Southwest Turkey
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Southwest Turkey The Lycian Coast A Greentours Tour Report 30th March – 9th April 2013 Led by Seda Soylu Day 1 March 30th - To Kaunos We all met up at the airport after a little delay because Tim and Lynn were directed to the International part by the security by mistake and it took time to meet them. It was a nice and sunny spring day in Dalaman that made us feel like the holiday has already started. This part of Turkey where the tourism is very high in summer was quiet these days as the season hasn’t started here yet and people were getting ready for the new season so it was the right time of the year to enjoy the wild life there without tourists around. After a 20 minute journey to Dalyan we got to our well-located hotel by the river which has the magnificent scenery of rock tombs across the river and after people settled in their rooms we met at the deck to have some lunch against the scenery. White Storks were flying above the river while we were eating our sandwiches. Now we were all ready to start enjoying the place with the sunshine. The boatman picked us up from the hotel and sailed us to ’’Kaunos’’ which is an ancient city of Caria and Lycia. The journey was accompanied by the loud calls of Cetti’s Warblers in the reeds. During the boat trip to Kaunos Common Kingfisher, Great Egret, Little Egrets and Purple Herons were seen. Finally we stopped by a nice path along the river which ends with the entrance to the ancient site. It took a long time to get to the ruins as we saw many nice ferns and flowers on the rocks such as big cushions of Euphorbia acanthothamnos, Allium neapolitanum, Linaria chalepensis, Onosma fruticosa, Phlomis lycia, Orobanche pubescens, Bellevalia trifoliata, Cheilanthes catanensis and Ceterach officinalis. A Wryneck sitting on a Tamarix tree was noticed by Tim. Woodchat Shrike and Fan-tailed Warbler are the other birds were seen while walking. Spur-thighed Tortoises were very common throughout the rujins and kept coming across them. Finally we got to the Kaunos where Campanula lyrata, Hyoscyamus aureus, Gagea graeca and Valeriana dioscoridis were decorating the walls of the ruins. Cretzschmarr’s Bunting, Black-eared Wheatear and Western Rock Nuthatch were calling on the top of the walls. The first orchid of the tour Barlia robertiana was found by David. 1 It was a bit early for butterflies but still there were some Eastern Festoons, Wall Browns, Brimstones and Painted Ladies were flying around. After spending a few hours we headed back to our hotel by boat again and we saw Little Grebes and a Purple Heron. Day 2 March 31st - Köyceğiz Lake - Ortaca Kemaliye Village - Liquidamber Place The morning was a bit cool but nicely fresh as we were having our breakfast. This time we were heading to Köyceğiz Lake by boat again before finishing the day on the land in the afternoon. As we were sailing close to the reeds Great Reed Warblers were calling and Penduline Tits were easily seen in the reeds even people could take their pictures. When we got to the main lake Pygmy Cormorant, Great Cormorants, many many Black-necked Grebes on the water, Little Egrets, and Marsh Harriers were flying around. Thirteen Striped-necked Terrapins (Caspian Turtle) were sitting on the edge. First stop on a land was the Mud Springs which is nicely located across the river again. As we were coming aboard we heard the White-throated Kingfisher and luckily we could see it while it was flying just above us. As the weather got gradually warmer we started to see butterflies flying around like Southern Swallowtail, Large Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood, Green Hairstreak and Red Admiral. Some other people were enjoying the pool while we were refreshing with fresh orange juice. Orobanche ramosa, Orobanche pubescens, Ranunculus muricatus, small flowered Romulea columnae and Marsh Frogs in the water were lastly seen before it was time to move for us. The lunch was at a restaurant in the town with many alternatives of Turkish food. After the lunch we drove through a village few kilometres far from Dalyan where we searched a Liquidambar forest. After we turned the way to the village we stopped at the half way and get out from our vehicle to walk the track that goes to a Pine and Oak woods. After a short search under the Oak trees deep red Tulipa armena var. lycica was just perfectly in flower with Ophrys heterochila, Ophrys holoserica, Fritillaria acmopetala ssp. acmopetala, Fritillaria bithynica and Neotinia