Cyprus (2)

 My next days birding in Cyprus was in the good company of Nick Moss, who had also been granted a few hrs leave from familly duties.Nick had visited the island previously and had a good knowledge of some sites not too far from Paphos.We headed inland to the hillsides and were instantly rewarded with great views of Finsch`s wheatear,this bird was similar to the endemic Cyprus Wheatear in appearance, but was overwintering here, having left its breeding grounds further to the  north .Nick assured me it was a real find and it afforded us both good close views.

 Short distance migrant probably bred in Turkey!!!!

 A Blue Rock Thrush was spotted sunning itself on a prominent rock.These birds are very fidgety and can be difficult to approach, but it hung around long enough for us to admire!!

 The white nape on the Finsch`s Wheatear extends right  down its back, thus distinguishing it from the local Cyprus Wheatear, which are very common in Summer.They meanwhile had all migrated South by the time we got there!

 A juvenile Masked Shrike put in an appearence atop a small bush,another common bird to Cyprus.The males are stunning in their summer plummage!

Nick spotted a Red Backed Shrike on the lookout for prey,but we didn`t see it catch anything.It was a bit late in the year to find any warblers as such, but we still had an enjoyable time looking for any that might have stayed behind.What we did encounter later though, was a few of the raptor species that were here.I`ll tell you about those in my next blog on Cyprus.Again many thanks for dropping by and hope you enjoyed the images!!!