British Isles Birding

Introduction

As part of my annual holiday allowance, I factor in a week or so of it to go on what I describe as a ‘non-birding holiday’ with my girlfriend. You could take your pick through the many exotic destinations that are available nowadays, but I have to think about a location that is going to produce a moderate birding experience where I won’t be tempted to neglect Karen and be out in the field all day. Hence for September 2006 Cyprus was the choice – an island that I’d visited previously in 2000 where there was decent (but not outstanding) birding and on this trip the potential of only one new species for me, Demoiselle Crane.

Also coming with the territory of a ‘girlfriend holiday’, this wasn’t a budget trip and we stayed at the 5* The Annabelle, Paphos for a paltry (!) £749 per person for 7 nights including flights and private transfers. Don’t be put off by this price as it’s on the extreme side of what you’d pay for a week in Cyprus – week packages in more modest accommodation seemed to come in at about £300 (various operators).

We hired a car for 5 days using Paphos Car Rentals but it skipped my mind as to how much this was as my credit card had been hammered too much already and I was beyond the stage of caring. Compared to my visit in August 2000, it seems as though the general cost of living in Cyprus has increased dramatically with prices similar or slightly above what you’d pay for the equivalent in the UK. That said, it was a completely hassle free relaxing trip with good food, drink and birding aplenty.

 

Literature and websites

I’ll be honest and say that planning for this trip was somewhat last minute. Over the years I’d done my research and I knew the last week of August and the first week of September would coincide with the Demoiselle Crane passage but beyond that I kind of relied upon the sites that I’d visited on my previous trip. The only literature I took with me (bar internet print outs) was my well used, grimy copy of ‘Finding Birds in Cyprus’ by Dave Gosney, a simple map of the island that I’d got given free with the hire car during my last visit, a Rough Guide to Cyprus so that we could look around the more popular tourist attractions and a scribbled map of Akrotiri that Chris Lamsdell kindly drew for me at the Bird Fair a couple of weeks prior to my trip.

The first port of call for any birding trip is the Travelling Birder website, a search engine for trip reports that are hosted on other websites (bar Surfbirds by the looks of things). As you’d expect with a place like Cyprus, you need to sort through the dross to come out with any meaningful information. Normally, these reports consist of some bloke having a casual holiday with his girlfriend or wife, and seeing the odd common species from the near vicinity of their hotel/apartment. Therefore, if you agree with this presumption I wouldn’t bother reading any further… but, if you don’t, then I do warn you that you may miss out on some life changing information. Well, probably not, but I’ll continue on…

Cyprus has a fairly up-to-date birding website that can be found here - click on Birds & Birding and then Monthly Bird Bulletins for useful archived info. It also benefits from a relatively active resident birding community that has established their own Birdlife Cyprus Birdline that details all recent sightings (+357 26323927).

It’d be unfair if I didn’t mention one trip report – that of Frederic Jiguet detailing his observations of Demoiselle Cranes at Akrotiri. Although this report is in French, you can translate it into pigeon English here.

 

Acknowledgements

Whilst in Cyprus, I was extremely fortunate to meet Doug Radford of the RSPB who was spending his sabbatical observing raptor migration from the Environmental Centre at Akrotiri. He proved extremely friendly and was able to give me some good up-to-date information (as well as modestly describing how he found a Booted Warbler at Annagh Head, Mayo a couple of years ago!) and I’d urge anybody in the area to go to the Environmental Centre so that the locals realise how popular birding is on the island. Prior to my trip, Mick Frosdick and Chris Lamsdell also provided me with some useful information.

 

Demoiselle Cranes at Akrotiri

Having failed to see the relict population of Demoiselle Cranes on the steppes surrounding Bulanik, Turkey in July 2004, my research suggested that the end of August/beginning of September in Cyprus would offer the greatest chance of seeing this elegant species in the Western Palearctic.

When - the timing of Demoiselle Crane passage at Akrotiri is by no means predictable within the period specified above and, as the table below illustrates, can vary in timing and intensity each year. When using this table, please remember that it is constructed from my own research and therefore may not be fully comprehensive.  

