Friday 8th March - Paphos Forest
A gorgeous sunny day and we set off for the hills of the Paphos Forest. Our stop at Peristerona Gorge gave us some good views of a couple of Hoopoes, though they declined to pose for us. Deep in the valley of the gorge Chukar could be seen and heard, far too far away for a record. Similarly, a Long-legged Buzzard wandered along the gorge just below the skyline and then perched opposite the viewpoint. This bird was soon joined by another and much to the delight of the onlookers proceeded to go through the motions of increasing the population of their species.
A short stop in the village to visit the Byzantine Museum, not normally my kettle of fish but I found the icons and the history briefing given by Yiannis fascinating - really glad we stopped there. Ever onward up into the Troodos Mountains where we found Dactylorhiza romana - the Roman Orchid and the endemic Orchis troodi.
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| Roman Orchid, Dactylorhiza romana |
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| Orchis troodi |
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| Orchis troodi |
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| Orchis troodi |
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| Orchis troodi |
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| Orchis troodi |
Of much interest to the botanists was a minute plant found in the car park, Minuartia montana, sadly not in flower.
We stopped for lunch at the forest station at Stavros and then went on a long forest walk that seemed to be almost devoid of birds. Finally we stopped at the Moufflon enclosure to see the protected wild sheep. Unfortunately the fence obstructed the view and in fairly dim light the photographs were poor. I joked with Yiannis that the chops from such a beast would be substantial fare. He of course got his own back, when we lunched at Smygies a few days later, he informed me that Moufflon was on the menu - I, as gullible as ever, believed him - one all.
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| Moufflon |
Saturday 9th March - Droushia
A long walk today, great scenery and long distance views, unfortunately few birds or butterflies to be seen. A pocket handkerchief of grassland gave us our first orchids, Giant Orchid and Ophrys morio.
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| Giant Orchid |
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| Giant Orchid a close view of the flower structure |
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| Ophrys morio |
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| Ophrys morio |
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| Ophrys morio |
Somebody in the group said "we haven't seen any goats", within five minutes this lot came over the hill, being hurried on their way by two ferocious looking dogs.
Further down the trail we crossed a small stream, at some stage it had flooded and created a small pond and the local amphibians were taking advantage. We identified three species, Cyprus Marsh Frog, Pelophylax bedriagae, the European Green Toad, Bufotes viridis and Savigny's Tree Frog, Hyla savigny. Unfortunately the treefrog didn't pose for me and remained obscured in the reeds.
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| Cyprus Marsh Frog, Pelophylax bedriagae |
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| Cyprus Marsh Frog, Pelophylax bedriagae |
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| Cyprus Marsh Frog, Pelophylax bedriagae |
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| European Green Toad, Bufotes viridis |
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| European Green Toad, Bufotes viridis |
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| One frog hiding in the stream. |
Time for another botany collage.
Sunday 10th March - Around the nearby fields
Today was a "bimble" on the trails near to the hotel and the rewards were stunning. Lots more orchids and a great butterfly that I expected to see but did not have any great hope of recording.
Before breakfast I had a quick walk along the nearest path, limiting myself to just half an hour or so. I manged to find and record Ophrys mammosa
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| Ophrys mammosa |
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| Ophrys mammosa |
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| Ophrys mammosa |
The day's walk began in similar surroundings to those of my pre-breakfast walk. In the very first field we found Ophrys flavomarginata, Ophrys mammosa, Serapias levantina and Ophrys astarte.
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| A double flavomarginata |
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Ophrys mammosa
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| Ophrys mammosa |
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| Serapia slevantina not quite open.... |
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| .... but this one is, just. |
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| Ophrys astarte |
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| Ophrys astarte |
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| Ophrys astarte |
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| Ophrys astarte |
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| My first Orchis punctulata |
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| Then we found masses. |
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| Some stems over 40cm high |
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| Perfectly camouflaged Crab Spider |
Our first Orchis italica was just coming into bloom. However, further up the hill we found plenty, all in perfect condition.
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| Orchis italica |
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| Orchis italica |
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| Orchis italica |
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| Orchis italica |
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| The Naked Man Orchid - for obvious reasons. |
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| Orchis italica |
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| Well worth recording. |
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| Ophrys morio |
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| Ophrys morio |
Not one but two Eastern Festoons nectaring, allowing a photograph that I didn't expect to get.
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| Eastern Festoon, Zerynthia cerisy |
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| Eastern Festoon, Zerynthia cerisy |
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| Eastern Festoon, Zerynthia cerisy |
Everything comes to those that wait - at long last the endemic Ophrys kotschy - the only specimen that Yiannis found.
My last orchid shot of the day, the same species as my first record more than a week previous. Only now the Ophrys flavomarginata are in full pomp - 14 flowers on a single stem - ranging from fresh to almost gone.
Monday 11th March - Smygies
Our last day, to be spent on the tracks around Smygies. Thankfully our bus took us to the top of the hill and we were allowed to walk down at a leisurely pace. The heat was bringing out lots of Paphos Blues and at long last I managed to capture reasonable open wing shots of both male and female specimens. I expected to get that much desired "in cop" shot but it wasn't to be.
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| Paphos Blue, Glaucopsyche paphos |
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| Paphos Blue, Glaucopsyche paphos |
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| Paphos Blue, Glaucopsyche paphos |
Further down the track we started to see a multitude of orchids, all from the path and in good photographic range. We started off with more Anacamptis syriaca, Ophrys levantina and Orchis sezikiana. All these we had seen before but it was nice to record them again.
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| Anacamptis syriaca |
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| Orchis sezikiana |
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| Anacamptis syriaca |
Below the picnic area we discovered three new species, Neotinea maculata, the Dense Flowered Orchid, Ophrys lapethica and Ophrys israelitica
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| Dense Flowered Orchid, Neotinea maculata |
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| Dense Flowered Orchid, Neotinea maculata |
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| Ophrys lapethica |
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| Ophrys lapethica |
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| Ophrys lapethica |
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| Ophrys lapethica |
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| Ophrys lapethica |
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| Ophrys israelitica |
Just before lunch at Smygies we encountered a Scolopendra or Large Centipede crossing the road. I think this one is the most common on Cyprus, Scolopendra cingulata and is harmless.
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| Scolopendra |
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| Harmless |
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| Armless |
After a good lunch several members of the group cheated and returned to the hotel by taxi, some of us elected to return via the agricultural tracks that we had covered the previous day. I have to admit that at one stage, when the downhill bits were a bit rugged, I almost regretted not taking the taxi. However, such thoughts were banished when we found yet more orchids, particularly Serapias levantina just coming into flower.
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| Serapias levantina - a tongue orchid |
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| The Naked man Orchid, Orchis italica |
Finally on the way to the airport on Tuesday, one last stop to record Fritillaria persica growing in profusion and just coming into bloom.
Bouquets
Nice to be with a sociable and diverse bunch of group members with varied interests - there was something for everyone on this tour. As always, Greenwings organisation was perfect, good hotels and good food, perfect transport and above all else the best tour leader on Cyprus.
Brickbats
This was my first time on Cyprus and I love the place - just two nits to pick. Why, oh why do they spray weedkiller everywhere?
To the shooting fraternity - pick up your spent cartridges - they were everywhere.
As a birder this was rather depressing, using 32 grams of No.9 lead shot to shoot Song Thrushes
