NORTHERN CYPRUS, SPRING 2005
by Ian McKerchar
From the 26th of March to the 9th of April 2005 I made my annual visit to Northern Cyprus for my spring birding hols, although I intended to spend some time with my (generally) non birding family and my mother who has lived on the island for 12 years, owning and running Shirley Valentines restaurant in Lapta! I was based on the north-western coast, in the tiny village of Karsiyaka, a couple of miles west of Lapta, which is itself several miles west of Girne, the largest city on the northern coast of Cyprus.
As Cyprus had a dry winter many of the wetland habitats were much drier than I was used to and with my visit slightly earlier in the season than usual I missed many species (and their larger numbers) than previous later visits had produced.
On this visit I intended to concentrate my efforts on Korucam Burnu (Cape Kormakitis), the extreme north-western point of Cyprus, an area easily assessable from Karsiyaka and one I had become very familiar with and found extremely productive in the past. All my visits were made in the very early morning when it was not too hot (with bird migration slowing down towards midday when it often became very warm indeed), this tactic also allowing me to atleast spend some time with my family!
Above: The road into the village of Sadrazamkoy, with Korucam Burnu in the distance
Karsiyaka, 26/03, 00:00
After arriving at my mother’s house at midnight following the typically long flight from Manchester, a refreshing cup of tea on the patio before bed produced the following:
Stone Curlew- 1 over west, calling
Scops Owl- up to 3 calling continuously from the olive groves around the villa.
Karsiyaka, 27/03, 08:00
Clear skies, no wind, very sunny.
After a good night sleep and whilst waiting for the hire car to be delivered I ventured into the olive groves immediately surrounding the villa before breakfast.
Bonelli’s eagle- 1 over the hugely impressive crags towering above the village, seen to perch on the very top of one of the massive outcrops and commence preening.
Great Spotted Cuckoo- 2
Red-rumped Swallow- 1
Blackbird- 1
Blackcap- 3+
Eastern Orphean Warbler- 2 (a pair)
Lesser Whitethroat- 16
Cetti’s Warbler- 6+ calling loudly from deep within every dense scrubby area around the villa.
Chiffchaff- 3 brevirostris race, lacking grey or olive/yellow tones, appearing very brown displaying strong, buffish superciliums and dark eye stripes with a distinctive loud, rather penetrating, slightly down slurred ‘PEEP’ call.
Spanish Sparrow- several
Shirley Valentines Restaurant, Lapta, 27.03, 11:15
Above: Shirley Valentines Restaurant, Lapta with the impressive Pentadaktylo mountain range behind
Clear skies, light NW breeze, hot!
Perched no more than 30feet from the sea, Shirley Valentines restaurant is surrounded by some good birding habitat, with mainly bare, rocky/sandy coastal land, some dense scrub and taller bushes.
Crested Lark- 13, singing from all around, including the car park and the roof of the restaurant itself.
Meadow Pipit- 8
Northern Wheatear- 1 male
Blackcap- 1 male
Eastern Orphean Warbler- 1
Fan-tailed Warbler- 4+, with their constant ‘zitting’ calls from all around the restaurant.
Korucam Burnu, 28/03, 07:30-10:30
Clear skies, moderate SE breeze.
The drive from Karsiyaka to Korucam Burnu follows the coast road, which hangs, precariously in parts, close to the sea cliffs but nearly always provides good views of Chuckar and Cyprus Pied Wheatear either on or along side the road.
After passing through Sadrazamkoy, the last village before the cape, the infamous water tank and fig tree lie on the right. Once so very attractive to migrant birds (and still probably is) the area is now being heavily developed and every time I passed there were multitudes of builders washing themselves, clothes or equipment in the water tank, so I passed through the area quickly. The area of olive trees just outside Sadrazamkoy, immediately before the road drops down towards the water tank is often very good for holding migrants before their flight out to the cape and beyond.
The cape itself begins as a large area of low coastal maquis with areas of low grass intermixed (now with a newly built road right to the tip), with strips of beautifully colourful wild flower meadows further along before reaching the area known as the ‘long reeds’, a strip of stunted Cyprus Pines that runs across the road. Here I would leave the car, methodically criss-crossing the area to the cape, paying special attention to the ‘long reeds’ and its immediate area, which has often provided my best birds. From here the maquis scrub thinned out, with larger short grassy areas and more beautiful wild flower meadows until reaching a strip of dense, taller maquis (another area worth special attention), beyond which there is a very sandy strip, then the incredibly rocky, baron cape itself.
