SW Turkey (family Hols with a touch of birding) (1 Viewer)

[Bananafishbones]

The first task was to keep this as the family holiday, with the second task of sneaking in some quality birding time without compramising our relationship

We stayed in Uzumulu, a lovely and generally unspoilt mountian village high above Fetihye. The apartment overlooks open fields and small Olive groves, with a backdrop of small pine covered hills.

A few trips out of the immediate area were to Koya Koy village, Calis marsh, Patara Beach and a two day trip to Ephusus and Pamukkale

51 species were seen during the 10 days - of which 10 were life birds
30 Species were recorded in and around Uzumulu.
5 or so species have not been positivly ID so will have to wait for another year.

The weather was incredibly hot and often reached 40-46 degrees celsius so as expected the hours between 9am and 5pm were generally quiet and would have been hard work if I had tried too hard.......

Around Uzumulu:
Housesparrow - as much as I enjoy my garden sparrows, these became a nuisance and were found everywhere and all the time, they got me lifting the bins far too often.
Collored Dove - abundant in Uzumulu and in large numbers elsewhere
Olivecious Warbler - a smart pair in the village
Syrian Woodpecker - abundant in the village
Housemartin - Nesting around the apartment in large numbers
Masked Shrike - seen nr the apartment on 3 days
Alpine Swift - around the hills of Uzumulu and Kaya Koy
Woodchat Shrike - very showy and in good numbers around the apartment including some juveniles
Blackbird - abundant around the village
Greenfinch - in small numbers around the village also seen at Pamukkale
Jay - abundant everywhere and the atricapillus group with a uniform mantle & nape, black crown.
White Wagtail - numerous sightings around the village with a couple often coming to the pool side
Sparrowhawk - seen on 2 consecutive days over the village both times being mobbed
Swallow - abundant everywhere, try as I might couldnt get a Red Rumped
Great Tit - small numbers around the village and elsewhere
Short-toed Eagle - one seen above Uzumulu while on a mountain walk
Kruipers Nuthatch - a fairly reliable species seen in the village pine forests
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker - a single bird flew to the trees bordering the olive groves next to the apartment
Crested Lark - in good numbers at all sites but great to see and hear a group come to roost every evening in the field next to the apartment
Scops Owl - 2 or 3 heard around the village and although we found the tree that one was calling from a glimpse of it eluded me.
Cuckoo - 2 calling around the village on 3 seperate days
Lesser Whitethroat - a few around the apartment
Blue tit - a few around the apartment and in suprisingly small numbers
Goldfinch - some large roving flocks around the village and also at Pamakkule
Sand Martin - a single bird seen in a flock of Swallows next to the apartment
Yellow Wagtail - single sighting nr apartment
Common Buzzard - a single sighting over the village
Eastern Orphean Warbler - a single sighting nr the apartment
Raven - single sighting over the village and also at Pamukkale
Middle Spotted Woodpecker - a pair seen on the edge of the village

Calis: - no scope with me so a few species got away as they were a little distant (although I have some camera record shots that I will go through later)
Little Egret - a single bird
Yellow Legged Gull - plenty (but the only Gull species seen)
Little Bittern - seen flying up the river canal and a few on the marsh
Hooded Crow - in good numbers and also over a few other locations
Common Sandpiper - good numbers on the marsh
Redshank - good numbers on the marsh
Spotted Redshank - good numbers on the marsh
Spur Winged Plover - single bird very mobile on the marsh
Coot - single bird
Kingfisher - single bird
Grasshopper Warbler - in the reeds along the embankments and riverways of calis
Reed Warbler - as above
Great Reed Warbler - as above

Pamukkale: other than those species already mentioned above
Hoopoe - flew right past me while walking on the site
Serin - single sighting at the nearby Hierapolis
Rock Nuthatch - in very good numbers
White Stork- regular in the area especially in the town of Denizli
Wheatear - some confusion with these as they all seemed to have striking large buff edges to the tertials and primaries, but couldnt see what else they could be.
Isabeline Wheatear - a few in the Hierapolis area
Bee-Eater - 10 birds showing fantastically well behind an onyx workshop (part of the coach tour) nr Pamukkale

Patara: (again no scope)
Little Grebe - the only species I could reliably ID and in large numbers

I still have a few species to ID - especially a warbler in the reeds of Calis that had longish tail, Black legs and a buff toned breast and flanks with little or no facial markings apart from a small light supcilliam???

