Bird of the holiday

With one day to go I think I can safely say that red-throated pipit has been the bird of the holiday. I'd never seen them in Cyprus previously, but in the past two weeks I've heard their calls many times and usually they've been very confiding. Smart birds!

A Cyprus mega

A rook was found at Mandria exactly one week ago, but despite us staying in the town, it's taken me six attempts to catch up with it. There have only been 23 records of the species in Cyprus since 1957 and it is only the eighth this century so very much a mega on the island.

Also today, at least four black francolins calling with one seen very distantly and at least two red-throated pipits.

Great spotted cuckoo, Akrotiri marsh

Great spotted cuckoos are always a very special sight so I was delighted to find one today at Akrotiri marsh. They don't overwinter in Cyprus, but they are early return migrants, usually appearing in February. Prior to my sighting today I'd only heard of a handful of birds from anywhere in Cyprus, and most of those have been at coastal headlands. 

Also today, the eastern yellow wagtail still, single spoonbill and great white egret and over 80 spur-winged plover, all serenaded by at least three black francolin, which I didn't see.

Female Finsch's wheatear at Kourion beach

Below ancient Kourion, just behind the beach, is a small, often overlooked archeological site. For the past few weeks this site has hosted a female Finsch's wheatear. We called in the other day and although we saw it, it was only for seconds and completely unsatisfactory. I was passing today on my way back from Akrotiri marsh so decided to call in for a second look.  Fortunately the bird showed much better and allowed me to get a few photos. 

Obviously not as nice as a summer plumage male, but still a smart bird.

More red-throated pipits at Paphos headland

At Paphos headland this morning, at least nine red-throated pipits again showing very well feeding on the track on the other side of the fence. Lots of calls and flying around and at least a couple of impressive orangey red throats.

This bird stole the show for me though, possibly a young bird, but just look at how black and white it looks, even on it's back! Very different to the browns of meadow pipit.

Woodlarks at Paphos headland

Woodlarks are pretty common in Cyprus in winter and today there was a small flock of five feeding on the track on the other side of the fence at Paphos headland.

Red-throated pipits at Paphos headland

I was slightly frustrated last Sunday when we visited Paphos headland and only managed to see a couple of 1st winter red-throated pipits which lacked the orangey red throat. A local birder had told me that there were a few adults now acquiring their summer plumage so this morning I decided to head back for another look. At first I just heard a couple of birds call as they flew over but I couldn't get onto them on the ground. Finally though, just as I'd nearly given up, I spotted one on the track on the other side of the fence. This was a real beauty in full plumage and fortunately it didn't seem worried by the fact that I went right up to the fence to avoid the wires of the fence intruding on the photos. It was less than 3m from me when I took these photos.

While I was watching I heard other birds calling nearby and then three more flew in and joined the first, two of which did not have the red throat so presumably were young birds. There are a couple of photographs of these birds at the bottom of this post.

Absolutely stunning birds! Not just the throat but also the rest of the plumage is really nice. Very sharp black and white compared to meadow pipit.

Also at Paphos headland

Also at the headland this morning, several Spanish sparrows, skylarks, zitting cisticolas, Sardinian warblers and crested larks.

Finsch's Wheatear again, Asprokremmos Dam

More great views of a Finsch's wheatear today, once again about 1km from the abandoned village of Foinikas and today it was with a juvenile blue rock thrush. 

Mesmerising Akrotiri marsh and an Eastern Yellow Wagtail

I had an absolutely mesmerising morning at Akrotiri marsh today. I'd really gone to try to see the long staying eastern yellow wagtail which I missed on our previous visit. However, I arrived at sunrise and found myself surrounded by the calls of black francolin. I've never experienced anything like it, except perhaps calling corncrakes on a Hebridean island. I walked down a lane and calls were everywhere, some really close, others more distant, there must have been six or seven birds calling in total. 

Sadly, just like corncrakes they were very hard to see, but I did accidently flush one from the side of a track and had an all too brief view of it. A fabulous birding experience.

The reason I was so keen to see the eastern yellow wagtail is because it was my first definite confirmed sighting of the species. The only other bird I have seen was the possible that I found at Moss lane, St Helens last September, but that bird was only seen for less than an hour and didn't call. The Akrotiri bird has been present for around four weeks and is very vocal and at times shows very well.

There were so many other great birds and I never tire of seeing spur-winged plover. There were about 50 present today, some displaying.

Finsch's wheatear, Asprokremmos dam

Finsch's wheatear is one of the star attractions of any winter birding visit to Cyprus. Breeding in Turkey, a few overwinter on the island, but are only present between about December to mid-February. The abandoned village of Foinikas near our old haunt of Nata is one of the most likely places to find them.

Today we didn't make it as far as the village due to the combination of rapidly deteriorating weather and three large and aggressive looking feral dogs that we didn't want to meet, but fortunately I did managed to find one of the wheatears at the side of the track about 1km from the village. 

They are far more nervous than the northern wheatears we get in the UK and won't allow close approach, but this bird showed as well as any I have seen in the past. The only place outside Cyprus that I have seen this species is Kuwait.

A white back is diagnostic with this species.

A walk at Cape Aspro

Cape Aspro is where I saw my first proper Eleonara's falcon in 1996 at one of their largest eastern Mediterranean colonies. I'm not quite sure how I managed it to be honest, because I know that I approached the cliffs from the north by parking the car at the side of the road, climbing over a roadside barrier and just walking north off piste.

