Turkey by Birds, Part 3. Cappadocia

Day 7-10, Cappadocia

Driving south from Amasya, we headed to Cappadocia. Other than the breathtaking beauty of the landscape, the “lifers” (birds you’ve never seen before, such as Black-headed Buntings), and the brushes with death inherent to driving in Turkey, the drive was relatively uneventful. We headed straight into the heart of Cappadocia, one of the most amazing landscapes I’ve ever seen. Truly. Right up there with Eastern Oregon. Geologists would offer that geology is the basis of any landscape but in this case it’s the geology that really shines. Because the area is relatively devoid of vegetation you get to revel in pure dirty bliss. Check out the link, above, for a tidbit of geo info. If you don’t care, here are some photos that don’t do it justice.





Needless to say, this landscape plays habitat to a whole host of awesome birds and, as such, this was probably my favorite part of the trip. We had Egyptian Vultures soaring over our heads as we pondered an incredible sunset and Rock Sparrows regaled us with song at the entrances to the cave churches (see the pics of the cave frescoes below). Other birds that flitted amongst the tuff were the Rock Thrush, Northern Wheatear and Bimaculated Lark.



During our sunset watch we also spied the nest of a Long-legged Buzzard. After feeding the two nestlings a tasty little rodentia, the adult flew to the peak of a nearby troglodyte and gazed out over his/her kingdom. The two young ventured closer and closer to the edge of the nest (wanting to be like Mom or Dad) and we optimistically waited for one to make that great leap. Alas, no fledging on our watch. It was a nice thing to see though.



The Ihlara Valley was undoubtedly the highlight of the trip for me...but don’t say you heard it from me. This special place needs protection...fast. The growth of tourism in this area will be its death for sure. Surprisingly, we had the whole day to ourselves (actually, we did run into one family playing in the river - guess where they were from? Yep, the good old U.S. of A...jaysus, we’re everywhere). It’s a beautiful river canyon that lacks the “fairy chimneys” and standard geological jaw-droppers but it does have it’s fair share of historical significance with a scattering of, relatively unvisited, cave churches and dwellings. And the birds? Oh yea. As you would expect with any lush, riparian habitat in an arid landscape...hot for birds, man. Totally hot. We saw Golden Orioles, Black Redstarts, Nightingales (no song though, too late in the season?), and HOOPOES!!!! Just like the Wood Duck when I first started birding...I’ve been staring at that photo of the Hoopoe in my European bird book for a looong time now...dreaming of the day, and when that day comes you KNOW that bird. You KNOW that wing flash. You KNOW that crest. You just know. Pretty cool. There was a family or foraging flock of them that we followed (or chased?) all along our hike. Happiness. Then there were the birds in the air, riding the thermals along the cliff edge...the Booted Eagle and Lesser Kestrel. It was a fine day in all respects.




Then we spent ½ day carpet shopping. The sad thing is that we discovered we were really only interested in the 100 year old carpets and, not only could we NOT afford them, we realized how funny it would be to watch Thor’s sippy-cup opening up it's juicy contents all over a 100-year old Turkish carpet. Funny. Suffice to say that beautiful carpet deserves a more refined resting place than on the floor of our family room.

So here’s a few more pictures of the underground and cave dwellings in the Cappadocia area, as well as a picture of the Turkish version of yum. Stay tuned for the next installment where we visit the “crown jewel of Turkey’s birding areas” and spy on a nesting loggerhead turtle. You wouldn’t want to miss that now would you?