Day 7
Neo Chorio this morning. Not near the church but another place we've used before. There was a ruptured irrigation pipe that looked like a good opportunity so two nets were placed nearby, in the hope of netting birds as they arrived or departed. Then a double in some olive trees and a further double in the only vegetaion that provided cover from both side of the net.
We were a little worried that birds may not be moving around the site so freely as the grass and weedy vegetation was all dried out and provided very sparse cover. We didn't get a great deal of birds but the habitat, different to Kouklia, gave us our first Cyprus Wheatear, Whinchat, Spotted Flycatcher and Greenfinch.
There were plenty of other Cyprus Wheaters around and all appeared to be youngsters 25 in total. There were also a few Whinchat, a couple of Red-backed Shrikes and a single Masked Shrike.
Neo Chorio this morning. Not near the church but another place we've used before. There was a ruptured irrigation pipe that looked like a good opportunity so two nets were placed nearby, in the hope of netting birds as they arrived or departed. Then a double in some olive trees and a further double in the only vegetaion that provided cover from both side of the net.
We were a little worried that birds may not be moving around the site so freely as the grass and weedy vegetation was all dried out and provided very sparse cover. We didn't get a great deal of birds but the habitat, different to Kouklia, gave us our first Cyprus Wheatear, Whinchat, Spotted Flycatcher and Greenfinch.
Juvenile female Cyprus Wheater
Juvenile male Cyprus Wheatear
Juvenile Whinchat
Spotted Flycatcher
Greenfinch
Totals:43
Whinchat - 1
Cyprus Wheatear - 2
Sardinian Warbler - 6
Lesser Whitethroat - 5
Whitethroat -2
Garden Warbler - 1
Blackcap - 14
Willow Warbler - 4
Spotted Flycatcher - 2
Great Tit - 2
Spanish Sparrow - 1
Greenfinch - 3
After the session we checked out the Polis reedbed that had been burnt out last year. Only patchy clumps of reeds remained with some areas already ploughed up. We watched a large band of Bee-eaters for a while, but despite the presence of bee hives, their feeding forays were mostly confined to a quick dash off of then back to the overhead wires. They were also disturbed when we got out of the car so would most probably have left if we'd tried putting a net up.
After eating in Kathikas, we had a look around Arodes.
We watched while a field was prepared for planting - removing
the larger pieces of rock, leaving soil most resembling dust on the surface.
The whole area looked really dry.
We found a large group of Cyprus Wheatears, 18 birds, in their first year. We tried with a two panel net and only one was caught as they could see and easily avoid the net.
Dark underwing and Cyprus Wheater - 3rd of the day.
Arodes
Total: 1
Cyprus Wheatear
There were plenty of other Cyprus Wheaters around and all appeared to be youngsters 25 in total. There were also a few Whinchat, a couple of Red-backed Shrikes and a single Masked Shrike.
Cyprus Wheatear
Red-backed Shrike