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as part of the family holiday we drove the hour or so to Patara  Here is its history, It was an ancient Lycian city and not a roman as I initially thought Lycians. Of course I hoped for a few species of bird while we visited but I conclude that the intense heat made birding nigh-on impossible and of the few species seen only Woodchat Shrike and White Stork stood out.

                 and takes his seat



I wonder what this says....


part of the ancient city
and of course the White Storks

 

Other species on show were Little Egrets, Grey Heron, Teal, Mallard, Snipe, Greenshank and Redshank.

The first task was to keep this as the family holiday, with the second task of sneaking in some quality birding time without compramising our relationship

We stayed in Uzumulu, a lovely and generally unspoilt mountian village high above Fetihye. The apartment overlooks open fields and small Olive groves, with a backdrop of small pine covered hills.

A few trips out of the immediate area were to Koya Koy village, Calis marsh, Patara Beach and a two day trip to Ephusus and Pamukkale (future posts will be added for these wonderful places)

51 species were seen during the 10 days - of which 9 were life birds
30 Species were recorded in and around Uzumulu.
5 or so species were not positivly ID so will have to wait for another year.

The weather was incredibly hot and often reached 40-46 degrees celsius so as expected the hours between 9am and 5pm were generally quiet and would have been hard work if I had tried too hard.......

Around Uzumulu:
Housesparrow - as much as I enjoy my garden sparrows, these became a nuisance and were found everywhere and all of the time, they got me lifting the bins far too often.
Collored Dove - abundant in Uzumulu and in large numbers elsewhere
Olivecious Warbler - a smart pair in the village
Syrian Woodpecker - abundant in the village
Housemartin - Nesting around the apartment in large numbers
Masked Shrike - seen nr the apartment on 3 days
Alpine Swift - around the hills of Uzumulu and Kaya Koy
Woodchat Shrike - very showy and in good numbers around the apartment including some juveniles
Blackbird - abundant around the village
Greenfinch - in small numbers around the village also seen at Pamukkale
Jay - abundant everywhere and the atricapillus group with a uniform mantle & nape, black crown.
White Wagtail - numerous sightings around the village with a couple often coming to the pool side
Sparrowhawk - seen on 2 consecutive days over the village both times being mobbed
Swallow - abundant everywhere, try as I might couldnt get a Red Rumped
Great Tit - small numbers around the village and elsewhere
Short-toed Eagle - one seen above Uzumulu while on a mountain walk
Kruipers Nuthatch - a fairly reliable species seen in the village pine forests and a target bird for most visitors to Turkey
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker - a single bird flew to the trees bordering the olive groves next to the apartment
Crested Lark - in good numbers at all sites but great to see and hear a group come to roost every evening in the field next to the apartment
Scops Owl - 2 or 3 heard around the village and although we found the tree that one was calling from a glimpse of it eluded me.
Cuckoo - 2 calling around the village on 3 seperate days
Lesser Whitethroat - a few around the apartment
Blue tit - a few around the apartment and in suprisingly small numbers
Goldfinch - some large roving flocks around the village and also at Pamakkule
Sand Martin - a single bird seen in a flock of Swallows next to the apartment
Yellow Wagtail - single sighting nr apartment
Common Buzzard - a single sighting over the village
Eastern Orphean Warbler - a single sighting nr the apartment
Raven - single sighting over the village and also at Pamukkale
Middle Spotted Woodpecker - a pair seen on the edge of the village and a real bonus as this species was not expected

Calis: - no scope with me so a few species got away as they were a little distant (although I have some camera record shots that I will go through later)
Little Egret - a single bird
Yellow Legged Gull - plenty (but the only Gull species seen)
Little Bittern - seen flying up the river canal and a few on the marsh
Hooded Crow - in good numbers and also over a few other locations
Common Sandpiper - good numbers on the marsh
Redshank - good numbers on the marsh
Spotted Redshank - good numbers on the marsh
Spur Winged Plover - single bird very mobile on the marsh
Coot - single bird
Kingfisher - single bird
Grasshopper Warbler - in the reeds along the embankments and riverways of calis
Reed Warbler - as above
Great Reed Warbler - as above

Pamukkale: other than those species already mentioned above
Hoopoe - flew right past me while walking on the site
Serin - single sighting at the nearby Hierapolis
Rock Nuthatch - in very good numbers.
White Stork- regular in the area especially in the town of Denizli
Wheatear - some confusion with these as they all seemed to have striking large buff edges to the tertials and primaries, but couldnt see what else they could be.
Isabeline Wheatear - a few in the Hierapolis area
Bee-Eater - 10 birds showing fantastically well behind an onyx workshop (part of the coach tour) nr Pamukkale

Patara: (again no scope)
Little Grebe - the only species I could reliably ID and were in large numbers
= a new life bird




Eastern Oprhean Warbler
Rock Nuthatch