Namaqua Dove on my doorstep in Mandria

A major rarity in Cyprus today, just 200m from my apartment in Mandria. A male Namaqua Dove! It's the size of a sparrow with a long tail like a budgie. The only place it breeds in the western palearctic is southern Israel. I saw a female distantly in Kuwait a couple of years ago, but todays bird was much closer, photographed from the car as it fed on the other side of the road! An amazing bird. 

When I got back to Mandria from Paphos there had just been a torrential downpour and the bird had not unreasonably gone missing and there was a tense 30 minutes or so of no show. Eventually though somebody spotted it further down the road. We all got into our cars to use them as hides and the bird just walked down the road towards us, feeding as it came.

Finsch's wheatear and the Isabelline shrike at Paphos Headland

My original plan was to stay in Mandria all day, but when a Finsch's wheatear was found at Paphos Headland followed by a masked shrike I decided to spend the afternoon there instead. I've seen a few Finsch's wheatears in winter in Cyprus, though it's never a common bird, just a handful overwinter at traditional sites, but it would be the sixth species of wheatear that I've seen on this holiday, so I was keen to see it just to complete the set. Also I thought that since I'd be in Paphos late afternoon, I could take the opportunity to call in for meal in a favourite restaurant on the front. That was the plan but it didn't work out that way.

The wheatear played it's part and was easy enough to find, though it lived up to it's reputation as one of the most skittish of all the wheatears, and wouldn't allow even moderately close approach. 

So that's seven species of wheatear for the holiday so far, Northern, Isabelline, Eastern Black-eared, Desert, Cyprus and Finsch's. What will the next species be?

The masked shrike was never seen again but I managed to relocate the isabelline shrike and it showed better than ever. It was a 1st winter when I saw it back in December but now it's really taking on some decent adult plumage. Gone is the barring on it's flanks, it now has a rusty crown and it's tail is getting redder. Meanwhile, two woodchat shrikes were in the same area.

All great to see and I was starting to think about food, but then I got news of something that I just could not miss back in Mandria and my plans were abandoned. A Namaqua dove had been found just 200m from my apartment. Doh! I knew that I should have stayed in Mandria! Back to the car.

Baltic gull and Caspian tern passage as the storms crash into Mandria

The storms that hit the island in the second half of yesterday continued overnight and were still with us until lunchtime today, though the rain wasn't quite so intense, the wind a little lighter and the gaps between each storm a little longer. You still didn't want to get caught outside in one though so the order of the morning was to bird from or near the car. I parked at a decent looking vantage point on the coast and looked out to sea for a while. There was clearly a passage west of gulls and I hoped for a Pallas's gull, but no such luck on that score. I was however thrilled to see so many Baltic gulls pass by, with 58 birds counted, mainly adults, with the largest flock being 20 birds.

Suddenly I spotted two Caspian terns flying quite close inshore, heading west. I only later discovered that these are very scarce birds in Cyprus. Even more amazing, three hours later I was talking to local birder and legend Colin Richardson about the terns when two more flew past!

Thunderstorms roll in but the birds keep coming

Some great birds today at Mandria and Paphos headland. It was a beautiful warm and sunny morning but this afternoon after 2pm thunderstorms rolled in one after the other with not much more than 20 minutes break between them and they're still going now at 7pm here. It's dark here now but I just drove to the supermarket and at times the whole sky turned white as lightening struck and then seconds later it felt like the earth was shaking as the thunder came. Torrential rain during the storms, I'm glad I brought my wellies! A breathtaking experience but one afternoon is enough thanks very much. Hopefully the weather will bring yet more birds.

Anyway, best birds today were wryneck, rufous-tailed rock thrush, Caspian stonechat, a decent passage of Baltic gulls, isabelline shrike, black-winged stilt and a night heron. In between the storms a female pallid harrier flew through Mandria.

Wrynecks are fabulous birds and this is the best view I've had for a long time.

This rufous-tailed rock thrush was associating with one of it's cousins, a blue rock thrush.

Citrine wagtail, another bogey bird bites the dust

What a morning! My major bogey bird bites the dust! Not only that, I found it myself and it was a stonking adult male. I've had many a close shave with citrine wagtail over the years but they've always eluded me both at home and abroad. Not anymore, despite being a scarce bird in Cyprus I managed to pick one out of a flock of 100 yellow wagtails at Mandria, and it obliged by walking straight towards me until it was the closest bird. An absolutely breathtaking bird!

