Birding in Turkey 19.6. - 3.7.2001
Juha Niemi
Participants
Route
| 19.6. | Antalya - Akseki | 140 km |
| 20.6. | Akseki - Kanya - Aksaray - Nevsekir - Kayseri - Sivas - Refahiye | 917 km |
| 21.6. | Refahiye - Kelkit - Bayburt - Ispir - Sivri Kaya | 300 km |
| 22.6. | Sivri Kaya - Ispir - Gelinkaya - Erzurum - Agri | 488 km |
| 23.6. | Agri - Ishakpasa - Gulizar - Caldiran - Van - Ercek - Van | 355 km |
| 24.6. | Van - Bitlis - Siirt - Sirnak - Siirt - Batman - Midyat - Idil - Cizre - Mardin | 890 km |
| 25.6. | Mardin - Birecik, Halfeti | 350 km |
| 26.6. | Birecik | 30 km |
| 27.6. | Birecik - Isikli, Durnalik - Adana | 290 km |
| 28.6. | Adana - Tarsus - Demirkazik | 210 km |
| 29.6. | Demirkazik | - |
| 30.6. | Demirkazik - Sultan Marshes - Eregli - Silifke | 522 km |
| 1.7. | Göksu | 30 km |
| 2.7. | Silifke - Alanya | 330 km |
| 3.7. | Alanya - Akseki - Antalaya | 601 km |
General
The grand totals were 5766 km and 229 species. One should reserve three weeks rather than two for a trip that includes the eastern parts as well. The trip is physically quite exhausting owing to all that driving and climbing.
Tickets
We took a charter flight arranged by Aurinkomatkat from Finland. The trip cost 2800 FIM (400 USD) and the cost included the flight and accomodation at a hotel in Alanya that we didn't use.
Accomodation
The hotels are quite cheap. The rooms have a shower and usually warm water. Arriving late was no problem. The hotels usually have breakfast but we didn’t use it either.
Food
We made a decision to avoid anything that wasn’t bottled or very hot. In fact, Markku did stick to the decision during the whole trip but Keijo and I slipped during the second week by eating shish-kebab which was not so hot. Keijo and I drank tea few times as well. Nevertheless, none of us got any stomach problems.
We bought chocolate bars, fruit, bread and tunafish in the shops. The food in the shops is very cheap. We drank only bottled water and coke and beer, of course. They have coke in every shop and bottled water almost in every shop. The beer is more difficult to find. In general, beer is easier to find in shops than in restaurants or lokantas. You will need to drink a lot during a day.
Weather
The weather was not as hot as it could have been. In the northeast area the weather was quite pleasant, not too hot at all and there was no rain. We had raingear just in case but we didn’t need them.
In the mountains it was quite cold in the mornings but it got warmer soon after the sun rise. Proper walking boots are essential for Demirkazik and Sivri Kaya.
Birecik area was the hottest site (35-38°C ) but the climate was rather dry, so it wasn’t too inconvenient.
The deltas, Göksu and Tarsus, were very humid and the temperature was about 30°C. In the mornings there were mosquitoes!
Transport
From Europcar we hired a Ford Escort with air-conditioning and unlimited mileage for two weeks. The cost was 3600 FIM (514 USD). The car was booked from Finland and it should have been a Ford Fiesta but we were very glad to notice it wasn’t. There was no way that we could have managed to do the trip in such a tiny car. The Escort had done 68000km and we had no problems concerning the motor. However the Escort was a little bit too low for the tracks in Turkish mountains.
We hired the car at the airport in Antalya. The car rental firms are located in the domestic terminal situated just by the side of the international terminal. Use taxi to get there. We paid by Visa. The car rental firms are usually closed by midnight.
The Turkish word for unleaded petrol is ‘kursunsuz’.
Traffic
In general there was not very much traffic on the Turkish roads except for certain areas mainly nearby the bigger towns. Nevertheless, there are lots of lorries in the traffic and they are heavily overloaded without exception. According to Markku the roads are in much better condition than they were ten years ago during his previous trip. The mountaineous roads regularly have three lanes which enables safely overtaking. The signal used for overtaking is flashing the headlights. You’d better take the signal seriously because they will overtake right after flashing. In cities the horn is used as well. You should use it too. We tried to avoid driving after dark because the local traffic culture is not at its best then. Actually it’s a nightmare at nights.
We didn’t see any traffic razzias but there were checkpoint areas made particularly for them. We were stopped 8 times by military (janmarna) at their checkpoints. There are traffic signs saying ‘dur’. That’s the word for stop. The military checkpoints appeared east of Mardin in the south and east of Erzurum further north. The military basicly just check your passport and the magic word is tourist. Nevertheless, we were turned back at one checkpoint just outside Sirnak and so that we had to make over 200km detour to Cizre. You’d better reach Cizre from the west rather than the north or east. The speed limit for urban areas is 50km/h, on open road 90km/h , and 130km/h on highways unless otherwise stated.
The roads were good enough everywhere else but near Sivri Kaya. In that area there were lots of holes in a road. The bad area was mainly between Ispir and Sivri Kaya. The roads in the east were exceptionally good condition. The mountain roads aren’t slow anymore due to the three lane roads. The mountain tracks may cause minor troubles if your car is too low.
