31/12/2023
Having had various things taking up time recently I’ve been getting lax on updating here. I doubt there’s much interest in a detailed update so just a couple of recent sightings and observations.
Christmas Day was t-shirt weather and a couple of drinks by the lake were enlivened by a Whiskered Tern skirting the Black headed Gull flock and patrolling the promenade. A surprise but apparently small numbers winter around the Mediterranean region.
Whilst pointing out a lake crossing Marsh Harrier to a pal a larger bird behind turned out to be a White tailed Eagle, always a magnificent sight.
A few more Black necked Grebes can be found around the lake now if walking the prom.
A wander up to the flooded marshy areas gave a count of over 30 Wood Sandpipers, 3 Green Sandpipers, 30 plus Common Snipe, and an oddly displaced Chukar. A Great Bittern flew low along the Hamitkoy reedbeds and Night Herons have been coming to the boatyard forest side at dusk.
The Turkish version of Long tailed Tit has been passing through the garden regularly in good numbers , and a couple of Sombre Tits are around. A couple more sightings of Hawfinch along the tree avenue were welcome, also a couple of Bramblings amongst the countless Chaffinch flock.
A new garden bird was a flushed Common Snipe. Also a couple of Cattle Egrets took a short cut past our window this week. Collins doesn’t have them as wintering in this area but I’m reasonably sure a local has recorded them regularly from Eskikoy too. Corn Bunting and Reed Buntings have been just making it into my dodgy, extremely liberal recording area on occasion.
Sparrowhawks have been getting bolder, hunting acrobatically between the mandarin trees and flashing past the windows of the flat.
Goshawk sightings have dropped off so a fine male atop the pine tree was a relief. I was alerted by the Hooded Crow, Magpie and Jay cacophony resulting from this. The Goshawks may still be regularly visiting though, I found chicken feathers beneath the pine one morning.
Lesser, Greater, Middle Spotted and Syrian Woodpeckers are all visiting and much easier to see as the leaves drop. The Lesser Spotted being particularly easy to watch.
ChiffChaffs are everywhere, and there’s a male Lesser Whitethroat and a couple of Sardinian Warblers visiting the garden too.
The Wild Boar seem to have reached monstrous proportions from the evidence of footprints, turds , earth excavation and the height of plucked satsumas. The last time I camera trapped, the youngsters were now quite hefty but this strikes me as being a new herd. The amount of digging, foraging in the wood piles and left over fruit skins suggests numbers are high again.
Beech Marten was seen on our road recently, and the early morning roof space thudding and banging suggests there’s one living with us!
Happy New Year!
