Turkey - Part II - Izmir

Friday 30th September was David's birthday, we had an enjoyable day sightseeing around Istanbul with David and Julie enjoying a lovely lunch and cocktails at The Pera Palace Hotel in Istanbul while Matt and I struggled to keep our alimentary canals in check. That evening we caught the sleeper train to Izmir, quite a bit of fun and actually involving a good night's sleep on the train. The following morning we enjoyed the Turkish countryside passing by from the train window and I added Collared Dove, Magpie, Larks (Crested?) and Wheatear Sp. to my holiday bird list.

We arrived in Izmir 2 hours later than scheduled at around 12:30 but it didn't really matter and we settled into The Swissotel Buyuk Efes Hotel quite nicely, a lovely 5 star hotel with a fabulous swimming pool and lovely gardens right in the centre of Izmir and not far from the sea.

Izmir

Izmir Agora

We all started to feel better as we began the more relaxed second part of out trip away. The hotel was very nice and suitably soothing after the hustle and bustle of Istanbul, Matts lower gastric distress eventually abated (although mine then restarted!) and Izmir was delightfully laid back, relaxed and quite untouristy.

The usual birds were seen - Hooded Crow, Jackdaw, Yellow-legged Gull, House Sparrow, Black-headed Gull, Cormorant, Grey Heron, Mediterranean Gull and Common Myna - with Ring-necked Parakeet, Greenfinch, Common Sandpiper and Spotted Flycatcher also making appearances.

Jackdaw (Corvus.m.soemmerringii)

Jackdaw (Corvus.m.soemmerringii)

Black-headed Gulls

Mediterranean Gull

Black-headed and Mediterranean Gull

Black-headed and Mediterranean Gull 

Black-headed Gulls 

Common Myna

Common Myna

Ring-necked Parakeet

The Agora in Izmir was an interesting place to visit and I finally caught up with some proper (but flitty and mobile) butterfly sightings there - a Painted Lady, Whites, Mallow Skippers and Blues. I also found a Long-tailed Blue in the Futurpark not far from our hotel, very flitty but finally settling long enough for a photo, and there were quite a few Red-veined Darters dashing around the boating lake in the park too. 

Eastern Bath White

Eastern Bath White

White Sp.

White Sp.

Mallow Skipper

Long-tailed Blue

Red-veined Darter

A day trip by train to nearby Ephesus was enjoyable despite the heat and I added Buzzard, Jay and a Great Grey Shrike to my bird list, the Shrike was unfortunately only seen briefly as we whizzed by on the train. 

Ephesus

Ephesus

There were lots of butterflies flying about at Ephesus as I had hoped but in the heat they were flitty and mobile although at least 3 species of Blues were seen along with Mallow Skippers, Whites, Meadow Browns and a brief flyby Swallowtail.

Meadow Brown

 Blue Sp. 

Blue Sp. 

Back in Izmir a surprise find were 3 Pygmy Cormorant on a flooded out building site encircled by tall reeds close to our hotel, they showed very nicely perched up and busily preening along with a single Coot out on the water.

Pygmy Cormorants

Pygmy Cormorants

Even better was a Dalmatian Pelican soaring over the sea as we enjoyed a coffee on the Konak Pier in Izmir, it looked huge despite being distant as it circled around overhead before appearing to land on the sea and out of sight.

Dalmatian Pelican

Dalmatian Pelican 

Dalmatian Pelican 

 Dalmatian Pelican 

Dalmatian Pelican 

Dalmatian Pelican 

All too soon the holiday was over and it was time to head back to Plymouth, Izmir had been a surprisingly delightful place to visit due to its untouristy air and I managed to get some great wildlife sightings there too. It was nice to go away on a holiday without any COVID restrictions too, no masks, no testing, no scanning of passes, and to actually feel relaxed too for a change. Unfortunately it's back to work and an uncertain winter ahead for the NHS with COVID here in Plymouth beginning to make its presence felt again.