Mandria

Photo: Anatolian chiffchaff P.c. brevirostris
Mandria, Cyprus.

We unexpectedly ended up spending the second week of the holiday in an apartment in Mandria, which was great because it's one of the best birding sites in the region and it gave me the opportunity to really explore the place. 

There were hundreds of corn buntings, larks, pipits, finches, sparrows, serins and woodpigeons, plus many wagtails, zitting cisticolas, stonechats and chiffchaffs. There were at least four singing black francolins.

Throughout the holiday I kept a list of all of the chiffchaffs that I could identify to race from their calls. In the end I heard at least 259 'peeps' and only two 'huweets', the 'peeps' being brevirostris and the 'huweets' either collybita or abeitinus. Only a small study but clearly the overwhelming majority of chiffchaffs in Cyprus at this time of year are brevirostris. 

Part of a flock of Spanish sparrows.

Serins.

White wagtail.

Goldfinch.

Stonechat.