoir, then a Common Kingfisher flew across from one side to the other – at least there were some birds about...
Chukars were calling from the rocks that make up the dam wall and a Common Kestrel hovered above some scrub, my first Turtle Dove of the trip gave a brief appearance in a Willow tree, a single Crested Lark shuffled amongst the boulders, Cetti’s and Reed warblers skulked in the reeds and a Fan-tailed Warbler ‘zitted’ from bush to bush. By now the temperature was growing steadily and I could feel the back of my legs starting to burn. As I scanned the horizon with my Bins, a large raptor came into view, a Long-legged Buzzard was my initial thought, as it flew over from the reservoir – it wasn’t until I got back to Scotland and had a proper look at the photos I had taken of the bird that I realised I had mistakenly identified it as a LL Buzzard – it turned out I had seen my first avian lifer for the trip in the form of a Juv. Bonelli’s Eagle, I hadn’t realised that the two were quite easily confused to the inexperienced observer!
Not long after, a fellow birder arrived on site and he introduced himself as Pete Evans, a Welshman living in Cyprus and a regular visitor to the Aspro Dam area. We were chatting about what I had seen around the pool when a large warbler flew from the reeds just in front of us, I shouted ‘GREAT REED’, but the bird was by now out of view, somewhere in the reeds on the far side of the pool. Pete agreed that it probably was Great Reed Warbler but was hard to confirm from the views we had got. That would have been lifer #2 but it wasn’t to be......
Pete suggested that we take a drive up to the abandoned village of Finikas to look for the Red-footed Falcons that had been seen there recently. The access road that leads to the village runs along the western edge of the reservoir and is best driven in a 4x4, it’s a narrow and winding dirt track with deep ruts and scattered with loose stones and gravel which fall from the cliffs and at some parts, has quite steep drops down to the water’s edge, so to attempt the drive in my father-in-law’s little 1.6ltr automatic Toyota corolla wasn’t a good idea but the lure of getting some Red-footed Falcons at the end of it was too much to pass on! On the way, we stopped a few times to check some raptors that were soaring high over the hills – not RF Falcons but 3 dark morph Elenora’s Falcons, the first of many to be seen during the trip. Further on some shrikes were spotted sitting on a telegraph cable, closer inspection revealed them to be Lesser Grey Shrike – 2 adults and lifers #2....
We finally reached the abandoned village of Finikas, just, but the RF Falcons were nowhere to be seen. A couple of Common Kestrels were little consolation but we did get a Roller, Cyprus Wheatear, Grey Heron and 2 Little Egrets to add to the list. Pete and I said farewell and I slowly made my way back to Pissouri. On the way, I stopped to check through a line of hurindines sat upon a cable – mostly Swallows – but I suspected there would be some Red Rumped Swallows about, and sure enough, 2 were seen, flying quite low and giving decent views.
All in all, quite a good mornings birding and the rest of the day was spent by the pool plotting my next move. I could hear the Demoiselle Cranes calling me from the Akrotiri salt lake and decided that would be the place to go the next morning......

[The Hairy Highlander]

1 - Juv. Bonelli's Eagle
2 - The abandoned village of Finikas

[The Hairy Highlander]

Thursday 20th Aug.

AKROTIRI SALT LAKE & ZAKAKI POOL

If I was to stand any chance of getting Demoiselle Cranes I’d have to be at Akrotiri by sunrise. The place to be for views of the area in which the Cranes can be seen is the car park at the side of the Sylvana Restaurant. This can be found in the village of Akrotiri, on the junction of the road that leads you to Lady’s Mile Beach, just short of the entrance to the air base.
I made it to the Sylvana Restaurant by 06:30, set up my scope and scanned the salt lake. There were no Cranes to be seen.
That was to be the first disappointment of the day. There was no point in hanging around as I knew there would be little hope of getting the Cranes that morning – if they’re not there first light then it’s unlikely they would show until the next morning, if at all, this site is an overnight roost which they use during their migration south to their wintering grounds in Africa...
Next stop: Zakaki pool. The drive to this site takes you east, along the south edge of the salt lake. There’s a few spots were you can pull of the main road and scan the lake for ground roosting raptors but this becomes difficult as soon as the sun starts to rise, the heat haze makes it nearly impossible to positively identify anything at distance but it’s still worth checking just in case there’s anything roosting closer in. On one of these stops, the only birds I noted were 2 Crested Larks, Hooded Crow, Jackdaw, Magpie, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, 1 Roller, 2 LG Shrikes, 15 Yellow Legged Gulls and some House Sparrows, not good!
Further on at Lady’s Mile, I parked up and had a look at the saline pools which can be found on the left hand side of the road as you’re driving towards Zakaki. The usual suspects were there – 20 or so Little Stints and about 120 Kentish Plovers with a single Dunlin.
When I finally arrived at Zakaki pool I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, the ‘pool’ was more like a desert with gapping cracks on the baked ground! The last time I was there, I got a stunning view of a Pied Kingfisher but the chance of getting one again was zero...disaster!
Yes, there was some birdlife, but very little – some Cetti’s and Reed Warblers, Crested Larks, Kentish and Ringed Plover and a Juv. Yellow Wagtail (Feldegg) which appeared to have an injured left wing! Surely my luck hadn’t run out already, it was only my second day?! By now I had pretty much given up hope on trying to find anything quality, my heart just wasn’t in it, so I left Akrotiri and made for Kensington Cliffs, a reliable site (in the past) for the increasingly scarce Griffon Vulture....this was to prove frustrating as there wasn’t any sign of any Vultures. I did get some Elenora’s Falcons and a few Kestrels but the disappointment of the morning was too much, so I drove home for some quality pool time....

