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Birding Cyprus

Name: Birding Cyprus
Address: Limassol, 4045, CY
Telephone: +35796434577
Rating: 5

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Birding Cyprus

Visiting Cyprus and looking for an experienced guide? Look no further! Guided birdwatching tours offered in the Republic of Cyprus throughout the year.
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ABOUT BIRDING CYPRUS TOURS
If you are visiting Cyprus and are looking for an experienced guide, look no further. Please contact [email protected] for more information. WHY CHOOSE CYPRUS
406 different species of birds have been recorded in Cyprus, with more than 280 of these being migrants, which pass through each spring and autumn. This exceptional diversity is the result of the island

lying on a migratory crossroads, with central and eastern flyways meeting each other twice a year. Cyprus supports around 95 breeding species including three endemics: Cyprus Wheatear, Cyprus Warbler and the Cyprus Scops Owl. Expect the unexpected… if you like finding rarities, Cyprus is a good place with your chances of finding something unusual pretty high. Past rarities on guided tours include Oriental honey buzzard, Black winged kite, Amur falcon, Levants sparrowhawk, Sociable lapwing, Hooded wheatear and Asian desert warbler… to name just a few! ABOUT YOUR GUIDE
Anders Gray has been visiting Cyprus since spring 2014, conducting breeding bird surveys across the island as part of an ongoing project with BirdLife Cyprus. He moved permanently to the island in March 2020 to teach bird identification to beginners, as part of a BirdLife Cyprus project to help educate and inform local people about the birds of Cyprus. Birding from a young age, Anders has been fortunate to have birded across the world including Australia and South Africa. He studied wildlife conservation at Nottingham Trent university and has been a part of conservation projects in Mauritius, Malta and Georgia. TOURS
Offering guided birdwatching tours around the Republic of Cyprus, we are here to meet all your requirements and can tailor a tour to your needs. Want to see something specific? Want to visit a certain part of the island? Want to see as many birds as possible in a day? We have you covered. Half day (4 hours) and full day (8 hours) tours are available and special discount will be arranged for anyone booking more than two tours during their stay. TOUR RATES
Quotation available on request,
Prices dependant on how many hours you are looking to birdwatch and how many people you want to include on the tour. Get in touch today for the best quote on the island!

14/04/2023

A day spent guiding around Paphos with Mike and Jill, their first birding visit to the island!

We started at Ayia varvara to try and see some of Mikes target species, it didn’t disappoint.
3 male Little crakes put on a great performance on one of the pools, the first of many lifers for Mike!

A few waders were feeding on the edge of the pools and included; Little ringed plover, Greenshank, Wood, Green and Common sands and 6 Little stint.

Plenty of passerines flying over and in the surrounding fields and rocky outcrops. We spotted a lovely female Rufous tailed rock thrush sat on a rock and were treated to great scope views!

Other birds going over / feeding include; 2 Little owl, 5 European Turtle dove (my first of the spring), European Bee eater, 2 Great spotted cuckoo, 3 Cyprus wheatear, a single Black eared wheatear, 3 Greater Short toed lark, 3 Common Nightingale, Whinchat, 20+ Tree pipit, 4 Sedge warbler, 2 Great reed warbler, a single Masked shrike, 6+ Woodchat shrike, 4 Cretzchmars bunting and an incredible 26+ Ortolan bunting (biggest single flock I have ever seen!).

Next, we headed along to Anarita park.
Relatively quiet but some migrants were seen. The landscape at Anarita alone is enough to keep you interested!
Highlights include; Little owl, 3 Black eared wheatear, Northern wheatear, 8+ Tawny pipit, 5+ Tree pipit, Ortolan bunting and 4 Cretzchmars.