maculata. When we walked more we came across many nicer and fresher Tulips and Ophrys growing together. Next destination was a river covered by Liquidambar orientalis trees before we stopped for a Hoopoe and a Honey Buzzard on the way. As we were walking on the rocks at the both sides of the river we saw the nice pink and creamy coloured Onosma albo-roseum garnishing the rocks beautifully with Muscari macrocarpum located between the rocks. It was time to move back to our hotel to eat our dinner by the nice scenery of the lake. Day 3 April 1st - Fish traps - İztuzu Beach - Xanthos We woke to another nice and sunny day for early morning boat trip to 1 km long İztuzu beach before breakfast. As we were trying to come to ourselves a sitting Common Kingfisher on the reed made all of us wake and we enjoyed it quite a long time. We sailed through the fishtraps and saw the fishermen were already awake and started working. As soon as we stepped on the beach hundreds 2 of Yellow Wagtails took our attention, also Little Ringed Plovers, Lesser Short-toed Larks, Red- throated Pipits, Crested Larks and White Wagtails while we were hearing Sedge Warbler and Great Reed Warbler calling from the bushes. A lovely surprise to see a Kentish Plover with three chicks. Before we left two Pintails were seen on the water where the fishtraps are and a group of Garganeys kept flying above the sea until we left. When we got nearer to the end of the beach we noted some sand flowers like Cakile maritima, Medicago marina, Lotus halophyllus and Eryngium maritimum (lvs only). After that nice morning walk on the beach our driver picked us up from the end and we headed to the hotel for the second breakfast as we had a weak one early. It was the last day in Dalyan and time to move to the next place, Kaş. Just after the late breakfast we were on the road to Xanthos which is another ancient Lycian city located on a slope. Good place to see also many nice flowers and butterflies while walking on the path among the ruins like Serapias bergonii, Ophrys heterochila, Common Blue and Common Swallowtails. We had the lunch there with the calls of Mistle Thrush and Alpine Swifts flying in the sky. We started off before it got late as we still got a bit of a long way to get to Kaş and we all wanted to eat our dinner at a reasonable time. We had our dinner at the top of our beautiful Hotel Hideaway which has the best view of the sea in Kaş and of the Greek island Meis. Day 4 March 2nd - Kaş - Dereköy - Sinekçibeli Pass Another warm morning we woke to and Tim, Lynn and David didn’t miss the sun and they were coming back from an early walk that they saw Rüppell’s Warbler and Yellow-vented Bulbul which is quite common in this area as a rich breakfast was waiting for us at the terrace of the hotel. Finally we left the breakfast and sunshine for our drive to the villages above Kaş which are not so far. The way itself goes into several villages was giving us the chance of enjoying the Mediterranian bushes nicely flowering at this time of the year like Spartium junceum, Cistus creticus, Cistus salviifolius, Daphne sericea and Euphorbia characias. Our first stop was for Iris unguicularis attractively flowering under the pine trees with scattered Orchis anatolica and nice cushions of Alkanna orientalis. After some driving we stopped by a river to have a walk by the water where we found Fritillaria elwesii, Ophrys phyryganae and Anenome coronaria perfectly in flower. As we were leaving the place after an hour walk a Large Tortoiseshell posed to us on a rock for a long time. Next stop was a path going inside the woods where I found endemic Ophrys lycica with last year’s group, no luck this time though. We were still lucky to find a perfect specimen of Ophrys iricolor, Orchis italica and a tall Neotinia maculata. It was time to move just before noticing the Ornithogalum nutans and Ornithogalum umbellatum in a field. We stopped by a cemetery for orchid hunting and just a few minutes later we had seen 12 different orchids in that same small cemetery. The new ones for the trip were Orchis syriaca, Orchis papilionacea, Orchis simia, Ophrys sicula, Ophrys cinereophylla, Ophrys speculum and Limodorum abortivum. 3 Lunch stop was by a pine woodland that produced some new flowers like Ophrys umbilicata and Fumana arabica. This time we headed towards higher areas to find some alpine flowers. We drove to Sinekçibeli Pass where some flowers first recorded for the trip from this area. When we got high enough we noticed many nice flowers on the rocks and stopped to search.