[The Hairy Highlander]

1 - Lesser Grey Shrike
2 - Yellow Legged Gull
3 - Crested Lark

[The Hairy Highlander]

Friday 21st Aug.

ASPROKREMNOS DAM & MANDRIA

The disappointment of the previous mornings outing had not dampened my eagerness to add to my list so I was up and away by 07:00.
The almost daily routine of getting up early and checking the Aspro pool was bound to pay off at some point, I thought to myself. The area had been kind to me on previous trips but there had always been much more water, I’d seen Little Bittern, Squacco, Purple and Night Herons, Little Egrets and Little Craiks etc. there in 2007 when the levels were higher, so when I was greeted with a pool that was almost full my expectations of finding some ‘goodies’ were elevated.
The first bird seen was a single Green Sandpiper, it had obviously heard me coming and took flight, alarm calling, circled a few times then disappeared. A single Ferruginous Duck was on the water and the usual Cetti’s and Reed Warblers flitted about, a Juv. Moorhen lurked at the water’s edge. The ever present Chukars called distantly, 2 Cyprus Wheatears and a small party of Crested Larks mingled in the scrub to the east. It was time to put the scope to use. As I scanned the edge of the reed bed for possible Little Bittern or Craik activity, a large slow moving Acrocephalus came into view, a good half size bigger than Reed Warbler with a large thick bill, pale broad supercilium and a long broad tail, it had to be Great Reed Warbler! I wondered if this was the same bird Pete Evans and I had seen on the 19th....Further over, perched only centimetres off the water, sat a Sedge Warbler and on the nearest Willow tree, a Lesser Whitethroat showed. There was definitely stuff about but no Craiks or Night Herons could be found, the lack of water had most likely been the main reason for this.
I decided to leave the pool and head up to the reservoir to an area located in the south west corner. Just before you reach the road that takes you along the dam wall, on the right hand side, there’s a lay-by/parking area which overlooks an orange grove. Half an hour spent here was quite productive with 2 LG Shrikes, 2 Masked Shrikes, Cyprus Wheatear, Chiffchaff, 10 Sardinian Warblers, 4 Turtle Doves, Collared Dove, Woodpigeons, Jackdaws, Magpies, Hooded Crows, 10 Linnets, 3 Goldfinch, a Great tit, House Sparrows and a single Male Spanish Sparrow.
It was getting hot by now and nearing the time that I had to be back – Bob needed his car for the afternoon, but I still had time for a quick look down at Mandria. As I Reached the end of the road that leads to the beach, a big flock of birds lifted from a lush green crop field that was in the process of being irrigated. These were Yellow Wagtails of the feldegg race, about 200 of them, mostly females and Juvs, But with a few black headed males dotted amongst them. Then a fine male Hobby turned up, gate crashing the Wagtails party and dispersing the hoard before racing off in the direction of Paphos without catching a single prey item. 2 Fan-tailed Warblers and some Common Kestrels were also noted during this brief visit.
Later that evening, a small flock of European Bee-eaters were spotted flying high over head as we lounged by the pool, followed by 3 Common Swifts and a pair of Elenora’s Falcons. All in all, not a bad day but there just didn’t seem to be as many species or numbers as I had anticipated – Perhaps the autumn migration would be late this year?

[The Hairy Highlander]

1 - Ferruginous Duck
2 - A distant Masked Shrike
3 - Chiffchaff/Willow Warbler

[stevieb]

"When I finally arrived at Zakaki pool I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, the ‘pool’ was more like a desert with gapping cracks on the baked ground!"

Hi HH,

I lived in Cyprus for 6 years, courtesy of HMF, and inlaws lived in Moni just outside Limassol. Never knew Zakaki to dry up! Next time you visit if you drive past Sylv's restaurant, east, as previously done, on your right, before you get to a watchtower, is Bishop's pool. Always holds water. I called in there December last year and had Pied Kingfisher, Greater Flamingo and large numbers of Black Redstart. Even better in the Spring with the surrounding orchards holding large numbers of warblers and flycatchers.