Aspro dam was our next stop and on arrival, was alive with passerines in the small pine forest.
2 Black eared wheatear, 17+ Tree pipit, 2 Common Redstart, 8 Whinchat, 2 Common Nightingale, 3 Cyprus warbler, 3+ Wood warbler, Eastern Bonelli’s Warbler, 2 Collard flycatcher, a single Woodchat and
Red backed shrike and 2 Ortolan bunting.
7 Garganey and a Greenshank were seen from the dam.

We finished the tour in the coastal area of Mandria.

200+ Glossy ibis and 13 Purple heron flew along the coast and we found a sleeping Collard pratincole in a ploughed field, presumably resting after its flight across. A Blue cheeked bee eater went over but like often, was not seen. On our way out, we found a freshly ploughed field which had the sprinklers on, it was alive with birds!
30+ Short toed lark, 800+ Yellow wagtail (of 5 races), 200+ White wagtail, 4 Whinchat, 7 Wheatear, 40+ Red throated pipit and 2 Woodchat shrikes!

These sites never disappoint and it was another fantastic day with some good numbers of common migrants seen!

13/04/2023

I met up with Markos for a bit of birding on the eastern side of the island in the afternoon, our first stop was to Paralimni lake.

Failed to see the Diedrick cuckoo for the 3rd time but manged to connect with the female Menetries warbler, lifer number one of the afternoon! The bird had been present for over a week now and was the 6th record for Cyprus.
Not such an interesting bird to look at but watching the tail flicking behaviour was interesting. It looked like a cross between a lesser whitethroat and a female eastern subalpine warbler. No sign of the cuckoo whilst we were there so we left and headed to Cape Greco.

First port of call was to see if the recently found Bar tailed lark was still present, 9th record for Cyprus.

We walked the track and got to the last known location of it, no sign. Decided to continue north along the coastal path and to our surprise, we nearly stood on the bird! It blended in so well.

The bird showed incredibly well, often too close for optics!

We had a drive down to the cape and then decided to take a walk around the dive site, plenty of migrants were seen!

Cape Greco
15 Glossy ibis, Peregrine, Bar tailed lark, 2 Northern wheatear, Black eared wheatear, 7+ Cyprus wheatear, 6+ Whinchat, Common nightingale, Common redstart, Black redstart, 3 Cyprus warbler, 3 Common whitethroat, 10+ Lesser whitethroat and 2 Ortolan bunting.

A lovely few hours birding and two lifers (it’s been many years since that last occurred!)

12/04/2023

A nice morning guiding Nick and Alison around Akrotiri.

We met at Zakaki hide and had a quick look from there. 2 Common kingfishers were flying back and forth and a Water rail called from within the reedbed. Highlight for all of us was a Spotted crake that crept out of the reeds and began feeding, my first of the spring!

Before checking the pools at lady’s mile, we turned off and decided to check Zakaki run off, a place not many people go to as it’s difficult to find!
A female Pallid harrier was one of the first bird seen, sitting on a post before flying off.
2 large flocks of duck were flying around and eventually landed on the salt lake; 103 Pintail and 83 Garganey .
Waders were evident with plenty of species seen; 15+ Little stint, 20 Little ringed plover, 100+ Kentish plover, 3 Dunlin, 11 Ruff and a Curlew.
70 Slender billed gull and 4 Black headed gull were feeding out on the salt lake.
Other species seen in the rough area between lady’s mile and the run off include; Hoopoe, 3 Yellow wagtail, 8 Greater short toed lark, 10+ Tawny pipit, Northern wheatear, 2 Isabelline wheatear, Common nightingale, 6 Whinchat, European bee eaters (heard), Water pipit and 4 Red throated pipit.

After the run off we drove along and checked the pools at Lady’s mile -
6 recently arrived Squacco heron sat there looking sorry for themselves, recovering from their journey. 2 Little ringed plover, 23 Black winged stilt, 31 Marsh sandpiper, 6 Ruff and 2 Spotted redshank. 6 Red rumped swallow also flew over.