Finance
Generally only Turkish money is accepted. However, some of the hotels accept dollars as well. You’ll get cash from cash machines. They can be found in the bigger towns. The machines accept Visa and Mastercard at least. The current rate was about 1.000 000 TL = 6 FIM = 0.86 USD. We exchanged money in the local bank in Mardin once. It didn’t take too long. You’ll need cash for petrol, food and accomodation. Petrol was quite expensive. Unleaded was a bit less than 1000 000 TL and a full tank was about 50 000 000 TL. Our total cost for petrol was 3211 FIM (494 000 000 TL, 459 USD).
Locals and Language
Turkish people are indeed very nice and helpful, and very inquisitive. They generally come and have a look at you, shake your hand and offer a tea (cay).
Very few speak anything except Turkish. The receptionists usually speak a little English. The military usually do not speak English. That is the main reason why we had to make the detour. If you have a small Turkish dictionary, take it with you.
Vocabulary:
Maraba |
Hello |
Souk su |
Cold water |
Dur |
Stop |
Yavas |
Slowly |
Kapali yol |
Road closed |
Yol degistirme |
Detour |
Tek yön |
One-way street |
Yanmarna |
Military |
Bozuk |
Out of order |
Kursunsuz |
Unleaded |
Bira |
Beer |
Cay |
Tea |
Kus |
Bird |
Police
The police are everywhere, we were not stopped by the police at all. The military are in the east and southeast. We were stopped by the military 8 times.
Trip reports
Special thanks to Kari Haataja who gave us valuable information concerning birding and living in Turkey.
We received accurate information for certain specialities such as Caucasian Black Grouse via internet as well. The most recent information was received on the road. Probably you won’t be the only birders out there.
Maps
We had a Turkey Camping map sent us by the Turkish traveling agency in Finland. The scale was 1:1850000. Even though the scale was rather rough the map proved to be very easy to use and accurate enough. There were virtually no erros on the map.
ITINERARY
Tuesday, 19th June
140 km, Antalya - Akseki
Having arrived at the airport we told the guide that we would not use the hotel. We asked the guide where the domestic terminal was but she didn’t know! Soon there were three of them but no one knew where it was. Maybe they’ve never been at the airport in daylight! So we took a taxi. Surprisingly the domestic terminal turned out to be right next to the international terminal! When we finally got there we found the Europcar counter easily. After getting the car we drove straight to Akseki and checked in the Star hotel at 2am on 20th June.
Wednesday, 20th June
917 km, Akseki - Kanya - Aksaray - Nevsekir - Kayseri - Sivas - Refahiye
A Scops Owl was whistling outside the hotel at night.
For the first thing in the morning we drove to the graveyard of Akseki (site 2 in the gen: see trip reports above) that lies nearby the Star hotel. It took half an hour before Olive-tree Warbler gave excellent views through telescope. The bird was giving its alarm call most of the time but also sang briefly while it moved about the trees. We had also a pair of Masked Shrikes, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and Syrian Woodpecker.
After visiting the graveyard we headed north along the old road. Soon after the village we had two Rock Nuthatches and a singing male Cretzschmar's Bunting. At site 3 in the gen we had 3 Krüper's Nuthatches on coniferous trees. We didn’t care much for woodpeckers and so we didn’t give a dicent try for them.
Dropped by the site 1 in the gen (another graveyard but much older) next. There we had a Short-toed Eagle, 4 Syrian Woodpeckers, 4 Red-rumped Swallows, an Olive-tree Warbler sang briefly here too, 10 Orphean Warblers, 2 Sombre Tits, 2 Rock Nuthatches, 4 Masked Shrikes and Black-headed Buntings.
After the second graveyard we headed northeast trying to drive as far northeast as possible without getting too tired. On the road we had 2 Black Storks, a Black Kite, 16 Long-legged Buzzards (the first one east of Kayseri and quite common east of Sivas), Kestrels (common), 12 Lesser Kestrels (there was a little colony at a village called Mahmat near Sivas), 80 Calandra Larks, a Grag Martin, 6 Isabelline Wheatears, 30 Black-eared Wheatears and 50 Black-headed Buntings.
Finally stopped for the night in Refahiye. Found a lokanta in which we stayed over night. The price was 17 FIM (2,4 USD) and there was no warm water.
Thursday, 21st June
300 km, Refahiye - Kelkit - Bayburt - Ispir - Sivri Kaya
Woke up at 6 am and drove to Sivri Kaya. Between Refahiye and Kelkit we had nice views of Pale Rock Sparrows and took the first one on video too. 10 birds were singing along the roadside. Later we had a flock of 30 of them at 30km from Bayburt towards Ispir. The birds were foraging on a small field. Later we were told that this year they were numerous.
Stopped at a little lake before Bayburt and found a pair of Ruddy Shelducks with 3 chicks and 8 White-winged Terns.
Discovered a colony of 500 Rose-coloured Starlings on roadside east of Bayburt and after that there were several flocks flying over the fields. The total of the day was 700.
In the evening at Sivri Kaya (site 4 in the gen) we had good views of a Green Warbler at low bushes while another one was singing on the background. The site could have been in Finland owing to the fact that there was a singing Blackcap, singing Robins, singing Dunnocks, singing Wrens, Blackbirds, Song Thrushes, Goldcrests, Coal Tits, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Treecreepers, Chaffinches, a Bullfinch and Scarlet Rosefinches.
At Sivri Kaya we met two English birders, Ian Merrill and Martin Kennewell. We decided to go together to the mountain in the morning. We had to use the services of Mustafa Sari, the famous local guide, because of a locked gate on the new road up to the mountain. The price was 5 000 0000 TL for each person.
