1 Feb 25 - ORCA Saga Eastern Med Cruise Day 13 - Back To Turkey

Our fifth shore run on the Saga Eastern Mediterranean Cruise was to Antalya on the Turkish South coast. We awoke to find we were tied up in the harbour, so there was no chance of any surveying. However, we could still watch the sunrise.

Sunrise from Antalya port

I've been to Turkey on two previous trips. The first time was a three week late Spring trip around the country in 1986 with Dave Unsworth, Mark Ponsford and Nigel Goodgame. I returned for a week-long trip in late May/early June 15 with Nigel Jones, Simon Ingram and Bob Marchant to the South to see the Brown Fish Owls that had been discovered a few years earlier. It also allowed me to see Radde's Accentor, which I missed on the first trip, and Iraq Babbler, which had expanded into the Birecik area in the previous decade. As a consequence, there is no chance of any World Ticks for me in Turkey and nothing of note close to Antalya, that would warrant a trip to try and see.

The hills behind the port looked good in the early morning sun

Looking at the hills West of the port

It didn't take long for the early morning glow of the hills to disappear.

It didn't take long for the early morning glow of the hills to disappear

Snow on the distant mountains

Another view of the coastal hills

Turkish Frigate TCG Kemalreis (F 247): Antalya port is also a naval base

A visiting French Frigate: This is the Commandant Birot (F796)

With no interesting Birding options, I teamed up with Karen, Terry & Lexie to visit the Lower Duden Waterfalls, where there are waterfalls that fall into the sea. Due to a translating error we ended up at the Upper Duden Waterfalls, which are about ten miles further upriver. There is an uninspiring park near the entrance. However, the waterfalls themselves are quite scenic, as the locals have carved tunnels into the rocks to allow better views of the waterfalls.

Lexie checking out this great phone box

There were some good views of the waterfalls and river

Looking from one of the tunnels under the waterfalls

Inside of the tunnels

Looking back on one of the waterfalls

The river

On the lower part of the waterfalls, we found a cave with a small hollow. There were a group of Egyptian Fruit Bats roosting in the hollow. Not all were asleep, as we could hear them chattering to each other.

The Egyptian Fruit Bat cave: It was good to see a sign warning people not to disturb them

There are two Egyptian Fruit Bats in this photo: Their range includes Egypt, other coastal countries around the Eastern Mediterranean, the Arabian Peninsula, as well as, East, South & West Africa

Egyptian Fruit Bats: I reckon there are more than five individuals in this photo

Turkish Moth sp.

Grey Wagtail: This is the nominate cinerea subspecies which occurs from the Canary Islands, Europe & north Africa, East to Siberia & Japan. There are two other subspecies which are restricted to the Azores & Madeira, respectively

House Sparrow: This is the biblicus subspecies which occurs from Cyprus to Turkey, the Levant, North Saudi Arabia, Iraq & West Iran

We had time for a quick coffee before we had to leave. There was a guy making and selling small glass ornaments by the entrance. He was very talented and I couldn't resist buying a couple of small glass penguins.

He had a good way of attracting attention to his table by making glass ornaments

He was making another penguin body

Our time at the waterfalls was up, so we headed back to Antalya and got the taxi driver to drop us close to the centre. As the centre was several miles from the port, Saga had laid on regular coach shuttles back to the port. First, we decided to explore the town centre.

After a short walk we reached the edge of the old town walls

A mosque near the old walls

This looks like another old small mosque

The sun set well before dark, due to the hills near the port.

The setting sun was impressive

There were good shades to the hills as the sun dropped

Despite the sun dropping, there was still light to look for Cetaceans once we left the port. We didn't see any Cetaceans, but there was a large flock of over one hundred and fifty Yellow-legged Gulls. We were sailing for Rhodes, which I will cover in the next Blog Post.

Despite the sun dropping, there was still light to look for Cetaceans once we left the port

31 Jan 25 - ORCA Saga Eastern Med Cruise Day 12 - Historical Birding In Cyprus

Our fourth landing on the Saga Eastern Mediterranean Cruise was Paphos in Cyprus. It was a very different location to the previous day in Limassol, despite being only an hours' drive along the coast. Limassol was an uninspiring industrial port, with its most interesting point being it was within walking distance of the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri. Paphos was a smaller town with a population of around thirty-five thousand, which is under a quarter of the population of Limassol. Secondly, Paphos doesn't have a large harbour complex. Consequently, we were ferried ashore by some of the ship's tenders, which double up as lifeboats. Going ashore by tender is extra hassle for the ship's crew and therefore, my initial reaction was the destination must be interesting enough to warrant the extra effort. I was not wrong.

Paphos Castle: The quayside Paphos Castle greeted our arrival. It was originally a Byzantine fortress built to protect the port, until it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1222. It was later restored by the Ottomans in 1592

This ancient harbour is used by small boats

A nice quayside statue

There is a two square kilometre Paphos Archaeological Park behind the harbour. This is part of a World Historical Site which protects the important ancient Greek and Roman city. The Greek city dates back to about 400 BC. It is still being excavated, but so far, four large and elaborate Roman villas: the House of Dionysos, the Villa of Aion, the House of Theseus and the House of Orpheus, all with superb preserved mosaic floors have been discovered. The site is fenced off with a good walkway around the coastal edge of the site. We decided to walk this area first.

The path along the edge of the Paphos Archaeological Park: This proved to be a worthwhile place for Birding

Stonehenge-on-sea

The shoreline looks like it will attract Waders during their migration season

Crested Lark: There were several Crested Larks along the path

Crested Lark

Crested Lark

I was pleased when Terry spotted this Red-throated Pipit feeding just inside the fence.

Red-throated Pipit: This monotypic species breeds in the tundra of the North Palearctic & Alaska. They winter from Africa to Indonesia

Red-throated Pipit: A good view of the whitish tramlines on the mantle

Red-throated Pipit: A species I would love to find at St Aldhelms, albeit it won't look as smart in the Autumn

Red-throated Pipit: This individual is clearly moulting right to left on its throat

Red-throated Pipit

Red-throated Pipit

Clouded Yellow: There were a few Butterflies along the pathway, but only species that occur in the UK

Small White

Zitting Cisticola: This is the neuroticus subspecies which occurs in Cyprus, the Levant, Iraq & West Iran

House Sparrow: This is the biblicus subspecies which occurs in Cyprus, North Israel & North West Jordan to West Syria, South East Turkey to North West Iran

House Sparrow

Laughing Dove: This is the senegalensis subspecies which is spreading West from Turkey to neighbouring islands and Greece

Laughing Dove: The subspecies also occurs in West Arabia, Socotra & Sub-Saharan Africa

The Paphos Lighthouse lies within the Archelogical Park

The MV Demetrios II which ran aground in 1988: It's looks too fragile to remove it now, even if there was the will

Woolly Mammoth: I didn't expect to see this at Paphos. Apparently, there is a Hairy Rhinoceros in the adjacent shopping centre

I will cover the rest of the visit to Paphos in the next Blog Post.