|
|
Cyprus 2005 Simon Plat, Maaike Poppinga |
|
Daily log |
The first thing that struck me during preparation is the general lack of a whole bunch of Southeast European and Asian specialties on Cyprus. The location of Cyprus, close to Turkey and Syria might suggest the presence of these species but the facts are different. Quite some birds found in Turkey and west of Turkey are not found on Cyprus and most migrating birds only visit the island during spring migration in April. And since both endemics (Cyprus Warbler and Cyprus Wheatear) and other specialties (Black Francolin) can also be found in destinations that are richer in birds (notably Syria and Israel), I can't find a reason to advise this destination to world twitchers or target birders.
Nevertheless there's a lot of birding fun on Cyprus, especially during spring migration (April) and winter (for difficult birds like Finch Wheatear). Yet, this was not really a birding trip. More a relaxing trip and while we're at it put in a bit of birding. Consequently my bird list is small and probably not representative. During the heat of day there was time to check the few butterflies that were left after three months of 40+ degrees temperatures.
Since it was not a genuine birding trip I only did a short study on what to
expect and where to find it. I checked the trip reports available by Travelingbirder.com.
Apparently most birders writing a trip report know their way around Cyprus or
used one of the books available, because almost no one explained the exact location
of the sites visited. This can be very frustrating when looking for famous spots
like Phassouri Reed Beds and not being able to find it due to lack of a good
site description. Even the 
renown
Kensington Cliffs are hard to find when directed by the trip reports only.
We arranged a combination of flight, accommodation and rental car, all for the price of about E 2000,- for the two weeks. Our accommodation was a small apartment complex with pool in Pomos, a small town 20 kilometres north east of Polis in the north of the Greek part. The surroundings were great and birding around Pomos was good but unfortunately it was quite a drive from there to the famous spots like Akrotiri and Paphos Headlands. I decided that Larnaka Salt Lakes were to far to visit even once.
Weather was great with temperatures exceeding 30°C daily. The first week was sunny with virtually no wind. After exact one week we had a day with small thunderstorms and the next day was a bit windy, which proved good for birding. During that windy day the island was filled with swallows, bee-eaters and Honey-buzzards. After that small depression the weather was a bit more instable bud good every day.
My only targets were Cyprus Wheatear, Black Francolin and Demoiselle Crane.
The first was easy with several birds every day. The second proved a bit more
difficult and in the end I only had one sighting with two birds. The latter
was my frustrating dip with over 140 birds seen about two weeks before my arrival
and a few seen by Danish birders the very day that I tried to find them at Akrotiri.
Good birds that I did find were: Finch Wheatear, Ruppells Warbler (rare during
autumn migration) and Cretzschmar's Bunting. See also the
results. For more information on birding in Cyprus the site of Birdlife
Cyprus may be of 
use.
Not updated frequently but interesting anyway.
I also tried to identify the butterflies with an additional handicap that some of the specialties are not illustrated in the 'Butterflies of Britain and Europe' guide. Fortunately there is an excellent website on butterflies of Cyprus with photos of the endemics and other specialties.
10-09-2005
Our arrival the 9th was too late in the day to do any serious
birding. So we collected our car and drove -mostly in the dark- to our apartment
in Pomos. Pomos is a very small town, situated about 20 km north east of Polis,
on the north coast of the western part of Cyprus (see the
map). The apartment was great with a balcony overlooking the sea and an
exceptional cold pool. This morning I got up early to start what became the
best birding day on the island. I started at our apartment and walked around
Pomos into the hills inland. The first birds showed before sunrise: large flocks
of Grey 
and
Purple Heron migrated to the west, apparently to the Akamas
peninsula to feed.
First interesting warbler was a Sardinian but the fun really
started a few minutes later with three warblers chasing each other, being of
three different species: Sardinian chased by a beautiful male
Cyprus Warbler (my best sighting of this species) and a stunning
Ruppell's Warbler overlooking it all! Apparently Ruppell's
is rare during autumn migration. And the fun was not over yet. While walking
up a hill in the outskirts of town my first wheatear proved to be a female Finch
Wheatear! Unfortunately it flew off quite quick, never to be seen again.
And a bit further up the hill I found the second Cyprus endemic and my first
new species: Cyprus Wheatear. Other interesting birds during
this early morning trip were: Red-backed Shrike, Chukar
and Crested Lark.
During breakfast on our balcony a flock of Little Egrets flew
over sea with one Squacco Heron among them.
An afternoon trip to Polis and the Baths of Aphrodite in the Akamas peninsula
(signposted from Polis) was good for a few new common species including my first
Bee-eater and a few genuine (?) Rock Pigeons.
In the centre of Polis a flower pot held the first interesting butterfly: African
Grass Blue. A Swallowtail was flying in a small park
in Polis.
Late afternoon was used to explore the hills south of Pomos with the first Red-rumped
Swallows and the endemic subspecies of Coal Tit and
Jay.
All in all a very good start to the trip.