Next stop was Bishops pool - fairly quiet but a few birds eventually showed; Ferruginous duck, 2 Common sandpiper, 3 Tree pipit, 4 Red rumped swallow, 2 Pied flycatcher, a male Collard flycatcher and a female Common redstart.

We finished the tour in the gravel pits where it was very quiet with few bits of note; European s**g , Sandwich tern, Northern wheatear,
Tree pipit and 2 Woodchat shrike.

Yet another fantastic morning with a large variety of birds seen!

08/04/2023

Another day guiding Tim Jukes, we decided to try the Akrotiri peninsular for the day.

We started in the tower hide at Akrotiri and then after, made our way along to the far meadow on the western end

Highlights include; 2 Purple heron, 3 Squacco heron. 30+ Glossy ibis, 2 Ferruginous duck, 2+ Garganey, Little crake (female), 5 Marsh sandpiper, 10+ Wood sandpiper, Spotted redshank, 80+ Ruff, 20+ Black winged stilt, Citrine wagtail (male), 100+ mixed Yellow wagtail, 3 Red throated pipit, 2 Whinchat and 2 Woodchat shrike.

Next, we headed on to Bishops pool. It was reality quiet but we added 5 more ferruginous duck alongside more common fare such as Eurasian teal, Coot and Green sandpiper.

Next stop was to the Gravel pits, again relatively quiet but we added 2 Isabelline wheatear, 2 Common redstart and a Common nightingale to the days list.

We finished the tour at Kensington cliffs where we saw 2 Griffon vulture and at least 6 Alpine swift

On the way back into Paphos we stopped to look at a distant ringtail harrier but lost it over some fields. We took a track near to the hotels to see if we could get ahead of it but unfortunately failed. To our surprise, 3 Blue cheeked bee eaters were sat on the wires by the beach. They showed well for 5 minutes before heading off west.

Another great day had with some nice species seen!

07/04/2023

Great day guiding Tim and Tracey around Paphos.

First stop was to the pools at Ayia varvara, a fantastic location with plenty of birds attracted down during spring migration.

A nice selection was had in our hours visit; Black crowned night heron, 2 Purple heron, 3 Little crake (2 male), Baillons crake, 2 Common sand, 2 Great spotted cuckoo, Common Nightingale, Collard flycatcher, a male Ruppells warbler, 4+ Sedge warbler and a Woodchat shrike.

Next, we headed onto Ayia varvara where it was relatively quite to start with but eventually things picked up a little. Highlight has to be a very showy wryneck.

Highlights include; Little owl, Wryneck, Hoopoe 2, Black eared wheatear, Northern wheatear, Cypris wheatear, Tree pipit 4+ and a male Pied flycatcher.

Next we headed east to another nearby site, Aspro dam.

Highlights include; 3 Great crested grebe, Common cuckoo, Great spotted cuckoo, Hoopoe, Alpine swift (heard) and a male ficedula spp, which we frustratingly never saw again.

We finished the tour with lunch along the coast in Mandria. A few messages had come through about large numbers of wheatears arriving at many sites and this was also evident at Mandria with birds literally arriving whilst we ate lunch.

We had distant views of many northern and Isabelline wheatears in the dust bowl and each time we scanned we counted more and more. Way off in the distance and heat haze, Tim spotted two “black and white wheatears”. We drove round to investigate. The first bird we got onto was a Cyprus but the other bird had no colour on its chest and had some colouration on its vent. A clear comparison next to the Cyprus ilimated an unusual Cyprus alongside pied.
I began looking up Mourning wheatear (a bird I have never seen).

The very light rufous colouration on the vent and the white in the wing when the bird flew pointed towards this species. We watched the birds for a few minutes before it flew off seemingly inland.

10 minutes later, we moved round to larks corner and to our surprise, the bird had moved up to the famous fields.

We got the news out and many local and visiting birders manged to connect with the bird.

