Planning trip to Turkey in April/early May (1 Viewer)

Hi everyone. I am a birder from Canada looking to visit western and central Turkey over six weeks. This will be a family vacation combining some cultural and bird-specific sites. We will be in Turkey from April 1 - May 15, beginning in Istanbul and ending at Diyarbakir.

I have previously visited Spain so I do have many common mediterranean/european species, but have over 100 targets. I have identified the Dilek Menderes area, Akseki, Goksu Delta, Demirkazik, Durnalik Birecik/Halfeti, and Nemrut Dagi (Kahta) as primary birding areas.

There is a lot of great info on bird trip reports on the internet, but I was left with three main questions.

A) What is the timing for passage of passerines, and can I expect to see non-breeding species such as Bluethroat, Collared Flycatcher etc. in SW Turkey? Will species such as Radde's Accentor, Hippolais warblers, and Rufous Bush Robin, be absent before mid-May? Would there be any movement of raptors over the Bosphorus in the first week of April?

B) A few species seem unreliable in recent years. Does anyone have any current information on locating pelicans (both species), eagles (Lesser Spotted, White-tailed), Greater Sand Plover, Cream-coloured Courser, Pied Kingfisher, Blue-cheeked Bee-eater?

C) What is the status of Sultan Marshes in terms of water levels and bird diversity? Anything there worth seeing?

D) A lot of people refer to an article in Birding World Magazine on Nemrut Dagi. As a Canadian, the price to purchase an issue and ship it over here is exorbitant. Does anyone know if there is a way to view/purchase it locally in Canada/US?

Also feel free to share any overall travel advice or suggestions. Your help is greatly appreciated.

I'm going back a few years but did a trip to Turkey over a similar period.

A) I didn't see Bluethroat in Turkey, but I suppose you could get them. I saw a lot of Collared Flycatchers through much of southern Turkey around mid to late April. I saw Radde's Accentor at Demirkazik around early May (I think). I expect you could find them earlier than that. Rufous Bush Robin was at Birecik around late April. Olivaceous Warblers were common by then but I didn't see any Olive Tree Warblers. I think they might arrive a bit later. I didn't spend much time in Istanbul but did see a lot of storks passing through in the first week in April. I expect you should get some good raptor passage then.

B) I'm not sure of the current position on any of these. In 1996 I saw Pied Kingfisher quite easily in Birecik and also saw Lesser Spotted and White-tailed Eagles in northwest Turkey in early April.

I can't provide any help with C) or D). You should see a lot of birds though. Migration is very good in Turkey and you won't have too much difficulty seeing an awful lot of migrants pretty much everywhere. The Goksu Delta is fairly hard work to do but is a really good place for birds - probably the best wetland I've been to in the Western Palearctic. The Birecik area was also terrific when I went there.

Hi there,

I took a trip to Western Turkey five years ago in December - honeymoon plus some birding!

If time allows, the town and lake of Koycegiz is worth a look as it is a reliable spot for White-breasted kingfisher - a short stroll around the northern lake shores gave good views, especially near Hamitkoy village. Also saw this species very well at Dalyan too, in particular by the Roman ruins there. Also had Penduline tit very close. Lots of reedbeds, scrub and flooded pastures here so all good birding habitat.

Spent quite a bit of time at Egirdir - best bird by far was Red-fronted serin which was present in the nearby foothills by the commando base. I should imagine that a spring visit would be excellent for passerines. Also checked out the nearby reserve at Kovada Golu which had extensive reedbeds and marshes. In winter it was chock full of herons, bittern and snipe.

I guess you will head to Ephesus at some point - another good birding spot, with plenty of Western rock nuthatches around the ruins.

Thanks all for your help.

Hello Daniele,

you may find my website www.dalyanbirding.com useful, there are other links on there for you to look at. As others have pointed out there is a chance of the white breasted kingfisher in the aera. White Tailed Eagle is seen at times around the lake. As a family destination Dalyan is very good and the lake should have a number of terns still present.

Rufous Bush Robin is common around Dalyan and youmaywish to look at the Eskikoy site on my website which is a good venue for this bird. Shot Toed Eagle and Marsh Harries are frequent also.

good luck
Brendan

You may also wish to consider a trip to Seki and Girdev Lake which is not far from Fethiye. Went there for a day on an organised trip on the 11th May 2010 and recorded the following

Black Headed Bunting, Cretzchmars Bunting, Ortolan Bunting, Northern Wheatear, Black Eared Wheatear, Corn Bunting, Hooded Crow, Crested Lark, House Martin, Blackbird, Starling, Rock Nuthatch, House Sparrow, Barn Swallow, Swift, Isabelline Wheatear, Spanish Sparrow, White Throated Robin, Rock Bunting, Red Backed Shrike, Linnet, Blue rock thrush, Snowfinch, Finschs Wheatear, Rock Sparrow, Red Billed Chough, Red fronted Serin, Hoopoe, Mistle Thrush, Common Serin, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Black Stork, White Stork, Grey Heron, Great Crested Grebe, Pochard, Mallard, Little Grebe,
Black necked Grebe, Coot, Syrian Woodpecker, Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, Long Legged Buzzard, Rock Thrush, Crag Martin, Chukar Partridge, Collared Dove, Chaffinch and Long Tailed Tit