Cyprus daily blog 14th April

Another hot day with temperatures starting to climb to mid twenties.  As always, the day started quietly but ended in a nice flourish.  The image of the Karpasian valley below is unusual in that early morning mists are rarer than Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters.  Bird of the day was a Bimaculated Lark but sadly not all of us connected.  Three Scops Owls at dusk were also memorable though.

Red-veined Darters were exceptionally common in damp areas.  At one site we estimated perhaps thousands.

Purple Herons migrate through Cyprus in variable numbers.  This migrant was found wandering around the Juniper forest near the coast.

Sardinian Warbler - a different male to that photographed yesterday.

Cretzschmar's Bunting were scarce during mid April.  All but one of the handful we saw were females.  Cretzschmar's Bunting migrate early through Cyprus hence the low numbers.    

Crag Martin trickle through and no more than ten were logged during the fortnight.  The migrant below took a breather and landed on the rock late in the evening.  By morning it had departed.

Nine Isabelline Wheatear were seen today and the three images below show some of the important ID features; any Cornish birder looking for the second Isabelline county record can note the bolt upright stance, plain uniform fawn upperparts, plain secondaries and open-faced expression.

Audouin's Gull breed in Cyprus and were seen daily. 

Totals for the day included one male Subalpine Warbler, four Sardinians, three Eastern Bonelli's, nine Isabelline Wheatear, 10 Black-eared and 40 Northern Wheatear, three Roller, two Wryneck, 200+ Spanish Sparrow, eight Short-toed Lark, 10 flava Wagtail, two male Red-backed Shrike, five Woodchat and three Redstart.