Aras Station Fall 2009 Volunteers

1-Ümit Durdu (Hacettepe University)
2-Güler Bozok (Hacettepe University)
3-Yiğit Ozan Çolak (Hacettepe University)
4-Abdurrahman Sefalı (Yüzüncü Yıl University)
5-Libor Praus (Czech Republic)
6-Jindrich Sedlacek (Czech Republic)
7-Yelda Yağcı (İstanbul University)
8-Sezgi Yalçınsü (İstanbul University)
9-Merve Aksu (İstanbul University)
10-Nadin Ebeoğlu (Bosphorus University)
11-D. Eylül Dizdaroğlu (Hacettepe University)
12-Ayşe Bengisu Gelmez (Hacettepe University)
13-Jerry Lewis (England)
14-Ron Clevely (England)
15-Peren Tuzkaya (Ankara University)
16-Feyzan Tuzkaya (METU)
17-Emine Köpük (Nahxivan)
18-Rene Vos (Netherlands)
19-Kerem Soyöz (İstanbul)
20-Kirsty Jane Lees İskoçy(Scotland)
21-Dirk Maes (Belgium)
22-Mizgin Sülün (Kafkas University)
23-Dave Hazard (İngiltere)
24-Robert Shaw (İngiltere)
25-Muhammed Ali Sönmez (Kafkas University)

Aras Bird Ringing Station End Season

Two of Turkey’s three bird-ringing stations, namely Kuyucuk and Aras Bird-Ringing Stations, have just ended their fall 2009 studies. Total number of the birds ringed in both stations through the fieldworks conducted by KuzeyDoğa Society, Kars Directorate of Environment and Forestry, Iğdır Directorate Environment and Forestry and Kafkas University, reached collectively to 5439.

Aras Bird Research and Education Center is located by the Lake of Aras in the village of Yukarı Çıyrıklı, district of Tuzluca, province of Iğdır. The bird-ringing activities at Aras Bird Research and Education Center were initiated in fall 2006, which were organized this year starting on 10 August 2009 and ending on 31 October 2009. On 83 days of bird-ringing studies, 2868 individuals from 74 different species of birds were ringed. Throughout the ringing period, 14 students from Hacettepe, METU, Bosphorus, Istanbul, Yüzüncü Yıl, Ankara and Kafkas Universities volunteered and 9 expert ringers from Czech Republic, England, the Netherlands, Belgium and Scotland boosted the studies. This year, for the first time a turtle dove (Streptopalia turtur) was ringed contrary to the previous years.

31 October 2009

Today is the last day of fall season at Aras Bird Research & Education Center. Sedat, Yakup, Ümit, Emrah, Kerem and Seda closed the station today. We ringed 13 birds out of 4 species.

Today's birds are:

Chiffchaff
Robin
Reed bunting
Magpie

30 October 2009

Today we ringed 25 birds out of 6 species.

Today's birds are:

Chiffchaff
Caucasian chiffchaff
Bluethroat
Moustached warbler
Reed bunting
Magpie

29 October 2009

Today we ringed 19 birds out of 3 species.

Today's birds are:

Chiffchaff
White wagtail
Blackbird

28 October 2009

Today we ringed 31 birds of 7 species.

Today's birds are:

Chiffchaff
Caucasian chiffchaff
Bluethroat
Moustached warbler
Robin
Reed bunting
Wren

27 October 2009

Today we ringed 16 birds of 6 species.

Today's birds are:

Chiffchaff
White wagtail
Moustached warbler
Penduline tit
Robin
Wren

26 October 2009

Today we ringed 25 birds of 6 species.

Today's birds are:

Tree sparrow
Chiffchaff
Redstart
White wagtail
Siberian stonechat
Robin

25 October 2009

Today we ringed 30 birds of 10 species.

Today's birds are:

Willow warbler
Chiffchaff
Caucasian chiffchaff
Bluethroat
Redstart
Moustached warbler
Robin
Reed bunting
Chaffinch
Dunnock

24 October 2009

Today we ringed 18 birds of 6 species.

Today's birds are:

Tree sparrow
Chiffchaff
White wagtail
Moustached warbler
Robin
Yellowhammer

23 October 2009

Today we ringed 34 birds out of 9 species. Our British volunteers Dave and Robert left the station today. Sedat from Kuyucuk station came back in order to complete the season.

Today's birds are:

Tree sparrow
Chiffchaff
Bluethroat
White wagtail
Great tit
Moustached warbler
Robin
Reed bunting
Yellowhammer

22 October 2009

Today we ringed 20 birds out of 8 species.

Today's birds are:

Chiffchaff
Caucasian chiffchaff
Bluethroat
Siberian stonechat
Great tit
Reed bunting
Chaffinch
Merlin

21 October 2009

Today we ringed 30 birds out of 9 species.

