We decided to head east and visit the various wetland areas around Larnaka. An hour or so later we were at Meneou lagoon where a pair of Shoveler , 8 Garganey ,odd Coot and Mallard and £ Little Egret were on show , but little else except numbers of Swallow and Common Swift overhead. On to what is known as Larnaca Airport south which had a few Greater Flamingo , but nothing else. A pool on the opposite side of the road looked promising, but held only a Marsh Sandpiper and a few Black winged Stilt.
Next was Spiros Pool where a single Little Tern sat atop a post in the water, around 20/30 Black winged Stilt , a Ruff, Kentish Plover and a party of Garganey were in evidence. An area of scrub nearby had a calling Black Francolin, Cetti's Warbler, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, and Sardinian Warbler. I was back at the car when I picked up a raptor moving east which proved to be a male Pallid Harrier. Ho ho ! Within only a few minutes, and purely by chance , I then picked up a party of birds moving east that showed well for only a short time before disappearing east too. White winged Terns. Wow, what a purple patch !.
Larnaka Sewage Works was somewhat disappointing with only around 30 Mallard, a Garganey, Coot, and a few Black winged Stilt, which this part of the island seems to have more of than elsewhere. Larnaka Saltlake was similarly devoid of birds with nothing of note other than a few Greater Flamingo.
After some masterful navigation on my part, which got us on the wrong road entirely, we discovered ourselves at Oroklini Lake, the flagship site of BirdLife Cyprus. We did see odd Red crested Pochard for which the site is the only stronghold on Cyprus as well as around 40 Garganey, a few Little Grebe and numbers of Black winged Stilt ( again ). The site is also extremely important for Eels, which spend an appreciable amount of time maturing in its waters.
So, rather a mixed day, hard work at times, but with a couple of valued surprises!
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