CYPRUS 2016 - Day 2

Back down South of the Airport at dawn. Still a bit chilly but hey...I'm on holiday, so lets get on with it!

I spent the first half hour with the magnificent Flamingos...

I had a Sandwich Tern over the sea but no luck with the reported Ruddy Shelducks. I did manage to find 2 policeman who questioned me for 15 minutes. I guess things are hyper-sensitive around the Airport at the moment.

After breakfast we headed for Orokini Marsh as I was hoping to see the White-headed Ducks that had been present for a while. A Cyprus rarity. Using the trusty Gosney guide I found it no problem. an excellent reserve with 2 hides. The northern one was excellent with many species on show, unfortunately not the WHD! I did have a Black-tailed Godwit though, which is notable for January apparently. I only had flight views as it moved off North.

I the tried the southern hide. We missed the entrance and we turned around on a patch of grass. Glad we did...

Spur-winged Plover

There was nothing on view from this hide except the 2 SWP that flew back onto the marsh. Lucky!

We then spent a couple of hours up at Achna Dam but nothing of note was seen. At least we managed to find an access route...eventually.

As we had to pass back through Larnaca I had the last half-hour back in the hide at Orokini. Glad I did as I managed to connect with a pair of Red-crested Pochards and a White-headed Duck. The latter due to Colin Richardson. It was nice to meet him following on from his help by Facebook and e-mail.

Here's a couple of dusk record shots...the WHD photo is particularly bad...

It was after sunset (5.20)