The new road goes up south of the tea-house, just before the little graveyard if you come from Ispir. The road is in quite good condition but there are a couple of cracks caused by running water. After the first curve there’s the locked gate and Mustafa has the key. Finally the road ends to the summer village. (a map is found in the report: Turkey, August 13 - September 7, 2000 by Ady and Keren Ganch).
We didn’t find Mountain Chiffchaff in late afternoon.
Spent the night at Genesis Hotel in Camlik (5km north of Sivri Kaya). The price was 40 USD for the three of us. The Hotel is rather big and convenient and they had beer!
The other species of the day were: 5 Black Kites, 11 Long-legged Buzzards, 2 Golden Eagles, 2 Booted Eagels (both of them dark form, an adult and a second year bird), 3 Quails (singing), 50 Bee-eaters, 3 Rollers, a Shore Lark, 20 Crag Martins, 4 Tawny Pipits, 20 Black-headed Wagtails, 4 Nightingales, 15 Isabelline Wheatears, 2 Rock Thrushes, 2 Cetti’s warbles, an Olivaceous Warbler, 6 Golden Orioles, 20 Red-backed Shrikes, a Rock Sparrow, 4 Ortolan Buntings, a Rock Bunting, 70 Black-headed Buntings and 70 Corn Buntings.
Friday, 22nd June
488 km, Sivri Kaya - Ispir - Gelinkaya - Erzurum - Agri
Left the hotel at 3:30am and went to the tea-house of Sivri Kaya where we met Mustafa and the British. We drove up to the mountain in two cars. Our car had a minor problem because it was too low for the cracks. When we got to the first rhododendrons Mustafa said stop and we went outside. The first Caucasian Black Grouse was found almost immediately. A male was on the slope. We had 4 Caucasian Black Grouses, all males, on the spot. The distance from the locked gate to the spot was 3.7 km. There were 20 Water Pipits on the mountain meadows as well.
We drove right up to the summer village. Ian & Martin turned back to Sivri Kaya. We desided to climb up to the top with Mustafa. There we had 20 Shore Larks, 5 Alpine Accentors, 5 Black Redstarts, a Ring Ouzel, 6 Snow Finches. We didn’t see any Snowcocks.
While we were climbing Ian & Martin found a singing Mountain Chiffchaff at site 4 in the gen. We went to the spot and heard it as soon as we got there and finally saw it well too. The middle syllable of its verse seemed to have a higher pitch than the northern Chiffchaffs. The bird was not on the side the trail that starts behind the tea-house but on another trail that starts about 200m north of the tea-house. Cross the bridge and go up the hill to where you can see spruce wood. The scrub between the woods and the stream is also said to be good for Mountain Chiffchaffs especially in late summer and early autumn.
There was also a group of German birders whom we met briefly. Ian & Martin had a longer conversation with them and the Germans told that in Gelinkaya they had had good views of Semi-collared Flycatchers.
Around noon we decided to leave Sivri Kaya and drive south. We stopped briefly about 5.5km south of Sivri Kaya trying to see Lammergeier but managed only to see 2 Choughs (and Alpine Choughs very far away) and a male Grey Wagtail.
The road between Ispir and Erzurum was under construction and our car was spattered with fresh tarmac up to the windows. We had to find a service station to have the car washed. There was only basic water washing at service stations in Erzurum but we finally found a guy who knew a garage where the car could be washed with gasoline. He guided us to there and the job was eventually done. It cost us 200 FIM (29 USD)!
Before the car was washed we stopped at Gelinkaya just before Erzurum (site 5 in the gen) and followed the Germans directions. We went to the east side of the road and north side of the river along a narrow trail across a meadow (the opposite side than in the gen). When we reached the woods we had 2 Nightingales, a Cetti’s warbler, a Marsh Warbler in scrub, Common Whitethroats and finally a pair of Semi-collared Flycatchers of which we had very good views. They do have prominent white tips on median coverts and whitish rump on both, males and females. On the way back to the car we heard a singing Chiffchaff. We saw it well enough to identify it just a Chiffchaff.
After we’d got our car cleaned we set off on a drive to Agri. The roadside species between Erzurum and Agri were 4 Night Herons, 5 Long-legged Buzzards, a Little owl, 2 Yellow-legged Gulls (second summer cachinnans) and 6 Armenian Gulls at a small rubbish dump, 50 Rose-coloured Starlings, Black-headed and Corn Buntings.
We stayed over night in Agri at a hotel the name of which I can’t remember. The price was ok anyway.
Saturday, 23rd June
355 km, Agri - Ishakpasa - Gulizar - Caldiran - Van - Ercek - Van
Left at 5:30am for Ishakpasa. Just before the town we had a male Montagu’s Harrier (the only one during the whole trip). We used information of the "Birdwatching in Turkey, June 5-20, 1999 by Andreas Kristensen" report. We drove through the town and asked the locals the way to the Palace. We passed by the Palace and drove up to the café. Just before the café we had a nice Grimson-winged Finch on a roadside rock. There is a track that goes up to the hill. We parked our car outside the café and walked along the track up to the hill. There’s a hut on the hill. There we scanned the area and had nice views of a pair of Mongolian Trumpeter Finches as they landed just in front of us and stayed long enough to get a brief video. An odd male MTF appeared about half an hour later on a rocky slope. There were also 3 Grey-necked Buntings singing on little rocks and a female Rock Thrush, 3 Rock Nuthatches and a few Snow Finches. A Long-legged Buzzard was soaring above the next valley. It was a nice way to spend Midsummer, very different than in Finland indeed.
