CYPRUS - SPRING MIGRATION SPECIAL
So what is so different about our Cyprus tour you may ask? Well, we are staying at a private villa on the west coast of Cyprus where we will be catered for without the need of visiting local restaurants and all drinks are included in the tour cost, even beer and wine with your evening meal. This tour is only for a select group of 6 people maximum staying at our villa for 7 nights. We will have six and a half days birding where our primary focus will be on seeing the 3 endemics: Cyprus Pied Wheatear, Cyprus Warbler and Cyprus Scops Owl, as well as exploring all the regular headlands and wetlands in search of a plethora of spring migrants. We will also head up into the Troodos Mountains for a number of endemic subspecies. We might take a break in the middle of the day and take advantage of our swimming pool and have lunch at the villa before heading out again in the afternoon, or we'll be out birding all day. it depends just how good the migration is.
As well as the 3 main endemics, there's a whole host of mouth-watering possibilities for us to look for and the following list is a 'Who's Who' of eastern Mediterranean specialities such as Black Francolin, Little Bittern, Squacco Heron, Spotted, Baillon's & Little Crakes, Pallid & Montagu's Harriers, Long-legged Buzzard, Bonelli's Eagle, Greater Sandplover, Slender-billed Gull, Whiskered, Black and White-winged Terns, Great Spotted Cuckoo, European Roller, European Bee-eater, Eurasian Hoopoe, Black-eared Wheatear, Masked, Lesser Grey, Woodchat & Red-backed Shrikes, Collared Flycatcher, Red-throated and Tawny Pipits, Thrush Nightingale, Eastern Olivaceous, Spectacled, Eastern Bonelli's, Sardinian & Ruppell's Warblers and both Ortolan & Cretzschmar's Bunting amongst many others. Oh and maybe a Cream-coloured Courser or Caspian Plover will grace us with its presence as in spring 2022.....?
Cyprus has all the elements of a classic birding destination with anything possible: there's flocks of shorebirds moving through, flocks of terns, hirundines, wheatears, shrikes, warblers, pipits and buntings. Add to this great weather, great food and a fantastic private villa. Sounds horrible right? So for a first foray overseas after a while, then this could be just the ticket. Let's go birding.
Friday 31st March - Friday 7th April
KEY SPECIES
Here are just a few of the key species we will be targetting on this tour:
- Black Francolin
- Little Bittern
- full range of herons, ibis & egrets
- Spotted Crake
- Little Crake
- Baillon's Crake
- Montagu's Harrier
- Pallid Harrier
- Bonelli's Eagle
- Long-legged Buzzard
- great shorebird migration
- Cyprus Scops-Owl (Endemic resident)
- Blue-cheeked Bee-eater (rare)
- European Roller
- Masked Shrike
- Lesser Grey Shrike
- Bluethroat
- Cyprus Pied Wheatear (Endemic breeding species)
- Eastern Black-eared Wheatear
- Eastern Olivaeous Warbler
- Eastern Bonelli's Warbler
- Cyprus Warbler (Endemic breeding species)
- Ruppell's Warbler
- Eastern Orphean Warbler
- Thrush Nightingale
- Eurasian Penduline Tit
- Coal Tit (Endemic ssp)
- Short-toed Treecreeper (Endemic ssp)
- Red-throated Pipit
- Eurasian Jay (Endemic ssp)
- Common Crossbill (Endemic ssp)
- Cretzchmar's Bunting
- Ortolan Bunting
- the excitement of migration birding!
Leader: Nick Bray
Ground Price: £1695.00 - Paphos/Paphos
Airfare: £1500.00 - £220.00 (Approx) - UK/UK
(plus luggage!)
Single supplement: Ask for details.
Deposit: £400.00
Group size: Minimum of 3 and maximum 6.
Included in cost: 7 nights acommodation in a private villa, all meals from breakfast on Day 1 to lunch on Day 8, all drinks including beer & wine with evening meals, ground transport throughout, entrance fees to reserves, and services of leaders.
Not included: International airfare, luggage fees, insurance, tips and items of a personal nature.
Accommodation: We will be based at a conveniently located private villa.
Tour Code: A relaxed birding tour for all levels of ability and fitness. Leisurely walking, very occasionally over moderately rough terrain, is the only physical requirement on most days. Most birding is done close to our vehicle, though we will need to walk to see some of the local specialities or explore some of the sites. The weather at this time of the year is generally hot, dry and pleasant although we will hope for the odd shower which would be great for find migrating species.
All costs arising from any Covid-19-related issues are NOT included in the Zoothera Birding tour fee, and the individual tour participant is responsible for all of these payments. These include, but are not restricted to, payment for Covid treatment/medical fees on tour, transport and accommodation in case of quarantine, and the costs of any Covid tests needed for the tour, either before, during, or after the tour. Zoothera Birding will facilitate all arrangements in terms of ensuring that participants are safe and given rapid access to the best locally available medical treatment, but costs are to be borne solely by the tour participant. If anyone in the group shows some of the common symptons of Covid, they will need to obtain a PCR test locally and will have to isolate from the rest of the group.
All photos copyright Zoothera Birding