 

	2003	2004	2005	2006
20th Aug	8
21st Aug
22nd Aug
23rd Aug	47
24th Aug
25th Aug			39
26th Aug
27th Aug
28th Aug	150		131
29th Aug	130		140
30th Aug	16		4
31st Aug	180	5	37	132
1st Sept			9
2nd Sept			31
3rd Sept				3
4th Sept	32			47
5th Sept			2	20
6th Sept	7
7th Sept	7			10
8th Sept				11

Sources: Frederic Jiguet & Birdlife Cyprus

Where - the best place to scan the salt lake is the area immediately adjacent to Sylvana’s Restaurant on the north-east side of the village of Akrotiri. Coming from the north (from Phasouri) you’ll go under the pylons/radar centre and the salt lake will be on your left. The road will bend around to the left hugging the salt lake and you’ll shortly enter the settlement of Akrotiri. There will be a bakery/general stores on the right (by a right turn) and then you’ll pass the Environmental Centre on the right (almost disguised in the roadside housing) and as this main road turns to the right up a gradual incline, you turn left on the dirt track signed ‘Ladies Mile Beach’ by Sylvana’s restaurant. There is an obvious place to park the car here that allows an excellent panorama of the whole area.

How - the strategy to see Demoiselle Cranes in Cyprus is a simple one – be at Akrotiri Salt Lake shortly after dawn. Although flocks often come in during the evening and this is also a good time to be on site, Demoiselle Cranes may arrive after dark and therefore an early morning visit is best to maximise chances. From my (limited) experience, the Demoiselle Cranes didn’t tend to leave the lake until 8.30am at the earliest, when the first thermals of the day were developing.

Fortunately or unfortunately, whatever your luck may be that day, it’s a case of get out of the car and scan with your binoculars or scope – if the Demoiselle Cranes are there, despite the distance, you will see them immediately. If they aren’t there, they’re not coming in til that evening at the earliest, so it’s a case of try again the next day. There’s plenty of birding nearby though to keep you occupied until your next attempt.

 

Daily Diary

2^nd September 2006

An early afternoon departure from Gatwick saw us arrive late evening and on time at Paphos after a rather uneventful flight. As it was dark, all we did was check into the hotel and get a bite to eat in the nearby (tacky) resort.

 

3^rd September 2006

Our hire car got delivered to our hotel late morning and therefore a casual breakfast was had at a reasonable hour. We chilled out in the hotel until mid afternoon and then drove the ¾ hour to Akrotiri, a site that I was to visit on numerous occasions during the week.

Karen tried to divert the plan of attack by suggesting we visit various archaeological sites on the way down, but I stood firm and managed to get to Akrotiri without any ‘non-birding detours’. I birded the track from Sylvana’s restaurant to Ladies Mile Beach for a couple of hours; with the highlight being an excellent pale morph Eleonora’s Falcon as it flew low overhead. There were numerous Hooded Crows and Crested Larks whilst 4 Lesser Grey Shrikes and 3 Turtle Doves were decent enough.

The pools on the landward side of the road along Ladies Mile Beach produced a juvenile Sanderling, 8 or so Little Stints and several Kentish Plovers. Unfortunately no Demoiselle Cranes had come into roost on Akrotiri Salt Lake by the time we left an hour or so before dark.

 

4^th September 2006

I headed off from Paphos in the pitch dark in what was to become an almost daily pre-dawn drive to Akrotiri. I arrived at Akrotiri shortly after first light and it was with some nervousness that I got out of the car and commenced my scan of the area. Then a second scan, and another but I was by now certain that no Demoiselle Cranes had roosted and that was the case. Driving the short distance back to the village, I had a quick chat (as I had done the previous evening) with Doug Radford who concurred that no cranes were present this morning. A couple of Lesser Grey Shrikes and Marsh Harriers were seen, as were a lot of Crested Larks.

Doug directed me to a small church just to the SW of the village that he thought looked good for migrants. I wasn’t to be disappointed and in an hour or so I’d clocked up some decent birds including an adult Masked Shrike, a Great Reed Warbler, about 8 Eastern Olivaceous Warblers, a female Cyprus Warbler, a couple of Red-rumped Swallows amongst large numbers of hirundines, 3 Willow Warblers whilst a ringtail Montagu’s Harrier flew low west. To reach this site - coming into Akrotiri village from the north (Phasouri) after passing under the radio masts turn right before the Environmental Centre by the bakery/café. After a couple of hundred yards, turn right again. Go through the new houses, the tarmac road will bend sharp left once and then after this turn right as it bends left again. Follow this road to where it terminates by a small church – search the bushes in the churchyard and the adjacent scrub.