Above: The rocky and baron cape at Korucam Burnu, looking out NW into the Mediterranean Sea
Birds not mentioned in the accounts but always present in good numbers were Cyprus Pied Wheatear, Cyprus Warbler, Spectacled Warb Warbler, Hooded Crow, Corn Bunting and a least one or two Black Francolin giving themselves away with their highly distinctive calls Great Spotted Cuckoo was also a regular feature although in smaller numbers and favouring the area around and just before the water tank.
Above: The ‘long reeds’ at Korucam Burnu running across the new road (right of picture) with the cape beyond them
Quail- 3 calling from the wild flower meadows alongside the road.
Stone Curlew- 2 in the ‘usual’ spot of the grassy area on the right just before the long reeds (where I have always found them in years gone by).
Crag Martin- 1 flying west towards the cape.
Short-toed Lark- 21 in one flock flying west to the cape.
Isabelline Wheatear- 2 together.
Redstart- 1 female of the race samsamincus.
Cretzschmars Bunting- 12 males
Gecitkoy Reservoir, 28/03, 14:50
Clear skies, moderate SE breeze, very warm.
Gecitkoy reservoir is set in beautiful surroundings and always has water but is best avoided at weekends when the area becomes overrun with the local population and their love of barbeques!
Water Rail- 1 in the almost dried out stream at the eastern end.
Great Spotted Cuckoo- 4
Reed Warbler- 3+ in the reed bed at the eastern end.
Gonyeli Reservoir, 29/03
Clear skies, gentle SE breeze, hot.
Set in the rather baron looking farming area in the centre of Northern Cyprus not too far from the capital Nicosia this reservoir suffers the same fate as Gecitkoy at the weekends, but still provides some good birding.
Great Cormorant- 1 immature
Little Egret- 1
Squacco Heron- 1
Teal- 5
Shoveler- 6
Spur-winged Plover- 1
Greenshank- 4
Ruff- 12
Black-tailed Godwit- 2
Cretzschmars Bunting- 2
Kanli Reservoir, 29/03
Lying just west of Gonyeli Reservoir, Kanli is of similar habitat and is the largest area of water in Northern Cyprus with some reedy areas and scrub around its shoreline, particularly the western edge which is easily accessible from the dam wall which leads round to the shallow end in the north-west corner. Again, best avoided at the weekends particularly as the area seems popular with shooters.
Black-necked Grebe- 1 adult in breeding plumage.
Cormorant- 1 sinensis race, the bird from Gonyeli Reservoir.
Great Bittern- flushed from a tiny reedbed along the shoreline
Great White Egret- 1
Purple Heron- 1
Pintail- 1 male
Shoveler- 6
Garganey- 8, including 5 drakes.
Pochard- 1 female
Tufted Duck- 3
Pallid Harrier- 2 adult males showing very well soaring over the fields by the dam.
Spur-winged Plover- 5
Green Sandpiper- 3
Common Sandpiper- 2
Ruff- 11
Kingfisher- 2
White Wagtail- lots
Bluethroat- 1, fine male cyanecula, which showed very well in scrub along the shore.
Above: Bluethroat
Arapkoy 1 Reservoir, 30/03, 11:30
Clear skies, gentle NE breeze, hot.
Arapkoy is one of 3 small reservoirs lying east of Girne.
Grey Heron- 1
Purple Heron- 3
Glossy Ibis- 1
Great Spotted Cuckoo- 2
Korucam Burnu, 31/03, 07:20-11:50
On the drive to the cape, the hilly area before Sadrazamkoy was covered in very low cloud with drizzle, heavy at times, whilst the cape itself was in complete cloud cover and dry with a strong ENE and good visibility.
On my arrival at the cape it was obvious there had been a ‘fall’ as hundreds of migrant birds were grounded in the area due to the weather conditions, with the air filled with the calls of Pipits, Wagtails and Larks. Often it was difficult to know where to look for the best; there was so much activity in my usual coverage area, which was probably no larger than about 6 football fields.
Little Egret- 3 together flying east off shore.
Bonelli’s Eagle- a pair flying low (to avoid the low cloud) along the coast road to Sadrazamkoy watched talon grappling in mid-air.
