A short visit to Cyprus, mainly to check on the property –
but, as there wasn’t too much to put right there’s a chance to get out and do
some ringing, weather permitting. Weather looks set to deteriorate from Tuesday
onwards so we will try to get some sessions in early.
We made our first session Kouklia. Rain was due at 10am but
up until then wind was quite low. We just had to ensure that we weren’t caught
out by the thundery showers.
We got six nets up as a good spread of species could be heard
all around us. Most notable were the high number of Robins ticking although
none were seen, several Stonechat and small Woodlark flocks passing overhead
from time to time.
Woodlark
The first round came to 20 or so birds. One of the Sardinian
Warblers was rather darker than usual and feather samples were taken for the
University of Cyprus’ ongoing study on melanistic birds from the area. There
was also a Stonechat showing features similar to the ones seen on a bird that
had been ringed in Denmark, before our visit there, as a Stenger’s Stonechat.
We didn’t think our bird was but saved a feather for analysis.
Other unexpected birds
in the catch were a Blackbird, another rarely seen species and a couple of
White Wagtails.
Adult female Blackbird
White Wagtail adult
Totals: 35 (2)
Woodlark – 1
White Wagtail - 2
Robin – 5
Stonechat - 2
Blackbird – 1
Cetti’s Warbler - 1
Sardinian Warbler – 7 (1)
Blackcap – 11 (1)
Chiffchaff – 2
Spanish Sparrow - 1
Serin – 2
The rain came in very quickly and was very hard with strong
wind, thunder and lightning. We had already extracted all birds and pushed up
then had to take down after the ‘showers’
had gone through.
We decided to look at the Desalination plant, another area
where we have ringed in the past and were engrossed with watching an adult male
Red-backed Shrike (a rather late date) when we noticed a Kestrel in the road
ahead. It appeared unable to fly and we believed it may have struck the powerlines
that run the length of the access road there. Chris caught it and on inspection
the wing was stuck to the feathers on the breast. It looked as though it had
escaped a limestick. We contacted Birdlife Cyprus and then the Game Fund. They
arranged to collect the bird and take it to Nicosia for rehabilitation. It was
hungry and the primaries had been badly damaged. It needed time to feed up and
regrow quite a few feathers.
This Kestrel went unringed and was taken to Nicosia for R&R
Severely damaged primaries. When picked up the wing was stuck to the bird's breast and the gluey substance was all on its beak. Many of the feather filaments were torn away when the bird managed to escape.
Suspect fields, nect to the road where the bird was found.
We rounded the day with a bit more birding at Anarita and
Acheilia.
Male Stonechat, Anarita
Black Redstart, Acheilia