[The Hairy Highlander]

Saturday 22nd Aug.

PAPHOS LIGHTHOUSE - ASPRO DAM - PISSOURI BAY

Today was shopping day, YIPPEE!!! (Not). The plan was to go into Paphos for supplies and grab a bite to eat late morning, then head back to Pissouri before it got to hot but I had other plans.....this was the perfect opportunity to search the headland and lighthouse area that, at this time of year, can more often than not result in some superb rarity finds. After some negotiating (grovelling) it was agreed that I could leave Bob, Helen, Ingrid and Nighinn to go ahead and gather what they needed and I would get an hour’s birding. We would then meet back at the car and go for brunch.
The forecast was for mid to high 30s and I knew that if we didn’t get to Paphos before 09:00 I’d have little chance of finding anything unusual, any scarcities would probably be pushed off by tourists i.e. joggers, sunbathers, moped and quad bike riders, so when we finally arrived at 10:30 and the place heaving with people, I suspected there would not be much birdlife. And I wasn’t wrong! Hooded Crow, Yellow Legged Gull, House Sparrow, a Single Goldfinch and Crested Lark were all that could be found. The best thing seen during the hours visit was the dead Rat that was being feasted upon by 5 massive Hornets, one of which was almost fully buried head first into a gaping wound on the dead rodents side, AWESOME!!
We all met back at the car and decided to give brunch a miss, the heat and humidity was getting stupid and the wee one was understandably grumpy so the best thing would be to head home to the cool shade of the house and eat in comfort.
Later that afternoon I was asked to go down to Pissouri Bay to collect some things that couldn’t be found in Paphos, this would not be a problem as I could check for Barn Owl on the way! During our trip to Cyprus in 2006, Mid-way between Pissouri and Pissouri Bay, at the side of a cereal crop field, high on a steep bank I discovered a Barn Owl nest site which had 3 birds in it. A cracking nest, basically just a hole dug out of the soil located under some overhanging bushes and viewable from the car, but when I last checked it in 2007, some Common Kestrels had displaced the Owls and had moved in to raise their own young.....I was pleased to see that the Kestrels had moved on and that a single Barn Owl had returned. The return journey from Pissouri Bay resulted in me getting fantastic views of a superb Masked Shrike, fly catching from a power cable only meters away, and 2 more Sardinian Warblers.
The car was free for me to use that evening so I drove the short distance to Aspro Dam to see if there would be anything different on offer as I usually checked this area in the early morning. I wouldn’t have much time to spend as it was getting late but this tactic didn’t pay off. A Common Kingfisher, Reed Warbler, Common Kestrel and a Little Owl calling in the distance were the only birds to be noted. As I left the area and headed for home, I noticed a pale shape sat in the middle of the road, as I got closer, the headlights of the car revealed it to be another Barn Owl, just sat there motionless and staring straight at me! I reached over for my camera, wound down the window and stopped the car just feet away from the bird. Just as I was about to take some shots, the bird lifted, but only onto a nearby tree – about waist height – PERFECT! Amazingly, I managed to get a bit closer without spooking the bird and got some (about 40) descent photo’s. I soon started to wonder if my luck had finally returned.......I’d have to wait until the 25th to find out!

[The Hairy Highlander]

Originally Posted by stevieb

"When I finally arrived at Zakaki pool I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, the ‘pool’ was more like a desert with gapping cracks on the baked ground!"

Hi HH,

I lived in Cyprus for 6 years, courtesy of HMF, and inlaws lived in Moni just outside Limassol. Never knew Zakaki to dry up! Next time you visit if you drive past Sylv's restaurant, east, as previously done, on your right, before you get to a watchtower, is Bishop's pool. Always holds water. I called in there December last year and had Pied Kingfisher, Greater Flamingo and large numbers of Black Redstart. Even better in the Spring with the surrounding orchards holding large numbers of warblers and flycatchers.

Hi StevieB,

Watch this space for Bishop's Pool....comming soon to a PC screen near you...

[The Hairy Highlander]

1 & 2 - The dead Rat and the feasting Hornets
3 & 4 - The very confiding Barnie at Aspro Dam

[The Hairy Highlander]

Tuesday 25th Aug.

