Day One: Arrive at house at 11:30 pm.

No Birds seen, Little Owl and Scops Owl heard…later and annoyingly all three of the local Roosters giving it their best!

Day Two: Pottering around the house. Walk along Beach

Collard Dove, House Sparrow, House Martin, Swallow, Olivaceous Warbler, Blackbird, Great Tit, Little Owl, those bast**d Roosters.

Beach: Yellow Legged Gull, Long Legged Buzzard and Ringed Plover, naught else

Day Three: More pottering and walk past Jandarma to river and into town.

Green Finch, Jay, Hooded Crow chasing off and harassing a pair of Kestrels hills behind the football stadia, White Stork soaring above hills and later coming to land at local nest.

Day Four: Eskiköy Walk.

Early cycle ride at 6:45 am to the rocky outcrop at Eskiköy.

Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Black headed Bunting, Rufus Bush Chat (Robin) Great Reed Warbler, Cettis Warbler, Grey Heron, and Crested Lark.

Back at the house a White (Pied) Wagtail in the garden.

Day Five: Early morning cycle to Okcular and the Roller nesting site.

European Roller, Eastern Rock Nuthatch, Bee Eater and unidentified raptor possibly Bonelli’s Eagle

Day Six: Beach walk

Purple Heron flying riverside of beach and a Woodchat Shrike perched on bush riverside of beach.

Day Seven: Visit to Kaunos

Little Egret on small lake near reed beds towards the beach and Peregrine Falcon hill above the cemetery A cautionary note: Over the years the site at Kaunos has developed, in years gone by you could just walk on the site and have a look round however, slowly developments have made it access by ticket and today they have electronic turn styles (sounds impressive but you could just walk past if no one was there) which is staffed. Now that the site has a more ‘formal’ feel to it the authorities are treating it like other ‘historical’ and ‘cultural’ sites and that means no photography using a tripod or monopod on the basis that you could sell the photos. Today I was not allowed to take my monopod in, even though I explained it was birds I wanted to photograph. I was informed that if I just had my scope I could bring in my tripod/monopod but not with a camera.
I guess if I had my monopod in my bag no one would know, certainly there is no staff around the site other than at the ticket entrance.

Back at the house Masked Shrike

Day Eight:

Returned to Eskiköy rocky outcrop on the way picked up Turtle Dove and later in the fields around the outcrop Fan Tailed Warbler, heard but not seen Penduline Tit

Total Species: 38, Directions to these sites can be found on the web site http://www.dalyanbirding.com

Black-Headed Bunting

Rufus Bush Chat

FanTailed Warbler

Gold Finch

Peregrine Falcon

Masked Shrike

European Roller

White Stork

Little Owl

Several other day trips with my family where we took the Beach Boat from Dalyan to Turtle Beach (30 minutes through beautiful marshes with mountain backdrops , fantastic views of the Caunos Tombs , as well as views of Leatherback Turtle on route to the beach. Birds seen from the boat; Short-Toed Eagle, Common Kestrel, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Little Egret, Purple Heron, Little Bittern (Thanks Mrs R), Great Reed Warbler, White &Yellow Wagtails, Lesser Grey, Red Backed Shrike together , Yellow-Legged Gull, Kingfisher, Crested Lark and fly past Little Ringed Plover being the only wader seen.

