First parachutist pipits

the 28th produced my first Tree Pipits of the spring on the forest census area simply because I had not been for 2 weeks; although they were active early on it was cold and the real display only started after 07:30 and fizzled out by 09:00; 

Tree Pipit action

early yesterday morning there was quite a lot of Tree Pipit activity in the forest but as the wind and cloud built up by 09:00 it was all over; the light was a bit harsh and as usual there were a lot of duff flight shots but they are always entertaining 

fighting pipits

these two male Tree Pipits were having  a battle on the edge of a territory; most of the stand offs were on the ground but at one stage they went up together fighting in the air but the AF was slow to pick them up initially; as shown one took a few down feathers out of the other bird and appeared to be pushing them into the other birds view as if to show its dominance before dropping them; both birds then split up and the action quietened down

gropper in a reedbed

when I first found this Grasshopper Warbler it was on the sheltered side of the reedbed and allowed a close approach--when I returned with the camera the wind had increased and it had moved into the middle of the reedbed; the AF failed miserably amongst the plethora of reed stems so I had to resort to manual focus and even then it was impossible to get it clear of all the reeds

flying Pochard

differing light conditions today but I was pleased with one or two of the images

Pochards

lost of courting going on at present or more accurately gangs of randy males casing any female which moves

Marsh Harrier crow and white van man

the local male appears to be in less than perfect condition and is being badly harassed by a pair of Carrion Crows which seem to sense his lack of condition----

Tufted Ducks

at least they are fairly tame 

Garganey

Three birds, two males and a female, on the patch today but in terrible light and rain though they were close to the hide; most shots with the 300 2.8 and 2x

Cyprus 2008

a selection of images all with 300 2.8 many with 2x converter and others with 1.4 including the swifts

Red-throats

inevitably on any bird photo trip one species produces the best photos and it is not always the predictable one; I had no luck even seeing Red-throated Pipits at Phasouri but then I found 60+ birds on one field at Mandria; after a couple of visits I managed to get some really nice images from the car as the birds fed close to the edge of the fields which was real luck as they could just as easily have frequented the middle of the fields

RTP 2

another brief selection from several gigs of images;  I always pay special attention to the calls of this species and Tree Pipit on Cyprus; it seems to me that RTP has a thinner and maybe more drawn out pseeeeee call when migrating with a shorter and more Tree Pipit like pssseeee when feeding and making short moves; TP's call is much more variable in volume and pitch than most people appreciate and again seems to me to depend partly on activity; the last pic is of a non-red throated bird the exception by a long way

Squacco

with the general lack of water it was a poor spring for waterbirds but there were a few Squaccos at Phasouri most days