Western Turkey makes an excellent destination for birdwatchers, especially those with non-ornithological members of their family to consider. The holiday resorts of Bodrum, Dalyan,Patara, Olu Deniz, Foca, Kusadasi, Antalya and Manavgat all offer enjoyable birdwatching within walking distance of the hotels. Species such as black-headed and Cretzschmar's buntings, olivaceous and Ruppell's warblers, masked shrike, roller, Kruper's nuthatch, sombre tit, rock nuthatch, red-footed falcon and short-toed eagle should all be seen fairly easly, at least in spring. And from all these places it's easy to make a day-trip either to a wetland or a mountain area in search of birds such as white-breasted kingfisher, dalmatian pelican, ruddy shelduck, spur-winged pover, red-fronted serin, white-throated robin and finsch's wheatear.
This book gives details of where to see all these birds plus other specialities including olive-tree warbler, cinereous bunting, green warbler, crimson-winged finch, Audouin's gull, graceful warbler, yellow-vented bulbul, Levant's sparrowhawk and lammergeier. It is based on personal experiences of the author of finding these birds, especially during a visit in April/May 1995 when he managed to locate 207 species in a fortnight. This was far more than on previous visits in August and September, proving that spring is definitely the best time to come here.