Springtime in Cyprus.

 My annual weeks Spring birding holiday was a return visit to Cyprus.I had already been there twice recently with my familly,but this time I returned alone, armed with my trusty camera and a few lenses.It was going to be early starts before it got to hot and I was looking forward to the challenge!Within an hour of picking up the hire car,I was pointing the lens at this Cyprus Warbler which was proclaiming a territory.

 Endemic to Cyprus,this species winters in Israel/ sudan areas, but returns to breed annually.Not as common as it used to be,it seems the Sardinian Warbler is forcing it out of its natural habitat.Sardinians were in every bit of scrub,so I was made up to watch this bird on my first day.Over the coming week I was lucky to see more than a handfull!

 Golden Orioles were passing through in good numbers,and I stumbled across these at Asprokremnos dam.These shy,restless mobile birds are very difficult to approach on foot,so sitting quietly in the car gave me some good views,

 I came across this fine individual as it flew across the road in front of me and landed within 20 metres from the car.He didn`t stay long but I was happy with the encounter.

Another bird with the same colouration as the Oriole was this Yellow Wagtail species.I`m led to believe it`s of the `feldegg` familly which are synonamous to the Balkans and Turkey,a lovely looking bird with its jet black head,though this was the only one I saw in the whole week!!

 Plenty of swifts were hawking insects in the warm air,amongst them, this Alpine Swift, so easy to pick out from its darker cousins due to its size and pure white belly.I believe when they breed, they pair up for life and I was to witness plenty of these later around the massive Kensington cliff areas,a major stronghold for them! 
So in all,not a bad start to my week with some really good species seen and observed.It was nice to be able to take my time and not have to keep looking at my watch,worrying about meal times etc..oh yes I was certainly going to enjoy my weeks solitude with the camera and I`ll share some more images in my next blog soon!!!!