Holiday in Paphos Cyprus 21 April - 1st May

This was mainly intended as a chillout holiday but of course I had some ideas about possible wildlife sightings, which in fact worked out very well - at least in respect of birdlife.

Early success

An early wander around the coast at Chloraka area showed that there were still some healthy flower meadows to investigate - in spite of the fact that the whole area is clearly marked out for immediate further building complete with the roughcast for the access roads.

Pied Wheatear

There were larks and swallows and a good few butterflies, though these were of only two kinds - painted ladies, of which there must have been thousands over the course of the holiday, and whites.  Neither were keen to settle and the painted ladies were markedly more hyperactive than when they appear in the UK in late summer.

On a longer investigation of the coastal path, I was delighted to quickly discover one of my key targets, the pied wheatear hanging around a rather desolate area of perimeter fencing, then later perching helpfully on a nearby rock.

From the balcony of our apartment there were also swifts, hooded

Lesser whitethroat?

crows and feral pigeons.

On a morning forage further inland the day after it was the same story for butterflies, but I did get a rather unclear shot of what I think may have been a lesser whitethroat on the telephone wires.

Pleasant and unpleasant surprises

I went on a visit to the Paphos Archaeological Park with my daughter.  I hadn't realised how nature-friendly it is and wished I'd taken binoculars as, apart from lizards, crested larks and some slender looking northern wheatear, several other species were missed.

One day I managed a bit of time fishing near the Municipal Swimming Pool.  Most of the bites were also missed but I did manage to catch three tiny ones next to the rocks.

Revisiting the coastal area at dusk one evening was productive, proving the crested lark is particularly common but I also stumbled on a group of hoopoe and found a moustached warbler in an area of rough ground.  Cetti's warbler was singing nearby, but, typically, not seen. I also thought I'd found a blue butterfly but it turned out to be a day-flying moth.

Hoopoe

Moth

Moustached Warbler

Unfortunately we chose a poor day to visit the Troodos mountains.  It rained and made the tricky climb to a waterfall hazardous, resulting for me in a heavy fall, a seriously twisted knee and a couple of days enforced rest on a sunlounger.

A strong finish

Cyprus Warbler

Fortunately I was by the penultimate day fit enough to attempt an e-bike ride to the Asprokremmos Dam area in pursuit of the indigenous cyprus warbler.  This proved much easier to find than expected once I could recognise its distinctive song, though it took a good long time to get a half-decent photograph as they wouldn't stay still.

It's funny how the different light conditions can affect sightings.  I found I was often wondering about the swallows I was seeing.  On the way up to Asprokremmos I took the chance to photograph one of them and it was only from looking at the results that I could see they were red-rumped swallows.  Perhaps the ones at the coast were too.

Similarly, it was only examining a photo of a suspected warbler that I realised I'd seen my first woodchat shrike.

Red-rumped Swallow

Woodchat Shrike

After being delayed by around a thousand domesticated goats crossing the road, the area near the Dam also revealed the definitive photo of a crested lark and a brief encounter with a very bright blue butterfly that only settled briefly with its wings closed.  I wondered about adonis blue or even false eros blue but neither would realistically have been on the wing so early in the year.

Goats on road

Crested lark

On the last day, just before leaving, I glimpsed three clouded yellow in flight and equally disinclined to settle as most of the other species.