Southern Turkey Trip Report / 9-13 June 2015 (1 Viewer)

Two weeks ago I took a 5-day long birdwatching trip that spread over a large area in southern Turkey. I started from Aladağlar mountains in south-central Turkey, and then passed on to southeast Turkey where I visited places like Nemrut mountain, Kızılkuyu plains, Karacadağ mountain, Birecik (Euphrates) and Işıklı village.
As I've never been to those parts of Turkey before (despite being a Turk myself), I felt the need of a guide, and thus throughout our trip I was accompanied by Emin Yoğurtcuoğlu who is a Turkish wildlife guide with a record number of species seen in Turkey (http://www.sunbirdtours.co.uk/leaders/emin-yogurtcuoglu/).
As the we visited quite a lot of places in a long time period, I have decided to split this report into 4 parts. This post is the first. Others will follow shortly on this page.

Part 1: Demirkazık Mountain - Aladağlar National Park, Çamardı, Niğde

Emin and I left Ankara at 11:00 AM and went straight to Çamardı, Niğde. We only took a very short break, thus the trip only lasted for about 6 hours. Once we were there, there was still sufficient sunlight left and thus we decided to head up to a place called Arpacık gorge on Demirkazık mountain. Demirkazık is a pretty high mountain standing at 3.756 meters, however the gorge is only about c.2500 meters and is relatively easily accessible by car. There are several camps for mountain climbers just before it. Normally most birdwatchers visiting Aladağlar would go to the miners' road, which is around 3300m, but it was apparently closed by a large rock. Nonetheless, the gorge was quite productive despite the rapidly setting sun. The first birds we saw were those that we flushed while ascending to the gorge with the car, such as Horned Lark and White-winged Snowfinch (which were oddly shy). Once we arrived at the spot we were greeted by a small group of Red-fronted Serins which were quite tame as expected (bad light though for photography though). The air was largely dominated by Common House Martins, but every now and then a small group of Alpine Choughs would soar by, and around the cliff flocks of Red-billed Choughs were abundant. Eurasian Crag Martins also bred around a cave nearby.
After a while we started ascending on foot to a spot for the legendary snowcock. When we reached there it didn't take a minute for us to hear it. But finding it was a whole another thing. It was quite challenging as it kept moving and it didn't take long for us to figure out that there were actually two birds. Meanwhile, classic birds like snowfinch and Rock Buntings were foraging, and at one point an Alpine Accentor landed on a rock not too far away.
After 30 minutes of desperate searching, we finally found the Caspian Snowcock high up in the cliffs. It was a magnificent sight to see it extend it's neck and call out, while moving slightly and occasionally flying from cliff to cliff. At one point it was even harassed by a group of Red-billed Choughs! After a while it got bored of us and flew all the way back to the other side of the mountain.
As the sun was going down, we started to descend. But on the way down we stumbled upon a Eurasian Crimson-winged Finch perched on a boulder and a Radde's Accentor move around in some bushes, respectively. A nice way to end the day!
We stayed at the infamous Safak Pension. The foods were great and accommodation was nice overall. Had a good dinner and slept rather early.

10 June:
I woke up at 08:00 AM and took a quick stroll around the pension garden. European Blue Tits, European Greenfinch and Black-headed Buntings were plenty. After a while Emin woke up too. We had breakfast at 8:30 and went back to the mountains shortly after. This time we went to a more deserted area, about 2300 meters high. Birds like White-winged Snowfinch, Red-fronted Serin and Rock Bunting were seen again. In addition we had several male White-throated Robins and Black Redstarts. There were also lots of Asia Minor Ground Squirrels. We slowly arrived at a place where we searched for Ring Ouzel. We failed to find any, but found a nice male Common Rock Thrush, as well as a Chukar Partridge and another Eurasian Crimson-winged Finch. Also Northern, Isabelline & Finsch's Wheatears.
From there we went back to the pension, packed our stuff and hit the road. On the way we stopped at somewhere at Adana to eat, and we quickly found a male Rüppell's Warbler at the garden.
After that we headed straight to Nemrut mountain at Kahta, Adıyaman. There we stayed at Karadut Pension, which was quite nice.

More on part 2.

