Sunday 27 January 2019

Cyprus 1st September 2018

I managed to come across number four of my five targets sitting on the very top of a soil heap beside the roadside just west of Larnaca in the form of a male Black Francolin. A quick look around the Kiti Beach and Cape Kiti produced a few nice birds like Spectacled, Great Reed, Eastern Oliveacous Warblers and Isabelline Wheatear. Very few migrants about though. The next spot were the salt flats around Larnaca Airport but these were all dry. I happen to come across the Larnaca Sewage Works which are fenced off but has a very handy tower which overlooks the two large ponds. This was a very productive site and was jam packed with waterbirds and worth putting up with the rather pungent smell. https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S48207542
I moved further east along the coastline later up to Cape Greco. https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S48221919
I finished up the day at Oroklini Lake where a Terek Sandpiper had been found a few days previously. They are a rarity even in Cyprus and thankfully it was still present. The lake wasn't particularly big and there was very little water left but it still held an impressive numbers of waders. I stayed until dark and was rewarded with a Little Crake by the edge of the reeds and a large roost of Cattle Egrets. https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S48221509
Between Oroklini and the sewage works I managed to see at least 17 species of waders in the day.

Male Black Francolin

Male Black Francolin

Ferruginous Duck

Ferruginous Duck

Spur-winged Plover, Coot, Mallard, Garganey & Little Grebe.

Juvenile Whiskered Tern

Juvenile Whiskered Tern

Juvenile Gull-billed Tern

Juvenile Gull-billed Tern

Juvenile Gull-billed Tern

Juvenile Gull-billed Tern

Juvenile Gull-billed Tern

Terek Sandpiper

Terek Sandpiper

Terek Sandpiper

Eurasian Kestrel

Eurasian Kestrel
Isabelline Wheatear

Laughing Dove

Spotted Flycatcher

Ortolan Bunting

Ortolan Bunting
Spectacled Warbler

Spectacled Warbler

Willow Warbler

Willow Warbler
Starred Agama Ladakia stellio cypriaca
Larnaca Sewage Works

Cape Greco

Oroklini Lake

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