Kaunos Tours day trip with Driver.(6am – 6pm) Unfortunately Kaunos Tours bird guide was back in Istanbul so was unable to do this trip, however with the keen assistance of Murat who has to be mentioned purely for ensuring we visited all the sites they would normally do up to Lake Girdev meant I had chance to see some really good birds. Although my driver Hamet didn’t speak much English, I still had a fantastic day with him, and with a call in the early hours from Murat whilst we drove the 3 hours towards Girdev, who ensured I was able to hit any other site I was interested in visiting. So with the question of stopping off at a Wooded area on route gave me an additional chance to get onto my first lifer. Just before reaching the area we would eventually stop at gave me the chance to connect easily with Isabelline Wheatears, Subalpine Warbler and Serin. On arrival I could hear Kruper’s Nuthatch and with a quick mimic of their call produced a splendid pair of these birds within 10 feet of me. Also supporting were, Coal Tit, Masked Shrike, Eastern Bonelli’s Wabler (lots), Subalpine Warbler, Western Rock Nuthatch, Spotted Flycatcher, and a first year Eastern Black-Eared Wheatear.
As we started to climb to a higher altitude and after a couple of Turkish Tea’s the number of Wheatears grew with our gaining height. Black-Eared mainly followed by Northern, and Isabelline’s, not to be outdone by the numerous 4 species of Shrikes constantly drawing your attention. Still climbing produced Alpine Swifts, Common Buzzard, Crag Martin (1), 2x Ortolan Bunting including a splendid adult by the roadside.
I had Hamet stop many times due to the consistent bird movement, that included a stop at a very small cemetery on the way up. This produced my second lifer of the trip in the form of 6 fantastic Red-Fronted Serin with a supporting cast of male Eurasian Serin and obligatory Red Backed Shrike watching nearby.
I decided to walk along the flat area leading away from the road which afforded me more sightings of even more Black-Eared and Northern Wheatears of different ages everywhere as well as my first of several sightings of Rock Thrush. Moving further up still produced many more Wheatear and Shrikes as well as Blue Rock Thrush, Eastern Bonelli’s Warbler and a couple of tortoise near a watering hole making out noisily.
Upon reaching the Lake itself and seeing Rock and Blue Rock thrush side by side, there was the first sighting of this large natural made lake created by the winters melted snow – still with much water considering the soaring temperatures of August. Upon getting down to the lake, there was a small farm with a few trees by the roadside giving enough cover to many Goldfinch and a couple of Chaffinch but most unexpected was a Short-Toed Treecreeper flitting from tree to tree. Further on, we stopped and saw some Western Yellow Wagtail and more Black-Eared and Northern Wheatear but alas no Finsch’s though I am certain they were there somewhere. After scanning the lake and finding little on the water other than Little, Great Crested Grebes and many Coots there in a grassy area in the lake were 10 Black Stork with the many early migrating White’s. More distantly another 10 Black’s were just about identifiable due to heat haze but nethertheless a really nice sight.
I spent some time walking around the typical White-Throated Robin habitat with absolutely no success! It says they should be evident until August (as it was mid August I guess they may have mostly left was my thinking) However, I did locate 3 Sombre Tit and 2 Rock Bunting in my search, along with crazy numbers of Isabelline Wheatears by the roadside.
On leaving this fantastic area and making our decent, we briefly stopped to allow me to take a scenic photo when from out of nowhere two majestic Golden Eagles appeared, flying low enough to get fantastic detail through binoculars including one actually landing further up on the other side of the road giving fantastic views for about 15 minutes.
Finally back down into the farming area I noted a number of Larks that flew up as we passed which turned out to be mainly Crested, but with several Short-Toed and a Tawny Pipit and many Linnet and Corn Bunting accompanying them.
A great day out in what is fundamentally the worst Western Pelagic month of the year showed that with a keen eye and perseverance and of course a lot of luck, good birds will deliver.
My final tally of birds finished with 82 species in what was a family beach/pool holiday that combined with a few early morning stints as well as Daddy’s day out of course.
I appreciate there are a number of species seen outside Dalyan, but recommend any birder to go and visit the guys at Kaunos Tours by the Turtle roundabout in the centre of town to venture out of town a bit to take advantage in topping up your trip list with a extra supply of quality specialities further to those that Dalyan will offer you even in the month of August.
Recommendations: Whilst i have travelled extensively to most corners of the globe including jungles and the Amazon , it should be said you should include mosquito repellent, sun hat , sun lotion , plus Mossi repellent trousers as the little buggers still get you through thin trousers, and also a Mossi repellent top that will allow you to ignore the little blood suckers and enjoy the birding better. Mountains were the best – no Mosquitos.

The usual sites with a trip to Akyaka and the Bay of Gokova

Paul Hopes book ‘ Walking and birdwatching in Southwest Turkey’ describes the area of Akyaka and the bay of Gokova as a large area of wetland as an S.P.A. and 1st degree protected nature site . The site is around a 45-minute dive from Dalyan on the main road to Mugla.

There are two roads down to the marsh area one drops down into the village of Akyaka and the other leaves the road to Mugla in the direction of Marmaris.

