We moved onwards to Bergama on Wednesday 23rd September and within an hour of arriving there I had a telephone call from the hotel in Izmir to let us know that our suitcases had arrived despite having had no communication from Turkish Airlines at all about it - at least they had finally arrived and fortunately we were returning to that hotel on the 26th September to be reunited with them at last so we only had a few days left to manage with our emergency wardrobes. Anyway, the car journey to Bergama was uneventful with large raptors seen circling in the skies as we whizzed by and I thought I saw a Roller perched up on a telegraph wire too.
Bergama was delightful, a proper Turkish town, very traditional and totally untouristy, and before checking into our hotel for the next 3 nights we had a wander about and I added Spotted Flycatcher, Collared Dove, Blue Rock Thrush, Grey Wagtail, Red-rumped Swallow and White Wagtail to my holiday list.
We headed up by cable car to the ruins of Pergamon on Thursday 24th September and spent a very enjoyable day clamboring around the site and trying to make sense of it while I also enjoyed the wildlife present. The site itself was very impressive and interesting with wonderful views of the surrounding countryside from the high vantage point and David spent lots of time reading every information board and looking at every stone while I wandered around looking for wildlife while enjoying the ambience of the ruins.
I had a lot of Butterfly sightings but in the hot sunshine only a few landed briefly for a proper look and I was able to ID Painted Lady, Meadow Brown, Swallowtail, Small Copper, Freyer's Grayling and Wall Brown while flighty Red-veined Darters were numerous across the site with a single Small Skimmer also seen.
Birds were a little more accommodating and I had great views of Blue Rock Thrush, Western Black-eared Wheatear, Western Rock Nuthatch and Isabelline Wheatear along with 2 Starling, a Kestrel, 5 Raven, 2 Buzzards, a Spotted Flycatcher, Chiffchaffs, a Willow Warbler, House Sparrows, Red-rumped Swallows and a House Martin. There were also Bee-eaters heard calling regularly overhead but I failed to get any sightings of them.
There were great views looking out over a reservoir from the ruins of the Arsenal and out on the water were 4 distant Pelicans, presumably Dalmatian Pelicans, and all being followed by a bevy of Cormorants.
The following day we visited the small but interesting Bergama Archeology Museum before we walked to the ruins of The Asklepion where we spent a few interesting hours wandering around the site trying to make sense of the jumbled stones laying about the place and where again I admired the wildlife.
A singing male Cirl Bunting was a reminder of home along with at least 2 Spotted Flycatchers, a Whinchat, 3 Redstart (1 male), 2 Blackbird, a Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Raven, a Jay and 2 Buzzard. More exotic fare was provided by a juvenile Masked Shrike, 2 Crested Larks and finally 3 Bee-eaters which flew noisely overhead and were hidden in amongst a feeding flock of Swallow, House Martin and Red-rumped Swallow. Sightings of Red-veined Darters, Southern Skimmers, Levant Water Frogs, Balkan Terrapins, Rough-tailed Rock Agamas and Snake-eyed Lizards also kept me both occupied and amused. I also saw a small Dice Snake swimming in a pond but it was too quick for a photo as both times it disappeared into the pond weed.
And so our stay in Bergama proved to be just perfect - a lovely hotel, hot and sunny weather, fantastic ruins and some great wildlife sightings and all in all a very enjoyable experience after the stress and strain of trying to sort out our missing luggage problems.
