Photography, rowing and the pursuit of data.....and Renee  

Greece   Athens & Islands​​

​Athens

Stores

Museum 

Acropolis 

Meteora Monastries 14 hr day - 4hrs each way bus.  Slightly shorter from Thessaloniki.

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Santorini

Hill top 

Snorkel cruise 

Ruins

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Crete

Knossos 

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Alexander home

Pella museum north of Thessaloniki

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Turkey  Istambul & Cappodocia

Instambul

Aya Sofya

blue mosque

Sulemanye Mosque - lp recommend

topkapi palace

Basilica Cistern - classic pillars 

Bosphorous Cruise - 2 hrs at 10:35 uzun bogaz turu

grand bazarr - textiles in LP

museum of turkish and islamic arts

istambul archeology museum.

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Around Instambul 

Igneada Forests NP - birding & Kyacking & Beaches​

Edirne  - Selimiye Mosque

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Cappodocia 

​Hot air balloon 

Open air museum rock churches

Derinkuyu  Underground city

Love Valley Fairy Chimneys

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Izmir - West coast 

Agora of Smyrna - arches in Izmir

flamingoes gediz deltasi close to izmir

Epheysus 

Bafa Lake - lp 

bodrum castle

Pamukkae terraces  water limited 3 hrs from izmir

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Hatttusa - Hittite capital

bafra headland birds

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Nemrut Nagi heads -SE 

Gobelki Tepe

cendere bridge

halfeti eufrates tour

zeugma mosaic museum

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We recommends Istanbul‘s Black Sea shores to look for divers, waterfowl, gulls and terns. Lake Terkos, Belgrade Forest and Lake Büyükçekmece are three other options for birdwatching around Istanbul. In spring, large flocks migrating from Africa to Europe fly through the city. Observers may come across ospreys, greater spotted eagles, eastern imperial eagles, storks, short-toed snake eagles, black kites, sparrow hawks, black storks, buteos, Eurasian hobbies and stock doves. Most of these birds fly over land to save energy, taking advantage of warm air currents.

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Bafa Lake Bird Sanctuary, located between Söke district of Aydın and Muğla, has significance since it hosts endangered bird species such as crested pelicans and sea eagles. The Lake and its wide range of environment offer value for ornithology. 260 bird species can be observed in 16 thousand hectares. The largest lake in Turkey’s Aegean region, Lake Bafa is another birdwatching spot that draws ornithologists from around the world, mostly in spring.

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The Göksu Delta in Mersin is an internationally important region that offers the opportunity of living, breeding, feeding and accommodation to rare and endangered bird species. Approximately 300 species of birds use one of the world’s leading bird migration routes, as a wintering and incubation area, contributing to the formation of an interesting and lively landscape in almost every season of the year. Besides the domestic birds, the purple gallinule, which is seen in rare parts of the Mediterranean and becoming harder and harder to see, is the symbol of the region.

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The most spectacular migration in Turkey, however, is the flight of storks down Istanbul’s Bosphorus Strait in Spring and Autumn. During this time more than quarter of a million storks fly over the city in vast clouds.

Rueppel’s Warbler (Sylvia rueppelli), Northern Bald Ibis (Geronticus eremita),  Spur-winged Plover (Vanellus spinosus),  Pallid Scops Owl (Otus brucei), Masked Shrike (Lanius nubicus),  Wallcreeper (murariai),  White-throated Robin (Irania gutturalis),  White-throated Kingfisher (Halcyon smymensis)

https://eskapas.com/birdwatching-in-turkey/

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​The main migration routes are along the Bosphorus and Canakkale Straits and the valleys of the Eastern Black Sea. The sight of the sky filled with tens of thousands of wheeling storks or soaring eagles over a great city like Istanbul is unforgettable. The best time of year to see these remarkable phenomena are April – May, and August – September, and the best vantage points in Istanbul are the hills of Sariyer and Camlica overlooking the Bosphorus. In a study carried out thirty years ago, nearly 350,000 storks were counted over Istanbul for two months in autumn.

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Birdwatchers who come to Turkey for the first time should certainly start or end their journey in Istanbul if they come in those months. The other must on their itinerary is the wetlands, of which the nearest to Istanbul is just a two and a half-hour drive away. This is Kuscenneti, one of Turkey’s first national parks, near Bandirma. Although this consists of a small willow forest on the shores of Lake Manyas (alias Kus Golu), astonishingly large numbers of birds come here. Large species which nest in the willow copses include spoonbills, squacco herons, night herons, little egrets, grey herons, glossy ibis, cormorants, and pygmy cormorants. Dalmatian pelicans, which are endangered species, breed on special platforms built for them here. If you come in May or June, try looking out from the observation tower in this bird sanctuary.

​https://travelatelier.com/blog/migratory-birds-turkey/

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