Roller Coaster: May 2013

So, I’ve now been in Cyprus for five weeks and things are moving forward nicely (even if not in the manner I’d originally planned). I’ve spent much of the past few weeks trying to locate breeding roller pairs and then mapping the broad habitats surrounding their nest sites. As you can probably imagine, this is a somewhat lengthy process (especially in the absence of any previously produced field maps) but I’m just about getting there. The habitat types out here are surprisingly diverse and it’s meant that I’ve had to curtail my somewhat grandiose planned invertebrate and vegetation sampling regime in order to leave enough time to actually watch the birds!

One of my pairs doing what rollers do best;
sitting around doing nothing!

One of my invertebrate/vegetation
sampling transects

The rollers are all nicely settled now and it looks like one or two pairs may already be laying. Many of the pairs in the study area though are still only examining nest holes so there’s probably going to be a fair spread date-wise when it comes to chicks appearing. It’ll be interesting to see if the birds become anymore territorial once the females are on eggs, as they’re already incredibly rowdy. I watched one pair this week having an aerial dogfight with a pair of hobby and another pounding on a somewhat innocuous pair of little owls that share their territory.

Play spot-the-little-owl...

Chez Phil is getting more and more crowded with equipment, thanks to the arrival of 10 RFID readers and various large plywood offcuts, and the fridge is half full of dead insects. Luckily my landlady has a cosy little annexe in place in case I completely run out of room. Although my sole confidante on a day-to-day basis (the eponymous Brenda) may have other ideas, as she rules the courtyard.

I really should move the picallily to
another shelf

The new extension

My confidante/Nemesis

Driving around my somewhat extensive study area does mean that I’m getting to see a fair bit of Paphos District and much of the really cool wildlife it supports. I’ve rescued two different chameleons from the road in the past week and the fields are full of very pretty butterfly-like Aschalaphids. Another rather nice surprise last weekend was the sight of three (green?) turtles sculling around close offshore on a millpond sea. One thing that isn’t so nice to see is the number of dead snakes on the road. From what I’ve read, there’s a real hatred of snakes in Cypriot culture and I’m sure many of the animals are purposely run over as they bask on the road surface. Thankfully I’ve seen plenty of live ones too, so they seem to be doing okay.

A very skinny chameleon

They're like buses; you wait a month and then
find two in as many days

Aschalaphid

Toytle

An ex-blunt-nosed viper

As for the other birds, suffice to say that spring migration in Cyprus has to be seen to be believed. Below are a few photos of some of the more interesting sightings I’ve had lately. The red-footed falcons were part of a single flock of eighty birds(!) and there are actually fourteen pratincoles in that photo somewhere… Bee-eaters are a constant presence and the cheerful song of the black-headed bunting is now resounding around my upland study sites after their long journey back from the Indian Subcontinent.