Marsh Harrier- 1 male
Pallid Harrier- 11 (7 males, 2 females and 2 1st-summers) giving superb views as they hunted small passerines over the fields, including one female, which actually landed on the road quite close to me!
Above: Female Pallid Harrier resting on the side of the road just beyond the ‘long reeds’
Lesser Kestrel- 9 (5 males and 4 females)
Stone Curlew- 12
Yellow-legged Gull- 7
Audouin’s Gulls- 3 (adult and two 2nd-winters)
Kingfisher- 2 on sea rocks.
Hoopoe- 5
Skylark- 9
Short-toed Lark- 171, in 5 main flocks all heading west, one flock of 67 lingering for some time.
Crag Martin- 32 in small flocks over the fields moving west out to sea.
Swallow- thousands!
Sand Martin- 1, west
Red-rumped Swallow- 30
Tawny Pipit- 5
Water Pipit- 135 coutelli race birds, in 7 main flocks (the largest of 58) and mainly in breeding plumage.
Meadow Pipit- 59
Tree Pipit- 75
Red-throated Pipit- 29+, favouring the wild flower meadows and proving difficult to get good views of.
White Wagtail- 49
Blue-headed Wagtail- 54
Black-headed Wagtail- 17, including 1 definite ‘superciliaris’ and many not seen well enough to be positively racially identified.
Northern Wheatear- 16
Isabelline Wheatear- 2
Whinchat- 2 males
Willow Warbler- 3
Masked Shrike- 1 male in the ‘long reeds’.
Starling- 1 flew east
Linnet- 75
Serin- 1
Cretzschmars Bunting- 4+
Above: Male Yellow Wagtail of the race superciliaris
Korucam Burnu, 01/04, 06:50-09:50
Clear skies, strong SW breeze
Osprey- 1 hovering over the sea at the very end of the cape.
Pallid Harrier- 1 male
Sparrowhawk- 1 flying out at sea.
Lesser Kestrel- 1 female
Audouin’s Gull-3 (adult, 1st-summer and 2nd-summer)
Pallid Swift- 1
Skylark- 1
Short-toed Lark- 2
Crag Martin- 74 in 12 groups (the largest of 14) hugging the rocky northern coastline of the cape heading west and out to sea, giving extremely close views as they went by. The total number was counted over an 80-minute period after which I dragged myself away to resume covering the rest of the area.
Red-rumped Swallow- 25 in 80 minutes following the same route as the Crag Martins.
House Martin- 11, again in the same duration and route as the Crag Martins.
Tawny Pipit- 7
Meadow Pipit- 18
Tree Pipit- 47
White Wagtail- 1
Black-headed Wagtail-8
Northern Wheatear- 2
Masked Shrike- 1 male in the ‘long reeds’, probably the same bird as yesterday.
Spanish Sparrow- c3500, including c3000 up to 08:30 heading out west over the cape and out to sea in large flocks of 100 or more, with more flocks continually (and noisily) dashing low over the fields out towards the cape after this time not counted. Flocks leaving the last cover of the cape before the baron extreme tip would fly out gaining height, circling the area of the derelict stone building on the tip before departing out to sea in a roughly northerly direction.
Above: Hundreds of Spanish Sparrows at Korucam Burnu gathering in the last cover before the cape and their long flight across the sea
Chaffinch- 14
Linnet- 6
Goldfinch- 46
Serin- 6
Karaman Mountain, 01/04, 14:30
1/8 cloud cover, fresh NW breeze, excellent visibility.
Black Francolin- 2
Alpine Swift- 12+ flying around the crags.
Cyprus Pied Wheatear- 5
Blue Rock Thrush- 4 males singing from the slopes below the deeply impressive sheer crags, one of which showed very well.
Shirley Valentines Restaurant, Lapta, 01/04
6/8 cloud cover, fresh NW breeze.
Caspian Gull- 12
Audouin’s Gull-1, 1st-summer
Lesser Black-backed Gull- 1 adult fuscus (Baltic Gull) close inshore.
Korucam Burnu, 02/04, 06:45-09:50
Complete cloud cover, fresh NW breeze, rain showers with good visibility.
Again the rain had obviously prompted a fall of migrants with large numbers of birds in my usual coverage area, especially Pipits that flew constantly overhead with large flocks erupting from every wild flower field and patch of bare or grassy land.
Marsh Harrier- 6
Pallid Harrier- 2 males
Skylark- 13
Short-toed Lark- 7
Tawny Pipit- 12
Above: Tawny Pipit
Water Pipit- 187, in 4 main flocks (the largest of 63).
