A two hour flight from Bristol, a 15 minute transfer from Faro and we are transported into what seems like another world and, in particular, a different climate.
On the first morning of our stay, within a 2 minute walk from our hotel, we are strolling amongst nature in the Salinas de Olhão with colourful wild flowers, huge numbers of waders, lots of small passerines flitting around almost at our feet and with the sun on our backs.
I could go on – there was so much to see.
There were very few people out and about today and I didn’t stay long as, having caught everything there was to catch in January, I was “taking it steady”.
I didn’t even bother going out again after lunch as it was raining and I had had a very pleasant lunch break in the company of a couple I had met in Cyprus at Christmas and who live in Brentwood in Essex (on the other side of the country) and who just happened to be in the Avalon Marshes Centre at the same time as me. “Small world”, as they say.
Just a few photos to show I did have a camera with me.
It’s been a slow start to the year for bird photography as we have been “confined to barracks” by chest infections and very cold weather; on the few opportunities we have had to get out and about I have not felt like lugging a camera with me. And so, here we are with almost half of January gone and my first offering.
Slimbridge is a fairly safe bet as it is teeming with birds at this time of year. The big attraction is the Bewick Swans, the smallest of the swans that regularly winter here, having come from their breeding grounds in Siberia. I bet they have not been complaining about the cold as much as I have!
It was a fairly grey morning but with lots of large birds flying around I had enough photo opportunities to keep me happy.
There were also a couple of the larger Whooper swans there too.
The majority of our group returned home yesterday but we stayed on another day so that we could get a flight directly to Bristol. We made the most of the day by having a walk along from the port and around the headland at Paphos next to the Archaelogical site. Lo and behold there were a few birding opportunities.
We managed to see the flock of golden plovers that we had missed earlier in the week.
To put things into perspective we spent at least double the time over lunch than we had birdwatching.
The last two days of our trip to Cyprus we have spent a good amount of our time studying the flora of the Akamas Peninsula in the presence of very knowledgeable guides and their enthusiasm has rubbed off a little on us. There has been a lot of rain around but, thankfully, we have stayed dry and enjoyed the great scenery of Cyprus in moderately warm sunshine.
On the way back to the airport we stopped again in search of flora but managed a sighting of a long-legged buzzard.
Down in the plain, and tucked behind the airport, we visited a water treatment works (not quite the lasting memory of Cyprus that the Tourist Board would wish for) and had the opportunity of a few more birds.
This morning we had a walk up in the hills close to our hotel in the company of the leading local botanist Yiannis Christophides. He is the author of the book which our botanist guide, Jessica, has been referring to all week.
As well as the wonderful plants we saw, we had the benefit of great views of the coast; that is until the heavens opened and we had to scurry back to our hotel with hail followed by a torrential downpour with thunder and lightening.
Gallery of some of the botanical delights of our morning walk
Only one bird species of note to report this morning – crag martin.
Yesterday we moved on from our base in Paphos to the Akromas Peninsula. We had a brief stop at Agios Georgious. Heavy rain was forecast and so we made the most of our time to stroll along the beach and study the local fauna and flora.
The highlight was a blue rock thrush up on the cliffs. Out to sea we could just make out a shag on a nearby island.
On the beach, surprisingly, we saw a hare. The other highlight was a tiny Kotschy’s gecko under the rocks.
The rain set in but it wasn’t particularly a problem as we stopped for a leisurely lunch in a wonderful mountain taverna.
Today we headed up into the foothills of the Troodos mountains to Peristerona Gorge. Luckily there the weather held and we had gorgeous views of the valley and back down to the coast. Over the gorge we saw a long-legged buzzard and crag martins. With careful inspection with telescopes we also made out a small group of Chukar Partridge.
We then had a short stop on a ridge to study some of the local flora. The standout for me was an Eastern Strawberry tree.
The rain then set in and we took shelter in a small mountain café where I tasted the local Cyprus coffee (a bit like Turkish coffee) and a welcome glass of water.
The group then headed up the mountain in the rain to see some mouflon which were being reared before release into the wild. I took time to publish my previous day’s blog on my phone – quite amazing as we were in the middle of nowhere and I seemed to have better connection up there than in the middle of Bristol.
Before heading home we stopped at the Ebretou Dam where all we saw of note was a common sandpiper, a white wagtail, jackdaws, goldfinch and some feral pigeons. It was getting cold by then and we were happy to be heading back to the comforts of our hotel.
