Thanks Edward, you've summed it up nicely, its a wonderful part of the WP! Rob, thanks, its probably a bit short on narrative of daily events compared to some of the great reports on here...
29 May: Batumi/Sarp – Pontics – Aktas Golu-Dogubayazit
General
This day was a major driving day as we weren’t sure how much time we would need to give each site back in Turkey. On the way through the eastern Pontics a brief stop at the edge of the new reservoir above Borcka, in the Coruh Valley produced a singing Flycatcher that was probably Semi Collared. However it was singing in forest on top of a steep cutting on the eastern side of the road with no access, so we couldn’t get to it!!
Further up the valley as the road heads towards the Artvan-Ardahan pass (c2400m) the road snakes its way up the Pine and Spruce dominated hillside of Karagol Sahara Milli Parki (41°13'54.35"N, 42°26'10.67"E). Stops here produced a few Kruper’s Nuthatch. The pass shortly past here also looked pretty impressive with Cinereous (Black) Vulture, Lesser Spotted Eagle, Steppe Buzzard, Long Legged Buzzard, Booted Eagle and a pair of Ruddy Shelduck on a high pool just from a couple of brief stops. Out of the Pontics and into the Ardahan & Cildir region we soon hit good high altitude (c1800-2000m) snowmelt wet grasslands with numerous Armenian Gull, White Stork, Montagu’s Harrier and our first flocks of Rose Coloured Starling.
We decided to explore briefly the crater lake Atkas Golu on the Turkey/Georgian border. Recommendations are to inform the military police prior to visits but we settled for stopping at the military check point near the border. The two young guards were very nervous of our stopping and approaching, but producing the bird guide and pointing to pelicans and the lake we were sort of waved on. The Lake produced some good birds including White and Dalmatian Pelican & marsh Terns. We couldn’t make out the Velvet Scoter, other than a couple of possibles very far out, and decided not to push our luck by driving closer to the Georgian border. In retrospect we would probably have been fine driving round the corner to view the remaining extent of lake.
Late afternoon we stepped on the speed to get to Dogubayazit for the evening. Taking the route that crosses very close to the contested border with Armenia it was dark by the time we reached Igdir. At a point very close to the Armenian border before Igdir a Golden Jackal ran across the road.
Looking back it would have been better to have spent an extra day exploring the far eastern Pontics and grasslands and crater lakes here. We did this beautiful area no justice at all! And we shouldnt have given up so easily on trying to find a Semi-Collared, as that was our chance gone for the trip.
Photos
(1) Map - Sarp to Dogubayazit
(2) Kruper's Nuthatch
(3) Aktas Golu crater lake
(4) White Pelicans
(5) Whiskered and White Winged Black Terns
...more after the weekend B 