Had an adult Peregrine in Ishakpasa on our way out of the town. Just before noon we left Ishakpasa area and headed slowly toward Van. There was a military checkpoint but they just told us to go on. We noticed a dry field at a junction to the Van and there was a big lark flying above it. We stopped and had a pair of Bimaculated Larks and a pair of Short-toed Larks with fledglings.
There were low buildings made of clay on the roadside. The buildings looked abandoned but each one got a satellite antenna on the roof like almost every building in Turkey. After driving about 25km through a very dry mountaineous country we saw a Golden Eagle and stopped the car. While we were admiring the eagle another one appeared low behind hills. When it showed itself proberly it turned out to be an adult Lammergeier! It flew right over us and we had really nice views. A very impressive bird.
A while after the Lammergeier the landscape turned volcanic and there was a large lavafield on the west side of the road. While driving we saw a flying Grimson-winged Finch which landed nearby. We stopped the car and started to scan the area. We found 2 pair of Grimson-winged Finches and 3 pair of Mongolian Trumpeter Finches and 7 Red-fronted Serins in that area. The area is in a small village called Gulizar. We didn’t measure the distance to Ishakpasa but lies north of Caldiran where MTF has been seen as well according to the Germans. There is a parking lot north of the village on the west side of the road. The village lies between the roadsigns with its name. It has only a few buildings. On the west side of the road there is a large lavafield, just behind the parking lot. There is a track that goes through the lavafield from the parking lot. We saw the birds at the parking lot and on the side of the track. We spent there about 90 minutes and took some video, too. There was also a Lesser Spotted Eagle, a Tawny Pipit and Black-headed Buntings.
After the lavafield we went on toward Van. On roadside were Bimaculated Lark and Snow Finches. Some video was taken. A bridge appeared when we were approaching the lake Van. Armenian Gull was abundant and some video was taken. There was also a Great White Egret, a Night Heron, a Gull-billed Tern, 2 Little Terns and some common waders.
When we arrived at Van we diceded to go Erzek at first. We tried to find Paddyfield Warbler with no success. However, there were lots of birds: Black-necked and Little Crebes, Ruddy Shelducks, Shelducks, 7 White-headed Ducks, Great Reed Warblers, Reed Warblers and Stonechats (Armenica). Had a second year Egyptian Vulture on the way back to Van.
In the evening we went to South Van Marshes according to the gen (sites 1, 2, 3). Meadows were guite dry so wellingtons were not needed (we didn't have them at all). There were lots of Black-headed Wagtails including juveniles on the meadows. We walked through the meadows at the lake and just before the shoreline we found two Paddyfield Warblers. We watched the other one through telescope while it sang just about 30m away from us on the top of a reed. It was apparently singing but we couldn’t hear it where we stood. Maybe that’s the reason why singing Paddyfield Warblers are seldom found in Finland. The song is even more subdued than Marsh Warbler's.
On the shoreline there were hundreds of birds. 20 Ruddy Shelducks, 15 Shelducks, 70 Black-winged Stilts, 90 Avocets, Lapwings, 6 Little Ringed Plovers, 2 Kentish Plovers, 3 Marsh Sandpipers, Redshanks, 2 Mediterranian Gulls, Black-headed Gulls, Slender-billed Gulls, a second-year Little Gull, Armenian Gulls, 5 Black Terns and 40 Alpine Swifts.
When it got dark we drove to Van and asked the locals for a good hotel. We spent the night at a hotel (don’t remember the name) in the center of Van. Before going to bed we had a few beers in adjacent restaurant which had also en exotic dancer and a band. The dancer was the only woman in the restaurant except for the singer of the band. We left the restaurant before midnight even though some of us reluctantly!
Sunday, 24th June
819 km, Van - Bitlis - Siirt - Sirnak - Siirt - Batman - Midyat - Idil - Cizre - Mardin
Left Van at 6:00am in more or less fresh condition and planned to approach Cizre from north via Sirnak. The plan worked out well untill the last checkpoint before Sirnak. There we were turned back and had to make 200km detour via Batman, Midyat and Idil. We would have probably managed to pass the checkpoint if we could have explained why we wanted to go Sirnak. They didn’t speak English and our little Turkish-English dictionary hasn’t got the right words.
However, the mountaineous landscape was beautiful between Siirt and Sirnak. The road was a narrow mountainroad and it was in rather bad condition, so it took a while to drive it back and forth. Had 11 Egyptian Vultures, 3 Long-legged Buzzards, some Black-eared Wheatears (melanoleuca) and some Woodchat Shrikes.
When we eventually reached the Kurd town Cizre we decided to drive straight to the bridge (the bridge over Tigris. Use the east side and look for sandy areas in south) and start to look for plovers. The police was there in a second. There is a minor police station across the street that explains it. Markku started to debate with them. Keijo and I continued the search and after 20 minutes search we found the plovers. There were 3 adult Red-wattled Plovers about 1km away from us. We watched them as long as we could. Then the police said we had to go to the main police station with them. The situation was not so serious. We were told that bins are allowed but telescopes and cameras are not. Unfortunately you can’t see the plovers well enough without a telescope. Keijo was called in a separate room and asked questions about his Egyptian trip made earlier this year. That’s because they had seen the stamps on his passport. Then we were just presented their mobilephones, Nokia of course. We were held at the station less than an hour. Finally we were driven outside the town in two different cars. Markku was in a police car with a policeman who drove 120km/h in the town while Markku was using the horn. Keijo and I were in our car driven by a policeman whose driving manner was calm compared to the other chauffeur.
