Thursday 23 September 2010

N. Cyprus – Acapulco Reservoir - 8th September 2010

Cyprus is a notoriously dry country in summer and reservoirs can run very low. In my experience this means that where these areas of water in another country would be sure places to see birds, the erratic nature of the habitat year to year means they are equally unpredictable for birding and even when there is some water, birds will not naturally appear. We found Acapulco to still contain a lot of water and on it were quite a few Little Grebes, a Black-necked Grebe, Mallard, Moorhen & Coot. In the margins there was a pair of Grey Herons, Kingfishers and at least one Black-winged Stilt.
Surrounding the reservoir there is a lot of scrub, which we found good for Cyprus Wheatear, Red-backed Shrike, Goldfinches, over ten Turtle Doves and a Cyprus Warbler. Also of note, were several Dragonflies a common feature of this trip which made for some good photographic opportunities. From here we headed up into the mountains, which were very productive for Chuka, Blue Rock Thrush, more Cyprus Wheatears & Spotted Flycatcher, not to mention the excellent Buffavento restaurant where we indulged in a lunch time half meze, totally awesome and recommended!
Life bird count: 396 Year bird count: 233 Month bird count: 48
Photo: Red-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio); Violet Dragonfly (Trithemis annulata)

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