Once you make your way from the main road down to the village you can find a public car park just next to the river and the mouth of the bay. From here we followed the map from Paul Hopes book on page 154. We crossed the bridge and made our way towards the marsh area along the seafront following the line of the beach. Here we saw, solitary Greenshank, Kentish Plover, Fan Tailed Warbler, Spotted Flycatcher and over the reed beds a Marsh Harries briefly.

On the map you will notice that there is a small stretch of water to wade through if you wish to continue with the walk skirting beach side. We attempted this and though it is just below waist high if you have short legs like me the risk of tripping whilst carrying expensive equipment is not worth it and so after an initial attempt nerves took the better of us and we decided to approach the reed beds from the road so we retraced our tracks and took the road towards Marmaris. Since Paul Hopes book has been written there have been a new road development (dual carriage way built) and you need to take the road off the dual carriageway signposted to the ‘Kite Surfing ‘ and follow the signs until you get to the beach. There is a small charge to park if you are Kite surfing, but we said we had just come to bird watch and the parking was free. It was just as well it was free because the beach was full of Kite Surfers and their kites, hanger on’s and beach bars…. No Birds.. 1st degree protected nature site it was not.

The lack of birds may have been the time of day and year, and the number of people, not to mention large paragliding style kites flapping in the breeze from the sea, it was still very hot even though we were in September. It would be worth visiting the site in say March, April as suggested by Paul Hope.

We left this site and returned to Ortaca for a spot of lunch before a leisurely stroll
Through the Kocadere Valley near Okcular.

Other sites on this trip included Eskiköy, Iztuzu beach and Köycegiz Lake

Birds seen:
House Sparrow, Collard Dove, Jay, Great Tit, Gold Finch, Hooded Crow, Swallow, Yellow-legged gull, Ring Plover, Little Egret, green finch, Kingfisher, Red backed Shrike, Moorhen, Reed Warbler, Squacco Heron, Crested Lark, Wheatear, Marsh Harrier, Mallard, little owl, Rock Nuthatch, Grey Heron, White Stork (usually not around this time of year) Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Coot, Bittern, Long Legged Buzzard, White Wagtail, Juvenile White-tailed Eagle, Kentish Plover, Greenshank, Spotted Flycatcher, Blackbird, Fan Tailed Warbler, Bee eater, Moorhen, Grey Wagtail, Yellow Wagtail, Osprey and Chiffchaff.

July and August are not the best months for birdwatching in Dalyan, it’s hot and doing the most simplest of tasks is draining, lumping a scope about or walking/cycling distances is only for the hardy or foolish, I must admit I fit both categories, but add to this Turkeys own little mini heat wave with temperatures in the 40’s during the day and upper 30’s in the shade most birding has been in the early mornings setting off at 6-6:30 am and returning by 9:30 and the idea of birding during the day succumbed to dipping in the pool. Be prepared to sweat (a lot), in fact be prepared is a good idea. I have found the following useful. Firstly apply insect repellant before you set off, mosquitos are still active at this hour, also when out in the fields, woods and other undergrowth there are plenty of other insects that need deterring, take a small bottle of Sin kov (local insect repellant) for times of paranoia and to deter flies as and when necessary. Secondly, take a small hand towel, this is the best birding advice I have ever been given and is useful in which ever country you may be birding in, it has it’s obvious uses for drying your self or mopping away sweat, acts as a cushion if you need to sit on an uncomfortable surface while you watch and can act as a support of scopes or camera lens (a little like a bean bag) and many more uses, thirdly take a small pair of secateurs to cut through paths that have become overgrown, some of the bushes here can have nasty spikes , they are cheap here around three pounds (10 lira) or so on the market or other shops and their usefulness outweighs the extra weight you have to carry. Last but not least, take a small first aid kit including something for stings. Still want to go birding?

Sites this trip included the following.

Lake Köycegiz

Took a boat up the lake through the boat corporation on two occasions at 120 lira for the day (for the boat not per person) (10:30- 17:30) and requested Hasan Guvenç boat number 018 his boat is called Piolt. Hasan is the best boat man for birds I have found, within minutes of us setting off he had took us straight to a Penduline tits nest which would have been difficult to spot by just making your way up the river to the lake with other boat men. We skirted the eastern shore and reed beds before crossing the lake to go down the other side and making our way to the Sultaniye Hot Springs where we stopped for lunch, the highlight of the two trips been a White-Tailed Eagle (which I had not seen here for the last 4/5 years) which came low, just below the hill tops on the western shore. Seen on these particular trips, Grey Heron, Purple Heron, Reed Warbler, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Cormorant and White-Tailed Eagle.