I will update over the next few days with images of some of the species seen

Dave

 

[The Snapper]

Hi,

Simiarly to the thread above, I am considering a 2 week holiday with my wife mid-end September staying in Hisaronu. I should be able to get some birding done amongst other touristy things.

I am particularly interested in a few species I still need : Syrian Woodpecker, Red-Fronted Serin, Yelkouan Shearwater, Dalmatian Pelican, Pygmy Cormorant, Finsch's Wheatear.

Can anyone advise the chance of the above in the vicinity of Hisaronu and particular sites given the time of year. I would be looking at hiring a car to get to sites further afield.

Cheers

Steve Richards

 

[Bananafishbones]

Hi,

Simiarly to the thread above, I am considering a 2 week holiday with my wife mid-end September staying in Hisaronu. I should be able to get some birding done amongst other touristy things.

I am particularly interested in a few species I still need : Syrian Woodpecker, Red-Fronted Serin, Yelkouan Shearwater, Dalmatian Pelican, Pygmy Cormorant, Finsch's Wheatear.

Can anyone advise the chance of the above in the vicinity of Hisaronu and particular sites given the time of year. I would be looking at hiring a car to get to sites further afield.

Cheers

Steve Richards

Hi Steve
I can give you a spot in Uzumulu (30 minutes from Hisaronu) for 100% sighting of Syrian Woodpecker, Please PM me for finer details
Dave

 

[wolfbirder]

Hi,

Simiarly to the thread above, I am considering a 2 week holiday with my wife mid-end September staying in Hisaronu. I should be able to get some birding done amongst other touristy things.

I am particularly interested in a few species I still need : Syrian Woodpecker, Red-Fronted Serin, Yelkouan Shearwater, Dalmatian Pelican, Pygmy Cormorant, Finsch's Wheatear.

Can anyone advise the chance of the above in the vicinity of Hisaronu and particular sites given the time of year. I would be looking at hiring a car to get to sites further afield.

Cheers

Steve Richards

Steve,

Altho its indeed a day trip, the circular trip to Elmali & Korkutelli is the most reliable place for Finsch's Wheatear and Red Fronted Serin that I know of. See my report for South-west Turkey in April under Vacational Trip reports, though you have to go to the end of the report, as I returned for a 3 day bash. Towards the end of the report I give precise GPS co-ordinates for Finsch's Wheatear & RF Serin & Pygmy Cormorant. You could stumble on them anywhere I suppose, but that's what I thought first time round!!

Of course i went in April not September and I know plenty of other reports show that Gogubeli pass is great in Sept for the serins (near to where I saw them). Again this (Gogubeli pass) is covered in the main section of my report.

I only saw one pair of Syrian Woodpeckers, but they are meant to be fairly common in wooded areas, so i think you should find them nearer to your resort.

Good luck!

 

[The Snapper]

Got back from a great two weeks in Turkey v early this morning.

Although not a strictly birding holiday, I managed to get some decent birding in with highlights including Levant's Sprawk, 3 Finsch's Wheatears, 100+ Red-Fronted Serins, Sprosser, Syrian Woodpecker, numerous raptors etc.

I'll get my info together and post more specific details most specifically on a highland lake visited which was awesome for mountain and wetland birds.

 

[Steve Dudley]

Bananafishbones, what were the dates of your trip? Thanks

 

[Bananafishbones]

PMd you Steve

 

[Bananafishbones]

Bananafishbones, what were the dates of your trip? Thanks

July 21st - 31st

 

[The Snapper]

For anyone interested in visiting SW Turkey, I would recommend a visit to Girdev Golu. This is a large lake set amongst the mountains about 1.1/2 hours from Hisaronu and not far from the famous Gogu Beli Pass.

