Bird report from North Cyprus 6-5-12 to 19-5-12

[erniew1]

Thought some members may be interested in my recent trip to Northern Cyprus 

Total count of 65 species. I will list common species first encountered most days so as not to repeat ..... House sparrow, Hooded crow, magpie,kestrel,rock/feral dove, woodpigeon,collared dove, crested lark, barn swallow, red rumped swallow, Bee eater (Approx 980+ over holiday), house martin, cyprus wheatear, spotted flycatcher, cettis warbler, zitting cisticola, cyprus warbler, blackcap, great tit, greenfinch, goldfinch, corn bunting, swift.

Additional to this.........

6/5 Karsiyaka hills,     lesser whitethroat x2, sardinian warbler x4,
7/5 Karsiyaka ,          Yellow legged gull x3, whitethroat x2,
8/5 Karsiyaka,           Red backed shrike x1, black frankolin x1
8/5 Gecitkoy reserv,   coot, little grebe, moorhen, squacco heron x1, jackdaw x4, great reed warbler x4, nightjar x1
9/5 Karsiyaka hills      Ortolan bunting x3, red backed shrike x3, black headed bunting x1
10/5 Karsiyaka          ortolan bunting x1, bonellis eagle x2, red backed shrike x1, cretzschmars bunting x1
11/5 Gecitkoy reserv  Purple heron x2, grey heron x1, reed warbler x2
12/5                        day off to get married! , main reason for the holiday !
13/5 korucam burnu   Elenoras falcon x3, black frankolin x1,shag x1, yellow legged gull x2, sky lark x1, Yellow wagtail x21
14/5 Karsiyaka          great spotted cukoo x1, common sandpiper x1, audouins gull x2
16/5 karsiyaka hills    Bonellis eagle x2, little owl x1, chuktar x1 with 10 + chicks, tree pipit x1, black frankolin x2,                                roadside stream/ditch night heron x1
17/5 korucam burnu   Spanish sparrow x80, white wagtail x1, chaffinch x6, peregrine falcon x1, golden oriel x2, masked shrike x1, marsh harrier x1, yellow wagtail x1, olivacious warbler, jackdaw
18/5 korucam burnu   turtle dove x5, serins x3, red backed shrike x17 (large numbers) masked shrike x4, whitethroat x1, elenoras falcon x1, yellow legged gull
19/5 karsiyakia          Ruppels warbler x1, red backed shrike x1


Additional to this i encountered 3 poisonous blunt nosed vipers (3-5 foot) in Karysiaka hills, and one 5 foot black whip snake basking on road in korucam burnu

would highly reccomend the infamous line of trees at korucam burnu and water tank on way at sadrazamkoy last/first post for migrants more time would of produced great results.

[erniew1]

Has any one else had any birding trips to cyprus or the med , would be interested to know sightings and or good locations to go.

[MEL TBC]

Just returned from a "family" holiday in Cyprus, where, somehow or another, my bins had appeared in my luggage when we arrived !
This was in the Coral Bay / Peyia area, where on previous visits, it had been difficult to find any birds at all worth mentioning.
However, we were visiting a little earlier than normal and were rewarded with the following highlights.
Bee-eater,Hooded Crow, Crested Lark,Chuka,Black Francolin,Turtle Dove, Purple Heron, Eleonora's Falcon and a Masked Shrike that kept me entertained for hours, hunting outside our apartment.
Well worth hiring a buggy and exploring the dirt tracks that surround this hilly area.

[erniew1]

Sounds good, cyprus is very under rated for birding, once you get out of the built up areas i found the wildlife is excellent, although avoiding stray dogs and snakes is an issue ! . I had a lot of different species last christmas (46) than i did this spring (65) , hopefully having a third trip in september for some autumn migrants.