Decided to drive west and try to find a hotel. Cizre was out of question because we were virtually thrown out of the town. We drove through the dark night ending up in Mardin where we stayed over night at hotel Baijan. Had 3 Little Owls on roadside. Keijo and I gave in to our urge to have some decent roasted meat. So we tried shis-kebab made of livercubes threaded to a stick sold on a street. Right after the meal we took half a box of medicinal carbon and no shit, literally, in few days! We dropped by at a wedding which took place on the top floor. The wedding was all over by midnight! No one of us got married. Went to bed.
Monday, 25th June
350 km, Mardin - Birecik, Halfeti
In the morning we had breakfast at the hotel (the only time we had time to have hotel breakfast) and drove west up to the next town. Arrived at Sanliurfa and waited for the banks to open. Found two banks side by side. The other one was crowded while the other one was empty. We went to the empty one and asked to exchange some dollars for liras. We ended up in the office of the manager who was a woman. The explanation for the crowd in the other bank was that it was the payday for the retired and the other bank took care of it. They checked the rate while we were having tea and a little chat with the manager. Within half an hour we were on the road again.
Drove to Birecik and after a little bargain booked in hotel Baraj where Markku is a regular visitor once a decade! The price for all three of us was as I recall it, 240 FIM (34 USD) for two nights. Carried our luggage upstairs and went out birding.
Drove north alongside the Euphrates. Had 6 Pygmy Cormorants, a Squacco Heron and a Little Egret in the river. There’s a Little Swift colony before the Bald Ibis site (site 1 in the gen). We decided to go to see the ibises the next day. We stopped at the gardens, site 4 in the gen. We were mainly on the east side of the road. We birded a while in the gardens and had 10 Red-rumped Swallows, a Syrian Woodpecker, 15 Rufous Bush Robins, 2 Graceful Warblers, 2 Olivaceous Warbler, 5 Menetries's Warblers, 6 Masked Shrikes, 30 Dead Sea Sparrows, 2 males and a female Yellow-throated Sparrow and 2 Desert Finches.
We felt like needed something to drink and what could have been a better place to quench our thirst than the famous owl café in Birecik where Striated Scops Owl breeds (directions and map are found in the gen). They had no beer in the café! We bought a coke each and started to look for the owls. It took 90 minutes until we found an adult bird high up in a tree above the ladies toilet! Soon we discovered 3 juveniles as well and managed to take some video on all of them by standing on the roof of the ladies toilet. Other birds in the café were a few Olivaceous Warblers and a Syrian Woodpecker.
We went back to the hotel and had a little siesta. Had a Laughing Dove on an antenna of the opposite building while lying on bed. Suddenly the building started shaking and so did all the others that could be seen from the window. It took only a few seconds and we considered it just a big lorry passed by or something. Later we found out that there was an earthquake measured 5,5 on Richter’s scale. The center was 200km west from us. There were some victims as well.
Because there was still some time before dark we drove to Halfeti. This site was rather empty. Anyway, there we spotted an adult Upcher’s Warbler and 3 juveniles. The adult was grey indeed but the juveniles more brownish. Upcher’s warbler has longer legs and it’s bigger than Olivaceous Warbler. Upcher's waves its tail in slow motion from side to side and holds it at least partly fanned while Olivaceous jerks its not fanned tail downward sharply. The tertial tip position was visible on juveniles when we saw them from above. The adult was too abraded to tell anything about the tertials for sure. On the spot was also a Yellow-throated Sparrow. No Litte Swift or Pied Kingfisher.
On the way back to Birecik we had a juvenile Finsch’s Wheatear, very different than any other Oenanthe-species in the area. It had a plain grey head and shoulders with no supercilium at all and a stocky bill. The structure was stocky and large-headed. The wings and tail were as on older ones but fresh of course.
Went back to the owl café and saw the news on TV. That's when we heard about the earthquake. Ian & Martin appeared there too and we all went to look for the owls when they were supposed to be flying around the trees at dusk. Soon the first one perched in front of us but this one turned out to be just a Scops Owl not Striated one! After a while a Striated Scops Owl appeared. There are both species in the café! Striated Scops Owl is pale sandy brown with no horizontal streaking of any color, dark or white, below. Especially the spots on shoulders are buff while Scops Owl has pure white spots. Juvenile Striated Scops Owl has only rather weak brown horizontal streaking, barred, below while juvenile Scops Owl have both weak horizontal and strong vertical black streaking below. The primary projection is a bit confusing. Some books show that Scops Owl has it beyond tail and Striated Scops Owl has a tendency that its wingtips do not reach the tip of tail. In photographs both of them show the feature that it’s equal to tail. It seems to depend on the posture of a perched bird and maybe a question of a race as well. In the café Striated Scops Owl showed clearly primary projection beyond tail in some postures while Scops Owl has not. Rely on the coloration.
Ian & Martin had checked in the same hotel while we were birding. So we bought some beer, bread, beans and tunafish and set out to have a nice evening with that delicious supper on the top floor of the hotel. The British had brought along a couple of books about reptiles, mammals and butterflies. We found out of the books a few species we’d seen on the trip so far. There are numerous big beautiful butterflies and both bigger and lesser lizards in Turkey. European Souslik is very common in the east. We saw many moths as well but left the identification for the British.
Agreed to set the alarm at 5am next morning and go to the famous wadi which lies just beside the Ibis site.
