Day 2 with Victor

We travelled in the car for about 20 kilometers from the spot where my dad and I got in the car with Victor.  We slowed down and were looking out of the window when Victor spotted a European Roller on a low shrub like bush about eye level with where we were.  My camera was already out and I started taking pictures, and suddenly a Roller who was lower on the bush flew up and that's when I snapped this picture.

European Rollers

We arrived at a clearing where we got out of the car.  This is where Victor stays for five hours to monitor the Griffon Vultures on behalf of BLC.  We looked around for about 30 minutes over the valley and over the "feeding station."  This is used by BLC to help monitor the vulture's behavior.  When there is an injured vulture they capture it and keep it there until it is able to go back to the wild.

This was also the location for the pictures below.  I raised 200 dollars for BLC by using the USB port on my keyboard and recording Christmas songs.  I asked my family back in America to purchase them for 10 dollars, but most people gave me 20.  Bird Life Cyprus uses this money to help monitor bird populations and to help protect nature.  For example, Victor was hired by the Ministry of the Environment in Cyprus to conduct a survey of birds in an area where developers wanted to build a golf course.  Because of the work Victor did with counting the birds in the area, he helped convince the government not to allow the golf course to be built.  He said it was stupid to build a golf course there because there were so many birds and it was such a green natural space.

Me giving the money to Victor and him giving me a gift bag.

The gift bag had a really nice shirt from BLC

On the way back we saw the rare Turtle Dove and the Red Rumped Swallow.  We stopped at a dam on the way back and had some home made banana bread with chocolate chips that was made by Victor's girlfriend.  It was a great trip.

Stay tuned for my next post about my first and second days of the Roller Count!