On Friday 9 December 2016, BirdLife Cyprus volunteers and staff, together with the Game and Fauna Service and the SBA Environmental Department, carried out the annual winter census of the Griffon Vulture for 2016/17. The team of observers covered seven look-out points spread across the vulture feeding range and known breeding and roosting cliffs, while the Game and Fauna Service set up cameras at the vulture feeding stations.

The Darwin project for the restoration of Akrotiri Marsh has managed to break the wall of reeds at Akrotiri Marsh to create suitable habitat for wildlife. The on site management works for the creation of suitable habitat for target bird species has been perhaps one of the most important activities of the project and these have been successfully completed in early November. The works included ditch dredging, installation of water control structures and creation of open water areas. Seven pools have been created, mainly to attract breeding Ferruginous ducks, as Akrotiri Marsh is one of the few breeding sites for this important species in Cyprus. One scrape has also been created to attract mainly breeding Black-winged Stilts and Spur-winged Lapwings, both Annex I species. The habitat creation is also expected to benefit the nesting of Little Bittern, also an Annex I species and an occasional breeder to Cyprus while Akrotiri Marsh is one of the few recorded breeding sites for this heron species.

To enhance grazing for conservation purposes at Akrotiri Marsh, the Darwin project has erected an electric fence at the site. The electric fence brings us one step closer to having untethered grazing at Akrotiri Marsh. This change in grazing method will help graziers to manage their cattle and will make their life much easier as they will not have to carry water to tethered animals. It will also help keep the herds of different graziers from mixing and at the same time untethered grazing animals will be doing a much better job at controlling the reed expansion and pushing the reeds further back and therefore creating suitable habitat for wildlife.

On Tuesday, 4 October 2016 BirdLife Cyprus was invited by the Game and Fauna Service to ring birds at the Service’s Rehabilitation Centre before releasing them back into the wild again. The Game and Fauna Service Rehabilitation centre, which has been operating since 1995, receives every year tens of injured, sick or orphaned wild birds and mammals which are brought to the centre for treatment and rehabilitation.

The landscaping and water management works that started on 10 October 2016 at Akrotiri Marsh are still in progress. These works include ditch dredging, scrape and pool creation, some reed clearing as well as the creation of footpaths which will channel visitors to the birdwatching hides. These works are expected to finish in mid-November while the works for the construction of the birdwatching facilities will be starting soon.

Over 80 raptor surveys were completed as part of the 2016 effort to monitor the autumn passage of birds of prey through the ‘bottleneck’ sites of Akrotiri, Paphos Plain and Cape Greco. A first assessment of the results gives an estimate of 5,300 birds of prey from over 20 species. The surveys took place from 27 August 2016 to 15 October 2016 by a great and dedicated team of 12 volunteers.

This year’s raptor migration count is underway since 27 August 2016 and will be wrapping up on 9 October 2016. As with previous years the sites covered are Akrotiri, Cape Greco and Paphos Plain with our volunteers providing an excellent coverage of the sites that enabled us to gather a lot of data for subsequent analysis.

One of the most important conservation actions will be starting soon at Akrotiri Marsh. Ditch dredging, scrape and pool creation and reed clearing are some of the engineering works the Darwin project will start implementing around mid-October 2016.

The raptor count is a major survey taking place every Autumn and this year is no exception with the surveys beginning on 27 August 2016 and lasting up to 9 October 2016.

The hunting season for the Woodpigeon (Columba palumbus) and Turtle Dove (Streptopelia turtur) started on Sunday 21 August 2016 and will last till the end of October.