Aras Ringing Station, Aras Valley, Eastern Turkey 6-20/9/14.

Carlton returned to Turkey for virtually the same dates as last year, but instead of him being the only ringer, this year he was accompanied by Elinor, and from North Wales Kelvin Jones (Elinor's trainer), Reg Thorpe and Adrienne Stratford. Another ringer Santiago, from Columbia but now based in Spain, joined them towards the end of the first week and was to be there for the rest of the season. The variety was slightly down this year (53sp), but the grand total was about the same (1331), less a few hundred Swallows. This year, Carlton managed to ring five new species, Spotted Crake, Montague’s Harrier, Citrine Wagtail, Meneties's Warbler and Golden Oriole. He was particularly pleased with the Golden Oriole as he has been on trips before and has seen them in the hand, but this was the first time he had actually processed and ringed one himself. As you can imagine, it being Elinor’s first trip abroad, she managed to experience lots of new species and she developed a particular fondness for Red-backed Shrikes and when this was realised she was often the person who was chosen to “deal with” a bagged shrike. She also became very good at extracting them!

Golden Oriole

Meneties's Warbler

As well as the ringing, the area was good for general birding, there being a good variety of habitats nearby, including marshland, river (The Aras), farmland (pasture with orchards) together with the dryer scrub, not to mention the spectacular surrounding scenery. A good variety of raptors could be seen most days, including various Vultures, Kites, Falcons, Buzzards, Eagles, Sparrowhawks as well as Harriers (Marsh, Montague’s and Pallid), some evenings gathering to roost nearby. Another memorable sight were the Black-bellied Sandgrouse, seen in the mornings, commuting to the river to drink. Other “good birds” seen locally were Finsch’s Wheatear and Lesser Grey Shrike. Reg was not ringing, just extracting and was keeping the daily observation log, which finally totaled 111 species just around the ringing site and village.

Montague's Harrier

Levant Sparrowhawk

This year Carlton and co had the use of one of the Kuzey Doga Society’s vehicles, so Carlton was able to transport the group to and from Kars airport (c115kms). It also allowed for a few local excursions while they were there, plus a longer detour on our last day back to Kars. This included a visit to the site of the ancient city of Ani set on the edge of a spectacular gorge that now forms the border with Armenia. This area gave a few more new species of bird such as Black Vulture, Steppe Eagle,White-headed Duck, Loads of roadside Lesser Kestrels, Tawny Pipit, and flocks of Rock Sparrows.

River Aras