11-09-2005
One
of the greatest species to find this time of year is beyond reasonable doubt
Demoiselle Crane. I knew that is was already getting late in the season (best
time by far is August) so today I headed to their famous twitch spot Akrotiri,
near Limassol. Quite a drive from Pomos, just over 1,5 hour but I arrived early
enough to get good looks over the fields near Akrotiri. Akrotiri is signposted
from Kolossi and easy to find. Yet I had no idea what the best spot would be
to search for the cranes. Upon arrival the area around Akrotiri was easily surveyalbe
and the hundreds of Greater Flamingos were easily found. But
no sign of Demoiselles. I scanned the fields and the Flamingos several times
from different points of view but nothing. Apart from Red-backed Shrikes
I was happy with the Lesser Grey Shrikes perched on
telegraph wires. When going east in Akrotiri, near a restaurant on the north
side of the road, it is possible to drive into the area (unpaved but good roads)
to the eastern part of the lake and Ladies Mile Beach. The only Spectacled
Warblers (2) of the trip were found in the bush along Ladies Mile Beach.
The small pond called Zakaki Marsh was full of water and birds. This pond is
along the road driving away from Ladies Mile Beach to the west. A Glossy
Ibis was present for a moment but was called away by two others flying
by. There was a Squacco Heron present and a number of waders,
including Greenshank, Wood Sandpiper, Dunlin
and Little Stint. Water Rail was
calling from the reed beds and a Common Kingfisher occasionally
hovered over the water. Floating bird life consisted of Common Coot,
Moorhen, Dabchick, Common Teal and
Garganey. A skulking warbler, low in the reed, proved to be
a Sedge Warbler rather than a Moustached Warbler. Every once
in a while a flock of Bee-eaters and two Pallid Swifts came
by for a drink and migrating Honey-buzzards passed in small
numbers. A moment of panic over three large soaring birds but these were Black
Storks and not cranes... That's a good two hours of birding fun.
My enthusiasm dropped considerably after meeting a group of Danish birders claiming
to have found Demoiselle Cranes among the Flamingos... I tried to scan the Flamingos
again but in vain as the heat hazed it all into a fata morgana of swarming pink
curls. My difficulties of coping with this kind of disappointment made me vacate
the area and drive back home to a 
relaxing
afternoon. But not without the plan to try again next morning.
Yet it only took me a few hours of reloading before I couldn't keep myself from
a tiny bit of birding in the area of Pomos in the late afternoon, after temperatures
dropped. About 10 km from Pomos on the road to Polis I stopped to check out
a small bird and -lucky me- this proved to be a male Cretzschmar's Bunting,
accompanied by a juvenile (breeding or migrating?), this is one of my favourites.
The same agricultural field also held several Long-tailed Blues.
Along a small road into the agricultural area I found the first Masked
Shrike, stunning birds they are. A flock of sparrows had a few nice
males Spanish Sparrow among them. That was a good end to a
great birding day with a tiny little dark spot in the middle.
12-09-2005
The second day Akrotiri and surroundings again failed to give
me Demoiselles but Maaike enjoyed the Flamingos anyway. Pretty much the same
birds as yesterday. The small pools along Ladies Mile Beach not only held Kentish
Plover (a whole bunch of them) but also at least one Greater
Sand Plover. Zakaki Pond was just a bit less interesting than the day
before. This time a Reed Warbler was singing from the reeds
but it wouldn't show. Other interesting bird was a juvenile Montagu's
Harrier.
On the way back we tried for Kensington Cliffs but had difficulties finding
it. First we went to a beack site. Near Episkopi, just before the turn of to
the famous Kourion archaeological site there is a turn off to a beach. From
there I had good views of 
several
Eleonora's Falcons on the cliffs. But that was pretty much
it and Kensington Cliffs were still too far to scan. We paid Kourion a visit
strictly for tourist reasons but I was happy with the only Isabellinne
Wheatear of the trip foraging the ruins. After that we tried to get
a good look at Kensington Cliffs and after a bit of searching we found a road
that descended to the beach and gave the views we hoped for (sorry, not signposted
and hard to explain but the best thing to do is to follow the road from Episkopi
along the coast and pass Kourion and some other archaeological sites on the
right of the road and to find the first unpaved road to the left, before you
pass a small military town). But no vultures to be found. We drove on along
the road to the Kensington military camps and it was there that Maaike saw a
vulture soaring low over the road. We stopped and our first Griffon
Vulture was a fact. Within 10 minutes at least 6 different Griffons
came in from inland apparently on their way to Kensington Cliffs after a morning
of feeding more inland. Nice also were the migrating Bee-eaters,
a flock of at least 40 birds.
The rest of the day I was free from birding obligations.
13-09-2005
This day I did an early morning walk along the road north of Pomos. Just a
few new birds: two Golden Orioles and several Olivaceous Warblers. During the
day we visited Kato Pyrgos, the last town before the Turkish part of the island.
Only notable birds were a juvenile Red-footed Falcon and a
nice Masked Shrike. Very nice was a Hermit flying
in Kato Pyrgos, but the butterflies crossing the road unidentified were slightly
frustrating. A very lucky catch was a Small Bath White along
the road back to Pomos.
