Icemeler Turkey (1 Viewer)

Anyone visited Icemeler in Turkey ? Firstly,did you have a good time ? Secondly,are there any bird sites,in the area ? Any advice would be welcome.

Ben Nevis said:

Anyone visited Icemeler in Turkey ? Firstly,did you have a good time ? Secondly,are there any bird sites,in the area ? Any advice would be welcome.

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Yes, I went to Icmeler in September 2001, the first and only seaside package holiday I've ever been on and yes it was very enjoyable. Icmeler is, or was, a small resort, fairly pleasant, certainly more so than nearby Marmaris, which isn't so nice. It wasn't a birding holiday but I did go out birding every day before breakfast on foot and managed to see Krüper's Nuthatch every day (in the trees behind the village), Rüppell's Warbler and a few more things, but the birding in Icmeler isn't spectacular by any means. If you have a car then it's easy to get to the famed birding area around Dalyan and I imagine the hills leading up to the Anatolian plateau contains some good stuff. I went on a few excursions to archaeological sites and saw more birds there, Finsch's Wheatear at Pamukkale for example, Rock Nuthatch everywhere, Masked Shrike at Aphrodisias, Pamukkale and Ephesus. Would love to go back to Turkey on a proper birding trip in May sometime; it's a fascinating country and has probably the friendliest people I've ever come across anywhere.

E

I stayed at Icmeler in May 2006, the resort is great, plenty of good food and beer. I managed to see Blue Rock Thrush and Alpine Swift in the resort.

Thanks

Thanks for your time and help.The "bins" shall be packed,just in case,I get the odd morning or so,to myself and do a bit of birding.Anymore comments are welcome.

Just booked a holiday as Dalyan. Anyone know if you can book one-day birding excursions locally?

Dally said:

Just booked a holiday as Dalyan. Anyone know if you can book one-day birding excursions locally?

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If you go down to where all the ferries leave to take tourists down to the beach then there are a few boats that you can book to take you up river to the lake to look for birds. The man that took me said he was a member of the RSPB!!!!. You can also see some good birds when you take a ferry down through the winding river to the beach. Roger

devon.birder said:

If you go down to where all the ferries leave to take tourists down to the beach then there are a few boats that you can book to take you up river to the lake to look for birds. The man that took me said he was a member of the RSPB!!!!. You can also see some good birds when you take a ferry down through the winding river to the beach. Roger

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Thanks. But did he find you anything!? What sort of fee do you need to pay?

Dally said:

Thanks. But did he find you anything!? What sort of fee do you need to pay?

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I was there in the middle of July ten years ago and we left at dawn. The boatman said he knew where to find White-breasted Kingfisher but whilst we went right around the lake we had no sightings although the boatman claimed to have heard one call!!!.
I seem to recall that all we saw were a few Purple and Squacco Herons plus a few Great Reed Warblers. It cost around £20 for two of us and we were on the water about three hours.
Before I went I bought the "South West Turkey Compilation" from Steve Whitehouse and included in it is a holiday report from a Birder who stayed at the Sultan's Palace Hotel 5-19 August 1990. He saw an excellent variety of birds during his stay. It was far too hot though when we were there.
Like most towns in Turkey packs of dogs roam the streets and when we were walking down to the boat at dawn from our hotel suddenly about twenty dogs suddenly raced up to us from a side street, I nearly had a heart attack!!!. Fortunately all they did was bark at us. Roger