It was time to move onwards again on Tuesday 29th September and on checking in at Izmir Airport for our flight to Istanbul we watched our suitcases disappear along the conveyor belt with some trepidation. Fortunately our cases did arrive off the plane at Istanbul Airport this time and we were able to breathe a sigh of relief.
It was wet and windy as we checked into our hotel in the Beyoglu district of Istanbul, our room was on the 17th floor and we had fantastic views of The Golden Horn, The Bosphorus and Sultanahmet. Even better were the numerous Alpine Swifts whizzing past our window, all feeding lower down due to the rainy conditions and with our window open I could hear their screaming calls as they flew past.
It was cool, wet and breezy the next day but we headed out in our raincoats for a walk around the Sultanahmet area to see some of the sights. The weather did improve as the day wore on and eventually the sun appeared but it remained cool and breezy. Alpine Swifts continued to fly around low overhead and were quite noisy at times but otherwise the usual birds were seen on our walk - Hooded Crow, House Sparrow, Yellow-legged Gull, Starling, Ring-necked Parakeet, Laughing Dove, Black-headed Gull and Feral Pigeon. I also found a Southern Darter perched up in a flower bed during a sunny spell, a new dragonfly species for me.
Thursday October 1st was mostly dry with sunny spells but occassional heavy showers and there was a keen wind blowing which changed from easterly to northerly over the course of the morning. We headed up The Bosphorous on a ferry and along the way we enjoyed the lovely views and scenery as I also enjoyed the wildlife. The usual Yellow-legged Gulls and Black-headed Gulls were seen along with Cormorants, Shags (of the Mediterranean race) and a Pygmy Cormorant and there were plenty of Yelkouan Shearwaters passing by the boat in small flocks and heading both up and down The Bosphorous. I also saw at least 5 Bottle-nosed Dolphins including a small calf that leapt right out of the water but they just disappeared as quickly as they had arrived.
We disembarked the ferry at Kanlica where we enjoyed a late breakfast of the famous Kanlica yoghurt and we then caught a bus to the Beylerbeyi Palace, we visited the Palace back in 2018 and at that time no photos were allowed inside but this time they were so I took quite a few of the beautiful interiors.
After visiting the palace we had a look around the gardens where a Red Admiral and some very tame Hooded Crows and Yellow-legged Gulls were seen.
However more interest was to be had overhead as migrating raptors were on the move. Earlier from the ferry I had noticed a few large raptors high ovehead and moving south but now with the wind direction changing they were moving back north. Unfortunately they were all very high up in the sky but there were Falcons, Eagles, Hawks, Buzzards and a single Black Kite to be seen.
Most of the Eagles were large with all brown plumage and presumably Lesser Spotted Eagles, at one point 2 Ravens were mobbing one and they looked small next to it, a Peregrine was also mobbing another one and it looked even smaller. The Hawks were presumably Levant Sparrowhawks and I did pick out a probable Honey Buzzard and a probable Short Toed Eagle as well but with all the birds so high up in the skies I can't be confident with ID'S making it a bit of a frustrating experience although it was very interesting to observe such active raptor migration.
We then bussed down to Uskudar before ferrying back to Eminonu for a late afternoon beer on the Galata Bridge while watching the comings and goings of all the ferry boats out on the water.
It was time to head back to Plymouth on Friday 2nd October and on arriving at Heathrow Airport our suit cases also arrived with us. It had been an interesting holiday, I enjoyed the wildlife sightings, the ruins at Pergamon and all the hotels we stayed in and Istanbul was as usual delightful but the weather wasn't that great at times and losing our suit cases did put a crimp on things and left us feeling very unsettled. The feel of Turkey is also very different to our previous visits and it has changed a lot since our last visit 4 years ago, things felt very uneasy and it has become very expensive with prices now higher than in the UK. Prices are mostly quoted in Euros but with payment made in Turkish Lira (at an unknown exchange rate) and especially so at tourist attractions, tourists also pay 1000% more than Turkish people do for attractions, something which hadn't been very obvious until we arrived in Istanbul - I don't mind paying a little more as a tourist but a 1000% mark-up is pretty extortionate and taking the Mickey a bit. Sadly I don't think I will be revisiting Turkey again anytime soon even though Istanbul is one of my very favourite places.
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