An Embarrassment of Riches – 10,000 Birds

I’m embarrassed. Actually, I used to be already embarrassed two months in the past, when the pandemic and at-home duties had compelled me to put in writing about the identical michoacano birds for a few years working. (It’s a great factor that I can entry some 300+ michoacano birds! However, nonetheless.)

So I used to be excited to lastly get to make a journey to Spain and the Center East that we had initially deliberate… for the ill-fated month of March, 2020. New locations, new birds! This time, we truly managed to take the journey we had deliberate. And I did handle to see a lot of new birds — 45 new species, to be particular. Absolutely, now I’d write plenty of fascinating 10,000 Birds posts!

Nonetheless, the journey was a piece (ministry) journey, and a moderately exhausting one at that. Eleven particular person flights and two prepare journeys have been taken. Many Mexican staff have been visited and, apparently, inspired. I returned nearly unable to stroll, from hauling round more and more heavy suitcases. (Too many presents have been bought, you see.) A Jordanian head chilly settled in, and was low-level bronchitis. It took me an additional week to get again to regular. “How was your trip, Paul and Angie?”

In fact, I birded each second I may. And the birding was good! However I couldn’t even discover time to complete processing my images and figuring out the birds they confirmed. So writing for you effective of us fell by the wayside. A surplus of high quality birding experiences stored me from making my stories, which is embarrassing. A humiliation of riches, because it have been.

Fortunately, and I can’t overemphasize simply how joyful we’re about this, we at the moment are residence. And, doubly fortunately, I now have sufficient materials for a lot of future posts. My solely drawback is, the place to begin?

I’ll begin by telling you about encounters in Turkey with two particular fowl households. I actually ought to have encountered these households in Mexico, as they each happen right here. However no, I needed to journey to Turkey to fulfill them within the wild.

Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula hosts a big inhabitants of American Flamingos. And I’ve, the truth is, visited Yucatán state. However, sadly, I neither birded again within the days of that go to, nor did I make it to the coasts that these incredible birds frequent.

Three years in the past, I noticed a single Larger Flamingo, my first wild flamingo, in southern Spain. My images have been poor, however unmistakeable. In spite of everything, what may you confuse with a flamingo? This go to to southern Spain, nonetheless, fell in the midst of raptor migration, so flamingos weren’t on my agenda.

Then, the individuals we have been visiting in Turkey took us to their favourite waterside stroll within the giant metropolis of Izmir. Izmir is Turkey’s third largest metropolis, and doesn’t have the looks of a spot during which one would discover plenty of birds. However an indication marketed (in order that they informed me) flamingo excursions. Might or not it’s?

A fast scan with my binoculars urged that no tour could be required. There, within the distance, have been some acceptable pink shapes. Even our hosts have been curious, so we walked towards an space of marshlands in that course. A handful of birds on a spit of land did turn into flamingos, standing amongst many Yellow-legged and Black-headed Gulls, and European Shags, in addition to a trio of Nice Pelicans.

Extra strolling proved that these few unique birds have been simply an appetizer. My greatest guess was that we noticed one thing like a thousand flamingos that day. It seems that, if you wish to see plenty of flamingos, you possibly can simply go to a big Turkish city heart.

And a cute Black-headed Gull, winter plumage, for good measure. We don’t get gulls with crimson toes in central Mexico.

The second household is certainly not one that you’d discover in an city heart. Dippers are birds that may be discovered alongside pristine mountain streams. I’ve needed to see one for years. I even know the place to seek out the American Dipper in my common space, as they’ve been reported a number of instances from close to Tzararácua Falls. However I’ve but to make the two-hour journey (every method) there to hunt them.

Our host in Turkey appeared moderately enthusiastic about serving to with my seek for new fowl species there. He determined to take me, on our final full day there, to a wooded park within the hills above their residence. I discovered a single eBird report for the location, and what are you aware? The report included Eurasia’s very personal White-throated Dipper!

I had at all times anticipated to go to a really remoted web site to see a Dipper. These fascinating birds, which may stroll and even fly underwater, require crystalline, typically frigid mountain waters. And but, there I used to be, seeing a number of White-throated Dippers in a park with an ever-increasing variety of guests.

There was one different fascinating factor in these streams. Turkey can get actually sizzling in the summertime. (It was even moderately sizzling in late September.) So the Turks got here up with a pure type of out of doors air-conditioning: Put your picnic tables IN the stream. Then get pleasure from your picnic along with your toes in chilly water. There have been no less than two dozen of those tables.

I’m sorry to say, I didn’t truly see a Dipper truly on one of many partially submerged picnic tables. It was the day’s solely disappointment.