Birdwatching

With more than 9,000 birdwatchers having already booked visits to Lesvos in April and May, the Aegean island is rapidly evolving into a popular destination for fans of the activity from all over the world.

What still seems to be missing from the island in order to create a coherent "green" profile is organized support from the local tourist market and society.

A Slovenian start-up that has found success with a peculiar bird feeder has raised almost three million euros in a second Kickstarter for two new products.

In a campaign that wrapped up on 15 June, Bird Buddy convinced more than 10,000 supporters to finance an AI-powered Smart Hummingbird Feeder and a Smart Bird Bath.

The Gediz Delta, located in the western province of İzmir's Çiğli district, has been added to the "Birding Places" list, an EU platform displaying all the bird watching regions across the world.

"With this platform, millions will be aware of Gediz Delta and Çiğli," Utku Gümrükçü, the mayor of the district, told Demirören News Agency.

A total of 289 bird species have been reported in Turkey, according to an official statement on May 13.

This ranks Turkey 31st among 191 countries, said the General Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks in a statement released on World Migratory Bird Day, observed each year on the second weekend of May.

A publishing house owner living in the northwestern province of Kocaeli's Gebze district who has been indulging in birdwatching activities for a decade at the Ballıkayalar Nature Park has revealed the joy of birdwatching while stressing the need to conserve wildlife.

A café launched under a birdwatching tower in the Sarıyer district of Istanbul has triggered a dispute between birdwatchers and the officials.
"We feel like outsiders now, we cannot do birdwatching here anymore," said the birdwatchers.

Montenegro's government and the public enterprise National Parks on Monday took over the bankrupt private salt company in the coastal town of Ulcinj in a move to save an important habitat for about 250 bird species that live and nest in the abandoned salt plantations.

Birdwatchers wanting to photograph the glaucous gull have been flocking to the Black Sea province of Rize, as the species has not been seen in Turkey for 140 years.

Photographer Murat Saltık, who spotted the reappearance of the glaucous gull, said he had been birdwatching for years without noticing its difference with the other species.