Tuesday, 26th June
Birecik
Went to the wadi at dawn with the British. There were 20 Menestries’s Warblers and 8 Olivaceous Warblers and 2 Upchers’s Warbler. No See-see! There was also a snake called Ottoman Viper identified later by The British. The snake is venomous and lethal. It attracted a flock of smaller birds about it.
After the wadi we stopped for the ibises and the British went on to the gardens. 41 adult and 19 juvenile Bald Ibises were present. Mainly on the breeding boxes but some of them were on a cliffshelf at the wadi as well, free as a bird! Every now and then an odd bird flew over us. The main reason for the cage is to prevent their migration to south because it’s dangerous for them.
Some 30 minutes later we were done with ibises and went on to the gardens again. Each of us bought the cup of course. There were the same species as yesterday but this time we spent a couple of hours there to take some video.
Somehow Martin had managed to get a huge shepherd dog on his tail and while he was outrunning it he stumbled and left a part of the skin from his back and elbow on the road. Unfortunately his bins were damaged, too. Don’t try to outrun the dogs which are all around, they won’t bite you, usually!
Tried to spot out Pied Kingfisher along the riverside but had no success. There was a dredging job-site on the river and it seemed that it had been going on for some time. Maybe that’s the reason for the absence of kingfishers.
Took a siesta again because it was too hot for birding in the afternoon.
In late afternoon we went again to the wadi with the British, unfortenately the same time as two hunters equipped with a shotgun. So we tried to keep ahead of them and see all possible birds first. Had one poorly seen Chukar and 3 See-sees left out of our list.
We all were taken by surprice for the supper: beer, bread, beans and tunafish! I think it’s going to take a while when I’ll have tunafish again.
We planned to give another try for See-see next morning but a little later this time.
Wednesday, 27th June
290 km, Birecik - Isikli, Durnalik - Adana
At 6:00am we were ready to go but the door was locked! We found the receptionist sleeping in the adjacent room and called him, no reaction, called out louder, no reaction, shouted our brains out, no reaction still, is the man dead or what? Finally Ian grabbed his feet and tore him out of bed, "would you be so kind and open the door, please". Eventually we were outside.
Went to the wadi the third time but no See-see this time either. Menestries’s Warbler was still numerous.
Gave a final try for Pied Kingfisher too but no success. We also checked the old Blue-cheeked Bee-eater site according to the gen but it was ruined.
Didn’t know what to do next, so we set off on the road again and ended up in Isikli.
We spent the afternoon at Isikli and Durnalik birding and taking some video. Had 2 Long-legged Buzzards, 10 Syrian Woodpeckers, 2 Red-rumped Swallows, 2 Yellow-vented Bulbuls, 6 Rufous Bush Robins, 8 White-throated Robins, 20 Black-eared Wheaters (melanoleuca), 2 Olivaceous Warblers, 6 Upchers’s Warblers, 3 Orphean Warblers, 8 Sombre tits, 4 Eastern Rock Nuthatches (a huge nuthatch!), 6 Rock Nuthatches, 2 Lesser Grey Shrikes, 6 Woodchat Shrikes, 2 Desert Finches, 12 Cinereous Buntings, 2 Cretzschmar’s Buntings, 10 Black-headed Buntings.
In late afternoon we drove to Adana and took a hotel there. They accepted dollars, but unfortunately, I don’t remember the name, but it was on the main street. No beer in this hotel as we found out!
Thursday, 28th June
210 km, Adana - Tarsus - Demirkazik
Woke up at dawn and drove to the Tarsus delta (at first sites 1, 2 and later sites 3,4,5 in the gen). Heard a White-breasted Kingfisher and Keijo saw it briefly too in site 1. The alarm call is a very loud laughing like cry. The rest of us didn’t manage to get good views of it so we went on to the shore. On the way to the seashore we had 6 Syrian Woodpeckers, 4 Calandra Larks, 25 Short-toed Larks, Numerous Crested Larks, 10 Red-rumped Swallows, 11 Yellow-vented Bulbuls, 12 Rufous Bush Robins, 3 Graceful Warblers, 4 Reed Warblers, 4 Great Reed Warblers, an Olivaceous Warbler, 5 Masked Shrikes, at least 30 Spanish Sparrows and 10 Serins.
There were 10 Kentish Plovers, 3 Mediterranian Gulls, 4 Slender-billed Gulls, 10 Yellow-legged Gulls (Michahellis), 2 Sandwich Terns, 6 Little Terns at the beach. We didn’t manage to find any decent birding site down there so we turned around and drove on to sites 3,4,5. The situation was the same there too. It was much too dry all around. However, had 6 Little Egrets, 80 Greater Flamingos, 6 Black-winged Stilts, 30 Collared Pranticoles, some 50 Kentish Plovers, some 50 Little Terns and 3 White-winged Terns.
We got tired of dry birding sites and went on up to the Aladag Mountains. The mount Demirkaz was our target there. Its peak goes up to 3756m! We booked into the skiing lodge (site 1 in the gen), got our gear in and went out birding while it was still daylight. Had a Common Buzzard on the way, an adult Golden Eagle, 3 Kestrels, 10 Alpine Swifts, 2 Grey Wagtails, 4 Wheatears, a male Finsch’s Wheatear, 6 Rock Thrushes, a Blue Rock Thrush, 20 Ring Ouzels, a Rock Nuthatch, 3 Red-backed Shrikes, 3 Alpine Choughs, 4 Rock Sparrows, 2 Rock Buntings, 4 Ortolan Buntings, 4 Black-headed Buntings and 2 Corn Buntings.