I arrived back at the hotel in Paphos in time for breakfast and after a relaxing rest of the morning, we headed out for the afternoon to the north-west of the island. I’d been to this area with my father on a previous trip and knew that it was pretty pleasant scenery. I think Karen was relatively content as we visited the tourist attraction of The Baths of Aphrodite (to the west of Laatchi and Polis) whilst I encountered a couple of Cyprus Pied Wheatears, a male Red-backed Shrike, many Sardinian Warblers, a Spotted Flycatcher and a couple of Blackcaps in the vicinity. We arrived back in Paphos at a relatively civilised time.

 

5^th September 2006

Similar to yesterday, I arrived at Akrotiri just after first light and parked the car by Sylvana’s restaurant. I could give you a spin on things and say that I scanned and scanned but in reality it was simple – a group of 20 (16 adults and 4 juveniles) Demoiselle Cranes were immediately apparent as they stood on the dried up lake. Initially a group of 14 and a group of 6, but a plane went over at 6.30am making the smaller group fly and join the other 14 birds. After walking out onto the lake and gaining excellent views of the birds from a sensible distance, I left the site at 7.30am. A first-winter Lesser Grey Shrike was also present.

Retracing my drive through Akrotiri village, I headed north under the radio masts and took the first tarmac road on the left. I then turned left again after a few hundred yards, going through a small area of agriculture, until the Phasouri Reedbeds and pool were visible on the left. Birding was excellent here with the undoubted highlight being a juvenile Little Crake skulking in the reeds at the back of the pool. An array of other species were present here including a drake Ferruginous Duck, a juvenile Purple Heron, half a dozen Garganey and Little Stints, a handful of Black-winged Stilts, 3 Whiskered Terns, 15 Yellow Wagtails (feldegg), a Hoopoe and a couple of Red-rumped Swallows.

Once again I made it back to the luxury of our hotel for a decent breakfast and whilst chilling out during the morning a couple of Purple Herons flew west.

The afternoon excursion was to a relatively impressive archaeological site at Kourion (just to the east of Kensington Cliffs). Looking west from here, 6 Griffon Vultures thermalled just above the cliffs whilst a couple of Eleonora’s Falcons were seen hunting late afternoon. On the return journey to Paphos, we stopped off at the village of Mandria (where in spring the arable fields apparently produce a haven for pipits and wagtails) where several Yellow Wagtails (feldegg) and Crested Larks were present early evening.

 

6^th September 2006

I had a lie in this morning before Karen and I headed off to the Troodos Mountains for the day. Having visited here on my previous visit to the island, I remembered that it was a relatively slow journey up so we had some breakfast and headed off at a decent hour.

The only birds noted on the journey up were a Long-legged Buzzard, being mobbed by Hooded Crows, as it circled the valley bottom just north of Kidasi whilst in the vicinity an adult and juvenile Masked Shrike were noted. After driving through some extremely picturesque and secluded villages we arrived at the visitor’s centre at Troodos village. A Cyprus Pied Wheatear was present here as were several Jays (glaszneri), a couple of Chaffinches and in amongst the large numbers of House Martins there were half a dozen or so Red-rumped Swallows.

During a walk to the waterfall on the Kaledonia Trail, several Coal Tits (cypriotes) were calling whilst a Wren and 3 Spotted Flycatchers skulked in the forest whilst 10 Red-rumped Swallows lingered overhead.

The journey back down towards Paphos was uneventful with the exception of an adult Lesser Grey Shrike on wires near Mamonia whilst a brief stop at the southern end of Aspokremmos Dam produced a roadside Long-legged Buzzard, a Hoopoe, 2 Eastern Olivaceous Warblers, a couple of Spotted Flycatchers and an adult Yellow-legged Gull (michahellis).

 

7^th September 2006

Today was the last full day that we had the car. As a result I wanted to make use of it and left Karen at the hotel for the day whilst I had pretty much a full day of birding. As you’d expect the first place on the agenda was Akrotiri salt lake where, once again, my luck was in – 10 Demoiselle Cranes were present early morning. This flock was seen to depart at 9.10am in a southerly direction after gaining immense height.

A search for migrants at the church just SW of Akrotiri village was relatively fruitful. A couple of Golden Orioles were noted, as was a Lesser Grey Shrike, 3 Eastern Olivaceous Warblers, a pair of Cyprus Warblers and numerous Crested Larks. The adjacent gravel pit held a couple of Little Ringed Plovers, a Greenshank and 7 Grey Herons.

As I drove the short distance to Phasouri Reedbeds, a Honey Buzzard flew low over the road and fantastic views were obtained. Highlights on the ground here were an ever-elegant adult Marsh Sandpiper, a Spotted Redshank, a couple of Green Sandpipers, a juvenile Whiskered Tern, a Kingfisher, a Cattle Egret and a handful of Garganey. Passerines here included several Fan-tailed Warblers, a couple of Willow Warblers and a few Yellow Wagtails (feldegg).

