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SW. Turkey -Patara, 21/8/95 - 4/9/95 ,

Summary of bird species seen whilst on holiday at Patara SW Turkey.

Patara is a small holiday village approximately 25km from the holiday resort of Kalkan. It is 5km from the beach, which is well known.  It is also well known as a site of historical interest.  Access to both areas is quite easy.

The village itself is not to commercialised and still retains a rural atmosphere and the locals are extremely friendly. Accommodation is served by several methods, large hotels, family hotels and pensions.

Patara lies on a plain of agricultural land behind the open sea and is flanked by foothills before rising to the range of mountains which surround it.

Access to various sites of interest in the near vicinity, (historical, holiday resorts and larger towns) is easy as most of them are serviced by the local Dolmus which is cheap and regular.

Daily Summary:

21/8/95   Journey from Dalman to Patara.

• Honey Buzzard - one seen flying over the airport.
• Shrike sp. - several seen on wires.
• Hooded Crow - several.
• Jay

22/8/95   Patara, small marsh and lagoon near to the entrance of the ruins (6.15 - 9.00am)

• Black-winged Stilt - one flyover.
• Coot
• Green Sandpiper - four
• Little Grebe - five
• Bee-eaters - several flying around
• Hirundines - mixed flock of Swallow and Red-rumped Swallow

Hillside overlooking the marsh:

• Masked Shrike - male plus juvenile
• Red-backed Shrike
• Syrian Woodpecker - two
• Blackbirds - several

Walk to Patara beach through the ruins and sand dunes:

• Lanner Falcon - immature hunting over the hillside
• Roller - one which flew across the road
• Glossy Ibis - one soaring over the marsh being mobbed by Hirundines

23/8/95   Patara Marsh  (6.30 - 8.30am)

• Purple Heron - one flew across the marsh and landed in a cut area
• Large Swallow roost - including several Red-rumped
• Bee-eater - 100+ flying over and calling
• Wood Sandpiper - four
• Green Sandpiper - one
• Little-ringed Plover
• White Wagtail - four
• Coot - two
• Moorhen
• Little Grebe - ten
• Little Bittern - walking along the edge of the reeds
• Kingfishers -eight
• Fan-tailed Warblers
• Sandpiper sp. - thought to be Marsh:  like a small Greenshank, slimmer, longer legged, needlepoint dark bill, clear eye stripe, white faced, mantle scalloped with pattern of black brown. Fawn neck and lesser markings on the fawnish breast, greenish coloured legs which trailed behind when flying. Strong white Vee on the rump in flight.

24/8/95  Walk through the forest to the beach.

• Long-legged Buzzard - flying across the hillside
• Nutcracker - two flew across the path in front of me
• Swallow / Red-rumped - several
• Great Tit
• Blue Tit
• Jay - several
• Collared Dove - several
• Bee-eaters - several flying around and calling
• Peregrine - sat on a dead tree

Walk through ruins and sand dunes (pm. )

• Hoopoe - one flew in front of us and landed in a stubble field
• Lesser Grey Shrike - one perched in the top of a tree
• Crested Lark - six in stubble fields
• Spanish Sparrow - several in the stubble field
• Woodchat Shrike - immature
• Red-backed Shrike - male
• Jay - several
• Nightingale - one which crept around in the base of a bush but eventually gave good views
• Wheatear - three

25/8/95  Patara Marsh  (7.15 - 8.30am)

• Hirundines - large roost
• Bee-eaters - c50 flying about
• Coot - two
• Moorhen
• Little Grebe - ten
• Kingfisher - nine
• Green Sandpiper - five
• White Wagtail - four
• Water Rail
• Marsh Harrier - female flying over the reedbed
• Great Reed Warbler - one clinging to reeds and calling
• Fan-tailed Warbler - four or five flitting about the reeds

Hillside

• Rüppell's Warbler
• Jay
• Blackbird - six
• Lesser Whitethroat - male
• Red-backed Shrike

26/8/95  Walk through forest to beach and sand dunes

• Jay - several
• Middle Spotted Woodpecker
• Great Tit
• Blue Tit
• Pied Wheatears -two on stony area at top of track
• Hoopoe - one on the ground with it's crest up before flying into trees
• Yellow-vented Bulbul? - Long tailed bird seen in pine trees, size of Blackbird. Ashy brown back, dark head, buffish underparts, dark legs, white eye, creamy yellowish undertail, harsh call.  Best fit from field guide.