Part 2: Nemrut Mountain, Karacadağ and North of Şanlıurfa
11 June:
We woke up at 4:30 AM this morning to greet the sunrise at Mount Nemrut. With it's height of 2,134 meters it is not really a tall mountain. What makes it so special are a bunch of 2000-year old sculptures left from the Commagene Kingdom. You can drive until a cafe-like place where souvenirs and drinks are sold; but to get to the summit you have to walk your way up. The first half of the climb is made easier by stairs, but the second half is mostly boulders and rocks.
At around 5:00 AM we reached the summit (where the statues are located) and shortly after sun showed itself. The first light of the day quickly revealed a male Kurdish Wheatear singing from the top of one of the statues. It was rather confiding and allowed close views. Also seen were several White-winged Snowfinches - which were waaay more tamer than those at Aladağlar, foraging at times around 50 cm away! - and a singing Horned Lark that allowed close views. After a while we descended back to the cafe, but on our way there we stumbled upon a nice male Cinereous Bunting that was singing nicely. We also caught glimpse of a Turkish Hamster.
The cafe was dominated by Rock Sparrows. On a nearby electric pole, a male Common Rock Thrush was singing to a female that was sitting a few hundred meters away from it. We decided to check it out and instead found another male Cinereous Bunting, which gave good photo opportunities. Alpine Choughs and a single Woodchat Shrike was also present.
We were nearly out of the national park when we saw a Chukar Partridge. We stopped to photograph it but instead heard an insect-like voice. We waited for a little and an extremely confiding Pale Rockfinch appared only 3 meters away from the car! It was a very nice bird which sang constantly and got closer and closer. It even landed on the car for a split second. We got lots of shots and continued our way.
From there we checked some gardens below the mountain. Common birds included White-throated Robins, Woodchat Shrikes, Spanish Sparrows and Black-headed Buntings. After a while we found a pair of Rufous-tailed Scrub Robins.
We then visited a canyon-like place further away were we managed to nail our targets Upcher's Warbler and Eastern Rock Nuthatch, although both allowed only brief views.
It was 10:00 AM when we arrived back at the pension. We had breakfast and then slept for a couple of hours. On the garden I found two more scrub-robins. Around 13:30 we were out of the pension.
We moved eastwards to Diyarbakır. We crossed the Atatürk Dam via a newly made bridge and after about 1,5-2 hours of drive we arrived at Karacadağ. On the road we also saw both Griffon and Egyptian Vultures.
Karacadağ is a quite short "mountain" that is quite barren and seems lifeless at first sight. It is also one of the only 4-5 known localities of breeding Spectacled Warblers in Turkey. Right after arrival to the main site the lark activity becomes apparent, with tons of Crested, Greater Short-toed and Bimaculated Larks doing song-flights and perching on rocks. But our main target Spectacled was found somewhat further.
While waiting for it we had another confiding Pale Rockfinch. After a while a male Spectacled Warbler arrived and gradually became close to us. After 15 minutes of photographing, it has exceeded my lenses' focusing limit. It was really cool to see it sing and feed at such a close distance.
From there we moved south, to a village about 50 minutes away. There we visited a large colony of Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters, with a few European Bee-eaters mixed in. It was a nice sight. We also got Black Francolin, Common Woodpigeon and European Roller. Black-winged Kite is also known to occur in the area but the only raptor we found was a Common Kestrel.
We decided to head back to our hotel, but while we were on the road we saw a large pistachio garden. So we went to check it out and bingo! A nice male Yellow-throated Sparrow gave good views.
We stayed at Dedeman Hotel at Urfa. Very nice accommodation.

More on other posts...

Part 3: Steppes of Urfa and Euphrates Shores of Birecik
12 June:
Today we woke up rather early; around 5:00 AM. We quickly hit the road. Our destination was a large area of steppe and semi-desert called Kızılkuyu. The access is normally restricted but you can go in if you are sneaky enough. Our first good bird of the day came in the form of a male See-see Partridge that was wandering on the road. We spent a few minutes with it and obtained close views of it before it flew off. Then we had another male shortly after.
After that we moved onto a pomegranate garden, where a large flock of Spanish Sparrows were present. We did some scrutiny and found no less than 4 Desert Finches. Calandra Lark and Corn Bunting was also seen. We discovered a small waterhole where they came to drink and had close views of all species. Then we continued. On the way we found 3 more males and a female See-see Partridge, which made our total 6.
We then entered a large steppe area with some paths in it. The most abundant bird here was Lesser Short-toed Lark, but birds like Crested Lark and Finsch's Wheatear were also present. At one point a flock of c.20 sandgrouse flied by. Most were Black-bellied Sandgrouse, but we managed to extract a Pin-tailed Sandgrouse from the photographs. We later saw the Pin-tailed at a long distance for a brief moment, too. The much desired for Cream-coloured Courser, however, was nowhere to be found.
We arrived at the hotel around 8:30 and had breakfast. Took a nap for a few hours and checked out around 13:00. We moved to Birecik, which was about an hour away. On the way we also stopped at Halfeti to see the scenery.
Birecik as a town itself is not a very nice place, but the Euphrates shore that crosses the city is just wonderful.
We first headed to the infamous gravel pits to look for babbler. It didn't take us long to obtain brief views of one Iraq Babbler, and in a short time we found about 5 birds, some offering close views. Other birds included at least 2 Menetries's Warblers (which were not friendly at all), a Graceful Prinia, some White-spectacled Bulbulsand several Dead Sea Sparrows. A heronry nearby held good numbers of Pygmy Cormorants and Little & Western Cattle Egrets. Meanwhile the electric poles held an astonishing amount of about 80 Northern Bald Ibises!
We then moved to a cliff to see some swifts on the other side of the city. The first birds we saw were more bald ibises and an European Roller. But soon enough first swifts started to appear. First some Alpine Swifts, then some boring Common Swifts and finally the sought-after Little Swifts. It was quite a challenge to separate the Little Swifts from the similar house martins that were plenty around.
From there we moved on to Gülhane Tea Garden to look for the owl. About 15 minutes later, we found one.
It was 7:00 PM when we moved to our hotel in Gaziantep, which was Dedeman again.

