Cyprus 18 - Summary

Well, that's the end of another birding adventure and it was a blinder!!! It turned out to be far better than I could've hoped and that's saying something! It ticks all the boxes for us...

• Great weather - only had any significant rain on the last day. Temps in high teens to mid-twenties. Plenty of SUNSHINE!!!
• Solid infrastructure - excellent road system including an almost empty Motorway!
• No language problems - all signs in English
• Insect issues low - only had one encounter with mosquitoes.
• Paphos has many bars and restaurants and a beautiful harbour area.
• Two excellent Malls (for the good lady) and decent supermarkets for self-catering. 
• Oh and the birds were pretty good also!!!

March is the ideal time to go IMHO. It gets us away from the dreaded British winter...which is on-going as I write! The island is quiet, tourist wise, yet migration has started and as seen below you've a great chance of seeing some rarities. Sure I miss some "later" species but that doesn't bother me as I like to be back for our migration...if it ever starts!

I thought I'd do a summary of the highlights...with a few pics...

Firstly Ruppell's Warbler. I was keen to get decent views of this stunning Sylvia and I managed to connect at Timi beach...

I'd never seen a Red-throated Pipit in summer plumage...until this trip...

There were some stunning Yellow Wagtails. None better than the Black-headed...

Last year Bill Stacey pointed out a fly-over Bimaculated Lark. This year I got a much better view...

One of the absolute highlights was seeing a male CASPIAN PLOVER down to 10 yards at Mandria from my car...

The most exciting chase was definitely the Cream-coloured Courser. What an elegant bird this is...

The super-lemon Citrine Wagtail was a stunner...

Catching this chap on the last day was a real bonus...

Rock Thrush

Top billing has to go to the Blue-cheeked Bee-eater as it was a Lifer for me...

Not a bad haul!

Other memorable moments included...the spectacle of swarms of Yellow Wagtails of various races. Three male Pallid Harriers at close quarters was definitely memorable as well as quality views of various Wheatears.

Extremely pleased and fortunate to re-find Caspian Plover, Cream-coloured Courser, Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, Rock Thrush, Blythe's Pipit plus "ocularis" White Wagtail and probable Caspian Stonechat. The next step is to FIND something!!!

Full list - (Cyprus ticks in red)

