Yesiluzumlu - Village birdlife

 Its nearly Spring and that means it will soon be time for my first visit back to Yesilulumlu in south Western Turkey. 

Below are a selection of images of some of the birds that visit my garden or are around the village.

Year round resident Jay which are very abundant in the olive groves and farmland at the back of outr house

Little Owl pair that live in the eaves of our house

Syrian Woodpecker is also resident close to our garden and abundant around the village

Some Spring and summer migrants

Alpine Swift

Eastern Oliveacous Warbler breeds in the garden

Masked Shrike

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (also now and again a Green Woodpecker too)

Woodchat Shrike (and Red backed Shrike)

Eastern Orphean Warbler

Black Redstart

Other regulars in the garden are Collared Dove, Hooded Crow, Blackbird, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Blackcap, Spotted Flycatcher, Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Serin, Sombre Tit, White Wagtail, House Martins, Red Rumped Swallow, Golden Oriole (a few times) while in the Winter Woodlarks come to the Olive groves and small orchards along our lane.

Local (ish) Hawfinch

 It has been five years since I last saw a Hawfinch, well at least an alive one. * I did see a stuffed one in a antique shop window last year.... perched next to a Snow Bunting also long since passed.

Anyway, I follow a county bird sighting group to see what is seen on any particular day, when to my surprise a Hawfinch had been sighted at a site that I visit only once a month. It throws up just the very odd "good" bird at best once a year. 

Work commitments didn't allow me a visit until today, so after six days of repeated sightings I was on site at Tittesworth Reservoir as daylight broke. Half a dozen patch birders were around and within ten minutes I got a sighting of not one but two......  

My camera now resides in Turkey awaiting my visit in early spring so I managed a few shots with a little compact camera on x200. 

Great bird to wake up to on any Sunday morning, was only matched by a low flying Peregrine Falcon directly overhead.

A very very distant Hawfinch sat feeding in a Field Maple tree

The best I could do handheld at x200 and x100 and in poor light