Our first stop was another visit to the Olive groves where we had seen the Eastern Bonelli's Warblers on the previous afternoon. Here, we saw a Middle Spotted Woodpecker that had eluded us on the previous afternoon. However, it wouldn't perform for the camera. A Lesser Spotted Woodpecker was equally unobliging.
Bush Cricket sp.: This looks similar to a pale Roesel's Bush Cricket, but I can't figure out the exact species
Having seen the Middle Spotted Woodpecker, we were soon moving onto the forests above Akseki town to look for Kruper's Nuthatch. It didn't take long to find them. They were fairly common in the area as we saw at least five in the one place we stopped.
Looking for the Kruper's Nuthatch
Kruper's Nuthatch: They occur in the Pine, Cedar & Juniper forests of Turkey and the Caucasus mountains
Kruper's Nuthatch: They are a small and lovely Nuthatch
Southern White Admiral: This is a common species across most of southern Europe, Turkey, the Caucasus, Lebanon, Iraq & Iran
Silver-washed Fritillary: This is a common species that occurs across Europe as far North as Southern Scandinavia, as well, as Turkey, the Caucasus & Ukraine
There was a Laughing Dove in Akseki town as we returned for a late breakfast and to collect our bags from the hotel.
Laughing Dove: This is the nominate senegalensis subspecies which occurs from some of the Greek islands, to Turkey, Israel, West Arabia, Socotra & Sub-Saharan Africa
Our next destination was Sugla Lake, which was a ninety minute drive from Akseki. In the end, it look a lot longer as we saw a Black Stork fly low over a rocky gorge, before landing on its nest on one of the cliffs. Obviously, we all wanted to stop.
Black Stork: Our first sighting was this individual flying low over the road toward the cliffs
Black Stork: It landed on the next on a rocky cliff on the other side of the valley
The Black Stork nest was on a flat area to the left of the large dark cave
Black Stork: There were three large chicks in the nest
Black Stork watching the world go by from its nest
Black Stork: The other adult flew in
Black Stork: One of the adults departed and provided opportunities for photos as it circled low over the road as it gained height
After a half hour, we decided to carry onto Sugla Lake. I will cover the rest of the day in the next Blog Post.