Meadow Pipit- 19
Tree Pipit- 642, in 12 main flocks (including largest flocks of 250 and 100!).
Red-throated Pipit- 33, in 4 main flocks.
White Wagtail- 79, in 7 main flocks
Black-headed Wagtail- 97, in 6 main flocks (the largest of 35).
Redstart- 1 male
Northern Wheatear- 4
Eastern Black-eared Wheatear- 1 pale-throated male.
Pied Flycatcher- 1 male
Masked Shrike- 1 male in the ‘long reeds’, probably the bird from previous days.
Above: Male Masked Shrike in the ‘long reeds’
Spanish Sparrow- 54
Cretzschmars Bunting- 4
Kanlikoy Reservoir, 03/04, 10:30
4/8 cloud cover, gentle SW breeze, and occasional drizzle showers.
Purple Heron- 1
Pochard- 1 female
Tufted Duck- 5
Pallid Harrier- 1 male
Little Ringed Plover- 1
Spur-winged Plover- 4
Wood Sandpiper- 2
Common Sandpiper- 1
Ruff- 8
Swallow- thousands feeding over the water.
White Wagtail- 60+
Black-headed Wagtail- 23
Blackcap- 3
Nicosia to Famagusta road, 04/04
Birds are often conspicuous in the fields and roadside along the Nicosia to Famagusta road, although stopping to view them is not often possible or advised!
Marsh Harrier- 3 (including 1 female and two unsexed birds)
Pallid Harrier- 2 (an adult of each sex)
Turtle Dove- 1
Woodchat Shrike- 1 on roadside wires.
Koprulu, 04/04, 09:00
Calling in to the reservoir, which lies on the northern edge of the small town of Koprulu, eager with anticipation of a repeat of last springs huge variety and numbers of birds, I was more than a little disappointed to find the whole area completely dry and now turned over to arable fields!
Thrush Nightingale- 3 in a small copse and scrubby area before the ‘reservoir’, one in full song with the others just giving short bursts.
Famagusta Fresh Water Lake, 04/04, 09:45
Clear skies, light NNW breeze, very sunny and warm.
Just outside the city of Famagusta on the southeast coast of Northern Cyprus lies the freshwater lake from which there are several locations to view it although due to its very low level this year the area was almost completely obscured by bushes and trees. Frustrated by glimpses of flocks of waders and gulls occasionally seen fly above tree level I set about finding improved viewing, which after several attempts I managed from the southern most side although this still only allowed a very small area of the lake to be viewed. I left (very!) frustrated in the knowledge that there must have been a whole lot more birds I had failed to see in this fantastic site due to the obscured visibility.
Cattle Egret- 14, allowing very close approach as they fed around a goat herd on the dusty track on the southern side.
Little Egret- 8+
Glossy Ibis- 37+
Spoonbill- 5, mainly asleep and all immatures.
Marsh Harrier- 1 female
Black-winged Stilt- 40+
Little Ringed Plover-1
Little Stint- 130+
Green Sandpiper- 1
Greenshank- 8+
Marsh Sandpiper- 3+
Black-tailed Godwit- 5+
Curlew- 1
Ruff- 200+
Black-headed Gull- 20+
Slender-billed Gull- 5+
Armenian Gull- 26+
Caspian Gull- 6+
Red-throated Pipit- 2
Eastern Orphean Warbler- 1
Eastern Bonelli’s Warbler- 1
Willow Warbler- 2
Above: Very obscured viewing at Famagusta freshwater lake, with Spoonbills, Armenian and Caspian Gulls and Black-winged Stilts visible
Bogaz, 04/04
Clear skies, gentle NNW breeze, hot.
We utilised Bogaz as a overnight stop off before our trip to the Karpaz.
Shag- 3 on the floating raft off the hotel.
Caspian/Armenian Gull- 29 on the floating raft off the hotel, containing 4 adult Armenian Gulls and the remainder unidentified immatures due to the long viewing range.
Common Crane- Several (?) heard flying over, calling at 21:20 whilst I was enjoying a cigar on the balcony of our hotel room.
Kantara Castle, 04/04, 14:50
Clear skies, strong NNW breeze, and sunny, superb visibility.
Set high in the mountains the views from the castle are breathtaking and well worth a visit.