Wooded area above the Dolmus end of the beach

(Turtle Rescue Centre end)

Paul Hope in his book ‘Walking and birdwatching in South West Turkey’ (P140) suggests this wood, which he says, is quite productive. I had hired a car the previous day and took advantage of this by visiting this site early, 6 am before returning the hire car later that morning. To find the site you will see a road/track off to the left just before the barrier that closes the beach at night. Take this road and you can immediately park in an area just to the left on the road. Opposite you now, on the other side of the road, is a track leading into the woods. Follow this for a while until you reach a clearing with olive trees and shrubs, make your way up the incline and find a place to sit. Seen on this visit were the usual woodland birds, Blue tit, Great Tit, Jay, and also Krüper’s Nuthatch, and I also heard a Tawny Owl and Woodpeckers but did not locate them. I have found sitting in the woods a better option than strolling around partly because of the heat and partly due to creating less disturbance, you will find that inquisitive wasps and bees hover over the ground area and around your equipment, although unnerving, a quick application of Sin kov prevented any actually landing on me.

After an hour there did not seem to be much happening and the heat was rising so I took the road back towards Dalyan. When you take the Dolmus from Dalyan to the beach you may notice a restaurant at the side of the Sülüngür Lake called Ekin, shortly after this restaurant the road has a sharp turn to the left, as it begins it ascent up the hill, just before the red stripped sign (indicating a sharp corner) there is a track to your right next to the edge of the wood, leading to the fields on your right. Take this track and after 20 meters you will see a footpath going up into the woods, take this footpath. This track meanders up the hill with gentle easy inclines leading back to the road at the top of the hill for about 1 Km. Near the end of the walk the path is enclosed on both sides by fences made from sticks and later splits, take the narrow path with barbed wire fence on both side. The path leads to a road opposite a stone barn, turn left here and follow the road to the main road at the top. Once on the main road turn right and you should see a pancake house called Sanli Alp Gozleme, where you can stop for a drink before returning the way you came. From a birding point of view it was not very productive on this occasion, plenty of Jays and Great tits and Blackbirds, but it was a very pleasant walk that earlier/later in the year will be worth further exploration.

Rocky Outcrop at Eskiköy

I would suggest that anyone visiting Dalyan should take this site in as it offers good birding all year round. You can find the directions on the web site www.dalyanbirding.com, in the drop down menu under ‘sites’ tab, go to Eskiköy. To get to the rocky out crop takes about 20 minutes at a gentle pace by cycle and about 45 minutes if walking, but increases each time you stop to watch birds. On this trip I usually arrived there for 6:30 am returning to my house for about 9 am

Which gave me a good time for birding. This is the best site for Crested Larks and Rufus Bush Chats and both were seen on these occasions. Turtle Dove are also easily seen (and heard) along with Corn Bunting, Serin, Goldfinch (in abundance), Kingfisher (whose numbers swell in September and October to a couple of hundred pairs in the Dalyan area) a Short Toed Eagle gave good viewing on a couple of occasions. Reed, Sedge, Olivaceous, Greenish, Warbles all showed well. Within a crevasse of the rocky outcrop I could hear young owls calling, and although I could locate the entrance through the parents droppings I did not see them or the adults so I am unsure what they were.

Kaunos

This archeological site (well worth the visit) is situated across the river from Dalyan and can be reached by rowing boat. With your back to the mosque and facing the river, take the river front path to your left and walk so that you pass the refurbished Tazcan Hotel and continue until you come to the Kaunos Kral Bahcesi There is a wooden jetty here and you can take the rowing boat across to the other side to get the road to Kaunos, costing 3.5 lira in 2012 return journey. Simply get the boat across and when you return from Kaunos the boat will bring you back across the river. (They will happily take your bike as well)

The remains of ancient Kaunos include a Roman theater, a Byzantine basilica, the Roman bath, and the rock tombs; it is also alive with wild life red squirrels, lizards, and tortoises and of course birds.

Seen on this trip were European Rollers on the way to Kaunos, Little Egret, Short Toed Eagle, good views of Water Rail, although the only photo was for id purposes and is not very sharp.  Rock Nuthatch were easily seen and on previous visits at this time of year Blue Rock Thrushes, but not on this occasion.

