dantheman
Bah humbug
14/5/11 Nemrut Dagi (the ex-volcano)
..... Stonechat sp., 1 male
Given the location, quite possibly Caspian, however it flew off whilst I was fumbling with my optics...
... and then another snow shower set in. I had made the journey a little further around the massive lake that is Van Golu in the hope of finding the Velvet Scoters (nearest breeding population over 2000km away) in their high altitude isolation. Didn't connect - either they were still on the main lake, hiding, or I'm a rubbish birder. Still, it was an experience, if I'd seen them it would have been well worth while (Radde's Accentor was another 'goodie' potentially on offer). Had a couple of handy lifts up the 20km road to the volcanic rim. The few cars present were waiting for a collapsed section of the ash road to be filled in; I was able to just walk past. Birds included my only Ring Ouzel in Turkey, with a few migrants and high altitude species. Flagged the one car down that I'd seen in the crater; didn't fancy the 8km walk back up from the lake to the rim in the conditions, and had other places to go. The 6 Kurdish gentlemen who then miraculously disembarked had apparently been having a picnic on the edge of the lake! (I was even given some for later), and I was very grateful, if a little squashed, to accept a lift back to civilisation with them. At the main road the kurds went their whey, I went mine, on down to Bitlis and an overnight coach to the next stop ...
..... Stonechat sp., 1 male
Given the location, quite possibly Caspian, however it flew off whilst I was fumbling with my optics...
... and then another snow shower set in. I had made the journey a little further around the massive lake that is Van Golu in the hope of finding the Velvet Scoters (nearest breeding population over 2000km away) in their high altitude isolation. Didn't connect - either they were still on the main lake, hiding, or I'm a rubbish birder. Still, it was an experience, if I'd seen them it would have been well worth while (Radde's Accentor was another 'goodie' potentially on offer). Had a couple of handy lifts up the 20km road to the volcanic rim. The few cars present were waiting for a collapsed section of the ash road to be filled in; I was able to just walk past. Birds included my only Ring Ouzel in Turkey, with a few migrants and high altitude species. Flagged the one car down that I'd seen in the crater; didn't fancy the 8km walk back up from the lake to the rim in the conditions, and had other places to go. The 6 Kurdish gentlemen who then miraculously disembarked had apparently been having a picnic on the edge of the lake! (I was even given some for later), and I was very grateful, if a little squashed, to accept a lift back to civilisation with them. At the main road the kurds went their whey, I went mine, on down to Bitlis and an overnight coach to the next stop ...
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