There don't seem to be many trip reports from North Cyprus, so this might be of interest to anyone considering visiting this underwatched area of the Mediterranean.
Background
This wasn't a birding trip as such, it was a week long university trip with a focus on studying animal behaviour and biodiversity, We were based on the Karpaz which is a well known migration hotspot, but because of the trips remit some of the places we visited were not on the usual birding trail.
Trip
04/04/11 We flew to Ercan via Istanbul with Turkish Airlines. It was dark when we arrived, so there was no birding to be had other than a few Hooded Crows in Istanbul, we spent the first night in Girne (Kyrenia), I can't remeber the name of the Hotel, but it had Egyptian Fruitbats feeding from the banana trees which was a nice suprise!
05/04/11 Woke up early to the sound of the morning call to prayer which was a great excuse to get up and have a wander around the hotel grounds. Birds however were rather sparse and of the commoner species such as Hooded Crow, Greenfinch, Great Tit, Swift and Swallow. There were also 3 Jackdaws in the hotel grounds which turned out to be the only ones of the trip.
A quick breakfast and we were on the road to the Karpaz. Magpies and Kestrels were abundant as were Red-rumped Swallows and my first lifer of the trip CRESTED LARKS. A male Marsh Harrier was also a nice addition.
Our first base was to be Kumyali, a small village on the south coast of the Karpaz after settling in at our hotel, the Nitovikla Garden Hotel, we embarked on our first outing in the farmland surrounding the village.
One of the first birds we encountered was a lilith Little Owl. Migration was well underway with dozens of Lesser Whitethroats and Tree Pipits and the first SARDINIAN WARBLER and CYPRUS WARBLERS of the trip. There were several Wheatear in the ploughed fields and in the sand dunes, amongst which I managed to pick out at least one ISABELLINE WHEATEAR which was much more distinctive than I'd imagined. Several Yellow-legged Gulls lingered offshore. The first Hoopoe of the trip flew up from the path and a single EASTERN BONELLI'S WARBLER flitted through an olive grove. All the while, the calls of Black Francolins followed us, though they kept well hidden.
The rest of the day was taken up by university work, though a final treat was instore when one of our lecturers trapped and ringed a SCOPS OWL that evening.