Yesterday we finished off our impromptu birding week in Dalyan at the place it began –  Eskikoy Rocky Outcrop – albeit in rather less taxing circumstances. Our exhausting day in the mountains the day before had blunted our appetite for another long excursion so instead we decided to stay local – a day by the lake. We began after breakfast by heading to Turtle Beach, checking out the roadside pools and woodlands as we did so. Crag Martin in the hirundine flock high above the peninsular and a Middle Spotted Woodpecker in the Turkey Oaks ensured it wasn’t going to be a ‘dot day’. Returning to Dalyan we then headed for Koycez, doing an anti-clockwise circuit of the lake, before crossing the Dalyan river on the small ferry back to our hotel for an afternoon siesta. Before supper, making full use of our three day car hire, we returned to ‘the rock’ for a final session of sunset birding. A mixed flock of Swallow, Sand Martin and Red-rumped Swallow filled the sky, along with a group of migrating Bee-eaters. Marsh Harrier, egrets and Pygmy Cormorant were over the reed-beds whilst a Kingfisher darted along the canal. Red-backed Shrike, Crested Lark and Western Rock Nuthatch on the rocky outcrop itself, all made for a satisfying end to the day – and our week, revisiting a birding location with very happy memories. Today it’s, retuning the car, lunch and then hanging around the hotel for our airport pickup and evening flight home.

Postscript: I forgot to include this photo of the amazing structure of a Western Rock Nuthatch’s nest