I was lucky enough to have large numbers of Red-Fronted Serin here at very close range last October(2012). There must have been well over 100 gathering around a few goat water troughs near a small farmstead. They were gathering on the fences, and also feeding along the track amongst the weeds. Many were juveniles but a number of stunning males were also encountered.

The general area was also great for other birds and in a few hour period I noted 3 Black Stork, 3 Common Cranes, S-T Eagle, L-L Buzzard, 5 Chukar, 3 Finsch's Wheatears, Rock Thrush, Blue Rock Thrush, Woodlark, Rock Nuthatches etc etc.


The Pine Valley Hotel at Hisaronu was a great base and in a nice setting - close enough to the brashness of Hisaronu main strip if you fancy a but of life but also located on the edge of the pine woods. Several hours on the balcony overlooking the nearby hills and Babadag Mountain during our 2 weeks produced many birds including Marsh Harrier, Booted Eagle, Honey and Common Buzzards, 2 Goshawk, Levant Sparrowhawk, R-F Falcon, many Bee-Eaters, Roller, Wryneck, R-B Shrike, Collared Fly and a surprise Thrush Nightingale hopping around the base of a small hedge in a shady area of the hotel gardens. As we were there in October we would have missed many of the summer birds which would have undoubtedly been present a couple of months ago.

 

[chris chapleo]

Hi 'Snapper '

I was really interested to read your report above - Im off to that area of Turkey in 2 weeks, and whilst we are staying in Kemer, are planning to do the Korkutelli - Elmali route so will try to find and check out your Hisaronu site as I really want to see RF Serin.

 

[smyrna]

Hi 'Snapper '

I was really interested to read your report above - Im off to that area of Turkey in 2 weeks, and whilst we are staying in Kemer, are planning to do the Korkutelli - Elmali route so will try to find and check out your Hisaronu site as I really want to see RF Serin.

Hi Chris - I am off there this Saturday and will also be looking for RF Serin &
Krupers etc... so I will post an update when I get back

 

[chris chapleo]

Hi Smyrna

Look forward to hearing you get on but think we might overlap - Ill post up when I return as well....

 

[chris chapleo]

Hello all

Just a quick post - I'm in kemer, sw turkey at the moment and 2 days ago had a day out in the mountains around korkuteli and seki. Brief highlights were 12 RF serin showing very well at gogu beli pass and WT Robins performing at seki site - weather here has been very stormy past week and some tracks in mountains were pretty tricky with heavy mud . Also had big bee eater passage on coast yesterday after a storm cleared ( at least 600 over) . I'm with family so birding limited but will post full report on return at weekend.

 

[Barred Wobbler]

Hello all

Just a quick post - I'm in kemer, sw turkey at the moment and 2 days ago had a day out in the mountains around korkuteli and seki. Brief highlights were 12 RF serin showing very well at gogu beli pass and WT Robins performing at seki site - weather here has been very stormy past week and some tracks in mountains were pretty tricky with heavy mud . Also had big bee eater passage on coast yesterday after a storm cleared ( at least 600 over) . I'm with family so birding limited but will post full report on return at weekend.

Good news about the red-fronted serins, Chris. Thanks.

I'm in Turkey now (Dalyan) and I'm heading off to Korkuteli on Friday, so your tip will come in handy.

I had a long drive up to Bafa Golu and Karine Golu today, hoping for the kingfishers, pygmy cormorant and Dalmatian pelican. No luck on the kingfishers or cormorant, but great views of single pelican fly-pasts at both sites and distant views of other pelicans.