Evening (16.30 -18.30pm) Patara Marsh

• Marsh Harrier - female
• Greenshank - two
• Marsh Sandpiper - I.D. confirmed after direct comparison with Greenshank
• Wood Sandpiper - three
• Black-winged Stilt - three
• Kingfisher - seven
• Little Grebe - fifteen
• Hirundines - lots coming into roost
• Eagle Sp. - flew over, thought to be Golden on jizz

27/8/95 Dolmus to Xthanos (20 minutes from Patara) we visited the ruins:

• Rock Nuthatch -three
• Blue Rock Thrush - one
• Wheatear - four
• Red-backed Shrike - two
• Great Grey Shrike - one on wires
• Hobby - immature flew across valley into a wooded hillside

Afternoon walk along the river bank to the village of Kinick - habitat was farmland on each side

• White Wagtails - four
• Collared Dove - several
• Jay - several
• Goldfinch - ten
• Blackbird - several
• Reed Bunting - two
• Swallows
• House Martin
• Nightingale - two
• Kingfisher - two
• Crested Lark - several

28/8/95  Patara Marsh  (6.30 - 8.30am)

• Wood Sandpiper - two
• Green Sandpiper
• Redshank
• Kingfisher - six
• Little Grebe - fifteen
• Moorhen - three
• Coot - two
• Bittern - one
• Little Bittern - male and female
• Night Heron - male flew across the reedbed before landing on cut area giving good views
• White Wagtail - three
• Fan-tailed Warbler - four

Evening (16.30 -19.00pm)

• Greenshank - nine
• Purple Heron - walking along edge of reeds.
• Black-winged Stilt - one
• Little-ringed Plover - two
• Kentish Plover - one
• Herring Gull
• Great Reed Warbler
• Reed Warbler
• Fan-tailed Warbler - four

29/8/95  Walked to Cay Azig public beach.  

(Take the road out of Patara, Approx two miles north take the dirt track on the left side of the road (marked public beach district of Ova).  The track is bordered on one side by the river and on the other by stubble fields before rising to a stony hillside covered by scrub and edged by trees.

• Melodious Warbler - one
• Willow Warbler
• Chiffchaff - all above seen in gardens of hotels
• Hoopoe - one in stubble field
• Crested Lark - six
• Wheatears
• Whinchat - in fields
• Yellow Wagtail - m.f.flava
• Rufous Bush Chat - three in a small copse
• Masked/Red-backed Shrike
• Lanner Falcon - immature flew across the field from the hillside

Reed fringed riverbank:

• Kingfisher - two
• Reed and Sedge Warblers
• Water snakes and Terrapins in the river

30.8/95   Excursion to Myra rock tombs and Ucagiz:

• White Stork - three in field near junction of Patara Rd. and Route 400
• Spotted Eagle - quartering hillside above Kalkan
• Shrike Sp's. - several on roadside wires

Ucagiz: wetland near to the beach.

• Little Egret - three
• Waders - avocet and redshank but difficult to identify the rest from a moving coach!  This area looked very promising.

32/8/95   Patara Lagoon and reedbed, watched from the road on the east side of the village. (9.00 - 12.00am)

• Purple Heron - on the edge of the reeds
• Spotted Redshank - three
• Wood Sandpiper - five
• Eagle Sp. - possibly Lesser spotted, flew over the reedbed and marsh being mobbed by Hirundines.
• Red-crested Pochard - three
• Usual common species

Hillside:

• Spotted Flycatcher - one on wires
• Pied Wheatear - one
• Masked Shrike - male

1/9/95  Walk to Cay Azig, this time along the fields at the base of the hillside.

