Saturday 25 March 2017

Cyprus 17 - Troodos

I had Paphos Headland to myself this morning, can't be bad. Still plenty of wildflowers and BIRDS!

Just a summary for now...

Eastern BE Wheatear
Ruppell's Warbler 5
Sub-Alpine Warbler 2
Nightingale 5
Cretzschmar's Bunting
Quail 4s
Hoopoe

A wonderful couple of hours before breakfast. Back again tomorrow.

After brekky we headed for the hills... mountains to be precise. The village of Troodos is over 5000ft and obviously offers the opportunity to find different species.

Also Matt Smith a Paphos Birder had found a PINE BUNTING (9th record) yesterday which added some spice to the trip!! He was kind enough to give me directions.

We arrived around noon and had lunch. Then it was time to search.

Another VERY special moment occurred which I'd like to bore you with. However, I'm in the middle of a crucial game of knock-out whist with "she who must be obeyed" so I'll have to leave the full story until our return.

As I'm sure you're aware, searching for sightings among the conifers can be gruelling. Today bucked the trend in a BIG way!

I also had another of those "small world" moments when I got a shout..."Alan"!? It was Lance Degnan having lunch with his wife!!! We had a brief chat but they were in the middle of their meal...so we left them in peace. Good to see him though..nice guy.

Back to the cards.

Trip total 148


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