 

[chris chapleo]

Now back from my family ( read ' limited birding only')holiday so heres more details for any who are interested.
We stayed at the Majesty Mirage Resort in Kemer some 60km west of Antalaya. This resort nestles on the coastal strip overshadowed by mountains but birding here was pretty limited compared to Side (where I stayed) last year. In particular, I was astonished at the lack of Birds of Prey, with just a single Black Kite and a Buzzard over all week. In the hotel grounds I did have Golden Oriole and Olivaceous Warbler but the birding highlight here was undoubtedly Bee Eaters. I had 10-20 most days but on one memorable afternoon (Mon 13 May) after a rain storm and heavy low cloud had cleared I started to see flocks of 10-30 passing over low heading NE and in next 2 hours saw over 600 passing over – a memorable experience as their calls were everywhere and many were just about roof height!


Given the resorts limitations I was looking forward to a day out in the mountains so on 12 May 2013 I set off from our hotel in Kemer at 5.00am and followed directions from Wolfbirders May 2012 posting here (very useful as ever)

Once Id skirted through Antalaya (which was straightforward) I also headed to KORKUTELLI, then took a route via SEK,I ZORLAR, GOGUBELI PASS, ELMALI, AVLAN RESERVOIR and back via Finike on the coast.

As per Wolfbirder, I followed signs for Elmali once at Korkutelli, and then stayed on the D350. A few kms before the village of Kizilcadag, I took his rough, stony, dirt track to your right where you see a large sign for CIGLIK YAYLASI.

I followed the track past a few houses and spent 30 mins or so birding the boulder-strewn hillside below the radio masts. However, even the main track was actually pretty muddy (there had been a lot of rain lately, including the previous day) and my rented Fiat saloon was sliding about so I held off going too far and this evidently limited my birding a bit, but I did have 2 Finsch's Wheatear, 4 Northern Wheatear, 1 male Rock Thrush, and 2 Ruddy Shelducks overhead.

By 0730 I was keen to move on to Seki, so continued on the empty and pleasant D350 road and had Woodchat Shrike, Feldegg Yellow Wag and many Crested Larks en route.

Off the D350 I turned left for SEKI as signposted and on the long straight approach to the village stopped to watch a Roller feeding by the road. At the well known Apple sculpture I turned right and after a mile or so parked at the White-Throated Robin site – the next hour was great – with 4 males & a female White Throated Robins, 2 pairs of Black-Headed Buntings, 2 Rock Nuthatch and a singing Ruppells Warbler. The Robins were a key target for me but I was pleased how well they showed, feeding on the ground and singing from scrub, although they were flighty when I left the car.


Back at the apple sculpture in Seki I turned right and headed to the village of ZORLAR. About 1 km after the village ends I parked by the road looking out towards distant grassy plains. Here I had several Red-Backed Shrikes, singing Cretzschmar's Bunting & Long-legged Buzzard.

I then continued another 1-2km and parked by a stone water trough and gave this area half an hour or so. Again, this was productive with another White-Throated Robin, my first 2 Red Fronted Serins, Rock Sparrow, Hoopoe etc.

I continued towards Elmali via the GOGUBELI PASS. A stop just before the pass produced a flock of Bee Eaters over, 2 Chough, A Finschs Wheatear, Raven, Cuckoo and another Red Fronted Serin and at the actual pass itself about 8 Red Fronted Serin were with 15 Serins feeding at the roadside and showing brilliantly!

As I followed the road down towards Elmali I had 3 Rock Nuthatch, Black Eared Wheatears, Grey Wagtail and Red Backed Shrikes en route

At ELMALI, I headed south for 15 kms on the D635 towards Finike direction, to AVLAN RESERVOIR. Wolfbider had Pygmy Cormorants amongst Greater Cormorants here last year, and I could make out smaller birds among the cormorants in dead trees near the middle of the resvoir but couldn’t find an easy way to get closer (despite driving the central causeway). Therefore, whilst they must have been Pygmy Cormorants, I didn’t feel the views were sufficient to verify the record, especially as there was a bit of heat haze. There were also several Ruddy Shelducks here including a pair with chicks, 3 G C Grebes and a Night Heron.