ASPRO DAM - POLIS - CEDAR VALLEY

Today was going to be the first full day’s birding. Most of my outings had been fairly local up till now, mainly focused around Pissouri, Asprokremnos Dam and Akrotiri, so the plan was to head North West up to Polis, stopping at various locations on the way, then to back-track and return via the Cedar Valley/Paphos Forrest.
The pack lunch was prepared and loaded into the Toyota by 06:30 and the trip was on! First stop of the morning was a quick look at the Aspro pools. The usual stuff like Magpie, Jackdaw, House Sparrow, Crested Lark etc. were to be expected...the Juv. Moorhen and Common Kingfisher still showed as did a very weary looking Turtle dove and 3 Common Sandpipers – a new site tick for me. I then carried on towards Polis, stopping briefly at Kannaviou Dam but only added Little Grebe to the list. Frustratingly, I had seen a large looking Raptor Circling high but very distantly over hills on the horizon, It may well have been a Bonelli’s Eagle but impossible to really be sure. I reached Polis by 09:30. I had the option of going west to the Baths of Aphrodite to look for migrant warblers, buntings, wheatears, Shrikes and maybe some Raptors or go east along the coast of Chrysokhou Bay to search for offshore movements of Herons, Wildfowl, Waders and the possibility of getting Scopoli’s Shearwater – the eastern Med race of Cory’s, there had been reports of a few seen in the bay on days prior to today. Aphrodite’s Bath’s was only a short drive away so this was my choice.
This proved to be the wrong choice as the area seemed devoid of much activity apart from some Swallows, a hand full of Red Rumped Swallows, 3 Common Swifts and a possible Pallid Swift. My luck had obviously NOT returned! A quick stop in at Polis to search the shoreline did, however, reward me with a new species....just offshore, sat on a boat between 2 Shags, a very dark winged gull caught my attention. A large sized gull with almost black upperparts, wing tips and yellow legs, it was a Baltic Gull, the fuscus race of Lesser Black-Backed Gull. 3 Common Kingfishers were also noted but apart from that, nothing else. It was time for plan B, head east along the coast and do some sea watching. 30 minutes later and I had reached the town of Pomos not to far from the boarder of the Turkish ruled northern half of Cyprus, this was as far as I was going. A scan with my Bins of the horizon revealed nothing, even through the scope, NOTHING! Then, from of in the distance, I could make out the shape of a flock of birds flying in a loose formation, not far from the water’s surface. As they came closer it became clear that I had found my first, and as it turned out, only flock of migrating birds – c50 Purple herons and a few Grey’s were making their way south west, following the coast towards Polis. Luckily they came close enough for me to get some photographs but that was no consolation, the lack of birds was getting a bit depressing and I started on the return journey home.
A short diversion to Evretou Dam didn’t end up with me adding anything new to my paltry list but provide me with views of some very large and active Carp, splashing and head-and-tailing quite close inshore, much to the disgust of some local fishermen, fishing just out of range on the opposite side of the reservoir....
I then continued onwards into the heart of the Paphos Forest, along the steep and winding roads of the beautifully scenic Cedar Valley, periodically pulling over and scanning the Black Pine covered mountain tops in the hope of connecting with the rare and elusive Bonelli’s Eagle. At this time of year, many of the breading forest species had dispersed and I found it to be very quiet, the last trip here in 2007 was in June, and I had got most of the species that are to be found here, this time I had only seen Jay, House Martins (albeit thousands of them), some Sand Martins, Swallows, a few Red Rumped Swallows, Cyprus Wheatear, a single Spotted Flycatcher, a Blackcap, Chaffinches and the Cyprus race of Coal Tit, I did see 1 Shrike sp, most likely a Woodchat, but didn’t get any sort of descent views, that would have to go on the ‘possible’ list.
Regardless of the lack of species seen, the time spent here in the Cedar Valley was well worth it just for the incredible scenery and the total non-presence of tourists, it had seemed that I had had the whole of the valley to myself for most of the time with only a few other vehicles passing during the 3 or so hours spent there.
I returned home to Pissouri just in time for some homemade cooking – a most welcome pan of mince and tattie’s. After dispatching 2 helpings in rapid succession it was time for me to hunt down some Nightjars. I drove back to the Sanctuary of Apollo, but this time I was going to try a different area. The tactic was to slowly drive round the tracks which crisscross an area of scrubland dotted with short stunted pines in the hope of catching sight of a Nightjar reflected by the headlights. I had been doing this for only 5 minutes when, from the edge of the track approaching a clearing, a Nightjar took flight and flew straight over the bonnet of the car. Granted, it wasn’t the best view in history but probably the best I could expect, I could now add Nightjar to my ‘seen’ list and erase it from my ‘heard’ list!
Bob had mentioned during the mince and tattie feast that he would need his motor for most of the following day with the exception of a few hours during the afternoon, so a day spent by the pool with Ing and the wee one was on the cards....It was time to teach Nighinn how to swim.......

[The Hairy Highlander]

1 - Mixed flock of migrating Herons
2 - Purple Heron
3 4 & 5 - Views form the Cedar Valley and the Paphos forest

[The Hairy Highlander]

6 - A taste of the roads through the Cedar Valley
7 - Cyprus Coal Tit
8 - A local lady who happened to help herself to a lift in the back of the toyota while I was stopped at a small mountain village!

[The Hairy Highlander]

To be continued...........

[stevieb]

Originally Posted by The Hairy Highlander

Hi StevieB,

Watch this space for Bishop's Pool....comming soon to a PC screen near you...

