Cyprus Birding Trip Report - Day 4 (Friday 6th April 2018)

Our final full day on Cyprus dawned gloriously sunny once more, and with perfect blue cloudless skies above us we made the quick ten minute journey to the archaeological (and birding) treasure trove of Paphos Headland. 

Paying the small entrance fee and admiring the many ruins scattered around the site, we set to work exploring the small shrubs and scrub, the bright black and white butterfly flight of a Hoopoe our first bird of note while a harsh tacking in one of the bushes (that briefly got our hopes up) turned out to be yet another Sardinian Warbler. A handful of Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs and Lesser Whitethroats busied themselves in the lighthouse compound, but it soon became apparent that despite the headland’s reputation as a birding hotspot there was very little activity that morning (or indeed that spring – a birder who visits Cyprus every year told us this was by far the quietest he’d seen it in a long while).

One of many Hooded Crows on the headland

Paphos Lighthouse

Never the less we spent an enjoyable morning exploring the site, the blanket of wildflowers carpeting the headland providing a welcome splash of colour while the many ruins, temples and mosaics dotted around the site provided an interesting insight in to the rich historical past of ancient Cyprus. 

Some of the ancient mosaics on display at the headland even featured birds!

Checking out a woodland compound towards the centre of the headland delivered a few more birds in the form of several secretive Nightingales and a skulking Redstart, while three Purple Herons roosting in one of the trees above was a touch more unexpected. 

Purple Heron

With nothing more to show for our morning and after a relaxing lunch back at the hotel, we decided to visit Mavrokolympus Dam for a second time, primarily to try and get photos of the Cyprus Scops Owls but also to see what avian delights we could unearth on the reservoir itself and surrounding scrubland in daylight hours. 

Starred Agamas watched us from the rocks as they sunbathed

Upon arrival we were met once more by the now familiar trilling of several male Cyprus Pied Wheatears perched on the wires while Sardinian Warblers scolded us vocally from below.

The reservoir itself held just a handful of Yellow-legged Gulls loafing on the water’s surface while a stalking Night Heron in the reedy edges sat silently in the search for an evening supper.

With darkness beginning to descend and no further birds of note we headed over to the start of the dam road (an unusually large boulder on the track luckily not doing any damage to the underside of the car despite an alarmingly loud bang!) and got in to position by the side of the cliffs. A Chukar (possibly the one from the previous evening) showed remarkably well in a concrete yard in front of the car (speedily avoiding our cameras however) and it wasn’t long before the familiar double bong of the Cyprus Scops Owls echoed across the valley.

The owls favoured telegraph wires

Armed ready with our cameras, this time we managed to secure much more prolonged views, with one of the owls landing on the nearby telephone pole and calling loudly, enabling the blurriest of record shots in the fading light.

Cyprus Scops! 

Previously only considered a subspecies and endemic to Cyprus, these resident birds have long been suspected of being suitable for elevation to full species status (being much darker and having a second quieter note after the first call) and after in depth sound recordings and analysis of the mitochondrial DNA, the differences were confirmed.

Interestingly, European Scops Owls also pass through Cyprus on migration, which could create some confusion. However the endemic Cyprus Scops is largely sedentary, and due to these birds already occupying the prime habitat on the island, colonisation from any of the migrant European Scops is prevented, with no records of interbreeding between the two.

Extremely happy with our success on the Scops Owl front and with the temperature now dropping, we headed back to the hotel happy, enjoying a final evening meal of delicious Greek lamb chops before packing our things and getting ready for our final morning in the scenic Troodos Mountains before our evening flight the next day.