Today's birds are:

Chiffchaff
Caucasian chiffchaff
Redstart
Reed warbler
Savi's warbler
Moustached warbler
Penduline tit
Robin
Syrian woodpecker

20 October 2009

Today we ringed 29 birds out of 9 species.

Today's birds are:

Tree sparrow
Chiffchaff
Caucasian chiffchaff
Bluethroat
White wagtail
Moustached warbler
Robin
Reed bunting
Chaffinch

19 October 2009

Today we ringed 22 birds out of 7 species.

Today's birds are:

Chiffchaff
Caucasian chiffchaff
Bluethroat
Stonechat
White wagtail
Siberian stonechat
Moustached warbler

18 October 2009

Today we ringed 33 birds of 8 species.

Today's birds are:

Chiffchaff
Bluethroat
Black cap
White wagtail
Moustached warbler
Robin
Chaffinch
Yellowhammer

17 October 2009

Today we ringed 26 birds out of 10 species.

Today's birds are:

Corn Bunting
Tree sparrow
Chiffchaff
Bluethroat
Redstart
Reed warbler
Great tit
Moustached warbler
Robin
Reed bunting

16 October 2009

Today we ringed 39 birds out of 10 species.

Today's birds are:

Chiffchaff
Caucasian chiffchaff
Bluethroat
Redstart
Cetti's warbler
Sedge warbler
Savi's warbler
Moustached warbler
Robin
Yellowhammer

15 October 2009

Today we ringed 61 birds of 10 species. We had chiffchaff and white wagtail shower at the station.

Today's birds are:

Tree sparrow
Willow warbler
Chiffchaff
Caucasian chiffchaff
Bluethroat
Redstart
White wagtail
Siberian stonechat
Moustached warbler
Robin

14 October 2009

Today we ringed 17 birds out of 7 species.

Today's birds are:

Chiffchaff
Caucasian chiffchaff
Bluethroat
Redstart
White wagtail
Penduline tit
Robin

13 October 2009

Today we ringed 34 birds out of 10 species. Our new volunteer Muhammed Ali from Kafkas University Faculty of Veterinary arrived at the station.

Today's birds are:

Willow warbler
Chiffchaff
Caucasian chiffchaff
Bluethroat
Redstart
Reed warbler
Cetti's warbler
White wagtail
Great tit
Reed bunting

12 October 2009

Today we ringed 42 birds out of 9 species.

Today's birds are:

Red-backed shrike
Starling
Tree sparrow
Chiffchaff
Caucasian chiffchaff
Bluethroat
Cetti's warbler
White wagtail
Moustached warbler

11 October 2009

Today we ringed 71 birds out of species. Our volunteer Mizgin left the station today

Today's birds are:

Tree sparrow
Willow warbler
Chiffchaff
Caucasian chiffchaff
Swallow
Bluethroat
Redstart
Yellow wagtail
Black cap
White wagtail
Great tit
Moustached warbler
Penduline tit
Reed bunting
Chaffinch
Water pipit

10 October 2009

Today we ringed 52 birds out of 11 species. Our new ringers Dave and Robert from UK arrived at the station whereas Kirsty left for Kuyucuk Station.

Today's birds are:

Chiffchaff
Swallow
Bluethroat
Redstart
Reed warbler
White wagtail
Savi's warbler
Moustached warbler
Robin
Reed bunting
Chaffinch

9 October 2009

Today we ringed 33 birds out of 10 species.

Today's birds are:

Chiffchaff
Bluethroat
Redstart
Reed warbler
Black cap
White wagtail
Moustached warbler
Penduline tit
Reed bunting
Chaffinch

8 October 2009

Today we ringed 26 birds of 12 species. Our Belgian volunteer Dirk left the station today.

Today's birds are:

Tree sparrow
Chiffchaff
Caucasian chiffchaff
Bluethroat
Redstart
Stonechat
Cetti's warbler
Garden warbler
Savi's warbler
Moustached warbler
Penduline tit
Reed bunting

7 October 2009

Today was a very poor day and we could only ring 12 birds out of 7 species.

Today's birds are:

Willow warbler
Chiffchaff
Caucasian chiffchaff
Bluethroat
Great tit
Moustached warbler
Penduline tit

6 October 2009

Today we ringed 42 birds of 10 species. Nergis Yazgan, Ayşen Erdil and İlker Burgaç from WWF Turkey made a visit to our station.

