Turkey - 31st May, 1 & 2 June 2016 Cappadocia

We travelled via some wonderful fields and took some time out to look at Larks and Wheatears. We found loads of Wheatears, a lot of Short-toed Larks and a few Calandra Larks - but no Lesser Short-toed Larks.

Short-toed Lark juvenile

Calandra Lark

This part of the visit was not bird focussed and we intended to enjoy the cultural sites and visit some underground cities.

We visited Indha Valley to walk the river and look at churches carved into the rocks. Of course, we took binoculars so had very good views of Cetti's Warblers and Nightingale.

 

Nightingale

 Ihndra Valley

We went to Zelve and were most surprised to find an Olive-tree Warbler in some shrubs between the carved dwellings and churches. A real bonus after putting in so much time earlier to no avail.

Olive-tree Warbler

Blue - Identification to be comfirmed

 Alpine Swift

 Egyptian Vulture

 Hot air balloons at Goreme

Before leaving for Sultan Marshes a quick run up a track from the D300 provided views of a nesting pair of Olive-tree Warbler and Rock Bunting.

 Olive-tree Warbler

Rock Bunting

White sp - Species to be confirmed

After a long drive we arrived at Sultan Marshes and drove to the visitor centre. We were quickly intercepted by a guide who told us that we needed a guide to walk on the reserve at 100 lira, or 300 lira to be taken by boat on to the water. We declined and viewed from the tower hide, although we were some distance from the water. There was no sign of Marbled Duck - but some Red-crested Pochard were seen. We then noticed a lot of 'locals' walking off on the broadwalk, and after some time, we too decided to walk out to the lake. In the reeds we saw a Little Bittern and little else. At the end of the walk in the hides the view was disappointing with a Bearded Tit and another Red-crested Pochard.

We then found a track round the back of the lake, finding good opportunities to look across the lake. We began to see Whiskered Terns quite nearby and continued checking the grass filled lake for more ducks. A pumping station proved a mecca for gulls and terns. We also had Black Stork.

 Slender-billed and Black-headed Gulls at Sultan Marshes.

 Whiskered Terns at the pumping station

We continued on to our domestic flight to Istanbul Airport - ready for the flight on to Baku Azerbaijan.

Turkey - 29 & 30 May 2016 Central Taurus Mountains

The primary reason for staying in this area was to see Caspian Snowcock, but we had to wait until day two to see them.

Caspian Snowcock male

29 May

We allowed two days in case of bad weather and it was just as well. Heavy cloud and possible rain meant that going to the tops on our first day was not possible. It was unlikely that visibility would be good enough for birds to be seen and the road conditions would be slippery and difficult.  Beshir checked the weather at 4am, but it was a no go. That meant an extra few hours in bed before breakfast at our pension, Oz Safak, then checking out the nearby sites in the Aladağlar Milli Park.
First we tried the gorge, only to fnd a training group of some 60 students doing introductory rock- climbing. They were all learning how to safely hammer clips into the rock - so there went our chance of Wallcreeper. We walked a far way up the gorge seeing Red-fronted Serin, Rock Bunting, Rock Sparrow, Lesser Whitethroat, Black Redstart, Alpine Chough, Long-legged Buzzard and Golden Eagle.

 Red fronted Serin

 Golden Eagle

 Long-legged Buzzard

Chough

Other visits in the valley turned up areas especially good for Red-backed Shrike and wheatears, with sightings of White-winged Snowfinch and White-throated Robin.

 White-winged Snowfinch

 Isabilline Wheatear with chicks

 Red-backed Shrike adult male

Linnets were present from the high tops to the fertile farmed valleys.

30 May

While out with Beshir, looking for Snowcocks, we also saw Alpine Choughs, Radde's Accentor, Alpine Accentor, more White-winged Snowfinch, Black Redstart and a most unexpected Wallcreeper. We also discovred that the ground squirrels are known as Souslik in Turkey.

 Black Redstart male

Radde's Accentor

Souslik - present on grassy slopes in large numbers, they emit birdlike calls guarenteed to confuse

when so many calls are unfamiliar or slightly different.

After seeing the upland birds with Beshir we returned to Oz Safak pension for another great breakfast. We very much recommend Beshir for anyone wanting to see Caspian Snowcock. Visibility is weather dependent and it is advisable to allow some spare time in case of situations such as ours where there was fresh snow on the tops with unseasonal rain and cloud. The pension is very comfortable, as is the transport to the viewing area.

  

We took a final drive around the area before leaving. We failed to get views of Crimson-winged Finch other than as fly pasts. There were additional views of Finsche's Wheater and Shore Lark..

Male Finsche's Wheater.

Shore Lark.

Clear snow capped peaks on the day of our departure

 Our final bird in the area was a Stonechat.

Male Stonechat.

The Stonechat was not at all like those we usually see in the UK. The white neckband was almost complete - just a small black line to separate the sides. This first year male had quite subtle rufous colouration on the breast, however the rump looked speckled so not a complete fit for either race. Perhaps an example of graduated clines across its range.

Turkey - 27 & 28 May 2016 - Goksu Delta

27 May

Today we went to the Goksu Delta. The tracks around the ditches are to be treated with caution in wet conditions so we were mindful of the limitations of our 2WD, low clearance Fiat.

Right from the start there was heavy cloud over the mountains as we scanned the reeds and water from probably the worse designed bird-hide in existence – never mind the missing step about 10 feet up, not what you expect when something is clearly rather new.

Worst hide in the world?

Purple Gallinule was seen, Great Crested Grebe and Red-crested Pochard. A few mammals put in appearances with Golden Jackal and Egyptian Mongoose  seen on the delta. We had Black-winged Stilt, Spur-winged Plover, White-winged Black, Whiskered, Common and Little Tern – but no Marbled Duck. 

 Spur-winged Plover

The cloud turned to rain, then thunder was heard and eventually the storm drifted our way to fall as very heavy rain with hail before drifting away. We had to leave one track for fear of becoming stuck in the gloopy mud. Through the rain we disturbed a couple of Collared Pratincole, then saw several more going through, with Hobby, Purple Heron, Squacco Heron, Little Egret, Ruddy Shelduck and Kentish Plover also being seen. 

 Ruddy Shelduck

 Great White Egret

 Kentish Plover

There were a few Marsh Harriers overhead.

 Marsh Harrier

After the rain we headed off to look at a nearby castle. It was closed, so after a brief look from the outside we drove off to find a track to explore. We spotted  a very interesting gorge that held Cretzchmar’s  Bunting, Rufous Bush Robin and Ruppell’s Warbler with Honey Buzzard and Sparrowhawk overhead.

 Rufous Bush Robin

A little later we returned to the delta. Tracks were still rather wet but with much improved light now we succeeded in seeing Moustached Warbler and Bearded Tit- but still no Marbled Duck.

  Bearded Tit male

White Stork and three Glossy Ibis were feeding on the rice paddyfields

 White Stork

 Glossy Ibis

28 May

We had a little time in the morning before setting off for the mountains so returned to Goksu, hoping the better weather would allow more birds to show themselves. We got additional species of Grey Plover, Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover and European Roller.

 European Roller

Oystercatcher

We also got better views of the Collared Pratincoles.

 Collared Pratincole

We had some lunch before setting off to the pension in the mountains. The restaurant had a family of Jays and finally it was possible to photograph one of these birds. They are or interest because they have complete black caps, unlike those that we get in the UK.

Juvenile Jay

After another long drive we arrived at our destination. We were surprised to find the rivers in fast flow, heavy cloud cover and snow on the mountain tops. We can only hope that it is possible to see the mountain top species.