Sorry mate, obviously a bit previous!
Great report BTW

[The Hairy Highlander]

Wednesday 26th Aug.

PISSOURI BAY - AVDIMOU BAY - MILANDA BEACH

After managing to sneak in a few hours extra sleep I was made aware that our daughter was dressed and ready for her swimming lessons so I shovelled down some toast, threw on my shorts and entered the pool. Amazingly, after only 1 hour she had managed to pick up enough courage to swim (splash and scream) unaided the full length of the pool – when I say ‘unaided’ I mean she followed me as I held on to one hand and she had on a life jacket – but nevertheless, a quite impressive feat, as she had only previously got to the ‘ dangling her feet over the edge and splashing with her feet’ stage!
By 13:00 Bob had arrived back and it was time for some bird watching! I couldn’t venture to far so decided on a tour of the surrounding area. In about 1.5 hours I had visited Pissouri Bay, Avdimou Bay and Milanda Beach and it turned out to be a bit of a Shrike fest with c15 Lesser Grey’s and 6 Masked Shrike counted within only a few miles radius of the house, I started to wonder if there had been a bit of a fall regarding my sightings as there was a notable increase in the amount of Shrikes on show – Perhaps the autumn migration had started in earnest?

Thursday 27th Aug.

MANDRIA - NIKOLIAS

Even though I was encouraged by the numbers of Shrikes I had seen the afternoon before, I resisted the urge to get up early and go on the hunt for some anticipated migrant action and decided to spend the day with the family. Whilst planning my itinery for this trip, there was a number of species that I hadn’t, on other trips here, managed to get to grips with, so I set my self a few targets. One of these happened to be Scops Owl. I had read a few trip reports on the net and discovered that a reliable site to see them was close by – only a few km north of Aspro Dam located on the outskirt of the village of Nikolias, the Nikolias Vasilias Inn was the place I needed to be.....just before sunset.
The time had come for me to go and find my target bird, I had left a bit early though and there was still about 40 minutes of daylight by the time I had reached Aspro Dam so I diverted to Mandria. This was to be an excellent move! As I approached the Beach I noticed, flying high and from the North, a quite sizeable flock of birds. My first thought was ‘Herons’, but the shape and flight pattern just didn’t look right? Then it struck me that it could possibly be Demoiselle Cranes. Panic mixed with excitement took over as I struggled to get on them with the scope and by now the birds had gained some distance, high over the Med....Finally I had them in view and there was no doubt, I had just seen at least 200 Demoiselle Cranes, SUPERB! 2 minutes later and they were gone. Behind me, from a stubble field, a flock of about 12 small Larks rose, moved west then landed in the adjacent ploughed field. I quickly located them through the scope and established that they were either Short-toed or Lesser Short-toed Larks. Having no experience with either made the task of choosing which species a bit tricky but the lack of any streaking on the breast, a small dark patch on the side of the breast and the bill that appeared to be strong and pointed led me to conclude that they were Short-toed’s....I was on a roll, 2 lifers in 2 minutes and if I was to get the Scops Owls at Nikolias that would be 3 in an hour.......on the shoreline stood a single Redshank and further over on some rocks, a Shag sat with its wings open. The sun was getting close to setting and the light was fading so I made my way to the Nikolias Vasilias Inn. I had read that the Owls here were regularly seen and heard most nights, all I had to do was to stand beneath the large Eucalyptus trees that stood at the side of the building and I was almost guaranteed to at least hear them, with a bit of much needed luck I’d catch a glimpse as well....sure enough, not long after I’d stepped out of the car, I heard an Owl calling from just above me, then another higher up in the tree and for the next 10 minutes, enjoyed the pair ‘dueting’ - as one called, the other would call back with a slightly higher tone. If only I had taken a torch I might have been able to see them.
After explaining to Ingrid what I had seen at Mandria and about the Scops Owls at Nikolias she said she would like to spend a day out with me to see what all the fuss was about so I suggested she join me for an early start the next morning. I had a feeling that tomorrow would be the time to head back to Akrotiri, if I had seen Cranes this evening flying south, the chances of there being some overnight roosters on the salt lake were high. Although I had just seen Demoiselle Cranes, they were distant and in flight so I wouldn’t be fully satisfied until I got them on the ground, in the scope and much closer.

[wolfbirder]

Great report, really good read and very interesting !

[The Hairy Highlander]

Originally Posted by wolfbirder

Great report, really good read and very interesting !

Cheers Wolf...

Theres a fair bit more to come, the last few day were the best! Just in the prosess of writing the rest up on word, be on line in the next few day...

[Andrew]

Enjoyed this so far and looking forward to the rest.

I remember one access point to one of the dams being so bad that even with a small four by four I turned away. Forgot which one it was. Did see Rollers from the entrance to the track though.

[wolfbirder]

Originally Posted by The Hairy Highlander

Cheers Wolf...