13 June:
Woke up at 8:00 AM. Had breakfast for an hour and headed to Işıklı village. This was close to our hotel (about 15 minutes away). It is basically like a hill with karstic stones and some nice birds. Our target here was Cretzschmar's Bunting. The first bird we saw was an obliging Eastern Rock Nuthatch, and soon enough they became a pair of nuthatches. Birds like Lesser Whitethroat, Eastern Orphean Warbler, Woodchat and Red-backed Shrikes and Black-headed Bunting were also seen.
Bunting proved to be rather tricky but soon enough we found a Cretzschmar's Bunting around a gorge. Had good views of the bird. A male Blue Rock Thrush was singing high up.
Finally on the way back we looked for Upcher's Warbler and found two birds which gave fair views.
We quit birding around 11:00 AM. Checked out and left Gaziantep. And thus, concluded this wonderful trip.

Trip Total

D: Demirkazık Mountain
N: Mount Nemrut
K: Karacadağ
H: Huyuklu Village (bee-eater colony)
U: Kızılkuyu
B: Birecik
I: Işıklı,
Lifers in bold

1. Caspian Snowcock (D)
2. Chukar Partridge (D, N)
3. See-see Partridge (U)
4. Black Francolin (H)
5. White Stork (N, U)
6. Northern Bald Ibis (B, semi-captive)
7. Western Cattle Egret (B)
8. Little Egret (B)
9. Pygmy Cormorant (B)
10. Egyptian Vulture (N)
11. Griffon Vulture (N)
12. Long-legged Buzzard (N)
13. Common Buzzard (I, "Steppe Buzzard")
14. Eurasian Coot (B)
15. Black-headed Gull (near a river somewhere near N)
16. Armenian Gull (B)
17. Pin-tailed Sandgrouse (U)
18. Black-bellied Sandgrouse (U)
19. Rock Dove (jeez...)
20. Common Wood Pigeon (H, B)
21. European Turtle Dove (I, heard only)
22. Eurasian Collared Dove (jeeeeeez)
23. Laughing Dove (N, U, B)
24. Pallid Scops Owl (B)
25. Little Owl (K, U, lilith)
26. Alpine Swift (D, B)
27. Common Swift (jeeeeeeeeez)
28. Little Swift (B)
29. European Roller (H, B)
30. Blue-cheeked Bee-eater (H)
31. European Bee-eater (H, B)
32. Eurasian Hoopoe (je... whatever)
33. Common Kestrel (H)
34. Red-backed Shrike (D, I)
35. Woodchat Shrike (N, I)
36. Eurasian Golden Oriole (D, heard only)
37. Eurasian Magpie (from now on I'm just writing j!)
38. Red-billed Chough (D)
39. Alpine Chough (D, N)
40. Western Jackdaw (j!)
41. Rook (D, H)
42. Hooded Crow (j!)
43. Northern Raven (on the road to N)
44. Eurasian Blue Tit (D)
45. Crested Lark (j!)
46. Horned Lark (D, N)
47. Greater Short-toed Lark (K)
48. Bimaculated Lark (K)
49. Calandra Lark (D, U)
50. Lesser Short-toed Lark (U)
51. White-spectactled Bulbul (B, I)
52. Sand Martin (B)
53. Barn Swallow (j!)
54. Eurasian Crag Martin (D)
55. Common House Martin (j!)
56. Cetti's Warbler (pension at N, heard only)
57. Great Reed Warbler (B)
58. Eastern Olivaceous Warbler (N, I)
59. Upcher's Warbler (N, I)
60. Graceful Prinia (B)
61. Iraq Babbler (B)
62. Lesser Whitethroat (I, heard only)
63. Eastern Orphean Warbler (I)
64. Spectacled Warbler (K)
65. Menetries's Warbler (B)
66. Rüppell's Warbler (that place in Adana)
67. Eastern Rock Nuthatch (N, I)
68. Common Starling (j!)
69. Eurasian Blackbird (D)
70. Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin (N)
71. Spotted Flycatcher (N, I)
72. Common Nightingale (D, Adana place, heard only)
73. White-throated Robin (D, N)
74. Black Redstart (D)
75. Common Rock Thrush (D, N)
76. Blue Rock Thrush (I, heard only)
77. Northern Wheatear (D)
78. Isabelline Wheatear (D)
79. Black-eared Wheatear (N)
80. Finsch's Wheatear (D, U)
81. Kurdish Wheatear (N)
82. House Sparrow (j!!!!)
83. Spanish Sparrow (N, U, B)
84. Dead Sea Sparrow (B)
85. Eurasian Tree Sparrow (D)
86. Pale Rockfinch (N, I)
87. Rock Sparrow (D, N, U)
88. Yellow-throated Sparrow (H)
89. White-winged Snowfinch (D, N)
90. Alpine Accentor (D)
91. Radde's Accentor (D)
92. White Wagtail (D)
93. Common Chaffinch (D, heard only)
94. Eurasian Crimson-winged Finch (D)
95. European Greenfinch (D)
96. Desert Finch (U)
97. Common Linnet (D, N)
98. European Goldfinch (N)
99. Red-fronted Serin (D)
100. Corn Bunting (U)
101. Rock Bunting (D)
102. Cinereous Bunting (N)
103. Ortolan Bunting (D, heard only)
104. Cretzschmar's Bunting (I)
105. Black-headed Bunting (D, N, I)

