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General This was my first visit here in the breeding season and I can confirm that many species are infinitely easier to find in June than in August or September. On the downside though, the wetlands are nowhere near as good in June. Page 5 The best of the wetlands at this time of year, much as described in the book. At the far (south) end of the lake was a small roadside marsh with Garganey, Shoveler, Gull-billed Tern and several species of wader. Page 7 Sultan Marshes We couldn't find Ayran (who now bases himself at Barbara Pansiyon) so instead we took a boat trip with Mehsin at Attili Pansiyon. Mehsin was very likeable and friendly, unlike his neighbour who we thought was too pushy for his own good. Mehsin charged £9 for a boat trip lasting about 3 hours. He spoke a little English and knew enough about birds to take special trouble to point out a White-headed Duck. There were very few birds on the main lake but over a period of time we saw Red-crested Pochard, Purple Heron, Little Bittern, Night Heron and lots of Pygmy Cormorant. En route to the lake there were several singing Great Reed Warblers, Savi's Warblers and an encouraging number of Moustached Warblers. The sign from the main road has been updated so it now says 'Sultan marshes' instead of 'Reedfields of the Sultan'. Shame. Yay Golu There is now an impressive observation tower located between Sultan Marshes and Yay Golu. To get there, drive to the pumping station (signposted Pompa Stasyonu) and keep left on the track labelled 6 on my map. The tower provides a general view over the whole area and is good for watching waterbirds (especially Pygmy Cormorants) flying between different sites. Pygmy Cormorants were particularly numerous in this area but we had no Marbled Ducks. Page 9 The area labelled Akgol on my map was completely dry and birdless. There was water in the rest of the marsh but it wasn't easy to see much of this area. We had Flamingoes, Glossy Ibis, Pygmy Cormorant, Red-crested Pochard, Purple Heron and Great White Egret but no Marbled Duck or pelicans. Where the road bends over a brow just before the village of Ambar we had Rock Sparrows and, surprisingly, Shore Larks. Pat Pennington reports that there were no marshes at Yarma or Sazlipinar in April 1996. Page 12 It is indeed possible to take a car some distance up the track which leads behind the Ski Centre. This gets you about halfway to the area from which you would look for Snowcocks. To avoid the rest of this walk it is possible to hire a tractor (ask at Safak Pansiyon) but if you want to be there for dawn you should get them to meet you halfway up the track no later than 04:15. This service was essential for us to cope with all our photographic gear but it cost £25, was exceedingly uncomfortable and arrived too late for us to stand a good chance of the Snowcocks. The area it got us to is known locally as Arpa Cukaru where a small pinnacle overlooks the top of Demirkazik Gorge and looks across to many crags suitable for Snowcocks. Snowfinches were common here and we had several sightings of Red-fronted Serin, Crimson-winged Finch, Radde's Accentor, Shore Lark and Rock Thrush. Some Lincolnshire birders found a Wallcreeper by walking down towards 'Radde's Accentor hollow'. Occasionally we heard Snowcocks but they sounded too far away to be located. On the way back down to the car we had just one Finsch's Wheatear. Steven Mawby had 3 Lammergeiers here in May. Page 14 Ali's Pansiyon, (signposted as Safak Pansiyon) is now complete and offers great facilities and hospitality. It's more expensive than the Ski Centre but infinitely nicer and geared up for providing meals at whatever times you need them. Ali works in Gaziantep for much of the summer but his two brothers, Cayvit and Hassan are equally useful for showing you Snowcocks either at Arpa Cukaru (see above) or Alacadag. We climbed with Hassan and a donkey to stay overnight at Alacadag. In places there was snow across the steep mountain path and this proved to be rather dangerous – I certainly wouldn't recommend that you try climbing up here any earlier in the year. Waking at dawn we probably heard about 6 Snowcocks but managed only a couple of very distant views. A larger group with more optics scanning the rocks would surely have done better. Although the Snowcocks were noisy at dawn, there was a second burst of activity at about 08:30 when the birds were noisier and apparently closer. Disappointingly, the water trough at the nomad camp was a complete waste of time – with so much snow around, the birds had no need for this water supply. Page 16 An excellent area for Pale Rock Sparrow, Upcher's Warbler, Desert Finch, Cinereous Bunting and Bimaculated Lark was found just beyond the area shown on my map. To get there, follow the path through the orchards until, about opposite the piles of stones, it starts to zigzag up to the left to a more obvious track. Follow this to the left through the ridge of rocks and then right across an open, relatively flat, area. It is this open, partly cultivated area which we found to be excellent, especially towards the top end of the track, before it meets an even bigger track wide enough for tractors. I searched for over an