July 2014 report

During July our team continued the implementation of action C3 in the islet complex of Dysvato and Kalogeros, providing irrigation water to the pistacia plantings and further adjusting the artificial nests for Falco eleonorae, placed in the islets.

Unfortunately, it has been confirmed that the Auduinni’s gull colony gave no fledglings this year, as nestlings have been found dead. The same outcome has been observed in other species colonies, surveyed this year by HOS, and may be attributed to bad weather conditions.

Most of the Pistacia plantings are still alive, although severely stressed by the summer heat. The ones that have been planted in sun protected locations are behaving much better than the rest. It is very probable that an additional planting effort will be needed for next autumn to improve the number of established shrubs.

Concerning the artificial nests, the egg laying period for Falco eleonorae started in the middle of July and the first 6 artificial nests with eggs have been located during the last field visit.

More visits to the islets are scheduled for the following months, to continue irrigation and monitor the breeding performance of Falco eleonorae.

During the month of July, HOS was in contact with BirdLife Cyprus to organize the working plan for the estimation of Andros FRVs.

An excursion was organized for the volunteers on the 5th of July with the title “Know your SPA”. The objective was to explain to the volunteers what exactly does it mean to have an SPA on their island and how they can help to protect it. Over 20 people participated, and joined HOS and Municipality’s team on the guided tour around Andros SPA.