Great trip, and a great report, thanks.

A very interesting write up of your trip, and some great photos too. Any more photos to come? The evening light on the owl is lovely, but they are all stunning shots.

Cheers

GDK said:

A very interesting write up of your trip, and some great photos too. Any more photos to come? The evening light on the owl is lovely, but they are all stunning shots.

Cheers

Click to expand...

Agree with this - can I ask what camnera gear you were using? If Canon, it looks like at least a 5D.

cheers, alan

Looks like a terrific report and stunning pics - a very enticing report.

Cheers
Mike

Thank you all for your responses. It was a very enjoyable trip with superb birds and wonderful scenery, and I strongly recommend it to any birder.

I have added a have more photographs below, respectively White-winged Snowfinch and Pale Rockfinch (from Mount Nemrut), Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin (in a garden near Nemrut), Bimaculated Lark (Karacadağ) and Desert Finch (Urfa).
My gear is Canon EOS 7D + 400mm 5.6. I must admit that I owe these photos largely to the tameness of the birds rather than my own skill

Cheers.

(note: rockfinch and snowfinch were prepared for HD display, so they might have suffered from the compression algorithm)

Great report and photos. Turkey is such a brilliant country for birds - must go back. Can I ask what the security situation is along the border areas?

DMW said:

Great report and photos. Turkey is such a brilliant country for birds - must go back. Can I ask what the security situation is along the border areas?

Click to expand...

The mountains Demirkazık and Nemrut were hundreds of kilometers away, so no problem with those.
As for southeast, we didn't visit any place that was very close to the Syrian border - the closest we got was the Kızılkuyu area, which was still 70 km away.
We didn't experience any discomfort or danger. You may encounter some Syrian people in the streets but nothing involving guns.

Good to know, thanks.

Amazing mix of what I would call 'european' species and 'eastern' (particularly the mountains).

31 lifers to boot...

A great and gripping read, thanks for reporting :t:

kuzeycem said:

The mountains Demirkazık and Nemrut were hundreds of kilometers away, so no problem with those.
As for southeast, we didn't visit any place that was very close to the Syrian border - the closest we got was the Kızılkuyu area, which was still 70 km away.
We didn't experience any discomfort or danger. You may encounter some Syrian people in the streets but nothing involving guns.

Click to expand...

I agree, stunning images.

