Clayheads on Tour in Cyprus - Sunday 17th April

We arrived on Cyprus at 21-50hrs and made the short transfer from Paphos airport to the Louis Imperial Beach Hotel, just on the eastern side of Paphos. We had booked a hire car for the week but that wasn't coming until 10-00hrs, so I went for a walk along the coast. I spotted a small headland and made for that, seeing plenty of House Sparrows, Swallows and Hooded Crows. It was a warm, clear morning and I soon realised that I didn't need my fleece on. A Common Sandpiper was feeding in one of the bays, and on the headland, two Crested Larks were singing.




Crested Lark

I did a bit of sea watching, but there was nothing going past at all, other than a flock of five Cattle Egrets. It seemed strange to watch Linnets feeding fully grown young having just left Britain. There was a patch of open waste land near to a building site, and here I watched 8+ Blue-headed Wagtails feeding. I also found a female Black-eared Wheatear feeding on the mounds.



Female Eastern Black-eared Wheatear



Blue-headed Wagtail


Grey-headed type Wagtail

Two Tawny Pipits flew in and stayed briefly, as did two White Wagtails. As I walked back, I saw a Northern Wheatear along the beach.
We planned to visit Paphos Headland during the morning, mainly to see the ruins. We arrived at 11-00hrs and I knew it was not an ideal time. We had several Sardinian Warblers singing, plus many Fan-tailed Warblers and Crested Larks. A Hoopoe flew over and we had three Woodchats. We saw some German birders watching some large lizards/gecko's, and I noticed a Black-headed Wagtail was feeding amongst the ruins. We stood there for a while and eventually had two Black-headed Wag's showing well and a male Redstart. I managed to add Kestrel, Corn Bunting, Cetti's, Swift and Yellow-legged Gull to my list before we headed back to the hotel. It was quite warm with temperatures of 25C +



Black-headed Wagtail