• Lesser Kestrel - one on cliff face at the beginning of the track
• Rock Nuthatch - In the same area as above
• Short-toed Eagle - one flying overhead towards the mountains
• Shrikes - four species along the hedgerows and wires
• Golden Oriole - four in a line of Poplar trees by the edge of a field
• Rock Sparrow - four on a stony area of the hillside

Stubble Fields:  (warning! this area is used by shooters using hedge and trees for concealment)

• Crested Larks - several
• Tawny pipit - five
• Corn Bunting - ten on wires
• Black eared Wheatear - one
• Turtle Doves - Several
• Yellow Wagtail - five

2/9/95  Patara Marsh / Lagoon and reedbed  (7.00 - 8.30am)

• Usual common birds seen every day
• Marsh Harrier - three
• Garganey - three
• Red-crested Pochard - four
• Falcon Sp. - which flew in and began to harass the Marsh Harriers. Size, colour, shape and flight action all lead me to suppose that it was probably a Saker, but it flew off towards the hills
• Hoopoe
• Red-backed Shrike - both nearby

3/9/95  Walk through forest to beach (9.00 - 12.00am)

• Alpine Swift - flew over the hillside
• Bee-eaters - over one hundred flew over
• Mistle Thrush - seven
• Hirundines - lots

Final visit to Patara Marsh - Evening

• Little Grebe - Record count of forty one
• Golden Oriole - a male flew in front of us
• Usual commoner fare

Full Species List

· Little Grebe
· Bittern
· Night Heron
· Little Bittern
· Little Egret
· White Stork
· Grey Heron
· Purple Heron
· Glossy Ibis
· Honey Buzzard
· Short-toed Eagle
· Bonelli's Eagle
· Marsh Harrier
· Montagu's Harrier
· Spotted Eagle
· Lesser Spotted Eagle
· Goshawk
· Long-legged Buzzard
· Golden Eagle
· Osprey
· Lesser Kestrel
· Kestrel
· Saker Falcon
· Lanner Falcon
· Peregrine Falcon
· Hobby
· Water Rail
· Moorhen
· Coot
· Mallard
· Garganey
· Red-crested Pochard
· Little-ringed Plover
· Ringed Plover
· Black-winged Stilt
· Redshank
· Greenshank
· Marsh Sandpiper
· Green Sandpiper
· Wood Sandpiper
· Common Sandpiper
· Yellow-legged Gull
· Wood Pigeon
· Collared Dove
· Turtle Dove
· Alpine Swift
· House Martin
· Swallow
· Red-rumped Swallow
· Sand Martin
· Kingfisher
· Bee Eater
· Roller
· Hoopoe
· Syrian Woodpecker
· Middle Spotted Woodpecker
· Crested Lark
· Skylark
· Tawny Pipit
· Yellow Wagtail
· White Wagtail
· Rufous Bush Robin
· Whinchat
· Isabelline Wheatear
· Black-eared Wheatear
· Pied Wheatear
· Northern Wheatear
· Rock Thrush
· Blue Rock Thrush
· Blackbird
· Mistle Thrush
· Cetti's Warbler
· Reed Warbler
· Great Reed Warbler
· Olivaceous Warbler
· Olive Tree Warbler
· Fan-tailed Warbler
· Sardinian Warbler
· Ruppell's Warbler
· Lesser Whitethroat
· Melodious Warbler
· Willow Warbler
· Blackcap
· Spotted Flycatcher
· Coal Tit
· Blue Tit
· Great Tit
· Rock Nuthatch
· Jay
· Nutcracker
· Hooded Crow
· Golden Oriole
· Red-backed Shrike
· Masked Shrike
· Great Grey Shrike
· Lesser Grey Shrike
· Woodchat Shrike
· Spanish Sparrow
· Rock Sparrow
· Goldfinch
· Linnet
· Corn Bunting
· Reed Bunting
· Yellow-vented Bulbul

Summary

My impression of Patara is that the birdwatching potential is very good indeed.  Most of these species were seen within a five mile radius of the village but also using the Dolmus to move slightly further afield.  Anyone who has transport could really open up the area and increase the number of species to be seen.  The mountains are only a two hour drive away.  The area seems to be definitely under watched.

John Bateman    Lancaster.

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