Hi All,
I did a few little walks out :-
The walk opposite the school (nr Ley Ley) was good.... there were Rollers around at the alloted spot, but also Kestrels nesting which was creating a certain amount of tension! I didn't want to hang around and add to the problems, so didn't get any indication of a potential nest-site, but it seems likely. There were also Rock Nuthatches in the same area.
Walking on further down the same track, I saw a family party of Kruper's Nuthatches (anyone ever noticed that this species and Long-tailed Tits often hang out together) and also my #1 target for the week - Ruppell's Warbler. This was a not very good sighting of a quite dowdy individual, but it was good in as much as it did enable me to learn the song - which proved handy the following day!
The following day, I did the walk starting from directly opposite Ley Ley, seeing both Woodchat and Masked Shrikes early doors after taking the left track at the 1st junction (there was also a Nightingale's nest at this junction) I then made my was slowy along the track for maybe a mile, reaching a new-ish seating area in a dry river gulley. This is quite a junction point for a number of tracks, and I explored them all for a couple of hundred metres each.
This area was productive, with at least 3 singing Ruppell's Warbler plus more Kruper's Nuthatch - very good!
Other general observations around Dalyan....
Most reliable spot for Rollers seems to be the area near the river around by where the municipal tip is (lake-side of town).... I was never able to actually pin-point where they were nesting - presumably on the cliff-face somewhere - but did see them every day. A very irritating species to try to photograph, as they are extremely intolerant of human presence and normally push off when you are still 150m away!
The area around the dog pound and sewage works is very good for insects, and therefore no great surprise that it should also be good for Shrikes, with both Woodchat and Masked Shrikes being common. I located a nest of Masked Shrikes and they obvious got used to my presence, with the adult birds coming and feeding around me as if I wasn't there - one magical moment when the female hovered within touching distance in front of me before diving down to catch a grasshopper. Quite a sight to see 6 very well grown youngsters all squeezed into a ludicrously small nest - they fledged successfully while I was there.
There was aShort-toed Eagle seen on a number of times patrolling the Kaunos side of the river.
On previous visits, there have been Scops Owls in and around town.... didn't hear any this time until the last night when I heard one calling - appeared to be from the area around the Jandarma.
A few slightly unusual sightings.... 4 Flamingoes and a Mute Swan(!) on the lagoon by Iztuzu beach and a LSW on one of the tracks at the northern side of town...
All-in-all, a great trip... I didn't bother doing a species list, but got most of the usual suspects and Ruppell's Warbler was a lifer!
I haven't sorted my pics out from this time yet - but will add some from previous visits in a minute.
Oh - nearly forgot.... Didn't go out hunting for White-throated Kingfisher, but did visit the area to the W of Koycegiz and also the bridge over the Namnam when passing, and didn't see or hear anything this time.... first time I've failed to see this species.
All the best.... Ray