Other bits and bobs at Mandria include ;
3 Hoopoe, 6+ Isabelline wheatear, 40+
Northern wheatear. 10+ Yellow wagtails and 5 Red throated pipit.

Yet another fantastic tour in the Paphos region, some great birds and awesome company!

Wheater photos curtesy of Tim Jukes (mine are too shocking to share!)

05/04/2023

Weekend trip to Karpasia

A brief stop at mia milia on the way produced a few nice birds.

Highlights include; 28 Ferrunginous duck, 2 Red crested pochard, Common pochard, Marsh sandpiper, Green sandpipers, Wood sandpipers and 2 Jack snipe

A short morning walk around the accommodation and then west produced plenty of migrants, seemingly held up by the strong winds the day before.

Early morning totals - Common buzzard, 3 Audouins gull, Great spotted cuckoo, 7 Eurasian hoopoe, 5+ Red rumped swallow, 3 Northern wheatear, Isabelline wheatear, Cyprus wheatear, 2 Black eared wheatear, 3 Greater short toed lark, 2 Tree pipit, 4+ Yellow wagtail, Common nightingale, Common redstart, 20+ Lesser whitethroat, Common whitethroat, 20+ Blackcap and a singing Cyprus warbler.

After breakfast we headed down to the southern side of the perninsular and then headed east towards the tip making several stops along the way. Migrants seemingly everywhere along the peninsular so rough totals but for sure many more birds were seen!

Totals -

Pallid harrier (male), 2 Little owl, Common quail (heard), 2 Wryneck, 7+ Cyprus wheatear 7+, 18+ Northern wheatear, 7+ Black eared wheatear, 5+ Isabelline wheatear, Finschs wheatear (male), 6+ Common redstart, POSSIBLE EASTERN BLACK REDSTART (see photo), 12 Greater short toed lark, 5 Tree pipit, 2 Tawny pipit, 2
Blue rock thrush, 4 Eurasian hoopoe, 6+ Common nightingale, Common whitethroat, 20+ Lesser whitethroat, 5+ Ruppells warbler, Chiffchaff, Pied flycatcher, Semi collared flycatcher, Collard flycatcher, Ortolan bunting, 3 Masked shrike, 7+ Woodchat shrike

Another short morning walk around the accommodation and then east this time produced a few species but certainly a bit of a clear out in comparison to yesterday. Spent around an hour walking around before heading back to pack up and head home.

Total-
Osprey, Common Quail, 4 Stone curlew, 2 Common sandpiper, 5+ Audouins gull, Common kingfisher, 4 Tree pipit, 2+ Red throated pipit, 5 Water pipit, 5 Yellow wagtails, 3 Greater short toed lark, 10+ Northern wheatear, 5 Isabeline wheatear, Whinchat, 15+ Alpine swift, Eastern Orphean warbler, 10+ lesser whitethroat, 10+ blackcap, 2 Cretzchmars bunting and Ortolan burning.

A great couple of nights away, good company, epic scenery and amazing bird migration, what more do you need!

03/04/2023

A mornings tour around Paphos with Mike and Bridgette turned out to be very productive with some nice species seen.

We started off in the hills above Ayia varvara which turned out to be more productive than we thought.

A Blue cheeked bee eater flew over calling but frustratingly was never seen but we were treated to views of a Wryneck which was perched up for some time which slightly made up for this. A Cyprus wheatear sang down below in the quarry and 2 Tree pipits, a Tawny pipit and a Greater short toed lark flew over heading north.

We made our way down to the pools which had a nice variety of birds.
A Baillons crake and a female Little crake gave great views as they fed alongside each other. Other birds include; Ruff, 4 Green sandpipers, 3 Wood sandpipers, 3 Great spotted cuckoo, a stunning male Citrine wagtail, Pied flycatcher and Sedge warbler.