Theres a fair bit more to come, the last few day were the best! Just in the prosess of writing the rest up on word, be on line in the next few day...

Very impressed with the local birds too HH Think my accelerator might have gone into over drive !

[The Hairy Highlander]

Friday 28th Aug.
AKROTIRI - LARNAKA

You know how they say ‘women always catch the bigger fish, it must be the hormones’, well I had my fingers crossed that this might apply to the birding world.....
Unbelievably it must do, because as soon as we reached the salt lake viewpoint at the Sylvana Restaurant car park, I scanned the area with my Bins and guess what........there, on the far side of the lake, looking towards the port of Limasol stood a gathering of Demoiselle Cranes, milling about and obviously getting ready to continue their long flight south as soon as the sun was up! I was obviously keen to get some photographs and because of the distance, the photo’s I managed to get were nothing special but I had a plan B! I had packed my camcorder and had the thought of trying to get some film footage via my scope. I didn’t really think it would work but I was mistaken, ok, the images weren’t top class and they were a bit shaky but they were a huge improvement on the photos! A fellow birder was there with his daughter and he introduced himself as Chris Wilkinson, we chatted briefly about what we had seen before wishing each other good luck for day ahead. What a great start I thought as Ingrid and I made our way to a cafe for some coffee and a bit of breakfast. During our coffee stop we were joined by another birder, Doug Radford. He had noticed my Bins that were resting on the table and asked if I had seen anything of interest. I told him about the Cranes and that we had only just arrived so hadn’t seen much else. It just so happens that Doug was a regular visitor to the island and was very familiar with the area and suggested trying a search round the small church and garden of St. Nikolias just 2 minutes drive away, he was going there shortly and would show us how to get there if we were interested. I wasn’t about to decline the offer as I had read on a report that it had the potential to attract some nice species during this time of year...
Sadly, our quick search of the area didn’t reward us with much apart from 2 Red Backed Shrikes, a Juv. and a male bird. We all then returned to the Sylvana car park to see if the Cranes were still on show but they had left. Not long after, another birder arrived and introduced himself as Attila, a Hungarian fellow over on a week’s visit. Unfortunately he had just missed the cranes. Attila then asked if we had been to Bishop’s Pool but we hadn’t – this was a site that I had been meaning to visit but had never been able to find it. Thankfully, Attila knew its location and offered to show us the way. A short drive East from Sylvana’s Restaurant and turning left after a series of short right/left bends into a set of rusty gates and past a farm had led us to Bishop’s pool. Here, I managed to add a few more ticks to the list with 5 Glossy Ibis, Whiskered Tern, Garganey, Teal, Mallard, Shoveler, 2 Temminck’s Stint, 10 Curlew Sandpiper, a Wood Sandpiper, Ringed & Little Ringed Plover, some Coot and all the other common stuff like Hooded Crow, Collared Dove, Crested Lark, House Sparrows etc. all being noted in a short space of time. Doug then had to leave but mentioned that there was to be a meeting of the Birdlife Cyprus members at the Sylvana car park around 07:30 the next morning and that it might be worth while turning up if possible. This sounded like a good idea and I’d probably be coming back tomorrow anyway, we said goodbye and hoped to meet again the following day. A further 20 mins spent by the Bishop’s pool provided us with no new species so we left and went for a look at the saline pools at Lady’s Mile Beach, perhaps something new had arrived?
It was Ingrid’s turn to drive which allowed me to scan the area as we neared. Little Stint, Kentish Plover and a single Little Egret were the first and most obvious species to be seen, then a large looking Plover caught my attention as it sat in one of the furrows made by a vehicle. It turned out to be a Greater Sand plover, an adult moulting into winter plumage. A more intensive scan of the area revealed nothing else of major interest, only Redshank, Dunlin, Lesser Grey Shrike and the usual Corvids. The time had come for Attila to return to his accommodation as he had arranged to take his girlfriend to Paphos for the afternoon. We were to meet again the following day at Sylvanas, hopefully this time he would get the Cranes!
As Ingrid and I pondered on our next move, I was surprised to find that Ingrid had agreed to my suggestion of driving the hour or so East to Larnaka, there was a fair chance we would get some different species at the water treatment plant situated just inshore, near the Larnaka Airport....We made good time and arrived about an hour later. Like most birding sites in Cyprus at this time of year, an early morning visit, before the sun gets to high, is almost always more productive and this would probably be a factor in the numbers of birds we would see at our next stop. It was getting close to 13:30 and the heat was at its peak. As I entered the hide that overlooks the two pools, it was obvious that there was much more birdlife than had been seen at Bishop’s Pool but the task of identifying any of the small waders, which were to be found on the far banks, would be very difficult due to the heat haze....I wasn’t about to give up that easily though!
In the first pool situated to the left of the hide a large gathering of waterfowl, Coot and Moorhen mingled on the far left side, perhaps about 200 individuals mostly Mallards and Coot with some Moorhen, Teal, Shoveler, a few Garganey and some Ferruginous Duck but most surprising of all was the single Mute Swan – a Cyprus rarity - surreally basking in the scorching heat!
I then picked up some Little Grebes and a single Black-Necked Grebe before turning my attention to the waders. The first and most obvious waders to be identified were Black-winged Stilt, 10 in total, and the Kentish Plovers. A Spur-winged Plover then appeared, some Greenshank hurried along the water’s edge and some Little stint, Green and Common Sandpiper, a Redshank and about 10 Curlew Sandpipers were all confidently identified. There were a few others however, that I had to put down as ‘Possibles’.....Firstly, a small dark looking Sandpiper in with the Little Stints – Broad-billed Sand was a possibility, secondly, definitely a Redshank Sp. but which one, it looked a bit darker and longer billed than Common Redshank so put that down as possible Juv. Spotted Redshank but couldn’t be 100% sure, thirdly, a bird in with the Greenshanks. I put this down as probable Wood or Marsh Sandpiper due to the fact that it looked like a mini version of the Greenshank, the heat haze and distance though, made a positive identification very difficult....A scan through a small flock of Yellow-legged Gulls showed nothing unusual but a Whiskered Tern and a nice Gull-billed Tern were descent additions to the site list.
In the second pool to the right of the hide, most of the birds here were the same as the first pool apart from some Grey Heron, a lone Glossy Ibis and most surprisingly of all, a flock of 13 Greater Flamingos which I hadn’t noticed on the first scan of the area. You may wonder just how someone could miss a flock of leggy, bright white and pink giants sat out in the middle of a water treatment pool? I’m still wondering!! The only other species of note to be seen here was a Spectacled Warbler that was busily hunting for spiders between the links of the fence that skirts the treatment works. All in, quite a good day with a few lifers added although Ingrid was still left wondering what all the fuss was about. I’d need to try a bit harder to convince her I thought, perhaps the Scops Owls at Nikolias would do the trick?

