North Cyprus daily blog 21st April - final day

We spent the final day around Cape Kournikatis and a pool near Ercan airport.  Photographic highlights included two trip ticks shown below as well as a stunning Wood Warbler, allowing approach to 15 feet.  Birding highlights included four flycatchers in the same hedge: Semi-collared, Pied, Spotted and two male Collareds.  Nice. And a stone's throw from them was male Golden Oriole, 15 Ortolans, male Cretzschmar's, four Serins and 200+ Bee-eaters.  Even nicer, and all this on a bonus day because of a volcano.

The image below has just caught the bill crushing an insect with the resulting guts exploding upwards.  I normally crop around 15 to 25% but this shot has been cropped 40% to show this a bit more clearly.

Below is a first summer Semi-collared Flycatcher, the only one seen by us on this trip.  In common with other eastern Mediterranean islands this Spring, this species was seen in higher than normal numbers.

This is a first summer bird with brown primaries and secondaries contrasting with the black mantle. Its' right side is less defined and clearcut than the left side.

Left side view showing the complete all-white outer tail feather, white semi-collar, white tips to the lesser coverts (second wing bar) and white tips to the base of the primaries. 

Yellow Wagtail of the race superciliaris.  This striking race originates from S E Russia and was the only one we saw on this trip.

This is the end of the North Cyprus blog and I hope you have found the posts interesting.  It seems like I am showing friends all those boring post-holiday images but presumably as birders, there is some appreciation.  We saw 160 species in two weeks and I managed to photo most of the important ones.  The two that got away were the Isabelline Shrike and aquilla eagle.  I took around 7000 shots, 200 of which I am very pleased with.  Adult male Barred Warbler with a nice yellow eye was on my wish list and was duly delivered!

 As previously mentioned, I was hoping to do a live feed straight on to the blog but sadly the internet connection was surprisingly poor in Cyprus.  As we were in the Turkish quarter, the price of connection is prohibitive at £1.68 per minute plus big charges for the image upload.  Maybe next time. 

Now why can't the Icelandics give us a real volcano and we could have stayed longer?

North Cyprus daily blog - 20th April

Today we move from the Karpas peninsula after eleven days of relentless dawn to dusk searching for migrants and rarities.  We have had a good trip in this part of the island with over 150 quality species logged but the only rarity to report was the Isabelline Shrike - small reward and somewhat a surprise for 520 man hours of birding !  

We now make our way back to the north west of the island at the well known migration watchpoint at Cape Kournikatis (west of Girne).  On the way we stopped at Kouklia and photo'd these Wood Sandpipers.  The Red-veined Darters were still present in big numbers.  We also found the Slender Skimmer dragonfly (bottom image).

There was no surprise at the airport to find our flight delayed due to the Icelandic volcano.  Thus we had one more day at Kournikatis.  We were impressed with this site; it is for sure an easy place to bird with no difficult juniper forest to contend with.  Reading other blogs, this cape certainly turns up the numbers and we were pleased to see a flock of 60 Ortolan Buntings and a single Cretzschmar's.

Isabelline Wheatear

Red-veined Darter

Slender Skimmer

North Cyprus daily blog - 19th April 2010

Our last full day at Karpas and the highlight of the day is an island tick: Common Redshank.  From memory, I cannot remember seeing one previously.  The 19th April was undoubtedly the hottest so far and the car temperature guage said 27 degrees.  On the hot air thermals came a decent movement of raptors, in fact the best we have ever had on any part of Cyprus.  The list included six Sparrowhawk, six Common Buzzard, one Long-legged Buzzard, 20 Marsh Harrier, 10 Pallid Harrier, male Montagu's Harrier, one Booted Eagle, four Red-foots and 15 Hobby.  19 White Stork also joined them.  Our biggest disappointment was being unable to ID for sure a large aquilla.

The Rock Thrush remained overnight and showed in better early morning light.  I had a bit more time on it this morning and took these shots in raw format.  The end result is a more contrasty image.  The MAC users with big screens should see the difference!

The Hoopoe shot was taken at ground level and improves the depth of field but also makes exposure easier (due to angle of camera : subject).

First Summer male Woodchat at Skewjack, Land's End.

This long distance shot of the long-staying Woodchat Shrike at Skewjack was taken on Saturday.  The bird can be aged as a first summer by the brownish cast to the primaries and grey areas in the mantle.  A full adult would show a black mantle and black primaries. 

Cyprus daily blog 17th and 18th April 2010

I have lumped these two days together because the 17th was a relatively quiet day with smaller numbers of passerines and raptors.  The highlight though was an impressive movement of some 601 (counted) Glossy Ibis in several large flocks moving up the south coast.  500+ Spanish Sparrow were also notable in their large flocks.  Two male Black-headed Buntings were the first for the year.  One was a migrant at the point and the second was a male singing on territory.

The image below is a male Cyprus Pied Wheatear.  They are very common and encountered in just about every habitat on the island.  That said, they are actually quite difficult to appoach but this male gave itself up in the late evening sunshine.

An impressive movement of shrikes occurred on the 18th April with ten Red-backed, two Masked, two Woodchat and two Lesser Grey Shrikes.

The 18th improved in quality and quantity of birds.  The highlight was a female Rock Thrush, found late in the evening.  The images are quite dark because the sun had just about dropped.  The ISO is very high and thus the resulting images are a bit grainy.  It was the only Rock Thrush we saw - they are never common. 

