15th April 2013 Cape Greco, Oroklini & Larnaca SE2 Overcast

Awoke to a calm and overcast morning. Being Monday it proved quiet for people at the cape but unfortunately also for migrants despite a SE2 breeze picking up. We relocated to the rubbish tip area and then tried the pines where we flushed a Nightjar and a police helicopter flushed a female Rock Thrush into view. We then drove to Oroklini and onto Larnaca Sewage Farm and the nearby Spiros Pool before being moved-on by the (friendly enough) military. We then returned to the ploughed stubble field and a still quiet Cape Greco.

Little Grebe 5
Cattle Egret 5
Little Egret 25
Grey Heron 1
Purple Heron 12
Greater Flamingo 25
Teal 10
Mallard 15
Pintail 2
Shoveler 10
Red-crested Pochard 6
Common Buzzard 1
Kestrel 4
Peregrine 2
Chukar 8
Black Francolin 1
Quail 1
Moorhen 20
Coot 40
Black-winged Stilt 70
Little Ringed Plover 1
Kentish Plover 15
Spur-winged Plover 30
Little Stint 15
Ruff 4
Snipe 4
Black-tailed Godwit 2
Spotted Redshank 1
Marsh Sandpiper 2
Greenshank 1
Green Sandpiper 3
Wood Sandpiper 15
Common Sandpiper 4
Little Gull 1
Black-headed Gull 2
Audouin's Gull 1
Yellow-legged Gull 12
Armenian Gull 3+
Little Tern 1
Woodpigeon 1
Collared Dove 6
Turtle Dove 2
Nightjar 1
Swift 20
Roller 2
Hoopoe 1
Short-toed Lark 6
Crested Lark 50
Swallow 100
House Martin 25
Tawny Pipit 2
Black-headed Wagtail 2
White Wagtail 4
Nightingale 1
Whinchat 2
Wheatear 15
Cyprus Pied Wheatear 1
Eastern Black-eared Wheatear 3
Rock Thrush 2 females
Fan-tailed Warbler 2
Reed Warbler 10
Spectacled Warbler 10
Lesser Whitethroat 2
Woodchat Shrike 2
Magpie 2
Jackdaw 6
Hooded Crow 6
House Sparrow 20
Greenfinch 6
Goldfinch 6
Ortolan Bunting 2
Corn Bunting 1

Short-toed Lark at Cape Greco



Cattle Egret at Cape Greco

Whilst clearly a tired migrant seen arriving in off the sea soon after dawn, after a short rest on the barbed wire fence, on seeing a passing flock of Little Egrets it suddenly took flight to chase after and join them...

 

 

Cattle Egret at Cape Greco

flying unusually with its neck outstretched

Corn Bunting at Cape Greco

 

 

Cape Greco viewed from the west

 

 

 

Sea caves at Cape Greco

 

 

 

 

Adult Audouin's Gull off Cape Greco

 

Oroklini Marsh

 

 

Black-winged Stilts at Oroklini Marsh

 

Black-tailed Godwit at Oroklini Marsh

 

Pair of Red-crested Pochard at Oroklini Marsh

 

Larnaca Sewage Farm Pools

 

Spotted Redshank at Larnaca Sewage Farm

 

Marsh Sandpiper at Larnaca Sewage Farm

an exquisite summer-plumaged adult

 

 

 

 

Marsh Sandpiper at Larnaca Sewage Farm

a winter-plumaged adult

 

Third-summer, second-winter and first-winter Armenian Gulls at Larnaca

 

Swallow at Larnaca Sewage Farm

 

Spur-winged Plover at Larnaca Sewage Farm

 

 

Kentish Plovers at Spiros Pool

 

Greater Flamingos at Larnaca

 

 

 

Female Rock Thrush at Cape Greco

 

Male Ortolan Bunting at Cape Greco