Saturday, February 23, 2013

Birds of 3 Continents

Pallid Scops Owl

After such a very successful recce tour to Turkey last autumn, Worldwide Birding Tours have decided to organise another for 2013. For this tour WBT are also including the area around the Hakkari-Van Plateaus, the idea is to provide a diverse tour in terms of both habitat (scenery too), birds and culture. It promises to be an exciting route and after the experiences of last year with great accommodation, food and very friendly people of this region, it is hardly surprising WBT already have bookings for this new tour. Of course a major attraction are the birds, representatives from 3 continents Africa, Asia and Europe, which can all be found here and will provide some memorable sightings throughout the duration of the tour.

“Turkey, it really was a great trip! Lots of different habitats and birds that come along with the change in landscape. The food was terrific and we really did travel as friends. Peter and Pieter, as always, organized a memorable and enjoyable adventure. J.O’B & G. d’E Canada”

Western Rock Nuthatch
The journey starts from WBT's meeting point in Van, a city lying in the southeast of the country and surrounded by lakes, wetland and high mountains. In this region arid areas also provide chances for some typical desert species such as Cream-coloured Courser and the surrounding countryside also gives opportunities to find Mongolian Finch, Grey-necked Bunting and Red-wattled Lapwing among a host of other target birds. The tour then leaves the Hakkari-Van Plateaus in a westward direction and will visit the river basin of the Euphrates and search for some local specialities such as Bald Ibis, Dead Sea Sparrow and Iranian Babbler, also Little Swift has a good local population here. It is hoped to take a meal alongside the Euphrates and WBT can guarantee this as being a very special occasion.

Terek Sandpiper
The second half of the tour leads the group into the Taurus Mountains and down to the coastal deltas of the Gaziantep and Cukurova. Both deltas represent superb birding areas and the mountains are home to some great species, one site even holds the possibility of finding Brown Fish Owl, so the tour live in hope! Speaking of owls, WBT have sites for Pallid Scops Owl as well as Scops Owl, so there will be some thrilling moments to enjoy on this wonderful tour. Limitation of space and vocabulary make it impossible to describe how great a tour this is, so I hope you trust me when I say it is one tour not to miss. Please do join us.

Tour Dates - June 10th to 20th 2013
Full Details HERE
Tour Guides: Peter Jones and Emin Yogurtcuoglu

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