They didn't have any beer either! Set the alarm at 3:30am because Keijo and I were going to climb up the fountain (near the beginning of the gorge. Site 2 in the gen) located on the plateau at the end of the track (site 4 in the gen) that starts between the lodge and the football pitch. Markku was going to join us later as the sun rose.
Had our usual tunafish supper and went to bed. Tomorrow was going to be a rough day.
Friday, 29th June
Demirkazik
Woke up relatively fresh and started climbing. We followed the track that made the route a bit longer but much nicer than the route straight up. Beautiful stars were all around the sky, not much moonlight yet. Few shepherd dogs were barking above us and soon they appeared in front of us. They didn’t come any closer than 20m. Bird sounds started at dawn but not just yet the one that we were waiting for. While scanning the snovy peaks the sound came from somewhere above. The call was like a distant curlew with magnificent reverberation, a Caspian Snowcock! We heard it several times during the morning but didn’t spot it. It might have been behind some peak. Markku joined us and we spent the morning and early afternoon on the plateau. Around the fountain were 2 Shore Larks, 2 Water Pipits, 2 Alpine Accentors, 4 Black Redstarts, 6 Wheatears, 4 Rock Thrushes, 2 Rock Sparrows, 10 Snow Finches, 8 Red-fronted Serins and 7 Grimson-winged Finches.
I went to see the famous gorge. At the beginning of the gorge there was a Radde’s Accentor that managed to disappear before the others saw it. I Had 3 Blue Rock Thrushes, some Crag Martins and Rock Sparrows there, too.
Because there were not so many birds in the gorge we chose a shallow valley as our way back to the lodge (site 3 in the gen).
On the way down through the shallow valley with Markku, Keijo left snoring nearby the fountain, we had a Golden Eagle, a Chukar, 2 Alpine Swifts, over 20 Crag Martins, more Black Redstarts, a Stonechat, 20 Wheatears, 15 Lesser Whitethroats, 8 Rock Nuthatches, 2 Red-backed Shrikes, 120 Alpine Choughs, 2 Choughs, 5 Red-fronted Serins, 3 Rock Buntings. At the lodge there was a singing Serin. Markku saw a Nightjar on his way up at dawn.
Had a little siesta at the lodge and waited for Keijo to come back from his hike.
Dropped by at a shop in Camardi, bought tunafish and bread of course, had a Griffon Vulture on the way back.
Late in the afternoon we went to check the new road mentioned by the Israeli (Turkey, August 13 - September 7, 2000 by Ady and Keren Ganch). The road was barely drivable for our car but we made it right to another fountain. We tried to see and hear Snococks there with no success. Nearby the fountain we had good views of two Radde’s Accentors. 2 Red-fronted Serins were on roadside and some Alpine Choughs above the peaks. Because the British had seen Snowcocks there we decided to return at dawn. On the way down had a Nightjar and some 30 Shore Larks.
Went back to the Lodge and had some sleep. None of us had the courage to have the supper served at the dining room.
Saturday, 30th June
522 km, Demirkazik - Sultan Marshes - Eregli - Silifke
Up just before dawn and set off on the road toward the second fountain. We heard 2 Caspian Snowcocks calling but couldn’t see them. There was very little snow on the peaks. Maybe the snowcocks were on other side of the peaks because most of the day it was in the shade. Heard a Chukar and soon 5 of them flew over us and one was calling on a rock not far away. A Golden Eagle was on the top of one peak.
We tried to see Snowcocks until noon but gave up then and went back to the lodge to check out.
We left the mountains so far and headed north for a change. The purpose was to visit the Sultan Marshes (page 7 in the gen). The only free water we could find there was in the channels. Anyway, we spent couple of hours birding and taking video there and had 40 Pygmy Cormorants, 2 White Pelicans, 30 Squacco Herons, 5 Cattle Egrets, 50 Little Egrets, 11 Great White Egrets, a Grey Heron, 10 Purple Herons, 30 White Storks, 8 Spoonbills, 2 Ruddy Shelducks, 5 Red-crested Pochards, a female Pochard, 10 Marsh Harriers, a Long Legged Buzzard, 10 Kestrels, 2 Hobbys, 20 Coots, 4 Collared Pranticoles, 3 Spur-winged Plovers, 4 Green Sandpipers, 7 Whiskered Terns, 11 Black-bellied Sandgrouses flew over us, 10 Calandra Larks, 5 Short-toed larks, 6 Lesser Short-toed Larks (race aharonii), 2 Tawny Pipits, 10 Black-headed Wagtails, a male Citrine Wagtail, 70 Isabelline Wheatears, 2 Moustached Warblers at site 4 in the gen, 6 Reed Warblers, 12 Great Reed Warblers, 2 Bearded Tits and 20 Reed Buntings.
Adult aharonii is very grey above showing distinct contrast with darker wings. Bill is not so stubby and supercilium is fairly prominent and it has thin streaks on breast forming unbroken pectoral band. A juvenile has a conspicuous supercilium and the typical scaly plumage of juvenile larks. An odd juvenile aharonii must be hard to tell from a juvenile Short-toed Lark because they both have prominent primary projection at this stage and streaking on breast sides pretty much the same.
We'd been told that there had been Dalmatian Pelicans in Eregli last year so we drove there. There was no water in Eregli at all. We even called up to England and made sure we were at the right spot but we had to believe it. The water had all dried up.
