Cyprus

Day 1
FLY TO PAPHOS
Our spring birdwatching tour to Cyprus begins with a flight to Larnaca. On arrival, we travel the short distance to our Paphos hotel, which will be our base for the next seven nights.

Being based at Paphos allows us easy access to Paphos headland for our early morning walks. Night Paphos

Days 2 - 7
BIRDING ON CYPRUS, INCLUDING: PAPHOS, ASPROKREMNOS, MANDRIA, AGIA VARVARA, PHASSOURI, AKAMAS, AKROTIRI SALT LAKE, OROKLINI WETLANDS AND TROODOS MOUNTAINS

The area around Paphos, on the island’s west coast, makes a superb base for a week’s birding holiday. Immediately to the southwest of town, Paphos headland is a World Heritage Site famed for its ancient mosaics and tombs but it also happens to be one of the best sites to watch bird migration on the whole of the island! In early April, the neat walled fields of rank grasses and wildflowers, with shady figs, carobs and olives, can hold flycatchers, warblers and shrikes and are well worth checking.

A morning’s walk around the lighthouse and headland can produce some really great birds. Perhaps a Wryneck will pop up in front of us or we may find Hoopoe, Red-throated and Tawny Pipits, and Crested and Short-toed Larks along with exciting eastern Mediterranean migrants such as Eastern Bonelli’s, Eastern Olivaceous, Eastern Orphean and Rüppell’s Warblers, the attractive Cretzschmar’s Bunting and Isabelline, Northern and Black-eared Wheatears.

Overnight falls can also bring several races of Yellow Wagtails, including the lovely Black-headed. The rugged limestone outcrops attract the handsome Blue Rock Thrush and passage waders can sometimes include Greater Sand Plover in smart breeding plumage.

Offshore, we may spot parties of Yelkouan Shearwaters drifting by, or marvel as flocks of migrating Black-crowned Night and Squacco and Purple Herons pass by. If we are lucky, rarities may drop in and our 2019 group, for example, saw both Hooded Wheatear and Caspian Stonechat here!

We shall also pay a visit to the remarkable third century Roman mosaics near the Byzantine fortress overlooking Paphos harbour. These are regarded as amongst the finest anywhere in the Mediterranean. Close by is the extensive complex of the Tombs of the Kings, itself another good site for migrant birds.

On one evening, we will plan to visit Mavrokolympos Dam, where the distinctive two-note call of Cyprus Scops Owl can be heard from trees close to the road. With a little luck, we will hopefully be able to find one too!

Not far from Paphos is the Esouza Valley, where pools along the gravel riverbed at Agia Varvara have recently lured many migrants including both Baillon’s and Little Crakes. Close to the towering Asprokremnos Dam, Anarita Park can hold passing raptors such as Lesser Kestrel and Red-footed Falcon and Chukar and newly arrived Great Spotted Cuckoos might also be seen and heard in the valley. The fringing scrub here is a good spot to try for the cracking Cyprus Warbler which is a declining species and one which breeds only on the island of Cyprus.

Rocky slopes above the dam are a favoured haunt of another of the island’s delightful endemics, the dapper Cyprus Wheatear. The scarce Finsch’s Wheatear sometimes lingers in the area (we have been lucky to see this winter visitor to Cyprus on several previous tours) and we have another opportunity to catch up with the elusive Black Francolin.

Although often skulking, this handsome eastern Mediterranean gamebird is quite common in the island’s arable coastal strip and, with a bit of luck, we should see them well during our stay. North of the dam are valleys that may hold breeding Long-legged Buzzard and Bonelli’s Eagle, so will make sure we keep our eyes to the skies!

To the east of Paphos, the coastal fields and beach around Mandria have proven to be another hotspot for migrants, notably pipits, wagtails and larks. Species to look for include Black-headed Wagtail, Red-throated and Tawny Pipits and in 2018, a superb Caspian Plover turned up here for us! Perhaps a Pallid Harrier will ghost across the fields as this is the ideal time to see these fabulous birds of prey. The beach here is one of the more regular 'stop offs' for Greater Sand Plover.

One day we plan to head further east towards Larnaca, visiting both the freshwater wetlands and threatened reedbeds at Phassouri and the newly created reserve at Oroklini.

Though much will depend upon water levels, transient waders can include Marsh Sandpiper and Great Snipe, while both Spur-winged Lapwing and Black-winged Stilt have bred. Marsh Harriers patrol the pools, whilst migrants such as Garganey, Glossy Ibis and various herons can drop in.

At first sight, the nearby Akrotiri Peninsula is a seemingly barren and featureless wasteland. The centre of this area is dominated by a vast Salt Lake, with its pink ribbon of Greater Flamingos shimmering in the heat haze. Though the size of the lake can make birding tricky, in spring, the smaller pools around its shore often prove attractive to Kentish Plovers and pink-washed Slender-billed Gulls. Extensive areas of halophytic Arthrocnemum scrub provide a home for Spectacled Warblers and both Montagu’s and Pallid Harriers pass this way, as do the Red Arrows that train at Akrotiri RAF base in spring.

