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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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The true “Mediterranean” Gull

10,000 Birds

I am planning to have this post be the first in a (very) small series on Europe’s “large white-headed gulls” It will of course only be a small series since there aren’t that many large white-headed gull species in Europe and particularly because I don’t want to cause too harsh a drop in the blog’s visitor numbers.

Europe 119
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De arte venandi cum avibus: San Martino Siir (2015) – Aglianico del Vulture DOC

10,000 Birds

For instance, Frederick rejected centuries-old folk wisdom that claimed that Barnacle Geese ( Branta leucopsis ) – a species with a seasonal occurrence in Europe – were born not of eggs laid by breeding geese but were spontaneously incarnated from driftwood afloat at sea.

2015 113