hour on the hills beyond here but didn't manage to find any Red-tailed Wheatears. Earlier that week, a Sunbird party had managed one brief sighting here. We had one singing Upcher's Warbler in the orchards but on this raised plateau area there seemed to be a pair literally wherever there were bushes. Pale Rock Sparrows were easily located by their buzzing songs which at times had a trilling quality, almost like Waxwings. Page 18 We didn't try here, but Paul Doherty did have at least two Red-tailed Wheatears here this summer, including in the area just above the orchard. Unfortunately he was unable to film them as some of the locals decided to play a game of 'let's throw rocks at the birdwatchers'. Paul had more success at the famous tourist site of Nemrut Dagi, north of Sanliurfa. Page 19 Site 1 The Bald Ibis colony had about 50 adults and 20 young. Hadoram Shirihai reckons one or two pairs of these continued to breed in the nearby wadi even when the rest were taken into captivity and so there should be some which are still truly wild. The sight of them swooping in at the designated feeding times (07.30 and 17.00 I think) and then feeding almost from the warden's hand doesn't exactly help you to tick them with confidence. Site 2 The warden Ibrahim took us to the Eagle Owl site where 3 well-grown chicks were hiding from the sun but we didn't see an adult. We also had poor views of See-see Partridge and Desert Finch here but no Desert Larks. Are they still here? Site 3 The development of the Ataturk dam and soon a new 'Birecik baraji' seems to be playing havoc with the water levels on the Euphrates. On one day there was no sign of any shingle banks where sandgrouse might settle, yet next day the shingle reappeared. This could explain why we had no sandgrouse and also no Pied Kingfishers during our brief stay (although we made no special effort to look for either of these). Site 4 This well-known Ménétries's Warbler site has been almost destroyed by work on the new Birecik dam but there are still enough bushes left for the warblers, if you can stand the dust. Site 5 It's easy enough to find Ménétries's Warblers and Rufous Bush Chats around these orchards, just look in any hedgerow or overgrown bank. Dead Sea Sparrows are very common here too; their big twiggy nests and incessant loud songs are unmissable. We didn't have Yellow-throated Sparrows here but then we didn't really look, having found them at site 9. Site 7 Steven Mawby recommends the cemetery about 1 km to the north of the village on the left-hand side. Here he had Great Rock Nuthatch, White-throated Robin, Sombre Tit, Cinereous Bunting and Yellow-throated Sparrows as well as 3 Bonelli's Eagle and Little Swifts distantly around the gorge 200 yards further north. Site 8 On two visits we had excellent views of the Striated Scops Owls, found for us in daylight, not by the café's proprietor, but by one of his apprentices. Site 9 En route to the Kiyi Restaurant is a shallow sand bank to the right of the main track. We had wonderful views of Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters here although it wasn't obvious where they were nesting. In the eucalyptus trees behind the sandpit we found the nests of both Dead Sea Sparrow and Yellow-throated Sparrow. Dead Sea Sparrows are unmissable but at times their song becomes half-hearted and is not easily distinguished from the song of Yellow-throated Sparrow, making this latter species hard to pick out with confidence. Page 23 This area was particularly disappointing for birds although we didn't spend much time here. The track around the southern end of Akgol was perfectly navigable and by driving around the southern side of the little lake (Site 6) we were able with care to cross the channel and continue to Paradeniz Golu. In April, Pat Pennington had up to 3 White-breasted Kingfishers daily from the gate at Site 8. She tried to walk from the mooring point to site 10 but says it is much further than my '20 minutes' walk' suggests. It may therefore be better to look for Audouin's Gull by walking along the beach from Site 8 – Steven Mawby had 16 here in May. Pat Pennington also tried the gravel track at Site 14 but said the heavy lorries were too frequent to allow decent birding. She recommends a quieter track with the same birds about a mile up the road, on the left. Even better is the Byzantine monastery at Alahan (north of Mut), where there were also Blue Rock Thrushes and Cretzschmar's Buntings. Another site recommended by Pat Pennington is around the ancient city of Corycus near Kizkalesi where the scrubland had an abundance of birds including wheatears, warblers, tits, finches, woodpeckers, raptors, bulbuls and Masked Shrikes. Guided birdwatching in Turkey If you want to see the best birds of Turkey in May/June I can recommend the guided tours run by the famous Israeli birdwatcher, Hadoram Shirihai. He must know the birds of Turkey better than anyone else since he stays there every summer and knows exactly where to find the most difficult species. Hadoram's tours can be tailor-made to suit the needs of those who join him and he can also organise things such as hotels and car-hire on your behalf. For further details, . |
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