Weather permitting, we will travel up into the spectacular Troodos Mountains. In early April, they can still have snow on their upper slopes and one could almost forget that this is the Mediterranean as the road winds ever higher through extensive forests of Calabrian and Black Pine. While the scenery would be reason enough to visit, these beautiful mountains are home to a number of birds that have evolved distinctive isolated populations: 'chocolate' Coal Tits, dusky-headed Jays and large-billed Red Crossbills await, along with 'Cyprus' Short-toed Treecreeper and a number of other endemic or near-endemic races of otherwise familiar birds.

Our route to and from the mountains passes through a picturesque undulating terrain of ‘forgotten’ valleys that are a patchwork of almond groves, vineyards and hay meadows, brimming with wildflowers. Chukar and Great Spotted Cuckoo are possible here, along with calling Quail, perhaps a Long-legged Buzzard overhead and lots of ‘Eastern’ Jackdaws, with their distinctive silver neck collars.

Above Paphos, at the north-western corner of the island, the extraordinary Akamas Peninsula is famed for its glorious coastal scenery ablaze with wildflowers in springtime. The Baths of Aphrodite are a lovely, sheltered spot and well worth a visit. This area is good for Cyprus Wheatear and the recently split Cyprus Scops Owl and frequently attracts migrants such as Masked, Woodchat and Red-backed Shrikes, Eastern Bonelli’s Warbler and Pied, Collared and Semi-collared Flycatchers. Wildflowers include the endemic Cyprus Gladiolus and many orchids.

We have chosen to be based in one strategically placed hotel for the whole week to make this a most relaxed tour with plenty of time spent on gentle walks enjoying the birds and scenery of this compelling island. One thing is certain, with so many wonderful places to visit we shall never be left wanting for things to do!

The lure of the 'unexpected' is bound to call us back to Paphos and neighbouring headlands. Whether it is scanning the grassy slopes for migrant Tawny Pipits and Ortolan Buntings, watching in awe as a ghostly male Pallid Harrier floats by or simply pausing to enjoy one of the many colonies of smartly dressed Spanish Sparrows... In our experience, Cyprus in early April provides some of the most exciting birding in Europe! Six further nights Paphos

Day 8
PAPHOS HEADLAND, FLY TO UK

We should have time this morning for a last look around Paphos before a transfer to the airport for our flight back to the UK, where our spring birdwatching tour to Cyprus concludes.

WHAT TO EXPECT
Cyprus in early April boasts some of the best bird migration anywhere in the Mediterranean. As the spring warms up on ‘Aphrodite’s Isle’, so too does the northward bird migration with the likes of Masked Shrike, Collared Flycatcher and Cretzschmar’s Bunting arriving. Paphos is ideally placed to see parties of herons, bee-eaters, lark, wagtails and other migrants as they come in off the sea.

Add the presence of three endemic breeding species, Cyprus Scops Owl, Cyprus Warbler and Cyprus Pied Wheatear, plus a number of distinctive island races, and the appeal of this single-centre birdwatching tour to Cyprus is irresistible!

Spring weather in Cyprus can be changeable but this brings the birds! Typically bright and sunny days with occasional showers in early April, and daily temperatures in the range of 10-24C (50-75F). In the Troodos Mountains, snow often lingers so bring some warmer layers.

BIRDS
100-150 species

OTHER WILDLIFE
The island's wildflowers are at their best in early April and include many orchids and endemics. A few early spring butterflies, including Eastern Festoon and the endemic Cyprus Meadow Brown and Paphos Blue, are usually seen.

ACCOMMODATION
7 nights accommodation at a comfortable 4-star tourist hotel at Paphos within an easy short walk of Paphos headland and its birds. All rooms are en suite.

MEALS
All main meals are included in the tour price, commencing with lunch or dinner on Day 1 and concluding with breakfast or lunch on Day 8 (depending on flight times).

Breakfasts and dinners will usually be taken at the hotel. On most days, our lunches will be tasty picnics in the field and we will try to find picturesque locations to relax as we eat them.

We may ring the changes with a delicious taverna meal or two during our stay.

WALKING
Easy. Mostly short walks of about a mile or so over easy terrain, except for our first full day around Paphos headland which is around 3 miles in total, all at an easy pace.

In the Troodos Mountains, our walks will mostly be on level trails that conveniently follow the contours of the hill.

TRAVEL

Despite the end of pandemic restrictions, it is still proving extremely difficult to predict future flight prices and schedules. As a result, we have taken the decision to continue to price our holidays as excluding international flights.

To keep the process as simple as possible, we are working very closely with a dedicated agent at Travel Counsellors, Sacha Barbato, who is essentially now our “in house” flight consultant.

Sacha will be able to advise you which flights we are recommending for each holiday, and he will be able to book these for you.

This will also sometimes give you the option to travel from a regional airport if you prefer.

Ground Transport   By comfortable minicoach with local driver or a minibus if a small group.

• CYPRUS Trip Report Spring 2023
• CYPRUS Trip Report Spring 2022
• CYPRUS Trip Report Spring 2019