Just returned from the Greek side of he island 2803 to 0404 with Cliff Morrison, who has a house in Pissouri. The island has had the best rains for many winters and streams and rivers are flowing, resevoirs are filling and the countryside is green with lots of flowers including some nice orchids a colony of 180 lax flowered was a lovely sight, Heavy rain and storms on 2703 brought a large fall of migrant birds, and we had 3 days of superb birding before most had moved on, species seen very well included short and lesser short toed, calandras, crested and sky larks, ruppells warbler,eastern bonellis warbler, spectacled warbler, subalpine warbler, sardinian warbler, cyprus warbler, moustached warbler,also lots of lesser whitethroats, blackcaps, and ortolan and cretzschmars buntings, nightingales, scattered thrush nightingales, wrynecks, isabelline, black eared, cyprus, finschs , common wheatears, woodchat shrike, migrating groups of night, and purple herons,A single caspian tern was only he 13th record since 1995 in with 56 slender billed gulls, 450 flamingoes, and on our final morning (sat) 1100 garganey resting on the sea along the west shore of Akrotiri, birds of prey were scarce with only 5 marsh and 2 pallid harriers, 2 peregrines, 1 sparrowhawk,lots of kestrels. The higher Troodos had up to 3 feet of snow on the top 1500 feet when we arrived so streams should flow untill the end of april or longer. cheers John.
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