It's hard to explain to a non-birder the excitement of seeing a bird such as this after all these years of pain. I honestly could have cried when I saw it! This will probably be the bird of the holiday for me, whatever else I might see. The excitement of finding this was exhilarating! I make no apologies for dedicating the whole post to photos and video of this bird.

Citrine wagtail looks like a mix of white wagtail and yellow wagtail, and it behaviour seems more like white than yellow to me.

An influx of greater short-toed larks at Mandria and more wagtails

There's definitely been an influx of short-toed larks, with a flock of 38 near the shack just east of lark corner and a few others scattered around.

Greater Sandplover, Timi beach

This stunning greater sandplover in breeding plumage was on Timi Beach this morning. I've seen plenty of these previously in Cyprus and also in India and Australia, but I've never seen one that looked anywhere near as good as this before.

Slightly less photogenic but no less exciting, male and female eastern orphean warblers were also here but refused to be photographed. This is the best I could get of the female.

Vultures at Kensington Cliffs

Cyprus has a dwindling population of griffon vultures and the biggest colony is at Kensington Cliffs which is out of bounds due to the British military base on the top of the cliff. However following some local advice I Managed to find a track down to Zapallo beach at the base of the cliffs and saw several of these magnificent birds soaring overhead. Three vultures came really close and circled over me hoping the exertions of the walk might lead to a meal for them no doubt☠️

Serenaded by Cyprus scops owl at Aphrodite's hills.

This afternoon I had a walk along the Aphrodites hills trail hoping to find a few orchids, since March is the best time for them in Cyprus. In that respect it wasn't a very successful visit although I did find a couple of species. More of that later, but the highlight was undoubtably being serenaded by at least four Cyprus scops owls as I searched. I had a look to see if I could find one, but there were a lot of potential trees and they are only very small birds. 

Also here, two Cyprus wheatears, presumably on territory.

This magnificent Bonelli's eagle flew over.

Those of a sensitive disposition should brace themselves now....

Orchid lovers may be aware that in the UK we have man orchid and lady orchid, so named because their flowers look like a man or a lady. Have a guess what this one is called........ yes it's true. It's naked man orchid! It could have been worse I suppose.

I'm not sure what species this is, it'll give me something to do when I get home!

No problem finding poppy anemones, they're everywhere.

Two lifers at Asprokremnos dam

Prior to today I've never really rated Asprkremnos dam. I mean it's a very deep reservoir with bird life limited to a couple of great crested grebes and a few cormorants, perhaps some yellow-legged gulls if you're lucky. Yeah there can be a few other water birds present, earlier in the year there were about six Russian white-fronted geese and apparently it gets a small number of ducks, but they're miles away at the other end of the reservoir. The deserted village of Finikas has been good to me in the past, with Finsch's wheatear, Bonellis eagle and blue rock thrush in winter, but that's at the far end of the reservoir and unless you have a 4x4 and nerves of steal it's a six mile round walk from the village of Nata. Asprokremnos dam has produced relatively lean pickings in the past for me.

My opinion changed today though as the dam provided not just my first lifer of the holiday, but also my second! 

There's a small car park near the dam wall, surrounded by mixed woodland which is said to be good for warblers and flycatchers in spring, and so it proved today. I managed to find two eastern Bonelli's warblers and an eastern orphean warbler, both new for me. Also here a common redstart, several hoopoes and lots of chiffchaffs. In the fields just above the reservoir a quail sang, while raptors included Bonelli's eagle, long-legged buzzard and marsh harrier.

I as delighted to get these photos of the eastern Bonelli's and though the eastern orphean was not so obliging, I had a great view of it drinking from a trough for a few seconds.

Caspian stonechats still at Mandria as migrants flood in

This morning the Caspian stonechats were still present and true to form the eastern subalpine warbler was still playing gooseberry. There is definitely an association with these birds because it's too co-incidental, the stonechats had moved 100m west and they still couldn't shake off the warbler! 

Meanwhile, I watched a short-eared owl fly in off the sea and fly along the coast briefly before heading off out to sea again, gradually getting higher and higher until it was just a dot. It's great to see migration in action.

One of the highlights of the morning was the large arrival of wagtails and pipits, with around 100 each of white and yellow wagtails, with most of the latter being the black-headed race feldegg.