Not having to be back for breakfast meant that I went back to Akrotiri village and spent a couple of hours from 9.10am to 11.30am looking for raptors from The Environmental Centre. Honey Buzzard passage was decent enough with 122 birds seen, including ‘kettles’ of 58 birds at 9.30am and 49 at 10.10am. A couple of Eleonora’s Falcons flew over as did a dark morph Booted Eagle, 4 Marsh Harriers and 5 Montagu’s Harriers. Other birds noted here included a couple of Red-rumped Swallows and a pair of Red-backed Shrikes on wires on the opposite side of the road.

With raptors tailing off I headed to the pools on the landward side of Ladies Mile Beach where an impressive 121 Kentish Plovers were present with 10 Little Stints and a couple of Dunlin. Further along this road, near the port, is a reed-fringed freshwater pool surrounded by reeds at Zakaki. Birds here included a Little Egret, 18 Grey Herons, 3 Kingfishers, a Whiskered Tern and a couple of Garganey whilst a Honey Buzzard circled over the port. I decided that this was it on the birding front and returned to Paphos where I chilled out for the remainder of the day.

 

8^th September 2006

Although I’d stayed in Paphos for the week, all my birding to date had been away from this area so it would have been rude not to explore Paphos Headland at least once. Therefore I got to this site before the tourist masses were up, not expecting too much as my regular visits here on my previous trip had been pretty birdless. I’d heard conflicting reports as to whether you could get into the fenced area surrounding the archaeological diggings before my trip. I need not have worried as there’s an obvious track that you can walk along where there’s a gap in the fence – this allows access to the area without having to go through the main gate (and pay?).

The rocks at the extreme west end of the headland held the main prize here – a couple of winter plumaged Greater Sand Plovers, and an adult European Golden Plover looked somewhat out of place on the same rocks. Migrants were pretty thin on the ground although 2 juvenile Red-backed Shrikes, a Yellow Wagtail, a male Sardinian Warbler, 2 Fan-tailed Warblers and a Whinchat were all nice to see.

I returned to the hotel for the rest of the morning but in the afternoon, we both walked back to the headland where one Greater Sand Plover was still present with additional birds noted being a couple of Eastern Olivaceous Warblers, an adult and juvenile Yellow-legged Gull, a Common Sandpiper and a Kingfisher.

 

9^th September 2006

This was to be the last day of the holiday and as such rewarded myself with my first lie in. Much of the day was spent relaxing in the hotel grounds but I did manage to get a little bit of birding in at Paphos Headland during the afternoon.

A Shag (desmarestii) in Paphos Harbour was a little bit of a surprise as was a Kingfisher perched on rocks there. A single Greater Sand Plover was present on rocks at the tip of the headland with a Common Sandpiper and Yellow-legged Gull, but passerine activity was limited to Crested Larks, Hooded Crows and Goldfinches presumably due to the poor time of day.

We were meant to fly back to London Gatwick late evening but the usual charter plane delay reality reared its ugly head again. We eventually got back to Gatwick at 4am on the Sunday morning and were back in London shortly afterwards.

 

 

Species List

Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis

15 Phasouri Reedbeds 5-Sep, common there on 7-Sep with 15 at Zakaki Pool 7-Sep

Shag Phalacrocorax aristotelis desmarestii

1 in Paphos harbour on the afternoon of 9-Sep.

Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis

1 at Phasouri Reedbeds on 5-Sep and 7-Sep.

Grey Heron Ardea cinerea

1 Akrotiri Salt Lake 3-Sep, 7 Akrotiri Gravel Pit 7-Sep, 3 Phasouri Reedbeds 7-Sep and 18 Zakaki Pool 7-Sep

Purple Heron Ardea purpurea

1 juvenile Phasouri Reedbeds 5-Sep and 2 west over Paphos 5-Sep.

Teal Anas crecca

20+ Phasouri Reedbeds 5-Sep and 1 Phasouri Reedbeds 7-Sep

Mallard Anas platyrhynchos

1 Phasouri Reedbeds 5-Sep and 5 Zakaki Pool 7-Sep

Garganey Anas querquedula

6 Phasouri Reedbeds 5-Sep, 5 Phasouri Reedbeds 7-Sep and 2 Zakaki Pool 7-Sep

Shoveler Anas clypeata

10 Phasouri Reedbeds 5-Sep and 20 Phasouri Reedbeds 7-Sep

Ferruginous Duck Aythya nyroca

1 drake Phasouri Reedbeds 5-Sep.