For a full description of the directions around this site see the web site.

Birds seen on this trip:

Collard Dove, Swallow, White Stork, White Wagtail, Sparrow Hawk, House Sparrow, Blackbird, Little Owl, Jay, Goldfinch, House Martin, Little Grebe, Purple Heron, Grey Heron, Red Rumped Swallow, Penduline Tit, Reed Warbler, Cormorant, Greenfinch, Great Tit, Hooded Crow, Little Grebe, Turtle Dove, Krüper’s Nuthatch, Blue Tit, Kestrel, Yellow Legged Gull, Short Toed Eagle, Scops Owl (heard only) Tawny Owl  (heard only) Eastern Rock Nuthatch, masked Shrike, Olivaceous Warbler, Greenish Warbler, Sedge Warbler,  Common Buzzard, Ringed Plover, King Fisher, Serin, Crested Lark, Woodchat Shrike, Rufus Bush Chat, Peregrine Falcon, Water Rail, Moor Hen, European Roller, White Tailed Eagle, and Coot.

Water Rail

Sunrise near Eskikoy (Rocky Outcrop)

Water Rail

Weather hit visit between 11^th and 18^th of May 2012

Didn’t manage much birding during this week, partly due to some works commitments and partly due to the weather that consisted of some heavy persistent downpours and some glorious sunny spells.

On this trip I revisited the ‘Water pump’ a short walk just outside Dalyan on the way to Eskikoy. The directions can be found on the website www.dalyanbirding.com go to the ‘sites’ tab and in the drop down menu click on ‘Waterpump’.  This is a pleasant walk but didn’t produce much on the morning I went; unless you’re into ‘entomology ‘ the array of insects was amazing! As for birds there was the usual suspects, Turtle Dove, Blackbird, House Martins, Swallows, Olivaceous Warblers, a good view of a nightingale and a couple of Black-headed Buntings singing to declare their territory but not much else.

Another short trip I took was to the wooden radio transmitter hut on the top of the hill just outside Dalyan to the left of the round about. I last went up there about four years ago when it was just been built by the Belediye (town council) which was a lot easier than this time as the track was completely over grown. I had hoped to see raptors up close as often they circle this hill riding on the thermals here. Well thankfully the hill acts as a natural triangulation point giving fantastic views over Dalyan looking to the sea, across the fields towards Ortaca and across the read beds towards the lake, just as well as there wasn’t a single bird on the way up the hill or at the top, I kid you not, not even a bird that’s was skittish!  Don’t let this put you off Dalyan it is still a good venue for birding.

When you have a couple of days were things don’t seem to be going your way it is always good to throw in a reliable favorite so on my last day I cycled the Eskikoy walk (see website for directions) and wasn’t disappointed, Turtle Dove, Bee Eaters, Red-rumped Swallows, Rufus bush chat amongst others thoroughly enjoyable. I usually take in a walk along the beach and again this proved to be very quiet, Yellow Legged Gulls, Hooded Crows and Ringed Plovers been the only sightings until the last day when five pink flamingoes brightened up my birding week as I have not seen these in Dalyan before, so a first for me both here in Turkey or any elsewhere.

List for this trip:

Collard Dove, Olivaceous Warbler, House Martin, House Sparrow, Stork, White Wagtail, Yellow Legged Gull, Greenfinch, Jay, Little Owl, Hooded Crow, Swallow, Red-Rumped Swallow, Ringed Plover, Blackbird, Little Egret, Great Egret, Grey Heron, Black Headed Bunting, Gold Finch, Scops Owl heard but not seen, Penduline Tit heard but not seen, Kestrel, Corn Bunting, Bee Eater, Rufus Bush Chat, Flamingoes, Swift, Crested Lark, Common Buzzard and Peregrine Falcon.

Dalyan..still growing?

Black Headed Bunting

Corn Bunting

Dragonfly

Some Bug, any offers?

The weather by and large has been very wet with a lot of the land around my house in Okcular under water. The Dalyan River burst it’s banks and the riverside path near the Okyanus Restaurant was impassable. So all in all not that great a time for bird watching.