Up at Aspro dam we had 2 Great crested grebes (a not so common bird in Cyprus and a recent colonist), a juvenile Bonelli’s eagle, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, 2 Great spotted cuckoo, 10+ Alpine swift, 2 Eastern Bonelli’s warblers and a showy Cyprus warbler.

Our last stop was to Mandria where we slowly made our way around the coastal fields. 6 Northern wheatear, 3 Isabelline wheatear, 4 Greater short toed lark, 2 Eurasian Skylark, a Whinchat and a Hoopoe added a few more species to the mornings list.

Before heading off, we drove down a couple of tracks and to our surprise, on the last track, we managed to pick up the male Black bellied sandgrouse which had been found a few days before. Sandgrouse is now a rarity in Cyprus, long gone are the days when it used to breed. The bird showed well briefly before flying off into the nearby fields.

Photos courtesy of Mike king.

01/04/2023

Great day guiding Anthony around Paphos and then onto Akrotiri in Limassol.

Ayia varvara -

No luck with the wintering Finschs wheatears, they often disappear once the first Cyprus wheatears arrive back. We did however have Black eared, Cyprus and Isabelline wheatears in the quarry .
Tree pipits and woodlark headed north overhead and in the distance we heard a Common Nightingale and a
Great spotted cuckoo.

The pools were a little quiet but we managed a flock of Green and wood sandpipers, a common snipe and a single Black tailed gotwit.

Next stop was Aspro dam.

We made a stop below the dam to search for Cyprus warblers, we had at least 4 but they did not want to show themselves!
We added Hoopoe, Ruppells warbler and Eastern subalpine warbler to the day list whilst we waited for the warblers.
Up at the dam carpark it was a little quiet but eventually we saw a few species. 2 Black crowned night herons, Goshawk, 8 Black winged stilt and 2 Great spotted cuckoo. We were treated to great views of at least 2 Eastern Bonelli’s warblers, including one singing,

Onwards to Akrotiri marsh -

We made our way along the marsh, making several stops, plenty of birds!
Squacco heron, 50+ Glossy ibis, 2 Spoonbill, 3 Marsh sandpiper, 50+ Ruff, Hoopoe, 100+ Yellow wagtail, Red throated and Water pipit and 6+ Alpine swift were the highlights.

A stop for lunch in the gravel pits produced lots of newly arrived migrant passerines including my first masked shrike of the year.
2 Hoopoe, Tree pipit, Common redstart, 15+ Northern wheatear, 20+ Isabelline wheatear, 4 Black eared wheatear, Whinchat, 2 male “eastern type stonechat” Nightingale, 20+ Lesser whitethroat, 30+ Chiffchaff, 6+ Ruppells warbler, 2 Eastern subalpine warbler

A very good day with lots of freshly arrived migrants at all locations!

Photos courtesy of Markos Charalambides.

05/03/2023

The last few days leading up to the weekend saw the first good arrival of birds reported across several sites on the island, I decided to venture out in the afternoon locally on Saturday 5th to see what I could find. I stuck to the western side of the Akrotiri perninsular covering Akrotiri Marsh and the Gravel pits.

One of my favourite sites to visit in spring is the fish farm area around Akrotiri, just past the marsh and leading into the gravel pits. The scrub, open habitats and bay are a great area to watch birds.

100+ Pintail, 50+ Shoveler, 20+ Teal and 4 Garganey were sat on the sea. A Green sandpiper and a Skylark flew over. I slowly drove along the 1km track towards the gravel pits and counted a minimum of 27 Isabelline wheatears (including 4 birds coming in off) as well as my first Northern wheatear of the spring.

The gravel pits were still on the quiet side of things but I added my first Ruppells warbler of the spring which is always a treat along with 3 more Isabelline wheatears, 2 Tawny pipit and a Black redstart.

All the usual suspects were at Akrotiri marsh, some of the highlights include: 4 Great white egret, Greenshank, Hoopoe, my first Reed warbler of the spring and a Penduline tit.

