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.

Frozen plover

A local field at Haydock which I have been watching this winter has held a decent flock of golden plover by recent standards, with up to 95 present in December along with 300 lapwings. Today the frozen field still had 24 goldies with 110 lapwings. Also present throughout the winter, good numbers of buzzards, with up to 30 present on the fields on most visits.

New Year on the Rainford Mosslands

I've spent most of my free time since New Year on the Rainford Mosslands where the highlights have included a female hen harrier, which I've seen twice at Clare's Moss from the Old Coach Road, and a couple of barn owls. There's also at least one marsh harrier in the area but so far they've eluded me.

There's been at least 10 corn buntings along Dairy Farm Road.

Around 2000 pink-footed geese are in the area, but so far I've not been able to pick out any other species.

Martin Mere and Southport kick off the New Year

A few hours birding between Martin Mere and Southport so far this year produced quite a few year ticks, with 60 species at Martin Mere and another 11 at Southport. Highlights included the usual snow bunting near Southport pier along with 20 twite and four spoonbills which are currently wintering on the Ribble.

While I was watching the twite this spoonbill dropped in below the pier. I assume that it's one of the four that I had just seen from the sand plant at Marshside, but why it would have left the other three I can't say.