Our second day proper of the natural history trip was a very good one with lots of interesting birds and plants to see in a variety of venues on the Akrotiri Peninsula, about an hour’s drive to the east of Paphos.
We had mixed weather but managed to stay dry all day. However the light was not good and not very conducive for good photos or, indeed, any photos at all.
We started at the Zakaki bird hide which, although it had fabulous large posters of the birds to be seen, was poorly managed and we couldn’t see much through the giant reeds.
Locally we did have lots of sightings of marsh harriers and a kestrel and some of the group saw a male hen harrier. Despite my attempt to take plenty of photos, I achieved very little. When will I ever learn that tiny specks in my view finder will never produce decent photos?
We walked further along the road to a pool next to the sea where there were greater flamingos and lots of gulls (mainly black-headed but some slender-billed and one larger one which caused lots of discussion without a definitive id.).
We drove west along some mud flats (Lady’s Mile) but saw very little.
We crossed the estuary on the low tide in the coach and eventually arrived at a monastery (no one around – they must have all been in chapel) where we parked and walked to Bishop’s Pool. The walk here was very interesting with people spotting lots of butterflies, a hummingbird moth, carpenter bees and many interesting plants.
At the pool there were lots of ducks including shovelers, little grebes and, the best of the pick, a ferruginous duck.
After lunch we moved on to a wetlands where there was plenty to see but impossible to photograph as it was into the poor light. The highlight here were spur winged plovers.
Our last visit was to the Kensington Cliffs where we were treated to views of a long legged buzzard and a peregrine. We also looked more closely at a variety of the vegetation on the cliff tops.
We joined the main group of our natural history tour to Cyprus today but, as they were visiting the Archeological Park in Cyprus (which we did yesterday), we were kind to ourselves and had a gentle stroll around the park focussing on the birds.
Yesterday we started with a Sardinian warbler and today it was in the same spot to greet us; yet I failed again to get a decent shot. Stonechats were two-a-penny again but we were not complaining as they are lovely little birds and much more accommodating than warblers. We did manage to see a Cetti’s warbler but it soon disappeared into the depths of a bush before I could operate my camera.
Photography with a bridge camera was not easy as the light wasn’t great today. At my time of life compromise is a constant!
In the afternoon we travelled inland and in the Anarita Park our guide Andy had a great spot with a Finsch’s wheatear.
We ended our day at the Agia Vagara settling pools which was a little disappointing as the light had more or less failed by then: we saw a few common snipe and a jack snipe, a teal and a pair of coots before we got caught in a heavy shower which had been threatening for most of the day.
Although the forecast for the week had looked very good before our arrival I think it must have been written by the Cyprus Tourist Board because the reality is now somewhat disappointing. It’s definitely better than the UK though.
Yesterday we explored the headland near to the Archeological site at Paphos and today we more or less covered the same region; but this time inside the confines of the site. It was a wonderful visit and I shall include a few photos of the site and, in particular, the mosaics but there were lots of opportunities to see birds and some interesting plants.
The first sighting was of a laughing dove (another first for me, except I now realise that I saw one yesterday) and then a Sardinian warbler.
There were lots of of these Anemone coronarias – some were a much darker purple
The other interesting plant which was prevalent was a Leontodon tuberosus.
Just a few of the ruins and mosaics for a flavour of what we saw (I will come back to this when I have more time and band width).
And a few more birds to conclude:
The locals certainly have stamina here (or perhaps it was a Russian gymnast).
We have arrived in Paphos in Cyprus where we are spending a couple of days before joining a two-centre natural history tour over Christmas based firstly here in Paphos and then on the Akomas Peninsula.
Today we have had a recce around the Paphos headland and acclimatised ourselves to the local climate on a sunny day with a gentle breeze and temperatures in the high teens – rather different to the rain and storms back home.
There have been opportunities of a few bird photos and even a painted lady butterfly but we’ve focussed more on settling ourselves in and enjoying the local cafés and restaurants.
In autumn, Britain & Ireland receive vast numbers of wigeon from the breeding grounds located further north and this wintering population has increased significantly since 1983/84. The Wetland Bird Survey reveals a few widespread locations holding over 30,000 birds in winter.
The vast majority of them must have been at Catcott today; or that’s how it seemed. Most of them seemed to be asleep when I arrived and not much disturbed them. There was the occasional distinctive whistle from them but not even a marsh harrier sent them up in a flock. Perhaps their tactic for survival was to remain still
The only other spot from the hide was a common snipe which was visible for only a few moments before disappearing.
Martin's Bird Blog & Nature Photos 