We couldn't get a pre-dawn breakfast at the hotel, so Soner & I found something basic at a street stall in Birecik. We had succeeded in seeing Iraq Babbler, Bruce's Scops Owl, Desert Finch and some nice Sparrow species on the previous afternoon. That still left quite a few species I hadn't seen them since the 1986 Turkish trip, that I would have liked to look for on my final morning. The main species were See-see Partridge, Eastern Rock Nuthatch, Menetries's Warbler, Kurdish Wheatear and Cinereous Bunting. The first three were possible to see in the Birecik area and Soner had a site for Cinereous Bunting on the route back. Unfortunately, the Kurdish Wheatear would have meant an early start to get to the best site and I wouldn't have had the time to do any more Birding at Birecik and still be back in Adana for the late afternoon check in at the airport. As none of them were Ticks, I decided to try for all, but the Kurdish Wheatear. Our first location was to look for the See-see Partridges by driving the sandy road on the North East side of Birecik towards Birecik Dam, before too many other cars were heading that way. It didn't take long before we bumped into the first of several See-see Partridges.
See-see Partridge: A Male feeding on the road until we stopped, when it legged it and then sat on distant rocks
See-see Partridge: Male. This monotypic species occurs from arid South East Turkey & the Middle East to South West Russia & Pakistan
It's not surprising that we also saw a Turtle Dove and a few Collared Doves on this drive.
Turtle Dove: This is the nominate turtur subspecies which occurs on the Azores, the Canary Islands & from Europe to West Siberia & Kazakhstan
Turtle Dove: It was good to see this species which is now a notable species to bump into on migration in Dorset
Collared Dove: This is the nominate decaocto subspecies which occurs from Europe to the Middle East, India, Sri Lanka, West China & Korea. They have been introduced in North America, the Caribbean & Mexico
Olive groves between Birecik and Birecik Dam
We carried on North along the sandy road until we reached the Birecik Dam. I was disappointed to find there was little reed edging to the dam, which would limit the expansion of the Iraq Babbler population around Birecik.
A wet corner by the Birecik Dam
Birecik Dam holds water back on the River Euphrates for about fifteen miles
A close inspection of this photo shows this village is abandoned: A couple of the buildings are partly underwater and there are no windows in any of the buildings
Pygmy Cormorant: The monotypic species occurs in inland lakes & rivers of South East Europe to central Asia
Syrian Woodpecker: This monotypic species occurs from South East Europe to Turkey, Israel, Jordan, Transcaucasia & Iran
Swallow: This is the nominate rustica subspecies which occurs from Europe & North Africa to West Asia and winters in Sub-Saharan Africa & South Asia
Red-rumped Swallow: Not a great photo, but it shows their distinctive shape well
Red-rumped Swallow: This is the rufula subspecies which occurs from the Iberian Peninsula to North Africa, Iran, Afghanistan & North West India
Sombre Tit: This is the anatoliae subspecies which occurs from South Greece to Turkey, West Georgia, Armenia, North Iraq & North West Iran
Yellow-vented Bulbul: This monotypic species occurs from coastal South Turkey to the Near East, the Sinai Peninsula & Arabia
Yellow-vented Bulbul: This species was called Yellow-vented Bulbul when I first saw it in 1986 and I've kept with that name, despite Clements & IOC renaming it to White-spectacled Bulbul
Yellow-vented Bulbul: The pale yellow vent is visible, which is a feature which is shared with several other Bulbul species
Black-headed Bunting: Male. This monotypic species occurs from Italy & the Balkans, Greece & Turkey to South East Ukraine, South West Russia & the Caucasus, to North Israel, North Jordan, North West Syria, North Iraq & Iran to India
Yellow-throated Sparrow: This is the transfuga subspecies which occurs from South East Turkey to Iraq, South Iran, South Pakistan & North West India
This attractive large boulder almost looks like an Agama Lizard's head
One closer inspection, the eye is actually a nest: Soner thought this was an Eastern Rock Nuthatch nest. We only saw Eastern Rock Nuthatches in the Birecik area, albeit both are in range according to eBird
After a couple of hours on the tracks North of Birecik and Birecik Dam, we headed back into town and found some breakfast near the Bald Ibis captive breeding centre. There was a Roughtail Rock Agama in the cafe's garden.
Roughtail Rock Agama: This is the widespread and common Agama in Turkey
Roughtail Rock Agama: Head and shoulders
After some breakfast in Birecik, we headed off West for an hour to our final Birding site in Turkey to look for Cinereous Buntings.
There were Olive groves in some parts of the journey to Gaziantep
Very uninspiring tower blocks on the edge of Gaziantep
A large mosque on the edge of Gaziantep
A Silk Road Camel Caravan alongside the main road through Gaziantep
A second Silk Road Camel Caravan alongside the main road through Gaziantep: It's a pity there was nowhere to pull off to take some better photos of these statues
We only had another fifteen miles to travel before we reached our final Birding site at Durnalik. I will cover that in the next and final Turkish Blog Post.