On the 8th January we visited the Calis bird reserve following a very lovely breakfast at the Sat Beach Club. Just after breakfast a quick look over the wall seawards resulted in a common sandpiper walking along the boom. At the bird reserve site there was quite a lot of rubbish strewn around and whilst we were there a couple of locals were farming the shrimp in the pools. However a short 15 mins visit resulted in a Black necked grebe, a black headed gull in winter plumage and a flock of Serin.

Despite the weather just from our terrace I had some notable sightings. During one of the drier periods and as the water levels subsided we were treated to a Great White Egret and three little egrets in the field behind us. This was followed by a surprise visit from a Black Stork into the same field. I had seen the same bird overhead a few weeks earlier so obviously a stray that had not migreated with the rest of his species.

A number of Crag Martins have frequently been seen flying overhead, bringing memories of the swallows and swifts of summer. We have also had around 6-8 woodlark in the garden and also had a very brief visit from Wryneck. This is in addition to the regular sightings of Stonechat, black redstart, Great tits, Chiffchaff, Pied Wagtai, sparrows and our local buzzard who is always around the house and local area at the moment. We also have a sparrowhawk that flies acrtoss now and again.

On a trip to Iztuzu beach on the 20th january we had Little Stint and Dunlin working the shore line of Sulungur Lake, whilst out on the lake there were Wigeon, Mallard, Little Grebe and Coot. There also large numbers of Chiffchaff present.

So although the weather hasn’t been great there has still been some notable sightings for the time of year.

In October John Codling took a quick trip to the beach near Dalaman Airport, seeing Sanderling working the waves and there were a number of Kentish plover about also another wader similar to a greenshank but the bill wasn’t as long, so not sure what it was. John was pretty sure he saw a White-breasted Kingfisher on the river there but it was only a brief glimpse. If it was a White-breasted Kingfisher that would be great news for the region with two possible nesting sites, the Namnam River at Eskikoy and the Dalaman River where it enters the sea at Dalaman. Loads of birds on the lake near the airport but the guards don’t let you look there as it is near the military bit of the airport.

In November Denioguz a Turkish birder ,circumnavigated Köycegiz Lake by motorcycle, First day he went to Iztuzu beach  there was no anything special he says, the second day he went to Dalyan centre by the  hills he saw 7 birds chasing each other 2 Ravens, 2 Western Marsh-Harriers, 2 Common Buzzard, and 1 Common Kestrel . He didn’t take a boat up the lake but, instead used roads around the lake. On the road near Tepearasi saw Black Kite (see map) other birds seen:

Wren, Red-backed Shrike, Fan-tailed Warbler, Robin, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Redstart and Black Redstart, Jay, Kingfisher , Blackcap, Whiskered Tern.

You can see Denioguz great bird photos on the following link
http://www.flickr.com/photos/denioguz/

www.dalyanbirding.com

All photos in this post by Denioguz

Location of Black Kite

Black Kite

Floating Clouds

A family holiday with a few bird watching days thrown in. Each time I visit I aim to try and see a target bird and on this occasion it was the Rüppell’s Warbler which despite been reported in the area I had personally never seen. I had been in touch with Ray Barker on Birdforum an excellent site for all topics about bird watching, Ray had previously sent a photo to our site of a Rüppell’s Warbler which he had photographed in the area on a previous trip to Dalyan. The particular link on Birdforum for Turkey is:
http://www.birdforum.net/forumdisplay.php?f=577&order=desc