Further additional highlights of the two days included: male Orphean Warbler, four male Sardinian, one Ruppell's, one Collared Flycatcher, ten Whinchat, two Golden Oriole, fem Cretzschmar's Bunting, eight Hoopoe, 20 Red-throated Pipit, six Roller, three Great Spotted Cuckoo, four Hobby, 60 Little Egret, 18 Purple Heron, two Serin, 30 Northern Wheatear, three Isabelline Wheatear and ten Black-eared Wheatear.  An out-of-place Spur-winged Plover was also found on the beach.

Cyprus daily blog - 16th April

Another very hot day but with a cooling north-westerly wind.  The change of wind direction and strength was just enough to bring a small influx of shrikes, including our first real rarity find of the trip.  With the fresh fall of eight Red-backed Shrikes, two Masked and two Woodchat came a female/first year Isabelline Shrike.  Sadly we had no more than a minute on it and not enough time to photo it. as it disappeared into the juniper forest.  It was also seen by a Brummie crew.

Male Red-backed Shrike watching a bee.  This stunning male had arrived overnight.

Black-eared Wheatear of the eastern melanoleuca "black-throated" form.  A common passage migrant seen daily.

Blue-headed Wagtail - regular passage migrant in varying numbers.

Short-toed Lark were seen daily though not as common as they have been in previous years.

Additional daily totals were as follows: three White Stork, eight Marsh Harrier, four Pallid Harrier, one Curlew (island tick for me!), two Crag Martin, 12 Red-throated Pipit, 50 Yellow Wagtail, male Golden Oriole, two Sardinian and one Ruppell's Warbler. 

Cyprus daily blog - 15th April 2010

This post is the continuation of a daily blog on a recent two week trip to Cyprus.  I would have posted this earlier but if anyone has noticed, it has also been just a little bit busy in Cornwall this last couple weeks!  The photographic highlights today include some harriers.  The male Montagu's Harrier is in fact my first male for the island.  I cannot recall such a perfect and delightful bird as this.  Pallid Harriers easily outnumber Monty's.

I have placed two males alongside each other here and the differences, whilst subtle, become quite obvious with practice.  The ringtails below also show obvious boa's and dark secondaries with limited pale barring (in the secondaries).

Further highlights of the day included: Five Night Heron, four Squacco, one Bittern, 10 Marsh Harrier, two Bonelli's Eagle, three Little Crake, 80 Wood sandpiper, 130+ Ruff, including some nice white-ruffed males, one Great Snipe, giving the usual brief but good view, 15 Roller, including one pair on territory, 10 Hoopoe, male Collared Flycatcher, two Red-backed Shrike and two Golden Orioles.

House Finch at Land's End - 8th May

The four heavily cropped images below were taken this evening in Swingates House, (thanks to Roger and Chris Andrew for allowing entry to the grounds).  They have been sharpened by 10%.  Colours are natural and unaltered. 

The bird was found by Martin Elliott on Thursday evening by its' unfamiliar song at Swingates and some images were taken.  The images were checked on Friday and its' identity confirmed late on Friday night. Martin Elliott also refound the bird at about 7am on Saturday (today) in the same location and about half an hour later on Land's End car park.  The bird was also independently located by Bob Bosisto a little later. 

What the authorities will make of this occurrence will no doubt be discussed at length; however from these images below, the condition of the feathers would appear to be good.  From the right side, there appears to be no abrasion or damage to feathers.  Sadly I have no shots of the left side.

100% cropped image below.

Golden Eagle at Croft Pascoe, Lizard

A phone call from Royston at 5.15 tonight and a few minutes later from Steve Kolodjiezski, (the original finder) confirmed the incredible news that a sub-adult Golden Eagle had indeed been found at Croft Pasco forest.  It had flown out of the forest twice and then gone back, being harrassed by the local Common Buzzards.  There was half a chance that it could reappear...

About ten birders assembled and were lucky enough to get about ten minutes on it before being chased off west towards Predannack Airfield.  This is the third county record; the first being way back in 1810.  In more modern times, Angela Tonry photographed one last April at nearby Stithians Reservoir.  This was thought to be a sub adult as well, so there is a slim chance this could even be the same returning bird.

The shots below have all been cropped by 40 to 50%.  There are no other enhancements.

White-throated Sparrow - First for Cornwall

The long-awaited first Cornish record of a North American sparrow has finally happened!  John Fanshaw from Boscastle is the "hero" who found the bird and kindly informed local birders.  Found late on Saturday 1st May, John informed Derek Julian (Chairman CBWPS) of the remarkable find and by first light Sunday, a well organised twitch ensued.  The bird performed well to a small but steady trickle of visitors to John's manor.  On several occasions it sang in full view from a hawthorn tree.  At other times, it would be quite content to feed on the lawn.  Given that it appeared quite settled on the Sunday, it was all the more surprising that it disappeared overnight and could not be found on the bank holiday Monday.

Of note, this is the first record for the region, eg both Scilly and Devon have yet to record a North American sparrow.  The species breeds in Canada and new England and migrates south in the autumn to spend its' winter in southern and eastern USA.  There are over thirty records in the UK alone but the majority eminate from major ports eg Felixstow and Southampton.  The assumption is that the species has hitched a lift on the grain ships and been quite content to feed up and stay on board until nearby land is in sight.  Given that there are no major ports in Cornwall, one can only wonder exactly where this individual came from.  Any thoughts on the subject are welcome.

John Chapple's excellent video of the bird, including that fantastic mournful song, can be viewed here