Honey Buzzard Pernis apivorus

1 Phasouri Reedbeds 8.23am 7-Sep, 122 over Akrotiri Environmental Centre 7-Sep (58 at 9.30am, 5 at 9.55am, 6 at 10am, 3 at 10.02am, 49 at 10.10am and 1 at 10.24am) and 1 over Zakaki Pool 7-Sep

Griffon Vulture Gyps fulvus

6 Kensington Cliffs 5-Sep

Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus

2 Akrotiri Salt Lake 4-Sep, 1 Phasouri Reedbed 7-Sep and 4 Akrotiri Salt Lake 7-Sep

Montagu’s Harrier Circus pygargus

1 ringtail Akrotiri Gravel Pits 4-Sep, 5 (1 male) Akrotiri Salt Lake 7-Sep and 1 ringtail Paphos Headland 8-Sep

Long-legged Buzzard Buteo rufinus

1 just north of Kidasi 6-Sep and 1 Aspokremmos Dam 6-Sep

Booted Eagle Hieraaetus pennatus

1 dark morph from Akrotiri Environmental Centre 7-Sep.

Kestrel Falco tinnunculus

Regularly seen throughout the island on all days.

Eleonora’s Falcon Falco eleonorae

1 at Akrotiri 3-Sep, 2 Kensington Cliffs 5-Sep and 2 at Akrotiri 7-Sep.

Little Crake Porzana parva

1 juvenile Phasouri Reedbeds 5-Sep.

Moorhen Gallinula chloropus

Common at Phasouri Reedbeds and Zakaki Pool

Coot Fulica atra

Common at Phasouri Reedbeds and Zakaki Pool

Demoiselle Crane Anthropoides virgo

20 (16 adults, 4 juveniles) Akrotiri Salt Lake early morning 5-Sep and 10 (6 adults, 4 juveniles) early morning 7-Sep.

Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus

5 Phasouri Reedbeds 5-Sep and 1 Phasouri Reedbeds 7-Sep

Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius

2 Akrotiri Gravel Pits 7-Sep

Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus

10 Ladies Mile 3-Sep and 121 Ladies Mile 7-Sep

Greater Sand Plover Charadrius leschenaultii

2 on rocks at the western tip of Paphos headland early morning on 8-Sep, with 1 in the afternoon on the same date and still present there on 9-Sep

Golden Plover Pluvialis apricaria

A moulting adult present on rocks at the western tip of Paphos headland early morning on 8-Sep

Sanderling Calidris alba

1 Ladies Mile 3-Sep

Little Stint Calidris minuta

8 Ladies Mile 3-Sep, 6 Phasouri Reedbeds 5-Sep and 10 Ladies Mile 7-Sep

Dunlin Calidris alpina

2 Phasouri Reedbeds 5-Sep and 2 Ladies Mile 7-Sep

Ruff Philomachus pugnax

2 Phasouri Reedbeds 5-Sep

Spotted Redshank Tringa erythropus

1 Phasouri Reedbeds 7-Sep

Marsh Sandpiper Tringa stagnatilis

1 Phasouri Reedbeds 7-Sep

Greenshank Tringa nebularia

1 Akrotiri Gravel Pits 4-Sep and 2 Phasouri Reedbeds 5-Sep

Green Sandpiper Tringa ochropus

4 Phasouri Reedbeds 5-Sep and 2 Phasouri Reedbeds 7-Sep

Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos

1 Paphos Headland 8-Sep and 9-Sep.

Western Yellow-legged Gull Larus (cachinnans) michahellis

1 adult Aspokremmos Dam 6-Sep, 2 (adult and juvenile) Paphos Headland 8-Sep and 1 adult Paphos Headland 9-Sep.

Whiskered Tern Chilidonias hybrida

3 (adult winter and 2 1^st winters) Phasouri Reedbeds 5-Sep, 1 1^st winter Phasouri Reedbeds 7-Sep and 1 adult Zakaki Pool 7-Sep.

Woodpigeon Columba palumbus

Several noted in the Troodos foothills 6-Sep

Collared Dove Streptopelia decaocto

Common throughout the island.

