EASTERN TURKEY

This is purely an arrival day into Antalya Airport (airport code: AYT). Pickups from the airport and transfer to a nearby hotel for our first dinner together.

We will leave early this morning and drive to Oymapinar Reservoir, where we will board a boat and try to locate Brown Fish Owl (semenowi) that roost and often breed on the canyon walls. If we fail to locate it here, then we will try at another site this evening, roughly 2 hours away from Antalya - so it will be a late return to the hotel.

Other species we can look for today include Middle Spotted & Syrian Woodpeckers, Kruper's Nuthatch, Western Rock Nuthatch, Masked Shrike, Woodlark, Eastern Black-eared Wheatear, Sombre Tit, Olive-tree Warbler, Eastern Bonelli's Warbler, Ruppell's Warbler, Eastern Orphan Warbler and Black-headed Bunting. Night in Manavgat or Antalya.

After some final early morning birding we will will take the short flight to Trabzon, on the shores of the Black Sea and head up into the hills in search of Green Warbler. Night in Trabzon.

We will leave our hotel early and drive to Sivrikaya to meet up with our local guide who will assist us in observing the secretive Caucasian Grouse at their lek high up in the mountains. Our other main target species in these hills will be Mountain Chiffchaff, whilst we could also see Caspian Snowcock, Lammergeier, Golden Eagle, Long-legged Buzzard, Alpine Swift, White-throated Dipper, Marsh Warbler, Ring Ouzel, Common Rock Thrush, Shorelark, Alpine & Red-billed Chough, Water Pipit, Alpine & Radde's Accentors, Common Rosefinch and Twite amongst others.

Another short flight will take us into the heart of Eastern Turkiye and our base for the next 4 nights close to Lake Van. Our plan over the next few days is going to be flexible and depends on the latest info. Our main targets will be Grey-necked Bunting and Mongolian Finch and we will make a concerted effort to find both species. But there's so much to see and places to explore in this area, that we will also see a fine selection of superb species. Possibilities include White-headed Duck, Red-crested Pochard, Ruddy Shelduck, Pygmy Cormorant, Black & White Stork, Armenian & Slender-billed Gulls, Citrine Wagtail, Finsch's Wheatear, Eastern Olivaceous Warbler, Moustached, Savi’s & Paddyfield Warblers, Bearded Reedling, Eurasian Penduline Tit, Siberian Stonechat, Rock & Ortolan Buntings, along with a variety of herons, egrets, shorebirds, terns and others.

Further exploration around Mount Tendurek could give us White-winged Snowfinch, Crimson-winged, Mongolian & Trumpeter Finches, whilst near Ishak Pasha Palace we can see both Eastern & Western Rock Nuthatches, Red-fronted Serin and Rock Sparrow, as well as giving us further chances of Grey-necked Bunting & Mongolian Finch.

After some final birding, we will return to Van Airport (airport code: VAN) where the tour concludes this afternoon.