In the afternoon I decided to try for Black Francolin, if necessary by driving
to the airport at Paphos, a good spot for this species. But again I was lucky.
About 5 km before I got to Polis I found two Black Francolins (male
and female) in a field beside the main road. Very wary and off after I had a
quick look. That saved me from a drive to Paphos.
14-09-2005
Today
we had the tourist destination Kykkos in the mountains on our schedule. We left
at dawn and drove the quiet and scenic road through the mountains starting a
few km east of Pomos. We finally got good looks on those fly-by butterflies
crossing the roads: the endemic Cyprus Grayling. Still quite
common in the mountains. Another lucky moment with a European Mouflon
in the shoulder of the road. Cyprus Wheatear was seen
on several locations en route. Kykkos was nice and green with good numbers of
butterflies, including Cardinal, Lang's Short-tailed
Blue, White-banded Grayling and Red Admiral.
We visited the monastery and had a great Moussaka lunch with European Crag Martin
overhead.
We took the road south through the Troodos mountains and on to Paphos. En route
we visited the small town Omodos and some interesting looking spots. Omodos
held a Blackcap. Nice route and potential interesting for birds but nothing
interesting showed.
15-09-2005
The only relevant outdoor activity was a walk in the mountains behind Pomos.
From the town of Pomos a small road leads into the mountains, passing a dam
and leading further into the forest. This area was very nice, scenic and quiet.
No new birds species but some interesting butterflies, including the second
Cyprus endemic: Cyprus Meadow Brown. Eastern Rock Grayling
was also a new species for me.
Back home a Mediterranean Shag was present at the rocks in
the sea.
16-09-2005
The morning was spent on Paphos headlands, a famous archaeological spot that
can also be very rewarding for birding, but 
more
so during spring migration. Not many birds were around but it was great to see
(our only) Roller, probably a migrating bird. There were some
short-toed larks present but they never showed good enough for identification
and I'm not familiar with their call to identify them flying.
This morning the first clouds of our visit started to appear and grew to become
thunderclouds. During the day the wind grew stronger. While driving back to
our apartment a flock of 12 Honey-buzzards seemed to have arrived
on the island just then. During the night we had our first bit of rain.
17-09-2005
The weather was good again though there was a lot more wind. In the morning
we went to the Evretou Dam, about 10 km south of Polis. The dam is easily found
by driving south from Polis to Paphos and just before leaving Polis taking a
left turn, following the signs to Steni and from there the dam is signposted.
The higher winds might be good for birding, because over the Evretou Dam the
skies were filled with swallows, including Barn (thousands),
Red-Rumped, House Martin, Sand Martin
and two species of Swift: Common Swift (one bird,
the only of the trip) and Alpine Swift. Also present around
the dam were Cyprus Wheatear, Cyprus Warbler,
Corn Bunting and a Masked Shrike chasing a
Red-backed Shrike. 
After that we went to a monastery in Panagia by following the road east from
Stroumpi. Wren and Serin were present in the
forest near the monastery. A Montagu's Harrier and several
flocks of Honey-buzzards were passing. European Bee-eaters
were virtually everywhere.
In the afternoon I put up the scope on our balcony and scanned the sea for seabirds
and with success: at least one Scopoli's Shearwater and about
3 Levantine Shearwaters flew far off shore.
This day was different from the previous days in terms of weather (more wind)
and birds (more birds, especially swallows, bee-eaters and Honey-buzzards).
Probably there is a relation here. The south-western wind might force birds
lower than normal making them easier to see. So apparently a bit of a depression
- weatherwise - might be good for birding on Cyprus.
18-09-2005
Another day Akrotiri. And again no sign of Demoiselle Cranes. Birds were almost
completely the same as last visit, including two Lesser Grey Shrikes.
Also a Black Kite and a Common Snipe in Zakaki
Pond new for the trip. Both Great and and Common Reed
Warbler (probably Eastern, see also
these pics of the bird, any comment is welcome!) were present.
Back in Pomos I tried for some butterflies. Not much around but another African
Grass Blue and a Mallow Skipper.
19-09-2005
This day was mostly inactive apart from a walk in the forest behind Pomos.
A Sparrowhawk had some features of a Levant Sparrowhawk but it wouldn't show
long enough. The butterflies were all the same as before apart from a Pygmy
Skipper.
In the afternoon an Audouins Gull flew past Pomos harbour.
20-09-2005
We
spent most of the morning walking the Akamas trail. Bird life was very quiet
with calling Sardinian Warbler and migrating Honey-buzzards
as most obvious birds. Two passing Purple Herons were
new for the trip. Cyprus Grayling was seen in small numbers
and a Cyprus Meadow Brown was present along the trail. The
omnipresence of goats did not make this our favourite spot.
Back in Pomos another Hermit showed up.
21 and 22-09-2005
Last days were not very productive in both birds and butterflies. Great to
see were the large combined flocks of Grey and 
Purple
Heron flying passed our apartment over sea. Last days the number of
Red-backed Shrikes increased with over 10 different birds on
the 22nd. There were also more Willow Warblers around in Pomos.
Also nice to see was another Lang's Short-tailed Blue.
