pantala

Got down to the Namnam River this morning (near Köycegiz) and found a couple of Pantala flavescens on the wing. Managed to grab this poor record shot before being chivvied back onto the minibus. A great record and only my third sighting in the WP.

super Krüper's

Went searching for Krüper's nuthatch yesterday and found plenty of family parties in the hills above Dalyan, otherwise rather quiet with plenty of coal tits but few tropical migrants remaining. A single passage wood warbler came as a surprise therefore.

red-veined darter

These red-veined darters were not snapped in BK, though it will probably not be long before I bag one there. I'm in n Dalyan for the week, my fourth trip to Turkey this year and a welcome break from the roof re-build.

white-throated robin

Got a better shot of white-throated robin when it finally stopped raining on the Turkey tour. This was one of two males at 1900m asl on the Büyük Gezeli Geçidi.

postcard from the Ala Daği

Spent my birthday high in the Ala Daği range in Turkey with a group of botanists. I got to see some birds including this fab male white-throated robin despite some appalling weather at times.

It was snowing by the time we got up above 2500 metres asl and a number of birds were feeding on the mine buildings garbage, including this snowfinch, one of many.

 Also on the dump were at least three alpine accentors.

The penicillata race of shorelark must be in with a shout of a future split?

Just before the irises called us away I managed to connect with a flock of red-fronted serin and then it was back to the plants.

Dolichophis jugularis

Another new reptile for me - Dolichophis jugularis or black whip snake - this youngster was caught by some Norwegian herp-freaks that we met wandering the ruins of Kaunos near Dalyan.

Later the same day one of the team found this basking adult.

reptile tick

Got a new reptile this morning, Nile River softshell, a big terrapin that can be found in the river at Dalyan, SW Turkey. A great start to the tour for me.

whoopsie

It was cold and overcast today but I still found a great damselfly - on my computer! In 2008 I lead a tour to Turkey together with Paul Hope, expressly targeting the dragonflies of Eastern Muğla Province. We found 40 species in a week, finding several new sites for Ceriagrion georgifreyi and I found Paul a new species for the province - Leucorrhinia pectoralis. Despite all this going on, the Platycnemis dealbata pictured above slipped through the net somehow. I think this may be the only record of this species west of the Taurus Mountains. At the time I had never seen this species, but four years later just two seconds was enough to correctly identify it! I wonder what else is lurking in my photographs...

A sobering reminder that what makes observers good at finding rarities and vagrants is constantly staying alert to the possibility of actually finding one!

Turkish Typhlops

One of the highlights of my recent trip to Turkey was finding a worm snake (Typhlops vermicularis); sadly recently killed on the road but it was great to examine this rarely seen reptile in detail. Sadly the group did not share my enthusiasm. "Will no-one look at my worm snake!"

the dark side

Variable damselfly (Coenagrion pulchellum) is by definition a variable species, although in the west this variation is mostly exhibited by females. In Turkey many commonplace European species have strange forms but perhaps none so shocking as these incredibly dark pulchellum's!

Postcard from south-east Turkey - Odonata

Coenagrion syriacum (a puella look-alike), one of the spring dragonfly specialities in the Hatay region of SE Turkey.

Managed a couple of hours looking at dragonflies whilst in SE Turkey this week, we only looked at two sites but came up trumps with a number of the regional specialities.

Platycnemis dealbata

Trithemis annulata

Brachythemis fuscopalliata

 The splendid Epallage fatime

and last but not least the superb Platycnemis kervillei

A year ago this week

Dice snake Natrix tessellata, common along the waterways of southern Turkey, in a similar niche to our grass snake. I paid for catching this one though, like grass snakes they exude a powerful smelling substance from their cloacas... It took a two days of pine resin and scrubbing to free my hands of the smell!

Lestes barbarus - always good to see

Onychogomphus forcipatus - a splendid gomphid present in good numbers during our stay in southern Turkey

Gomphus schneideri - another great gomphid, slightly more local than the species above but often common where found

This time last year I was searching southern Turkey for dragonflies...

27/6/08 Esenköy and the Urluca River
The last day arrived and after shopping for our lunch, Turkish Delight and ‘evil eyes’ we headed off. Our first stop was a small stream just outside Esenköy. It was still early and not much seemed to be happening until Roy found a small group of Lestes barbarus – a welcome addition to the trip-list. We spent sometime with these damsels. Also here a single Caliaeschna batted past.

Driving on we tackled the hill climb up to the Urluca River. We spent the rest of the day here. Diversity was low but several species were found in very good numbers. The dense drifts of Platycnemis and banks of Caleopteryx splendens were especially noteworthy. We also found our first Sympetrum fonscolombii and enjoyed many Onychogomphus forcipatus and smaller numbers of Gomphus schneideri. Emperors patrolled the river and Libellula depressa were frequently encountered. After lunch we went upstream a way finding many teneral gomphids and a large dice snake. Birds were very noticeable up here and we enjoyed excellent views of black-headed, cirl and corn bunting.

Leaving the river we worked a long roadside drain and found Ischnura elegans and pumilio and small numbers of Coenagrion puella. By this time the day had once again disappeared and we headed back to the hotel. En route Hassan kindly invited us in to his house and we took tea and fruit with his family. After enjoying our first Turkish çay and Hassan’s hospitality we headed back to base to pack our bags, call the log and try and get some sleep before we had to transfer to the airport.