Today we took the 'blue route' from Pissouri Beach, up over the cliffs and onto Pissouri Village square, then back by the road. The cliff part was spectacular if a little sticky in the damp, clay like conditions following a day of rain yesterday, but I wouldn't recommend either Pissouri or Pissouri Beach as places to visit. 

The falcons aren't here at the moment, they're summer visitors, but even so we saw a reasonable selection of birds, the highlights being adult blue rock thrush, juvenile Bonelli's eagle and a possible Cyprus warbler, plus others such as woodlark, laughing dove, Sardinian warbler and black redstarts.

Anatolian chiffchaffs in Cyprus

Anatolian chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita bevirostris, photographed at Paphos sewage works this morning. Between November and March this is by far the commonest race of chiffchaff in Cyprus, with 80-90% of all birds being this race and their calls are everywhere. This wasn't always known to be the case though. Prior to my visit in December 2014, Anatolian chiffchaff had apparently never been recorded on the island and chiffchaffs in winter in Cyprus were considered to be either P.c. collybita or P.c. abientus, with a few P.c. tristis (Siberian chiffchaff). 

However in 2014 I recorded a call and based on plumage and call I posted it on Xeno-Canto  (opens in a new window) as P.c. brevirostris. I was oblivious to the fact that this race had apparently never previously been recorded in Cyprus. The resultant 95 emails I received from various people including three internationally recognised chiffchaff experts, turned our knowledge of chiffchaffs in Cyprus on it's head. Far from being unknown, Anatolian chiffchaff was actually one of the commonest birds on the island in winter. Unlike P.c. collybita and P.c abientus which call 'huweeet', Anatolian chiffchaff has a call more like Siberian chiffchaff 'peep' and previously all of the 'peeps' on the island had erroneously been considered to be Siberian. My recording changed all that. Amazing that a casual recording taken on my phone could make such an impact.  

The full story is in a blog post from 2014 (opens in a new window). Back then some authorities considered brevirostis a form of abientus, but about five years ago it was given full subspecies status.

Today there were flocks of these birds at the sewage works, I estimated at least 50 in total. Birds flycatching and 'peeping' in all of the bushes and hedgerows. Just occasionally I would hear a 'huweeet' but this is the only place where I hear that call. Everywhere else I go it's 'peep'. There were also several birds singing today,

Akrotiri marsh

A remarkable moment at Akrotiri marsh this afternoon. I was delighted to see a very unexpected black stork drop in but seconds later fly off again as it was perused by a Bonelli's eagle which appeared from nowhere. They both flew right past the hide but eventually the eagle gave up the chase as the stork disappeared behind some trees.

Birding at Ancient Kourion

Ancient Kourion is in the south west of Cyprus, near Episkopi and is one of the finest archeological sites I've been to. A lot of these sites are good for wildlife and this one is no exception.

Highlight for me was finding this singing male Cyprus warbler, my first for 29 years. A Cyprus endemic, they are never an easy bird to see, and in recent years they have declined due to competition from the increasing Sardinian warbler.

Spur-winged plover, Paphos sewage works

No trip to Paphos is complete without a visit to the sewage works, and once again this morning it didn't let me down with at least 30 spur-winged plover including some displaying, also bluethroat and red-throated pipits. Elaine stayed in bed.......

I had excellent views of these birds in the fields near the sewage works, and as long as I stayed in the car they would approach quite close. Lots of other birds too, including pipits, larks and corn buntings, plus zitting cisticola, bluethroat, serins and chiffchaffs. From the calls the chiffchaffs were either spp. colybitta / abietinus "huweet" or brevirostris "peep". At the sewage works I would say it was split 50/50, but everywhere else I went today I only heard "peep".

A walk around Kouklia

Laughing doves occur at Kouklia and Mandria and probably other nearby villages. I never see them in the countryside, only around human habitation.

Paphos headland

At Paphos headland, Cyprus today, only I could get a photo of a red-throated pipit which didn't show the throat! But no, none of my photos show the throat of this particular bird, but I did see it and although it was only creamy the bird called several times and it's white tramlines on it's back were clearly visible.

Meanwhile on the rocks there were three greater sand plovers along with 100 golden plover and a single grey plover. This is the classic site in Cyprus for seeing these sand plovers and I've seen them here several times in the past.

Also today, at Nata village up in the hills, there were several woodlark.

Ring-necked duck, Victoria Park, St Helens

The St Helens ring-necked duck was found on the tiny lake at Victoria Park today so I had to go for a look. As expected, it showed really well.

Return of the ring-necked duck

The drake ring-necked duck was back on Taylor Park lake St Helens this morning, in one of the few open patches of water. With 95% of the lake iced over, it had no choice but to stay close to the side where I must say it seemed the most timid of all the ducks present, which included several tufted ducks.

I've never really understood the warped logic which says that if a duck is close then it's most probably an escape. Really? Presumably all of the tufted ducks it was with must be escapes then? Along with all of those hooded mergansers and buffleheads I saw in USA. Not to forget the whooper swans I saw walking around a busy car park in Glasgow, all escapes. 

It's has not really left St Helens since it returned for its second winter back in November, but it seems to spend most of its time on nearby Eccleston Mere which is almost completely inaccessible.

Shortly after I saw it this morning it was most probably flushed off Taylor Park by two lads throwing a Titanic size lump of ice into the lake right by where it had been. Birds flying in all directions and the ring-necked duck was not relocated. I'm sure it will be back though.