Letter from Cyprus, thanks to the volcano

I've just returned from a birdwatching visit to Cyprus, somewhat extended due to the Icelandic volcano saga.

So this week I will concentrate on the birds I saw there rather than those in Yorkshire.

Three birds top the list for any birdwatcher visiting Cyprus, for two of them only breed there, the Cyprus warbler and wheatear and the island is the best place to look for the third, the elusive black francolin.

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The male Cyprus warbler has a dark grey back, black head, white moustache and uniquely underparts that are heavily streaked with black, while the female is greyer above with only light spotted on the underparts.

The Cyprus wheatear is very similar to the pied wheatear also found on the island as both have a black back and white crown and the Cyprus was once regarded as a sub-species of the pied.

But it has a totally different song and slightly more black on the back, tail and head.

Both these were relatively easy to find and see, unlike the black francolin. Two early morning attempts to find calling birds failed but on the third attempt we struck lucky with a male calling its distinctive five-note mechanical song from deep within a cornfield and another calling nearby.

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This one turned out to be calling in full view from the top of a rock and we were able to admire his black plumage with white spotting, chestnut neck collar and distinctive white cheek patch. He was still calling as we left.

My own wish list included two birds that have long eluded me, Eleonora's falcon and great spotted cuckoo, and I was able to have excellent views of both.

We were warned that we might be a little early to see Eleonora's as not many had returned from winter quarters in Africa and we had one failed visit to the towering Kensington Cliffs where they breed, although we were rewarded with close-up views of huge Alpine swifts which also breed there.

But a second visit and a long wait in the hot sun was finally rewarded with a close view of a falcon flying past although we missed, by 10 minutes, a Griffon vulture which also flew over the cliffs. On the day before we left we heard that another 17 of the falcons had arrived back at the cliffs.

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The great spotted cuckoo was seen at one of the many dams in the area and we were alerted to its arrival by the chattering of the resident magpies – this large bird lays its eggs in their nests.

I had excellent views as it perched in the lower branches of a bush and I managed to see two more of them before my visit to Cyprus was over.

Other highlights included 37 bee-eaters perched on telephone wires, close-up views of Baillon's and little crakes and a little bittern and, a reminder of last week's article, a bewildering selection of different forms of yellow wagtails.

There were also five lesser kestrels, pallid, Montagu's and marsh harriers and a calling Scops owl.

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Birdwatching in Cyprus is hard work, as sites are some distance apart and we found no large concentrations of birds, even on the Paphos headland close to our accommodation. But the three of us achieved a very respectable total of 123 species.

In Yorkshire, highlights have included a black-winged stilt seen on several occasions on the Nosterfield Natue reserve, North Yorkshire, while a wood warbler has been singing behind the RSPB office at Denby Dale, West Yorkshire. Another was heard close to Ten Acre lake at Hatfield Moors, South Yorkshire where a summer-plumaged red-necked grebe is still present.

There are large numbers of grasshopper warblers with at least six at the Fairburn Ings reserve near Castleford while ring ouzels are returning to upland breeding sites. More cuckoos were being seen and heard, therewere several reports of hobby, and swifts were seen in increasing numbers.

CW 1/5/10