I drove back via Finicke and the coast road to Kemer, but this was largely uneventful apart from a few Alpine Swifts and a Sandwich Tern.

 

[chris chapleo]

Good news about the red-fronted serins, Chris. Thanks.

I'm in Turkey now (Dalyan) and I'm heading off to Korkuteli on Friday, so your tip will come in handy.

I had a long drive up to Bafa Golu and Karine Golu today, hoping for the kingfishers, pygmy cormorant and Dalmatian pelican. No luck on the kingfishers or cormorant, but great views of single pelican fly-pasts at both sites and distant views of other pelicans.

Be interested to know how you got on when you get back but in meantime good luck! Chris

 

[Barred Wobbler]

Be interested to know how you got on when you get back but in meantime good luck! Chris

I bumped into the first red-fronted serins not far west of the pass, when a pair of small birds flew in front of the car and disappeared into a small tree on the apex of a curve. I stopped on a pull-off around the corner to check them out, just in time for an HGV to appear from out of nowhere on an otherwise empty road, blowing his horn to say hello, as is the custom.

No sign of the birds where I'd seen them.

On the way back to the car a male red-fronted serin flew past and around me at chest height at a range of 10 yards or less, with its mate in tow. Lifer.

They went off into a tree behind me, so I went off to take a look.

A good idea as it turned out. A black redstart appeared in a nearby tree, two choughs appeared over the quarry face on the inside of the curve and a male rock thrush came hopping through, singing as it went.

As we arrived at the summit there was a group of red-fronted serins picking grit from the gravel at the roadside beside the signboard along with serins and pair of linnets. They were happy to be there and returned after they flew off as we arrived. Parking the car and waiting paid off in the form of decent photos.

I drove down the track leading north from the summit and had long-legged buzzard low overhead on the way down and crested lark, woodlark and black-headed buntings in the farmland at the bottom of the track.

The return to the summit coincided with thickening cloud and a cool strong wind, that meant that by the time we got to Elmali it was time to call it a day. It was 16.30 by then and a three hour drive back to Dalyan beckoned. I never made it to Korkuteli. I'm here until Friday, so I might just give it another go on Wednesday.

On the way up I had brilliant views of a camera-junkie long-legged buzzard sitting on a roadside pole at Seki.

After a final thunderstorm through the night summer arrived today.

 

[wolfbirder]

Good to read your updates Chris and BW. It's a great area but a lot of driving.

Chris, I could not get near the pygmy cormorants either, but as you say they were there.

 

[Barred Wobbler]

Too hot for birds and birding today, with the temperature well into the mid-30s so we stayed fairly local, heading along a track between Dalyan and Eskikoy that we looked at last week.

Today we only had a couple of black-headed buntings there, compared to 5 or 6 last week, but three rufous bushchats equalled last weeks number, with two of the birds probably different to the ones we saw then. A spanish sparrow, some hooded crows, olivaceous warblers everywhere and a few reed warblers, with a close fly-past of a long-legged buzzard making up the bird numbers.

The stream running along the track was a snake-fest. We saw it least 7 or 8, most small, but one bigger. It'll be interesting to see what they are when I get the photos home.

Many thanks to Dalyanbirder for the information on this track. It's one of the sites noted on his dalyanbirding.com website.

We then got back into the car and went on as far as the top end of the lake at Hamitkoy. White breasted kingfisher flew up from the river making a hell of a din and flying off to a dead tree a fleld away from the river before heading off for points unknown.

After a search lasting about 4 lifetimes (really just 10 days) I finally caught up with two of my target birds for the trip yesterday. I thought they'd be easy!

I'd stopped in a valley up in the mountains about 35km beyond Beyobasi in a place that was like I'd stepped back 100 years. We came across it last week while following tracks. Small, unintensive farm plots, alive with wheatears, three species of shrike and much, much, more. Beautiful.