Sunday 5th March

I hadn’t visited Zakaki area for some time so decided to give that a try first this morning.
140+ Greater flamingo, 12 Shelduck, 40+, Kentish plover, 100+ mixed Little stint and Dunlin, 5 Temmincks stint, 11 Common snipe, Jack snipe, Curlew, 12 Slender billed gull (all pink flushed and looking great in their summer attire), 7 Isabelline wheatear, a single Northern wheatear and 5 Water pipits.

A drove round to the fish farms on the other side of the peninsular and had a watch for 1.5 hours.

More ducks than yesterday, around 500 in the bay in 4 large rafts.
300+ Northern pintail, 50+ Northern shoveler, 100+ Eurasian teal and 30 Garganey flying back and forth and resting on the sea.

Other birds include: 8 Greater flamingo south, 22 Yellow legged gull, Heuglins gull, 33 Slender billed gull, 5 Black headed gull, 25+ Isabelline wheatear still, 1 Northern wheatear, 6 Barn swallow in off, my first Yellow wagtail of the spring in off and a Tawny pipit feeding on the beach.

A male Hooded wheatear was also reported in the same area today along with 2 different Buff bellied pipits (larnaca and Paphos). Things starting to pick up and will continue to now every day and every week, bring it on!

21/02/2023

January - February update

The start of the year is always a quiet time for guiding in Cyprus, none the less, there is still plenty to see!

The regular winter visitors seen on most visits to the Akrotiri area include: Armenian gulls, Jack snipe, Red throated and Water pipits, Woodlarks, Moustached warblers and Penduline t**s. Reed bunting is a scarce and often hard to catch up with winter visitor here, so finding 3 regularly around the salt lake has been nice. 2 Tawny pipits have also decided to spend the winter in the gravel pits and have been seen on every visit to the area.

Spring starts early here with Great spotted cuckoos, Barn swallows and House martins arriving on cue at the end of January.

My first House martins were recorded on 26th January and my first Barn swallows on the 28th January.
Both species are now widespread, in my village at least.

Bad weather and lots of snow around the start of February pushed our resident Crag martins down to lower levels but not what I expected to see over my balcony. On the 2nd February, 15 birds joined the 25+ freshly arrived House martins and fed for most of the day over my village.

My first Isabelline Wheatear was seen on the 11th February being found the day before by Jane Stylianou.
My first Alpine swifts and a single Little swift were recorded on the 12th February and my first Hoopoe of the season on the 18th February.

Common swifts and Cyprus wheatears have been noted by others on the island alongside a very early Masked shrike and a couple of Yellow wagtails.

I spent a couple of days in the mountains and managed to catch up with the wintering thrush flock again.
35+ Mistle thrush, 15+ Fieldfare and 6 Redwing.
Siskin and Crossbill were noted (alongside the resident Jays, Coal t**s and Short toed treecreepers) but very little else in the wintery conditions!

A couple more weeks and then guiding will become the main focus as spring migration picks up but enough time for a trip to catch up with the wintering Finschs wheatears in Paphos district before they depart.

22/01/2023

I headed out to Akrotiri for a few hours this morning as the weather was too nice to stay at home.
My previous visits had been very quiet but after 10+ days, I decided to have a search around.

An hour in the tower hide produced my first Moustached warbler and Penduline tit of 2023 and 4 Marsh harriers.
20+ Spur winged lapwing were noisily flying around and a few Eurasian teal and Northern shoveler fed in the distance.

As I made my way along the marsh I added Cattle and little egrets but very few other birds.

Nothing of note from the lower hide.

Half way along I spotted 2 Glossy ibis (my first of 2023) and a flock of around 150 sleeping Eurasian teal.

At the far end of the marsh, the first bird I saw (and heard) when I stepped out of the car was a Great spotted cuckoo, the first of the season! A 3rd Glossy ibis was feeding along side 7 Red throated pipits and a surprise Temmicks stint.

