Cyprus mid Oct

Although it was a little late for migration,I was more than happy to spend time with these Eleonora falcons on one of the dams near Paphos.

I had previously done a recce,a few days earlier and noticed a few Eleonora's in the far distance.

A plan was hatched to try and get a few images of the falcons, so armed with my small hide/tripod/ flask

 and a chair,I waited patiently in my chosen spot by the shallow end of the dam.Some 5 hrs later,I was rewarded with stunning views of the falcons at close quarters!

Back again a few days later, no sign of the Eleonora's, but a n Osprey put in an appearance!

My luck was really in,as after a few fly arounds and one attempt at fishing, it came straight towards me and plonked itself down 25 metres away!

Its not often this happens to me, but I wasn,t complaining this time.I will post a few more images of the Eleonora's in my next blog.Hope you enjoyed the shots, stay safe all!

 

Wryneck/Cant clough res/Lancs

We were lucy to have aWryneck visit east Lancs,last weekend,the bird is still present,on the edge of the reservoir.This eastern vagrant, has drawn the crowds to this secluded spot in the pennines.

I made 2 visits to the site and had good views of the bird,both times.Here are some of my better images of the bird.Keep well and stay safe!!!

 

Cyprus (Mandria)

A popular bird watching area is Mandria,near to Paphos airport.It is coastal but importantly, one of the main agricultural areas of the region.With it,s fertile soils and flat outlook ,it is perfect for growing all kinds of vegetables and food fodder for the animals!Many green houses abond there too, cultivating flowers/tomatoes/peppers/strawberries,to name but a few.

These fields are like a magnet for the many migrants that pass through on migration.Pipits,larks ,buntings, shrikes,warblers and of course birds of prey including kestrels, hobbies,falcons and harriers, all use this rich land!

So on arrival down the beach road,I stumbled across this male bluethroat singing in some nearby scrub.The first one that I had come across this trip, not a bad start to the morning!

What a bonus to hear it in full voice too!

Great spotted cuckoo were also heard along the coastal path,this one was trying to court a female!

He was trying to catch caterpillars to offer to her!!

A hoopoe is always a welcome addition when out and about and there seemed to be quite an influx of them ,in the surrounding countryside!

As I was observing the Bluethroat,a grey shape appeared over the meadow.Straight in off the sea too,male Pallid Harrier.I dived out of the car with the camera before he disappeared over the horizon.After reeling of quite a few shots,I glanced round to see my car rolling away from me.It must have travelled a good 40 metres,down the road,and was heading towards a 2 metre ditch.In my haste to get out of the car,I had left my handbrake off!!! Dropping the camera, I covered the shortish distance in record time,I swear that I would have broken Usain Bolts 100metre record if I had carried on, oh and that was in a pair of crocs too.Luckily all was fine,and it was a lesson learned!

 Many types of yellow wagtail were also evident in the ploughed fields,this black headed one was amongst a flock of 35!

 A female Desert Wheatear made a brief appearance !

 She didn,t hang about for long though!

 Hoopoe having a dust bath! Nice to see it with the raised crown!

Another variant of yellow wagtail, with a yellow eyestripe!

Having a well earned breather,its not often you see these grounded!

Always one of the first harrier species to put in an appearance, before the Montague's arrive, usually mid march onwards! Though Hen Harrier do overwinter here!

 Hoopoe ,again searching for grubs!

 Spur winged plover are usually a reliable bird in the fields.Good numbers breed here!!

So that concludes my blog for this Spring,cut short by the dreaded Corona Virus, which is sweeping the world .I had to make a rapid exit,out of the country,due to there being rumours of a lockdown,within the island!I only managed 4 days out of my fortnights birding holiday, but health is far more important to us, at this moment in time.

Cyprus,acted swiftly on the pandemic and in doing so, will have saved many lives nationwide.Just a shame the UK didn,t do the same!At the moment here,it is gathering pace at an alarming rate, with cases doubling within 2/3 days.A very worrying and frightening time for all!Lets hope everybody behaves sensibly and adheres to the governments warnings of self isolation,and hygiene.So to all out there, please stay safe and keep well!

Evretou dam

1. Evretou dam lies about 9 miles out of Polis,and runs in a north /south direction, it is the third biggest dam in Cyprus.It,s main purpose is irrigation!!This is one of my many places that I like to visit in Spring and autumn, mainly for the tranquility,but also for the amazing bird migration that occurs there every year.

The small village seen at the shallow end of the dam, is Evretou,which was abandoned by the Turks in the 1974 uprising!It is a steep climb down the hillside in the car to reach its banks,and a short journey through the olive and orange grooves along an unmade road, to reach the old village!

Many birds use this as a stopover on their way north in spring and south in the autumn.This Siberian Stonechat was doing just this!

Sedge warblers inhabit the roadbeds as do reed warblers below!!

Grey Heron abound here with many Cormorants,as well as Great Crested and little Grebe,all on migration!

This large brown falcon gave us some id problems due to colouration and size.It appeared huge,Lanner /Saker was mentioned, but in the end it turned out to be a' Tundra' Peregrine of the race Calidris!

Alpine swift where coming through too, along with Common Swift and many hirundines!!

Crag Martin were among the flock!

With it being such a wet winter,the dam was bursting its banks and you could only drive part way to it!!

This is the deep, dam end of the res!!

Finsch's Wheatear,along with Black eared were on the dam too.Again all migrants heading to their breeding grounds in Northern and Eastern Europe!

So one more blog left to write up and unfortunately, the end of my all too short visit to my favourite island,due to this dreaded outbreak of 'Corona virus,' which as I write,shows no sign of letting up in any shape .means,or form!Lets just hope that we can all stay safe and well in these very troubled times!

Cyprus (Anarita Park) day 2

My second day on the island ,I was greeted with plenty of sunshine's an early start and 50 min drive, found me at one of my favourite places,Anarita Park.An Eastern Black Eared Wheatear was present, sitting up quite nicely on the thistles!

He wasn't too bothered about my presence, and I had a good 5 mins in his company from within the car!

Another Wheatear appeared later, which had me flummoxed with the id.I was to find out that evening, that it was a female Finsch,s which are known to over winter on Cyprus annually.

A female finches' wheatear, my first one seen!

Again from the car, I was allowed great views and made the most of it, with the camera!

 Wheatears arrive en masse towards the middle of March,with Isabelline, being one of the first.There were really good numbers around the coast and I found this one inland.Note the very erect posture and black alula,contrasting with the pale wing!Good ID qualities!

 A Tawny Pipit was searching the short vegetation,accompanied by a Woodlark.The 2 of them were never too far apart!Good numbers of both are annual here, on migration!

Woodlark.

With it being mid March,species were rather limited to say the least.I was looking forward to the following week, when Buntings,Harriers,Shrikes and Pipits would be in evidence....Little did I know what was in store!!!So thanks again for dropping by and another blog will follow shortly!!!Keep well and safe!!!