norwichbirder87
Well-known member
I'm currently on holiday in Istanbul with the girlfriend and another couple. Whilst a non-birding holiday, after a couple of days of rain, I was allowed an hour or so at Buyuk Camlica at noon today (the views were enough to entertain them for this long). The taxi up from Kadikoy cost 23 lira (about £7) and hell was it worth it:
In one hour:
c3000 Lesser Spotted Eagle (I'd never seen one before)
c80 Steppe Buzzard
1 Short-toed Eagle
19 Black Stork
2+ Hobby
4 Sparrowhawk
The bushes were full of Redstarts and Lesser Whitethroats (probably lots more but I was a bit distracted by the above) and huge numbers of Chaffinches and White Wagtails were passing at eye level. A big thank you to the birder who let me look through his scope- I was only allowed to bring bins.
Elsewhere around Istanbul in the last few days, the skies have been full of Alpine and Pallid Swifts, Gulhane Park has always had a Red-breasted Flycatcher or two and Little Gulls and Yelkouan Shearwaters on the Bosphorus.
Will
In one hour:
c3000 Lesser Spotted Eagle (I'd never seen one before)
c80 Steppe Buzzard
1 Short-toed Eagle
19 Black Stork
2+ Hobby
4 Sparrowhawk
The bushes were full of Redstarts and Lesser Whitethroats (probably lots more but I was a bit distracted by the above) and huge numbers of Chaffinches and White Wagtails were passing at eye level. A big thank you to the birder who let me look through his scope- I was only allowed to bring bins.
Elsewhere around Istanbul in the last few days, the skies have been full of Alpine and Pallid Swifts, Gulhane Park has always had a Red-breasted Flycatcher or two and Little Gulls and Yelkouan Shearwaters on the Bosphorus.
Will
