Wednesday 11 April 2018

Cyprus 18 - Day 17

Today we finally made it to Troodos. I'd deliberately left it till late in our visit due to the weather and the hopeful arrival of a certain species which I missed last year.

We took a direct route north from Limassol rather than the winding route from Paphos we endured last year. I had a few locations I wanted to try for Masked Shrike. The first was Almyrolivado just to the North of the Village. A three hour search produced...nothing!

It was time for lunch in the Village. As we drove up the road I noticed a bird fly up and land in a tree. Yep, you guessed it...


The bird was singing which was a nice bonus! It was also very mobile and soon disappeared. Fortunately, I managed to pick it up hiding behind a trunk...


Despite another concerted attempt in the afternoon I didn't enjoy another sighting. I did spot other birders though. While I was searching near another site...Lavadi tou Pashia...a car pulled in. It was Dave and Jan Walker with their son. Another example of the small Birding world! We had a chat for a while then they continued through the picnic site. Two minutes later I received a text from them...Masked Shrike just down the slope from you!!! Ah well!

I also saw a few more (Cyprus) mountain specials...

Pallid Swift
Jay
ST Treecreeper
Coal Tit
Blackbird
Mistle Thrush
Crossbill

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