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!!!

Cyprus spring (Mandria)

Well ,what a week it has been.I had to bring forward my annual birdwatching/photography trip to Cyprus, from the end of this month to the 11th of March.The main reason, was work commitments.I wasn't too bothered really, but hey ho, so it was....Little did I know what was in store!

All started well on my arrival to the island, apt reached safely, after 2 bus journeys, photography gear all sorted and ready for the coming 2 week stay...bliss.

Day 1 was just local as usual, around the foothills of the Akamas peninsular.It was a late start due to supermarket provisions and more importantly...the weather.,it was throwing down!Undetered I ventured out and explored the usual haunts.Plenty of Chiffchaffs,a few Black Redstarts,all the finches were noted.Not unusual really, as it was quite early.Wheatears had been reported on the coast as well as Blue rock thrush and good numbers of Swallows and house martins.

The rain showers held off, which allowed a couple of hrs of exploring.I knew there would be a few Orchids about, so I had a good mooch for these, finding a few different species.Not really well up on identification of these Wonderfull plants,I had bought a new Book, 'Orchids of Cyprus' so I  would try to id these at a later day!

The rain came back with a vengeance,so I called it a day and returned to the comfort of the apartment!

I never saw many butterflies in my limited stay on the island, but this  Paphos blue, which is endemic to Cyprus, landed for a short while!

I think this is ranunculus asiaticus

I

A few crag Martin were mixed in with the masses of swallow and house Martin.

Purple Iris

Taking a well earned rest and preening, ready for the long arduous journey North,though some do stay to breed here!

I think this is one of the monkey orchids,(Orchis Italica) that abound here!!

So I hope that you enjoyed my short blog about Cyprus, I will prepare the next instalment shortly...Stay safe and keep well!!

Cyprus feb 2020 (Evretou Dam)

Evretou Dam near to Polis,is my local patch at Cyprus.It is quite a good area for raptors, as it is at the bottom of a large valley.Long Legged Buzzard are usually in evidence there,

At the moment,all the dams are overflowing, after the tremendous amount of rain that was put down over the winter period.This is the first time I have witnessed water crashing out of the spillway!

A Sparrowhawk gave me a quick flypast overhead, not common by any means!

You do get over wintering Hen Harriers in Cyprus and I was very fortunate to watch this female, constantly searching a small hillside about 70 metres from the car.It was a pleasure my wife was with me too,to enjoy the marvellous views, as she searched the area for lizards and small birds!

Stonechat are ever present here throughout the winter.It seems they cover every valley, low lying areas and coastal paths.They are popping up everywhere, and so photogenic too!

Now an interesting Grey Shrike ws discovered by local birder Colin Richardson at Lara Bay, on the Akamas Peninsular.It turned out to be a Steppe Grey Shrike,with this being the 18th record for Cyprus.By the way,Colin has just brought out a book on,' The Birds Of Cyprus',well worth buying for the visiting birder!.
As I write this blog, I believe it is still in the same area where it was discovered!!

Again at Evretou, a pair of Green Sandpipers were patrolling the margins of the reservoir, this was one of them!!

A new bird for me,was a water pipit.This was one of 4 that I discovered in the margins!

A pretty non descript bird at the moment, but when in breeding plumage are quite different with a pinkish tinge to the breast!

Thank you so much for looking in,and there will be more from Southern Cyprus in the comingg weeks!