Turkiye23

A fabulous spring week in south-west Türkiye. We flew in to Izmir and headed south on the first night, to Kusadasi. From there, we explored coastal and inland wetlands, enjoying fabulous flora (including a hyper-endemic Campanula) and birds, including Spur-winged Lapwing, Western Rock Nuthatch and Dalmatian Pelican.

Then we headed inland for a montane interlude around the pretty village of Babadag; a high-altitude wind-turbine maintenance road allowed us to get penicillata Horned Lark, Tawny Pipit, Red-billed Chough and Krüper's Nuthatch.

Next, we shifted for a stay at Denizli, which was a superb base for the nearby Greek sites of Hierapolis and Laodicea, the famous Pamukkale 'white cotton candy' tufa pools (sadly mostly dry - overtourism strikes), the Korkuteli hills and two fabulous and contrasting lakes.

Hierapolis, quite apart from the amazing ruined city (with its theatre and 'plutonium' - Google it!), had great birds too: Western Rock Nuthatch, Finsch's Wheatear, many buntings and Black-headed Buntings fresh in from India. Pamukkale, next to Hierapolis, was a bit overrun and a let-down, frankly. Laodicea was a lovely, quiet, open archaeological site with great mosaics, and birds including Red-footed Falcons, Little Owl and lots of passerines.

A massive highlight was our visit to Acigöl, a salt lake with a scrubby scarp hillside alongside. The diversity was incredible, and we had perhaps our best ever morning in the Western Palearctic: White-throated Robin, Olive-tree, Eastern Olivaceous and Barred Warblers, Eastern Black-eared and Isabelline Wheatears, three shrikes including Masked, Ruddy Shelduck nesting on the cliffs, Greater Flamingo, Sombre Tit, Cretschmar's and Ortolan Buntings, Thrush Nightingale, Blue Rock Thrush, Short-toed Snake Eagle, Long-legged Buzzard and more. Incredible!

The nearby Işıklı lake was a complete contrast; where Acigöl was an alkaline salt lake, this was a lush, shallow, eutrophic affair, loaded with thousands of marsh terns, hirundines, waterbirds of all kinds (including Pygmy Cormorant), Little Crake and more besides.

The Korkuteli hills were a challenge: poor weather and the attentions of the local police as we birded around a radio transmitter! But we found more White-throated Robins, various wheatears, Common Rock Thrush, Rock Sparrow and Greater Short-toed Lark, among others. The big dip of Red-fronted Serin continued throughout the entire trip, sadly, despite a second visit to Babadag on the way back to the coast.

We finished with a wonderful visit to the ruins of Ephesus and the nearby museum: it was a truly sensational site, enhanced by the song of Eastern Orphean Warbler and Bee-eaters overhead.