Turtle Dove Streptopelia turtur

3 Akrotiri 3-Sep

Kingfisher Alcedo atthis

1 Phasouri Reedbeds 7-Sep, 3 Zakaki Pool 7-Sep and 1 Paphos Headland 8-Sep and 9-Sep.

Hoopoe Upupa epops

1 Phasouri Reedbeds 5-Sep, 1 Aspokremmos Dam 6-Sep and 6 Phasouri Reedbeds 7-Sep

Crested Lark Galerida cristata

Common and vocal throughout, especially at Akrotiri and Paphos Headland.

Sand Martin Riparia riparia

Good numbers seen in the Akrotiri area on all dates visited

Swallow Hirundo rustica

Common in the Akrotiri area, smaller numbers noted elsewhere

Red-rumped Swallow Hirundo daurica

2 Akrotiri 4-Sep, 2 Phasouri Reedbeds 5-Sep, 6+ by the visitor centre at Troodos 6-Sep, 10+ Kaledonia Trail 6-Sep and 2 Akrotiri 7-Sep

House Martin Delichon urbicum

Very common, especially in the Troodos mountains

Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava feldegg

All birds seen well appeared to be of the race feldegg. 15+ Phasouri Reedbeds 5-Sep, 10 Mandria 5-Sep, 5 Phasouri Reedbeds 7-Sep and 1 Paphos Headland 8-Sep

Wren Troglodytes troglodytes

1 along the Kaledonia Trail, Troodos 6-Sep.

Whinchat Saxicola rubetra

1 Paphos Headland 8-Sep.

Cyprus Pied Wheatear Oenanthe cypriaca

2 west of Laatchi at the Baths of Aphrodite 4-Sep and 1 around the visitor centre at Troodos 6-Sep.

Fan-tailed Warbler Cisticola juncidis

5 Phasouri Reedbeds 7-Sep and 2 Paphos Headland 8-Sep.

Great Reed Warbler Acrocephalus arundinaceus

1 at the small church SW of Akrotiri village 4-Sep.

Eastern Olivaceous Warbler Hippolais pallida

8 at the small church SW of Akrotiri village 4-Sep, 2 Aspokremmos Dam 6-Sep, 3 at the small church SW of Akrotiri 7-Sep and 2 Paphos Headland 8-Sep.

Sardinian Warbler Sylvia melanocephala

10 west of Laatchi at the Baths of Aphrodite 4-Sep and 1 Paphos Headland 8-Sep.

Cyprus Warbler Sylvia melanothorax

1 female in scrub near the small church SW of Akrotiri village 4-Sep and a pair there on 7-Sep.

Blackcap Sylvia atricapilla

2 west of Laatchi at the Baths of Aphrodite 4-Sep.

Willow Warbler Phylloscopus trochilus

Relatively common, with small numbers most days. Peak of 10+ noted at Akrotiri on 7-Sep.

Spotted Flycatcher Muscicapa striata

1 west of Laatchi at the Baths of Aphrodite 4-Sep and 3 Kaledonia Trail 6-Sep

Coal Tit Parus ater cypriotes

5 along the Kaledonia Trail 6-Sep

Great Tit Parus major aphrodite

Common in suitable habitat throughout the island

Golden Oriole Oriolus oriolus

2 immature/females at the small church SW of Akrotiri village 7-Sep

Red-backed Shrike Lanius collurio

1 (male) west of Laatchi at the Baths of Aphrodite 4-Sep, 2 (pair) Akrotiri 7-Sep and 2 (juveniles) Paphos Headland 8-Sep

Lesser Grey Shrike Lanius minor

Akrotiri – 4 on 3-Sep, 2 on 4-Sep, 1 on 5-Sep, 2 on 7-Sep and 1 at Mamonia 6-Sep

Masked Shrike Lanius nubicus

1 adult at the small church SW of Akrotiri village 4-Sep and 2 (adult and juvenile) just north of Kidasi 6-Sep

Jay Garrulus glandarius glaszneri

4 by the visitor centre at Troodos 6-Sep and 2 Kaledonia Trail 6-Sep

Magpie Pica pica

Small numbers noted on most days

Jackdaw Corvus monedula

Common, especially in the arid interior of the island

Hooded Crow Corvus corone

Common to abundant throughout.

House Sparrow Passer domesticus

Common to abundant throughout.

Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs

2 by the visitor centre at Troodos 6-Sep and 1 Kaledonia Trail 6-Sep

Greenfinch Carduelis chloris

Small parties around the island – largest concentration being 15 at Akrotiri 4-Sep

Goldfinch Carduelis carduelis

Relatively common, with 40 on Paphos Headland 8-Sep

Linnet Carduelis cannabina

Small numbers seen throughout the island