I made my way through the gravel pits but again, very quiet. A single Great white egret, Marsh harrier and Greenshank were noted. I decided to have a walk in the far southern corner of the gravel pits, not somewhere I would normally venture until April. I made the right choice when I spotted a stunning male Desert wheatear singing away. The bird preformed very well and is an exceptionally early individual. Usually a scarce passage migrant in March and April, what this bird was doing here in January, we will never know!
A wintering Tawny pipit flew over as did a Woodlark among the Crested larks.

It seems spring is making its way to Cyprus, with todays Great spotted cuckoo and Desert wheatear along side recent reports of Cyprus wheatears, Barn swallows and House martins, bring it on!

16/01/2023

International wetland count -

The second weekend of January sees everybody on the island getting involved in the international wetland count, covering as many wetlands as possible. I joined a small group to cover a handful of sites in what turned out to be, very difficult weather conditions!
6 sites were visited (with some sites producing very little in the poor weather conditions).

Kioneli dam held a few interesting wintering waders among the commoner ducks, Coots and Little grebes and included; 3 Black winged stilt, 3 Common snipe, 2 Greenshank, Spotted redshank, Common redshank, 2 Common sandpiper, 23 Spur winged lapwing and a single Ruff. 20 Greater flamingo were also of note.

Next stop was Mia Milia sewage works (always a fantastic location!). The rain really came down hard during our time here but we did our best.

1000+ Northern shoveler, 500+ Mallard, 600+ Eurasian teal, 46 Ferruginous duck, 6 Common pochard, 3 Gadwall and a Common Shelduck.
2 Black necked grebes were also seen among the 300+ Little grebe.
78 Greater flamingos were counted and 2 Marsh harrier were hunting over head.
Waders included; 150+ Spur winged lapwing, 3 Common, 3 Wood and 7 Green sandpipers and a single Little stint.

The rain really set in and we had to abandon counting at several sites including Famagusta lake. We made our way north to Karpasia for the night.

A brief check in the heavy rain next morning produced a Little owl, a Common sandpiper and several Black redstarts. Whilst warming up over breakfast, 60+ Stone curlew flew over in the pouring rain.

A few brief stops on the way home (still raining!) produced 9 Northern lapwing, a single Eurasian curlew, 2 Hen harriers and a superb adult Audouins gull loafing on a small estuary.

It was a shame about the weather and not all counts could be conducted but we still had fun, it’s certainly the coldest and wettest I’ve felt since moving to Cyprus 3 years ago!

24/12/2022

Year in review -

2022 was another incredible year for birding in Cyprus, with many highlights. It was also my first full year of running guided birdwatching tours on the island and I couldn't be happier with how it went.

The year started cold and wet and this prolonged cold period hung around in to spring which resulted in a slow spring migration season with all species passing through late and some in much smaller numbers than in normal years. Despite this, some great birds and spectacles were witnessed.

Purely out of curiosity, I decided to try and see how many species it was possible to see in Cyprus in a year. Guiding and survey work throughout the year meant that I was out in the field more than usual so 2022 was the year to do it. 270 species reached which i am over the moon about!

Species missing from the year list -

Resident species - Scopoli’s shearwater, Long eared owl and Pied kingfisher

Migrant species - Oystercatcher, Knot and Bar tailed gotwit, Thrush nightingale, Icterine warbler

Rarities – Mourning wheatear

I think in a good year, with a bit of luck and a few more rarities, it might be possible to reach 280 species but I’ll let someone else attempt that!

I managed to see 5 new species: Caspian plover (my bogie bird in Cyprus), White crowned wheatear, Buff bellied pipit, Asian desert warbler and Cinereous bunting.

I saw 5 “firsts” in Cyprus (for me): Eurasian scops owl, Fieldfare, Mistle thrush, Goldcrest and Bearded tit.

