Paphos Lighthouse

05/01/18 Another bright day but with the sea coming over the wall at the harbour we decided to have a walk around the Lighthouse area missing out the coastal walk. There were no surprises finding only the normal resident and over wintering birds for the area.

Woodlark (Lullula arborea)

Crested Lark (Galerida cristata)

Black Redstart ((Phoenicurus ochruros)

European Stonechat (Saxicola torquatus)

European Stonechat (Saxicola torquatus)

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New Years Day Birding in Paphos

01/01/18 New Years Day was bright and sunny so could not resist to get out and blow a few cobwebs away. We were surprised to see two Hawfinch in Marathounta and a distant Griffon Vulture towards Dora. At Episkopi with limited water running in the Ezousas river another find was a Common Snipe. We moved onto the abandoned village of Phinikas at the distant end of Asprokremnos Dam where there were two Finsch's Wheatear, a male Blue Rock Thrush and plenty of Meadow Pipit feeding.

Abandoned village of Phinikas at the northern end of Asprokremnos Dam.

Hawfinch (C. coccothraustes), Marathounta

Hawfinch (C. coccothraustes), Marathounta

Finsch's Wheatear (Oenanthe finschii), hiding at Phinikas

Slavonian Grebe

SLAVONIAN GREBE (also known as Horned Grebe). This bird was first seen by Alison McArthur back on November 16th. We did attempt to see this bird earlier but the weather being windy creating large waves, we were not successful. On Sunday the sea being calmer we were very pleased to see one bird still present. If this is confirmed it would only be the 3rd record for Cyprus the last one dating back to 1958.

Slavonian Grebe (Podiceps auritus)

Slavonian Grebe (Podiceps auritus)

Slavonian Grebe (Podiceps auritus)

BirdLife Cyprus December Wetland Counts

BirdLife Cyprus Wetland Counts 14th, 15th, December. On Thursday, visiting the dams of Kannaviou, Evretou and Mavrokolympos in the Paphos area the normal over wintering birds such as Great Cormorant, Grey Heron, Coot, Teal and Mallard were present. The Surprise on Mavrokolympos was a Black-necked Grebe which seem to present in some numbers in Cyprus this winter.
On Friday we walked the Paphos headland where the regular flock of Golden Plover were present along with the three Greater Sand Plover, a couple of Dunlin and unusually only one Ruddy Turnstone could be found. The over wintering Whimbrel was seen flying along the coast towards the ship wreck. Also seen Common Sandpiper and Kingfisher.

Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis)

Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres)

Dunlin (Calidris alpina)

Greater Sand Plover (Charadrius leschenaultii)

Akrotiri Gravel Pits

11/12/17 A week ago John East reported a Red-breasted Merganser at Akrotiri Gravel Pits, a rare bird for Cyprus, along with Black-necked and Great Crested Grebe. We had a limited opportunity to call in and were lucky to see these lovely birds still present.

Red Breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator)

Black Necked Grebe (Podiceps nigricollis)

Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus)

Paphos Headland

07/12/17 Paphos Headland, with snow falling in the Troodos mountains, on the coast it was bright and sunny but a little windy. Inside the Archaeology there were the usual winter visiting flocks of Common Starling, Meadow Pipit and Eurasian Skylark. European Robin and Black Redstart were present in numbers. In the way of raptors a Eurasian Sparrowhawk was nice to see along with the usual Common Kestrel. On the coast the usual overwintering flock of Golden Plover and three Greater Sand Plover were present.

Paphos Lighthouse

Common Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)

Eurasian Golden Plover (Pluvialis apricaria)

Greater Sand Plover (Charadrius leschenaultii)

Timi Beach

26/11/17, Timi Beach. Having dropped Jan off at the airport I had a quick visit to the coastal area near the airport. As soon as I arrived rewarded with a couple of raptors. A Common Buzzard being mobbed by Crows and a Peregrine Falcon which unsurprisingly was not.

Eurasian Buzzard (Buteo buteo)

Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)

Eurasian Buzzard (Buteo buteo)