Honey-Buzzard Heaven

Tabaklar Ponds

Today we move on, so breakfast was at 7.30 am, departing at 8.30 am.  We were heading for Tuzla where there is a huge lake, but we did stop for restrooms and a leg stretch on the way.   In the orchard behind the service station an ortolan bunting entertained us coming to land on nearby wires.

Once on the minor road to Tuzla we stopped regularly to look for birds along the river.   Pied and white breasted kingfisher were great to see, but the "wow" of the day was a huge "kettle" of over 80 honey buzzard interspersed with several levant sparrowhawk.   One went into a stoop as I followed it with the bins - a fantastic sight as it dropped from the sky to the ground in seconds, only to soar once more seconds later.

Migrating White Pelicans

Cattle egret, little egret and black-crowned night-heron all added to the list - the latter sharing a local nest site with the little egret on an island in the river.  Penduline tit called but was only seen by one member of the party.   We also caught up with moorhen and coot.   As our guides drove the two vehicles ahead, we sauntered along the road, I heard a warbler which I remembered from an earlier trip on Lesvos but couldn't place - I saw the bird fly nearby and watched, as it moved in nearby tamarisk, I followed it until it moved nearer others who confirmed it as olivaceous warbler.

As we continued the road got more bumpy and as we started to tire, we neared the lake - the distant sight of around 800 white pelicans on migration added to the excitement.   On arrival at Tuzla another huge flock of large birds greeted us, this time flamingos, over 350 of them.  

Tuzla Lake (with distant flamingo feeding)

Nearer to the road on the shallow margins were curlew sandpiper in summer plumage - far easier to identify here than in the UK when they generally appear in non-breeding plumage.   Little stint, ringed plover, turnstone, curlew, black-winged stilt and dunlin all fed greedily, overhead common and little terns looked for fish - one little tern carrying a fish called, dropped the fish then re-caught it, showing brilliant aerial skills.  

We carried on to the end of the road then settled down for an hour or so's birding and lunch - lunch was a challenge as the birds constantly caught our attention with both their identification challenges and their antics.   Two white-winged black terns perched on the ground - the first time I have had the opportunity to see them face on - showing black plumage with their white wings just showing and brilliantly illustrating their name.

A scrubby area nearby started to attract our attention as spotted flycatcher, thrush nightingale, Spanish sparrow and blackcap flitted between the trees and grass.   At one stage I noticed a masked shrike sitting on top of a post - delightful!

Heading into the mountains

As Mitko packed lunch away the rest of us wandered off to get closer views of some of these busy birds.   Many blackcaps and sparrows, but also a couple of lesser whitethroat, three barred warbler and olive-tree warbler.   A pallid harrier flew overhead, circled above us and then flew away looking for rather smaller prey.   A site well worth more time, but unfortunately for us it was time to move on to our next venue.

Back down the bumpy road another huge flock of about 500 white pelican met us - again hundreds of birds flying in close groups and lines migrating to breeding grounds in Bulgaria and Rumania.   As we moved further north towards our next destination the weather worsened and as we headed into road works the rain fell once more.   iPods, books and snoozing were the order of the day for some.   I decided to write the start of this blog.

Eventually we arrived at Churkurbag, a small village set in the Demirkazik mountains.   A comfortable family run guest house was our home for the next couple of nights.   After we had settled into our rooms it was time for the checklist and dinner - taken out on a balcony running along the side of the house.   Great to be outside, but a little chilly to say the least.   Fleeces and several pairs of socks were needed to keep the body temperatures up - it certainly stopped us staying out late, which was fortuitous as we had a very early start in the morning.