Common Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna)
Eurasian Wigeon (Anas Penelope)
European Teal (Anas crecca)
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata)
Garganey (Anas querquedula)
Common Pochard (Aythya ferina)
Ferruginous Duck (Aythya nyroca)
Chukar (Alectoris chukar)
Common Quail (Coturnix coturnix)
Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis)
Black-necked Grebe (Podiceps nigricollis)
Balearic Shearwater (Puffinus yelkouan mauretanicus)
Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo)
European Shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis)
Squacco Heron (Ardeola ralloides)
Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis)
Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)
Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea)
Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus)
Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber)
Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus)
Hen Harrier (Circus cyaneus)
Pallid Harrier (Circus macrourus)
Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus)
Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo)
Long-legged Buzzard (Buteo rufinus)
Bonelli's Eagle (Hieraaetus fasciatus)
Lesser Kestrel (Falco naumanni)
Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)
Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)
Black Francolin (Francolinus francolinus)
Spotted Crake (Porzana porzana)
Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus)
Coot (Fulica atra)
Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus)
Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta)
Stone Curlew (Burhinus oedicnemus)
Cream-coloured Courser (Cursorius cursor)
Little Ringed Plover (Charadrius dubius)
Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula)
Greater Sand Plover (Charadrius leschenaultii)
Caspian Plover (Charadrius asiaticus)
Spur-winged Plover (Vanellus spinosus)
Dunlin (Calidris alpina)
Ruff (Philomachus pugnax)
Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago)
Eurasian Curlew (Numenius arquata)
Common Redshank (Tringa totanus)
Marsh Sandpiper (Tringa stagnatilis)
Greenshank (Tringa nebularia)
Green Sandpiper (Tringa ochropus)
Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glareola)
Common Sandpiper (Tringa hypoleucos)
Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus)
Slender-billed Gull (Larus genei)
Baltic Gull
Heuglin's Gull
Armenian Gull
Yellow-legged Gull (Larus cachinnans [argentatus])
Caspian Gull (Larus argentatus cachannins)
Sandwich Tern (Sterna sandvicensis)
Rock Dove (Columba livia)
Woodpigeon (Columba palumbus)
Laughing Dove (Streptopelia senegalensis)
Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)
Turtle Dove (Streptopelia turtur)
Great Spotted Cuckoo (Clamator glandarius)
Little Owl (Athene noctua)
Common Swift (Apus apus)
Pallid Swift (Apus pallidus)
Alpine Swift (Tachymarptis melba)
Blue-cheeked Bee-eater (Merops persicus [superciliosus])
Hoopoe (Upupa epops)
Wryneck (Jynx torquilla)
Calandra Lark (Melanocorypha calandra)
Bimaculated Lark (Melanocorypha bimaculata)
Short-toed Lark (Calandrella brachydactyla [cinerea])
Crested Lark (Galerida cristata)
Wood Lark (Lullula arborea)
Skylark (Alauda arvensis)
Sand Martin (Riparia riparia)
Swallow (Hirundo rustica)
House Martin (Delichon urbica)
Red-rumped Swallow (Hirundo daurica)
Blyth's Pipit (Anthus godlewskii [campestris])
Tawny Pipit (Anthus campestris)
Tree Pipit (Anthus trivialis)
Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis)
Red-throated Pipit (Anthus cervinus)
White Wagtail (Motacilla alba alba)
"Ocularis" White Wagtail
Yellow Wagtail (Montacilla flava)
Citrine Wagtail (Motacilla citreola)
Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea)
Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes)
Black Redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros)
Common Redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus)
Whinchat (Saxicola rubetra)
Stonechat (Saxicola torquata)
Siberian Stonechat (Saxicola torquata maura)
Caspian Stonechat
Isabelline Wheatear (Oenanthe isabellina)
Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe)
Finsch's Wheatear (Oenanthe finschii)
Cyprus Wheatear (Oenanthe cypriaca)
Black-eared Wheatear (Oenanthe hispanica)
Desert Wheatear (Oenanthe deserti)
Rock Thrush (Monticola saxatilis)
Blue Rock-thrush (Monticola solitarius)
Blackbird (Turdus merula)
Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos)
Mistle Thrush (Turdus viscivorus)
Cetti's Warbler (Cettia cetti)
Fan-tailed Warbler [Zitting Cisticola] (Cisticola juncidis)
Moustached Warbler (Acrocephalus melanopogon)
Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus)
Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla)
Lesser Whitethroat (Sylvia curruca)
Spectacled Warbler (Sylvia conspicillata)
Subalpine Warbler (Sylvia cantillans)
Sardinian Warbler (Sylvia melanocephala)
Rüppell's Warbler (Sylvia rueppelli)
Cyprus Warbler (Sylvia melanothorax [melanocephala])
Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita)
Great Tit (Parus major major)
Coal Tit (Parus ater)
Masked Shrike (Lanius nubicus)
European Jay (Garrulus glandarius)
Black-billed Magpie (Pica pica)
Jackdaw (Corvus monedula)
Hooded Crow (Corvus corone cornix)
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
Spanish Sparrow (Passer hispaniolensis [domesticus])
Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)
Eurasian Serin (Serinus serinus)
Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris)
Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)
Linnet (Carduelis cannabina)
Common Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra)
Hawfinch (Coccothraustes coccothraustes)
Cretzschmar's Bunting (Emberiza caesia)
Corn Bunting (Miliaria calandra)

Trip 139  Cyprus 205

Some obvious omissions here but it wasn't about "seeing them all". I was more than happy with how it panned out. In fact...I was ecstatic!!!