[The Hairy Highlander]

1 - A view of the Akrotiri salt lake from Sylvanas Restaurant - the thin dark line just below the harbour cranes are the Demoiselle Cranes
2 - The Greater Sand Plover at Lady's Mile

[The Hairy Highlander]

Saturday 29th Aug.
AKROTIRI AREA

I was looking forward to getting back out to Akrotiri, so as you’ve probably guessed by now, I was up and away by 06:30. The Birdlife Cyprus Meeting was at 07:30 at the Sylvana car park and I going to be early so I dropped in by the St. Nikolias church area to search for some early morning goodies. First birds seen were a pair of Hoopoe and a male Red-Backed Shrike perched on a bush in the middle of the garden area. Some Crested Larks called from the scrub beyond the garden. In one of the bushes a small Warbler showed briefly before skulking back into the thorny undergrowth, a minute or so later and it was out again, this time showing better – Spectacled Warbler. Further still in a small tree, another Warbler showed but this time I would need the scope. I quickly located it and identified it as Olivacious Warbler, the downward flicking tail being a clincher. It was time to head over to Sylvanas and I arrived to find about 10 birders all looking through their scopes and bins towards were the Cranes had been seen the previous day. Sadly, no Cranes had been present but the mood was still good amongst the crowd. Doug and Attila had arrived before me but they would have to wait for any Crane sightings, the hope for them was that there would be a movement of Demoiselles before their holiday was over.
It was about time to go and look for some birds so the next stop was the Bishop’s pool, most of the crowd agreed on this move and we left in convoy....
We all lined up and began our scan with scopes, starting at the left side and working along the water’s edge were the waders fed. 5 Greenshank, 2 Wood Sandpiper, 2 Curlew Sandpiper and 5 Little Stint were noted first, then further along 6 Glossy Ibis, 5 more Little Stint, 2 Ringed Plover and a single Little Ringed Plover with 2 Temminck’s Stint were seen. Several Yellow Wagtails, Flavas and Feldeggs, skipped between the reeds and a good number of Grey Herons lined the trees that surround the pool, a Male Red-backed Shrike was found in bushes at the end far and a pair of Common Kingfishers darted from side to side. A single Juv. Elenora’s Falcon made a brief appearance before drifting south west and a couple of Turtle Doves were noted flying through. Our attention was then diverted by some Warbler action, a Reed Warbler was first on show then a Willow Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat, followed soon after by an elusive Olivacious Warbler which called but never really showed itself that well. The shout then came of a ‘Harrier on the horizon, but distant’, so we all spun round and got on to it, all identifying it as a Marsh Harrier. Whilst watching the Marsh Harrier, a member of the group called out ‘Pipits overhead’, and Tree Pipit was added to the list.
It was about 09:30 by now and some of the group decided to return to Sylvana to look for any Raptor movements – Doug had mentioned that it was the perfect time to look for Honey Buzzards leaving their overnight roost in the eucalyptus forest that lines northern edge of the salt lake, There might even be the chance of getting Montague’s Harrier, an early Pallid or some Black Kite. I was torn between staying a bit longer by the Bishop’s pool and adding a few more Warbler species to my list or going for the Raptors......My decision to stay at the pool proved to be the wrong one!!
After a further 30 minutes of finding no new species by Bishop’s pool, Attila, Myself and some others also returned to Sylvanas were we joined Doug only to find out that we had just missed about 56 Honey Buzzard flying south, not to high overhead, by about 5 minutes, ARGH!!
Then word got round that there was a pair of Grey plovers on the gravel pit by the St. Nikolias church, supposedly quite a scarcity on the island and a twitch was on! A short drive to the area followed shortly after and we all connected with the two Grey Plover. 3 Common Kingfishers were also noted. The rest of the morning/early afternoon was spent back at the raptor view point at Sylvanas restaurant were Doug explained the migrating habits of the Honey Buzzard, Harriers and Kites that usually turn up here during autumn, and told me some of his techniques for picking up raptors from this spot. As we put these techniques to the test I was impressed by his ability to find birds and it wasn’t long before he called the first. It was a Harrier but which one? Because of the distance I wasn’t to sure about the i.d., it was a ring tail for sure, and after an explanation of the differences between the Harrier species Doug confirmed it as a female Montague’s Harrier – a lifer for me, and a firm handshake was given as a thank you, without Doug’s experience I would have put this down as just a Harrier Sp.