Above: The breathtaking view from Kantara Castle looking eastwards over the Karpaz
Blue Rock Thrush- 3 males including 1 singing bird giving stunning views on the castle walls.
Cyprus Pied Wheatear- 9
Sardinian Warbler- 7+ around the base of the castle.
Raven- 3
The Karpaz, 05/04, 12:10
Clear skies, fresh N breeze, hot.
Stretching east from Bogaz, out into the very eastern most Mediterranean Sea, the Karpaz is (currently) a fantastically unspoilt and bird rich area. The journey to the extreme cape, which is its bird rich crown, can take some time as birds can be found anywhere alongside the road, so stop-offs are very regular! The cape itself deserved much more attention that I gave it and would have no doubt yielded far more birds than produced in the scant coverage I gave it in my short time there (no more than two hours!). A day or two covering the cape itself would have been ideal.
Birds seen along the road from Bogaz to the cape.
Booted Eagle- 1 pale bird soaring very low over the road several miles west of the cape, showing extremely well until mobbing crows forced the bird west.
Pallid Harrier- 8 females in only 40 minutes along the road from approximately half way along the road the Karpaz to the cape itself. So conspicuous were they that my wife and six year old son found the majority as they gave occasionally amazingly close views.
Kestrel- 40+
Quail- 1 calling from an arable field.
Stone Curlew- 1 just east of the Blue Sea Hotel.
Audouin’s Gull- 6 adults together on rocks just east of the Blue Sea Hotel.
Great Spotted Cuckoo- 6+
Woodlark- 1 at Hasams Turtle Beach on the southern side of the Karpaz.
Red-throated Pipit- 3+ flying over calling at various stop-off points.
White Wagtail- 4
Black-headed Wagtail- 1
Eastern Black-eared Wheatear- 1 dark-throated male along the road several miles west of the cape.
Above: Male dark-throated Eastern Black-eared Wheatear
Cyprus Pied Wheatear- 30+
Reed Warbler- 2 in a tiny overgrown ditch at the roadside.
Marsh Warbler- 1 in same ditch as Reed Warblers showed well briefly.
Woodchat Shrike- 1 male
Masked Shrike- 2 on roadside wires, allowing very close approach in the car!
Spanish Sparrow- c600 in roadside bushes where the road skirted the very northern coastline.
Birds seen at the cape itself.
Peregrine- 1 at the cape.
Caspian/Armenian Gull- 30+ flying out at sea off the cape.
Lesser Black-backed Gull- 9 of the race fuscus (Baltic Gull) flying north past the cape.
Short-toed Lark- 12 in the grassy area at the extreme tip.
Tawny Pipit- 7 around the car park and field by the first hotel at the cape.
Red-throated Pipit- 1
Black-headed Wagtail- 4 males at the extreme tip.
Northern Wheatear- 4
Eastern Black-eared Wheatear- 7 of various colour-throated varieties, including afew singing birds around the buildings near the market.
Above: Male pale-throated Eastern Black-eared
Stonechat- 1 female at the very tip.
Whitethroat- 2
Cretzschmars Bunting- 3 with Tawny pipits around the car park and field by the first hotel.
Korucam Burnu, 06/04, 07:00-10:30
Clear skies and complete calm.
Grey Heron- 1 soaring over high north.
Marsh Harrier- 1 male in off the sea.
Peregrine- 3, with 1 heading west and two east.
Merlin- 1 female flushed from a stony field just beyond Sadrazamkoy flew east.
Stone Curlew- 1
Lesser Black-backed Gull- 1 adult fuscus (Baltic Gull).
Hoopoe- 3
Short-toed Lark- 7
Crag Martin- 26 in 2 groups giving very close views as they hawked low over the wild flower fields.
Red-rumped Swallow- 41
House Martin- c200
Tawny Pipit- 1
Tree Pipit- 45
White Wagtail- 24
Blue-headed Wagtail- 3
Black-headed Wagtail- 17
Citrine Wagtail- 1 female made a short stop just before the ‘long reeds’ with a flock of White Wagtails before departing NW out towards the cape.
Above: Female Citrine Wagtail, found travelling with White Wagtails
Redstart- 1 male in the ‘long reeds’.
Northern Wheatear- 2
Isabelline Wheatear- 4
Eastern Black-eared Wheatear- 6 (5 dark-throated males, 1 dark-throated female)
Lesser Whitethroat- 60+ with the vast majority occupying every available space in the ‘long reeds’!