So we headed back to the coast. Dropped by a cash machine in Nigde and drew 120 million! Arrived in time at Silifke before midnight. We took a hotel that had air-conditioning for two nights. It was cheap but I don’t remember the exact sum or name.
Sunday, 1st July
Göksu
Drove to Tasucu at dawn. We birded at sites 3,4,5,6,7 in the gen. Black Francolins were heard soon after arrival. You can’t mistake the call. We saw briefly a few of them in the morning as they flushed or called out on the top of the scrub. The free water area was hard to see. The dynes were the best spot for scanning the lake even though there are couple of observation stands in the area. There were numerous birds but most of them were fairly far away.
Had 10 Crested Crebes, 30 Pygmy Cormorants, 40 Night Herons, 10 Squacco Herons, 20 Little Herons, 5 Great White Herons, 2 Grey Herons, 25 Purple Herons, 15 White Storks, 6 Glossy Ibises, 5 Spoonbills, 150 Greater Flamingos, 20 Ruddy Shelducks, 4 Marbled Teals, 20 Marsh Harriers, 10 Black Francolins, a Water Rail, 15 Purple Gallinules, a Grey Plover, 50 Kentish Plovers, 10 Spur-winged Plovers,a Little Stint, a Gull-billed Tern, 70 Little Terns, 8 Rufous Bush Robins, 5 Fan-tailed Warblers, 20 Graceful Warblers,10 Reed Warblers, 10 Great Reed Warblers, 2 Olivaceous Warblers, 2 Bearded Tits, 10 Penduline Tits in that area.
We decided to drop by at site 13 in the gen. Had good views of White-breasted Kingfisher while it was flying above the pond and perched partly visible couple of times.
Went back to Silifke and from there to sites 7,8,9,10 in the gen. The area suffered from overall dryness, all the ponds had dried out. Nevertheless, The Mediterranean was still there in spite of our doubts. We spent the afternoon scanning the sea until it started getting dark. Had 6 Cory’s Shearwaters, 2 Slender-billed Gulls, 6 Audouin’s Gulls on a tiny sandy island near the shore, numerous Yellow-legged Gulls (michahellis), a dark form Arctic Skua appeared from the sea and chased the Audouin’s Gulls a while, 2 Gull-billed Terns and a Sandwich Tern.
We drove back to the hotel and had our usual supper on this trip.
Monday, 2nd July
330 km, Silifke - Alanya
Went again to sites 3 and 4 in the gen after the dawn this time. Tried to see more wildfowl than yesterday but had only minor success. We had basicly the same species, with the addition of, a male Little Bittern, 2 Red-crested Pochards, 3 Ferruginous Ducks, 2 Teals, a Curlew and a Kingfisher.
Took the course to the west toward the tourist hellhole called Alanya. Stopped few times when the road passed right close to the sea. Had 60 Cory’s Shearwaters, 10 Yelkouan Shearwaters, a Cormorant, 2 Long-legged Buzzards, an adult Mediterranean Gull and 40 Alpine Swifts.
Drove through Analya without stopping, the place was full of hotels. Markku even caught sight of a menu which said in Finnish, "Nakit ja muusi" (wienies and mashed potatoes)! We stopped for the night a few kilometers west of Analya with quite a reasonable price of 120 FIM (17 USD) for all three of us considering we were still in the tourist area.
Markku and I had beers on the terrace of the motel while Keijo was sleeping. A marvellous view opened from the terrace over the sea under beautiful moonlight.
Tuesday, 3rd July
661 km, Alanya - Akseki - Antalaya
After a good night's sleep we hit the road again with intent to revisit Akseki. Some 30 Alpine Swifts were soaring in the sky on the way. The difference between 20th june and 3rd july was stunning. The silence compared with the last visit was remarkable. Nevertheless, we found an Olive-tree Warber At the graveyard in Akseki after a little search and 2 Masked Shrikes and a Syrian Woodpecker were present.
Drove up to the coniferous forest but failed to see Kruper’s Nuthatch. Two Serins and a female Cretzschmar’s Bunting were on the way.
Left Akseki and stopped at the second graveyard. The same silence dominated. We birded there for two hours and took some video, too. We tried to find Rueppell’s Warbler and succeeded. Had good views of an adult female and a juvenile, respectively. Maybe the same Short-toed Eagle hunted over hills as the last time. Had also 5 Syrian Woodpeckers, a Red-rumped Swallow, 10 Black-eared Wheatears including juveniles, a Sombre Tit, 2 Rock Nuthatches, 2 Masked Shrikes, 3 juvenile Cretzschmar’s Buntings and 15 Black-headed Buntings all adult females and juveniles.
After noon we left the area and drove to Antalaya. Keijo and I tasted shis-kebab again with no side effects! I saw a Laughing Dove across the street in the center of Antalaya but Markku didn’t believe it. Our bins were in the car while we were killing time until the plane would take off just before midnight. So, in no time we crossed the street and stood below the dove admiring its colourfulness: Laughing Dove it was! It was much further to the west than it should have been.
We checked the condition of the car and had some minor repairs made such as the mirror on the windscreen and one broken hubcap that was bound onto its place.
We got tired of the town and went to the airport. We took our gear out of the car in the parking lot and packed our suitcases. The car was delivered to the Europcar officer and we walked to the airport getting ready for the flight back to Finland. So it was farewell Turkey!
The Aladag Mountains are certainly worth a revisit some times.
LIST OF SPECIES