Not long after the Monty’s, Doug then spotted another two birds flying high, Harriers again but this time they were much easier to identify...they were Juv or female Marsh Harriers. Next on the menu was a fine adult Black Kite once again, picked up by Doug’s keen eye, flying south over the salt lake. By now I was starting to think I needed new Bins!
I left Doug at Sylvanas Restaurant around 13:00 and made my way back west, stopping in at the Kensington Cliffs. A fairly intensive scan of the ledges along the length of the cliffs proved unrewarding in regards to seeing any Griffon Vultures but the ever present Elenora’s Falcons were still putting in a performance, I managed to count 10 or so but there were probably quite a few more. 7 Alpine Swifts were also noted, I could hear Cyprus Warbler but they never showed and a Lesser Whitethroat gave a brief appearance before disappearing into some scrub.
Later that evening, I mentioned to Ingrid that I was going back out to look for the Scops Owls again and she wanted to join me so we set off, this time though, we were armed with a torch. Before we reached the Owls I thought it might be worth while trying for the Stone curlews at Mandria again, perhaps they would be showing this time and with a bit of ‘woman’s intuition’ we would get a glimpse of them before the light faded? As we approached the beach, the field with the irrigation system which held the Yellow Wagtails on the 27th still had some Wagtails but much fewer, only about 30 or so. We looked in the field that had the Short-toed Larks and they were still there, but to be honest, I didn’t have a clue where to look for the Stone curlews – the whole area is a patchwork of ploughed and stubble fields and Stone curlews being Stone curlews, I knew they’d be hard to find. Ingrid was eager to see the Scops Owls so we made our way to the Nikolias Vasilias Inn. We got as far as the end of the beach road and I don’t know what it was, but something told me to drive down a track on the west edge of Mandria village into an area overlooking some stubble fields cross-sectioned by some olive trees. We parked up and got the scope set up for one last scan when Ingrid pipes up and says: ‘oh look, there’s some Partridges or something over there’ (pointing in the opposite direction to where I was looking)? I had a feeling that they were just some Chuckar but felt obliged to investigate further....as I swung the scope round to the direction of Ingrid’s Partridges I could indeed see some Chuckar but, to my utter amazement, just to the left and behind them, stood our target species, it was a Stone curlew! Then another poked it’s head up followed by another 12....I don’t know what was better – actually locating the Curlews or seeing the joy on Ingrid’s face as she gushed about finding the birds before me!! I think she was finally ‘getting’ what all the fuss was about. She then suggested getting the camcorder out for some digi-cording – she was on a role as that hadn’t even entered my mind, a few minutes, after obtaining some half descent footage we made for the Scops Owls..
We arrived not long after, just as the sun was setting, and took position under the large eucalyptus tree. No Owls were heard after 5 minutes so I did some ‘calling in’ and that paid of more or less straight away. From what seemed only feet away, our target bird started to call, then from higher up a second bird called, the pair were here again. The torch we brought however, did not live up to my expectations....I would have been better using a cigarette lighter. For the next couple of minutes we both had turns calling to the birds before one of them flew from the tree and passed right overhead, we had seen the bird, albeit a silhouette but we were happy with that, that was probably the best view would manage. Little Owls were also calling from the field opposite and I was sure I heard the hissing call of a Barn Owl, superb, 3 species of Owl in 20 minutes!