Eastern Bonelli’s Warbler- 1 showing extremely well in the ‘long reeds’, calling continuously and occasionally giving short bursts of song.
Spanish Sparrow- c1000
Chaffinch- 15
Linnet- 8
Goldfinch- 36
Serin- 10
Ortolan Bunting- 11 in 2 flocks favouring the area around the ‘long reeds’.
Cretzschmars Bunting- 12
Above: Looking up the track along the ‘long reeds’ north towards the new road, it might not look much but is a huge magnet for migrants
Korucam Burnu, 07/04, 07:20-09:50
Clear Skies, complete calm, very hot and sunny, excellent visibility.
Marsh Harrier- 2 male and female over very high north.
Lesser Kestrel- 1 female
Quail- 2
Stone Curlew- 2
Hoopoe- 1
Skylark- 2
Short-toed Lark- 9
Sand Martin- 1
Crag Martin- 18 in 2 flocks
Red-rumped Swallow- 16
Meadow Pipit- 10
Tree Pipit- 15
Red-throated Pipit- 4
Blue-headed Wagtail- 9
Black-headed Wagtail- 16 in a mixed flock with the above Blue-headed Wagtails.
Northern Wheatear- 7
Isabelline Wheatear- 9
Eastern Black-eared Wheatear- 7 (all dark-throated males)
Blackbird- 1 male
Subalpine Warbler- 1 male albistrata race.
Collared Flycatcher- 1 male by the road on my way to the cape in the morning approximately 2 miles east of Sadrazamkoy.
Spanish Sparrow- c2000
Chaffinch- 31
Serin- 14 with some birds in song.
Above: Isabelline Wheatear
Gecitkoy Reservoir, 07/04, 17:30
Clear skies, moderate N breeze, and hot, excellent visibility.
Cormorant- 1 sinensis race.
Night Heron- 1 adult sat in full view on the northern side.
Grey Heron- 1 immature
Bonelli’s Eagle- 2 gave superb views as they soared majestically over the reservoir heading east.
Great Spotted Cuckoo- 4
Alpine Swift- 160
Kingfisher- 2
Red-rumped Swallow- 3
White Wagtail- 1
Reed Warbler- 3+
Korucam Burnu, 08/04, 07:00-09:40
7/8 cloud cover, very strong NE wind and hot.
Audouin’s Gull- 3 (2 2nd-winter, 1 adult) west
Caspian Gull- 13, all west
Sparrowhawk- 1 west
Stone Curlew- 2
Alpine Swift- 4
Hoopoe- 1
Skylark- 9
Short-toed Lark- 54
Tawny Pipit- 16
Water Pipit- 29 coutelli race.
Meadow Pipit- 22
Tree Pipit- 16
Red-throated Pipit- 36 (in very small flocks)
White Wagtail- 41 in 7 flocks
Blue-headed Wagtail- 28
Black-headed Wagtail- 82 (largest flock of 17)
Citrine Wagtail- 1 female quickly passing through with White Wagtails.
Northern Wheatear- 1 male
Isabelline Wheatear- 1
Eastern Black-eared Wheatear- 6 (5 dark throated males, 1 dark throated female)
Spanish Sparrow- c800
Chaffinch- 62 in 6 flocks
Linnet- 21 in 2 flocks
Serin- 2
During my 12 available days birding I managed a total of 118 species in Northern Cyprus. I made 7 early morning visits to Korucam Burnu, spending an average of just over 3 hours on each visit, compiling the following passage bird totals of note:
Marsh Harrier- 10
Pallid Harrier- 14
Lesser Kestrel- 8
Audouin’s Gull- 9
Skylark- 34
Short-toed Lark- 271
Crag Martin- 151
Tawny Pipit- 41
Water Pipit- 351
Meadow Pipit- 128
Tree Pipit- 838
Red-throated Pipit- 102
White Wagtail- 194
Blue-headed Wagtail- 91
Black-headed Wagtail- 237
Citrine Wagtail- 2
Northern Wheatear- 32
Isabelline Wheatear- 18
Eastern Black-eared Wheatear- 20
Spanish Sparrow- 7354
Chaffinch- 122
Linnet- 110
Goldfinch- 82
Serin- 32
Ortolan Bunting- 11
Cretzschmars Bunting- 35
Above: Male Cyprus Pied Wheatear
Ian McKerchar, April 2005
To view the full photo gallery of this trip click here
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