Other highlights from 2022 include witnessing the biggest ever influx of blue checked bee eaters (100+ birds seen personally) and finally catching up with the elusive wintering wallcreeper.

Some annual spectacles that I never tire of seeing include watching thousands of Garganey migrating across Akrotiri bay and witnessing some nice European Turtle dove passage in May, 250+ birds.

In late September a memorable day was had whilst guiding around Cape Greco, where we witnessed a mass exit of Barn swallow, Red Rumped swallow, House martin, Sand martin and European Bee eater. Literally thousands upon thousands were recorded leaving out to sea in a few hours, it was incredible to watch.

Other nice birds seen include: Great white pelican, Ballions crake, Corncrake, Lesser spotted and Short toed eagle, Demoiselle crane, Cream coloured courser, Broad billed sandpiper, Pallas gull, Little swift, Hooded wheatear and Rose coloured starling, to name just a few!

Some of the rarer species seen include Oriental honey buzzard (2), Black winged pratincole, Caspian plover, White tailed Lapwing, Terek sandpiper, Rufous tailed bushchat, White crowned wheatear, Buff belied pipit, Asian desert warbler (2), Olive tree warbler, Bearded tit and Cinereous bunting.

I would like to take the time to thank everyone that allowed me to guide them in 2022, you have all been very supportive and have offered much needed help whilst I get my guided birdwatching tour company up and running. I look forward to welcoming old and new faces in 2023.

I hope everyone has a great festive period, may 2023 be a bird filled year for everyone!

23/12/2022

With 2023 just around the corner, time is running out to find one more species to reach my year list target of 270.

A small flock of Rock sparrows had been reported in the west (Paphos) and on the same day, two Red breasted mergansers (a scarce bird here) and a Pied kingfisher were seen in the east. I still had Long eared owl and Scopoli's shearwater to see so i had some choices. The sparrows were not reported again, and I had a few days of surveying before I could make the journey east to attempt the mergansers and kingfisher.

Last week I was conducting some bird monitoring in Akrotiri, near a site named Bishop’s pool. The pool itself is not in the survey but I always like to give it a check before starting.

The wintering Garganey was still present, and a single female Ferruginous duck was swimming around in among the 69 Eurasian Teal and 61 Northern Shoveler. A Marsh harrier flew over a few times scattering all the ducks and at least two Water rail called from within the reedbed. Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs were flitting around in almost everywhere bush.

On my way out of the site I noticed a recently ploughed field, full of pipits and wagtails. As I slowed down and scanned with the binoculars, I noticed a darker pipit which on my views, presumed was an out of place Water pipit.

I quietly got out of the car and set up the telescope. In doing so, a Eurasian sparrowhawk flew through and flushed up all the birds, thankfully they settled again a few minutes later (albeit slightly further away).

I started scanning again to find the pipit that I first saw. 4 Red throated were among the 20+ Meadow pipits and at least 40 White wagtails were also present. After a few minutes I re-found the darker looking pipit. On scope views, there was something not right about it to be a water pipit, it looked like a dark meadow pipit more than anything.
Grey toned brown plumage overall with Light streaking on the mantle and crown and two conspicuous whitish wing bars which became even more apparent when seen next to Meadow pipits.

The face was well marked with a strong supercilium and generally showed a brighter looking face in comparison to the meadow pipits it was with.
The breast was distinctly clean white, with heavy black streaking all the way to the flanks and a large black patch on the side of the throat

Despite never having seen one before, I knew I was looking at a Buff bellied pipit! This species is near annual in Cyprus and one that I had missed out on this spring. A very unexpected lifer and the tick that I needed to take my year list to 270!!

Satisfied with the views and identification, I made my way out of the site. I stopped by Lady’s Mile to check for anything interesting among the gulls but could only find the “usual” Yellow legged, Armenian, Caspian and Black headed gulls. It was good practice trying to age and identify the larger juvenile gulls!

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