Drove down to a lake some 30 minutes from our hotel, set amidst a flat landscape of arable fields. I didn’t really know what to expect but needn’t have worried as the site was full of birds. Indeed on every site visited throughout the tour, including random roadside stops, we’ve always found plenty of birds.
Along the way I heard a Black Francolin calling and we hopped out and had our first brief view of this species running along the top of a ridge, but further on a francolin was on the road in front of us and we got incredibly close as it hunkered down in a roadside ditch. A pair of Black-shouldered Kites were also seen nearby. Once at the lake, we had a fine time notching up several new species for the trip.
On the right-hand side of the road, a large muddy area hosted 30+ Little Stints, 2 Ruff, 12 Common Ringed Plovers, 3 Wood Sandpipers, Kentish Plover, 6 Black-winged Stilts and, best of all, a Broad-billed Sandpiperagain expertly spotted by Vince. We also scoped a singing Great Reed Warbler, had a few views of Little Bittern, and there was also Great Egret, Little Egret, Western Cattle Egret, Purple & Grey Herons, and 8+ Black-crowned Night Herons. A feldegg Western Yellow Wagtail posed nicely, a pair of Little Terns flew around, and a Calandra Lark was scoped. It was all very leisurely but thoroughly enjoyable.
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| Not bad for a phone scope is it? Yet another Little Bittern... |
After having our last field breakfast, we drove back up the country lane a short distance before stopping to check a nice spot with some reeds and tall trees. I’d spotted a Dead Sea Sparrows nest on the way in earlier this morning and the male was in full song. Strangely, we found a family group of Iraq Babblers here – slightly out of range but nor surprising I suppose as it’s only an hour away from Birecik.
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| Iraq Babbler |
Anyway, a flyby Gull-billed Tern was new for the trip, a pair of Sardinian Warblers were the first of the trip, a Cetti’s Warbler gave glimpses in the rank vegetation, and Syrian Woodpecker & Eurasian Hoopoe appeared before we had to leave and head back to the hotel to pack.
A 2 hour drive to our lunch spot followed, where White-throated Kingfisher was the last new addition to the trip list and from here all we had to do was drive 50 minutes to Adana airport and fly to Istanbul where we were overnighting. Some of us were returning to the UK whilst a few of us were heading off to Mongolia and another new adventure in the morning.
What a superb trip this was, with a great group, much banter and fun along the way. Thanks to everyone for making this so pleasurable and we hope to see you all again in the future.
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