Ray had suggested going up the mountains behind Lake Köycegiz to a valley called Alan where he had seen Rüppell’s Warbler in the past along with the Okçular site on http://www.dalyanbirding.com
Since I had not seen any in the past at the Okçular site we decided to take a visit to Alan. Alan is about a 35 kilometres drive from Dalyan and provides some spectacular scenery on the way up. Alan is a small flat farming plateau part way up the mountain and provides some easy walking despite its lofty position up the mountain. We spent half the morning walking around the area, bird watching pace, we disturb a group of unknown game birds on our arrival, but during our time there we did not see the Rüppell’s Warbler; however, we did pick up Wheatear, Isabelline Wheatear, Masked Shrike, Blackbird, Spotted flycatcher . After walking around the plateau we decided to go to the Amber forest adjacent to the shore on Lake Köycegiz, John who was driving had been there before and knew a welcome bar on the edge of the lake directly next to the Amber forest. The site is mentioned in Paul Hopes book ‘Bird watching in Southwest turkey’ here we picked up Greater Spotted Woodpecker and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker the latter been a nice surprise as we had not seen one before.
A usual bird watching trip for me is taking in the Eskiköy walk to the rocky outcrop next to the lake. Prior to coming out to Dalyan this time I had been contacted by a couple who I had met previously (another surprise hello Gareth and Karen) and we had arranged to do the Eskiköy walk together. I usually do this walk/cycle two or three times during my time in Dalyan and was surprised on my first trip this holiday to hear and see a pair of Curlew circling round the area for a few minutes before flying off over the reed beds towards Ortaca direction. I also had a Black-eared Wheatear and a Lesser Grey Shrike. As a guide for those thinking of doing the walk, we set off from Dalyan (roundabout) walked to the rocky out crop, walked around this and returned the way we came. Setting off at 6.30 am we arrived back at around 11am, it is an early start but the temperatures had been similar for July and August so any later would have been too hot. Later in the holiday I bumped into Gareth and Karen again walking the beach, Gareth had brought his camera with him, which was great as on the beach, quite unperturbed by people walking it’s length was a non breeding Black-tailed Godwit or Bar tailed Godwit ? (See Gareth’s photo) unless someone can tell us otherwise.
During this trip we also hired a car to make our way to Candir a small village next to Kaunos, this road trip navigates the edge of Köycegiz Lake taking in Hamit Köy where the White Breasted Kingfisher has been seen (not on this occasion) On our return we stopped off near Tepearasi to look at Bee Eaters in the late evening sun and flying across the field at the back was a Common Magpie another first for me in Turkey.
My highlight of this holiday was three trips to Kocadere Valley. I have to thank Alan Fenn whose book describes the Kocadere Valley, ‘Okçular Village -A Guide’ which features many delightful walks. It was during one of these trips that I finally got to see the Rüppell’s Warbler, I also caught site of it just past the Rollers nest site, directions on the Roller tab under ‘birds’ on the site. Whilst in the Kocadere Valley we also had a pair of Ravens which soared through the valley and Short Toed Eagles calling to each other from each side.
Other trips from the site included the ‘fishing and crabbing’ which again produced Purple Heron
Full list of birds seen during this trip as follows:
House Sparrow, Collard Dove, Jay, Grey Wagtail, Olivacious Warbler, Little Owl, Swallow, Little Egret, King Fisher, Purple Heron, Grey Heron, Gt White Egret, Yellow legged Gull, Short Toed eagle, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Bee Eater, Rock Nuthatch, Gold Finch, Curlew, Blackcap, Isabelline Wheatear , Crested lark, Hooded crow, Red Backed Shrike, Spotted Flycatcher, Ravens, Wood Warbler, Blackbird, Whitethroat, Green Finch, Blackeared Wheatear, Ringed plover, Magpie, Rüppell’s Warbler, Reed Warbler, Marsh Harrier, Sandwich Tern? , Cormorant, Little grebe, Lesser Grey Shrike, Ictrine Warbler, Masked Shrike, Whinchat, Gt Spotted Woodpecker and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.
Photos Gareth Roberts (except Spotted Flycatcher and Hooded Crow)
www.dalyanbirding.com

Spotted Flycatcher

Roost

Little Egret

Little Egret 1

Hooded Crow

Cormorant

Blacktailed Godwit

I parked the car on the main road and walked down the track to the sewage works apart from a few house sparrows and a blackbird all that was about was dragonflies there seemed to be hundreds of them.

I decided not to go into the sewage works as it seemed really busy so retraced my steps and walked down the track to my right. As I approached the rockface in front of me a small bird was flitting about in amongst the low scrub growing on the rocks I managed to bet the bins on it and ID’ed a rufous Bush Robin but was unable to get a photo of it as it decided to scoot of around the corner of the rocks but another species for the list.

I carried on down the track and had several kestrel on the hill above me then a bird flew around the rock face and landed in shade about three quarters of the way up the face managed to get a good look in the bins and a Turtle dove was added to the list.

After reaching the old landfill site with only dragonflies for company I retraced my steps and saw a short toed eagle making it’s way from my position towards the river.

Kestrels were still overhead as I walked back to the car without any other birds but I did add an Ant Lion to my list of insect species.

I spent just over an hour at the site and added two new species to my turkish bird list which now stands at 107species so even though I wasn’t expecting much it was a worthwhile trip.