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Cypriot Delights: Part I

10,000 Birds

Tucked away at the extreme eastern end of the Mediterranean, Cyprus is regarded politically as part of Europe, but when it comes to birds it’s very much Middle Eastern in flavour, with a number of species that are hard or even impossible to find in Europe, plus a trio of endemics. The song is highly distinctive.

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Common Ringed Plover

10,000 Birds

The voices are different however and one can distinguish between the two species through their vocalisations. Very occasionally though, one might stray down the eastern seaboard of the USA, but for the most part, those that breed in arctic Canada migrate towards Europe and swell numbers there during the winter.

Iceland 227
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The true “Mediterranean” Gull

10,000 Birds

To prove that point, this short series here will bring you plenty of pictures of three species which were formerly thought to be just one, the Herring Gull , with its former members Steppe Gull and Yellow-legged Gull. I’ll start with the Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis.

Europe 129
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Quintas das Arcas: Bicudo Vinho Verde (2017)

10,000 Birds

I haven’t yet been birding in Europe but whenever I occasionally skim a field guide about the birds on the other side of the Atlantic, I’m always encouraged to find that I’m already familiar with many species found over there, even though most of my birding experience has been limited to eastern North America.

2017 118
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Rosefinches, Griffons and Woodcocks

10,000 Birds

This is my first visit to this area, known as the Madz Brod, where two new breeding species for the country were discovered a decade ago. But I cannot notice the breeder #2! I have observed it previously in India, but never in Europe… but will have to settle with a voice and no sight. It is somewhere in those willows.

Europe 249
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Prespa Lakes National Park, Greece: the largest Dalmatian Pelican colony in the world

10,000 Birds

My guess is, those nervous ones were some migrants, while the majority were locally breeding birds – the southernmost population of Europe! In all that swirling of swallows, I am not certain was there a third species, so I keep watching. The smaller part of the flock was nervous and soon took flight, while the majority remained.

Greece 252
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Birding Iceland on the Fly

10,000 Birds

Between finishing one graduate program and begining another, he embarked on a whirlwind tour of Europe. Here’s his first stop: Before starting graduate school at the end of June, I planned a whirlwind trip this spring, visiting the major cities in Northern Europe. Of course, birding was on the itinerary!

Iceland 197