Correct me if I am wrong, but surely Birecik is about 15kms away from the Syrian border. It still sends chills through me to think that when I was there last year, the much-publicised battle of Kobani (just half a mile into Syria from Turkey) took place shortly after, just over ten miles away as the crow flies from Birecik, and that Islamic State fighters poured across the insecure border from Turkey. Kizilkuyu, the steppe area south-west of Urfa / Sanliurfa that you mention is also about 15 kms away from the Syrian border and Kobani. I decided against that area as I thought that in such an isolated desert area, it would be a classic area to snatch a westerner and sneak him across the border. I'm not being political, I actually agree (probably like many of us) that the west has quite a lot to answer for with its middle-east policies. But fact is fact, westerners do stand out and caution must be exercised because it only takes one situation to cross paths with such-minded people.

Altho I felt totally safe, because of the proximity to Syria, I didn't stay in Birecik at night and hence dipped on Pale Scops Owl (in the day time), and I didn't venture into the desert areas (Kizilkuyu) slightly south-east of Birecik (and slightly closer to Syria) that are the most reliable for See see, Pale Rock Sparrow etc. These can be found in Birecik itself with luck. Big dips I agree, especially the owl and See-see Partridge.

I travelled daily from Gaziantep and contented my self over 2 days with Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, Iraq Babbler, Dead Sea Sparrow, Yellow-throated Sparrow, Rufous Scrub Robin, Upcher's Warbler, Cinereous Bunting, Eastern Rock Nuthatch, White-throated Robin, Bimaculated Lark, Armenian Gull, which brought me a bucket-load of lifers I was very happy with.

I am sorry if I am sounding alarmist, its a wonderful birding area. But common-sense must currently apply to westerners travelling there. Although you would probably be safe, it could also end in a dreadful way at present. The border area between Turkey and Syria is not very secure because it is long and wide.

wolfbirder said:

I agree, stunning images.

Correct me if I am wrong, but surely Birecik is about 15kms away from the Syrian border. It still sends chills through me to think that when I was there last year, the much-publicised battle of Kobani (just half a mile into Syria from Turkey) took place shortly after, just over ten miles away as the crow flies from Birecik, and that Islamic State fighters poured across the insecure border from Turkey. Kizilkuyu, the steppe area south-west of Urfa / Sanliurfa that you mention is also about 15 kms away from the Syrian border and Kobani. I decided against that area as I thought that in such an isolated desert area, it would be a classic area to snatch a westerner and sneak him across the border. I'm not being political, I actually agree (probably like many of us) that the west has quite a lot to answer for with its middle-east policies. But fact is fact, westerners do stand out and caution must be exercised because it only takes one situation to cross paths with such-minded people.

Altho I felt totally safe, because of the proximity to Syria, I didn't stay in Birecik at night and hence dipped on Pale Scops Owl (in the day time), and I didn't venture into the desert areas (Kizilkuyu) slightly south-east of Birecik (and slightly closer to Syria) that are the most reliable for See see, Pale Rock Sparrow etc. These can be found in Birecik itself with luck. Big dips I agree, especially the owl and See-see Partridge.

I travelled daily from Gaziantep and contented my self over 2 days with Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, Iraq Babbler, Dead Sea Sparrow, Yellow-throated Sparrow, Rufous Scrub Robin, Upcher's Warbler, Cinereous Bunting, Eastern Rock Nuthatch, White-throated Robin, Bimaculated Lark, Armenian Gull, which brought me a bucket-load of lifers I was very happy with.

I am sorry if I am sounding alarmist, its a wonderful birding area. But common-sense must currently apply to westerners travelling there. Although you would probably be safe, it could also end in a dreadful way at present. The border area between Turkey and Syria is not very secure because it is long and wide.

Click to expand...

I think 'Barred Wobbler' had a lucky escape that way on so yes westerners have to exercise caution.

Personally, I will bird Turkey vicariously and enjoy reports such as these...

Agree it's wonderful and the vast majority of residents totally ignore your presence, or are very friendly.

I calculated the distance of Kızılkuyu from the Syrian border via Google maps, which gave me 70 kilometers. However, considering that G. maps estimates the distances by using developed roads, I guess the direct (bird-flight) distance is shorter, though I doubt it is 15 km.
Google maps also estimates the distance between Birecik-Karkamış border gates at roughly 28 kilometers.
On the other hand you are right about the westerners, foreigners are always easier targets. What happened to Barred Wobbler, may I ask?

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=246271&highlight=turkey

its all about attention to detail - it was Jos not barred wobbler but it was Birecik...

Some maps

Attached some maps concerning the distance between the border and Birecik & Kızılkuyu. Also made a rough route of our tour (except Nemrut, which is where it says "Kahta", and Demirkazık which is out of the map borders).