Cyprus Day three; April 4th

It was much windier today at Cape Greco and we spent most of the morning driving about along the many tracks that criss cross the nature reserve in order to get some shelter from the wind.  One of the very first birds we saw was a wader I picked up coming in off the sea , a definite Plover with white underparts and a plain looking upperwing, I really wasn’t sure what it was so I was very pleased when it appeared to land on the opposite cliff face! We rushed over and got on the bird, we still weren’t sure what it was! A couple from Finland and a Swedish birder assured me it was a Greater Sandplover ( a lifer for me!) but if I’m honest I’m still not sure why it couldn’t be Lesser Sand Plover and I wish I had spent more time sorting it out, it just seemed very petite and had a delicate looking bill and an upright stance. I think it does show however that Sand Plover ID is very difficult as there are many different races , ie each population of Greater Sandplover can look very different from the next, some are rather strong billed , whilst others look more like Lesser Sandplover, a total minefield! Hopefully in the future I can travel somewhere and study them more.  Although there had been a clearout overnight we still saw plenty of other birds including two Cormorant , 3 Isabelline Wheatear, 1 Eastern Black-eared Wheatear and 2 Ringtail Harriers which I assume were Pallid Harrier.

Eastern Black-eared Wheatear

Eastern Black-eared Wheatear- note the black underwing coverts,a feature shared with Pied Wheatear and Seebohms Wheatear but not Northern Waheatear as far as I know..

Sandplover species at Cape Greco 

With it being so windy we then headed to Orlikini Marsh again to take shelter in the hides, several trip ticks were seen with the highlight being 5 Red-crested Pochard and another smart Great-spotted Cuckoo. We had lunch at the visitor centre which did amazing food ( and had an amazing blonde waitress!) . After chilling out here for a while and having a couple of drinks in the middle of the day we headed back to Sotira again for the evening. More waders had arrived and we were delighted to see 2 Temmincks Stint and a Jack Snipe along with a very showy Spotted Crake on a small muddy pool. The icing on the cake however was 2 Greater Sand Plover (much more obvious heavy billed individuals including a stunner in summer plumage) which gave me a bit of closure but still made us worry even more about the Greco bird!

Spotted Crake; Sotira Pools

Cape Greco: 2 Cormorant, 1 Sand Plover sp, 3 Isabelline Wheatear, 1 Black-eared Wheatear, 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Little Egret, 2 Tawny Pipit, 1 Common Whitethroat, 1 Eastern Subalpine Warbler, 10 Blackcap, 1 Collared Flycatcher. Orlikini Marsh: 1 Red-crested Pochard, 5 Greenshank, 5 Green Sandpiper, 2 Reed Warbler, 2 Sedge Warbler, 1 Great Spotted Cuckoo. Sotira Pools: 2 Temmincks Stint, 1 Jack Snipe, 2 Greater Sandplover, 10 Common Ringed Plover, 12 Kentish Plover, 3 Marsh Sandpiper, 1 Wood Sandpiper, 2 Purple Heron, 1 Night Heron, 1 Spotted Crake, 1 Water Pipit, 1 Red-throated Pipit,