We'd just picked up an Eastern Bonelli's warbler on a track beyond the village and I stopped next to a field in the middle of the village to photograph a pair of red-backed shrikes that were feeding. Out of the blue a Syrian woodpecker flew low overhead. A few minutes later a small grey bird flew across the field and disappeared into a small bush and was never seen again. I had my suspicions what it was but it wasn't until we were leaving the village behind (over 3 hours after we got there - that's how good it was) and I saw another that I finally confirmed a sombre tit. Distant pics of that one as a bonus.

A bloody good day.

We packed in early this afternoon and got back to the villa for a swim in the pool. My wife was in the pool when my eye was caught by movement at the wrought iron gate next to the end of the pool. At first I thought it was one of the local cats, but it was too small - a large kitten, maybe?

No. Bounding across the gravel from the gate and past the end of the pool was a beast about 2 feet long, chocolate brown with a brillant white chest and throat and a bushy tail almost as thick as its body. Beech martin! It's not often you see one of those in the garden.

I grabbed my camera and looked around the corner of the house. Peering out at me from the darkness of the slatted wood gas bottle containment was a white-chested bundle of fur, that headed off at a rate of knots up the steps and past the front door.

It's an interesting place, this Turkey.

 

[Barred Wobbler]

A million thanks to Wolfbirder and Chris.

I was going up to Korkuteli again today anyway, but your tips made life so much easier.

On the way in the first red-fronted serins came to visit us at close range when we stopped at the drinking fountain 2km east of Zorlar with another two about a km further east. The rock-fall (not a quarry as I mistakenly described it as earlier) just before the summit was host to a large party of rock sparrows and the 'London Bus' effect started to kick in just around the corner. Nothing for ten days then everything comes at once.

We were scanning the slope for wheatears when a sombre tit flew down the hillside and started feeding in a pine a few metres up the slope.

After the summit and its grit-pecking red-fronted serins, serins, linnets and goldfinches I spotted a hovering Eastern Bonelli's warbler.

Heading north towards Korkuteli we turned east off the main road to cut the corner and a pair of Syrian woodpeckers flew across the road in front of the car.

Back to the new birds. At Wolfbirder's track near Kizilcadag I spotted a bird with a grey back just below the track, it turned and showed a black throat and was immediately up and attacking another of its sort, exhibiting black tails as the tussled. All was revealed. Two cracking local shore larks, one of which came closer and sang from a stone near the car. I must say they had me momentariy baffled at first. the grey, balck and white made them almost monochome, and it may have been an illusion, but they looked bloody big at first sight.

We turned back just before the village and as we climbed towards the quarried stone blocks my wife spotted a wheatear on top of a rock. By the time I looked it had taken off and was hovering over the rock, all black and white for a few seconds before dropping out of sight. A walk up the slope revealed a family party of Finsch's wheatears, a male, a female and either two or three juveniles. Jackpot.

Lifers.

Then on to Avlan reservoir. From Wolfbirder's rocks, all I could see in the trees were great cormorants, but then I spotted a smaller bird that wasn't one of the coots on the lake flapping its wings on the water just below the right hand tree, Unfortunately by the time my wife looked through the scope it had drifed behind a closer tree and was out of sight.

Driving along the causeway was frustrating because an intervening bund prevented a clear view of the water below the trees, but driving further on allowed a view of the water and a few coots. My bird was nowhere to be seen, but while we were there two more pygmy cormorants flew north over the lake, distant, but recognisable. The second was obligingly near a flying great cormorant for comparison.

The impression I had of the pygmy cormorants as they flew was that they reminded me of dark brent geese in shape, short-necked and pot-bellied.

Another lifer.

As I drove home east out of Elamali the London bus effect kicked in again, As I rounded a curve near a mosque a suicidal bird flew up from the middle of the road with a squark just in time to avoid being flattened.

Another Syrian woodpecker. Maybe one of Wolfbirder's couple from last year?

The pressure is now off. Only pied kingfisher missed from my wish-list for the trip and I won't be getting one of those. Pool time tomorrow, I think.