Today's birds are:

Tree sparrow
Chiffchaff
Caucasian chiffchaff
Bluethroat
Redstart
White wagtail
Siberian stonechat
Great tit
Penduline tit
Robin

5 October 2009

KuzeyDoga had its most hectic week ever. Somehow, everything came together in one sleepless week. We simultaneously hosted two documentary crews, organized and celebrated the II. Kars-Igdir Nature Festival that spanned three provinces, hosted Alim “Flying Man” Yildirim who took aerial photos of our focal wetlands with nine paramotor flights, collected vegetation samples for our wetland restoration experiment with Dr. Sean Anderson, and ran two bird banding stations, while coordinating the coming and going of dozens of volunteers and festival guests. All with a staff of five!

Fortunately everything went well. Nobody got left at the base of Mt. Ararat during our field trip and The Flying Man completed all his flights flawlessly, while obtaining priceless photos and HD footage of the wetlands we are trying to protect. We thank him, our volunteers, the dedicated documentary crews, and our guests. Special thanks go to our festival supporters: Eren Dairy of Fuat Uluman for bringing the Flying Man to Kars, United Nations Eastern Turkey Tourism Project for the festival t-shirts and hats, Igdir and Kars governors, Kafkas University, Kars Municipality, Arpacay and Akyaka district governors, Igdir and Kars Departments of Environment and Forestry, Kuyucuk and Yukari Ciyrikli villages. We collected critical data, obtained unequaled aerial images, saw great birds, and also managed to party a little to the tunes of some talented musicians.

Today we ringed 35 birds out of 10 species.

Today's birds are:

Chiffchaff
Caucasian chiffchaff
Swallow
Bluethroat
Reed warbler
Cetti's warbler
Garden warbler
Siberian stonechat
Moustached warbler
Penduline tit

4 October 2009

Today we ringed 42 birds out of 9 species. Kars-Iğdır Nature festival participants visited Aras Bird Research & Education Center and have seen how birds ringed. They also bird watch around the station about an hour. Our volunteer Mizgin Sülün from Kafkas University Department of Biology at the station today.

Today's birds are:

Chiffchaff
Caucasian chiffchaff
Swallow
Bluethroat
Redstart
Cetti's warbler
White wagtail
Siberian stonechat
River warbler

3 October 2009

Today we ringed 36 birds out of 11 species.

Today's birds are:

Chiffchaff
Caucasian chiffchaff
Bluethroat
Redstart
Marsh warbler
Yellow wagtail
Black cap
White wagtail
Siberian stonechat
Robin
Whinchat

2 October 2009

Today we ringed 20 birds out of 11 species.

Today's bird are:

Tree sparrow
Willow warbler
Chiffchaff
Swallow
Bluethroat
Redstart
Yellow wagtail
Reed warbler
Garden warbler
White wagtail
Robin

1 October 2009

Today we ringed 18 birds out of 7 species. Our Belgian volunteer Dirk Maes arried at the station today.

Today's birds are:

Hobby
Chiffchaff
Bluethroat
Redstart
Black cap
Cetti's warbler
Penduline tit

30 September 2009

Today we ringed 25 birds out of 11 species. Our Scottish ringer Kirsty Jane Lees arrived at the station today. For a couple of days she will be ringing at Aras station.

Today's birds are:

Tree sparrow
Chiffchaff
Caucasian chiffchaff
Swallow
Bluethroat
Redstart
Spotted flycatcher
Garden warbler
Whitethroat
White wagtail
Penduline tit

29 September 2009

Today we ringed 9 birds out of 6 species. Our volunteer Özgü left the station today after 29 days ofvolunteering.

Today's birds are:

Tree sparrow
Swallow
Bluethroat
Redstart
Garden warbler
White wagtail

28 September 2009

Today was again a very poor day and we could only ring 8 birds out 7 species. Our volunteer Peren left the station today after 14 days of volunteering at Aras station.

Today's bird's are:

Chiffchaff
Caucasian chiffchaff
Swallow
Bluethroat
Marsh warbler
Yellow wagtail
Siberian stonechat

27 September 2009

Today we ringed 19 birds out of 11 species.

Today's bird are:

Willow warbler
Chiffchaff
Caucasian chiffchaff
Swallow
Bluethroat
Redstart
Marsh warbler
Black cap
Cetti's warbler
Siberian stonechat
Great tit

26 September 2009

Today we ringed 29 birds our of 12 species.

Today's birds are:

Willow warbler
Chiffchaff
Red-breasted flycatcher
Bluethroat
Redstart
Yellow wagtail
Black cap
Garden warbler
Siberian stonechat
Great tit
Savi's warbler
Moustached warbler

25 September 2009

Today we ringed 32 birds out of 14 species.

Today's birds are:

Bee-eater
Red-backed shrike
Levant's sparrowhawk
Willow warbler
Chiffchaff
Bluethroat
Redstart
Black cap
Garden warbler
Whitethroat
Siberian stonechat
Great tit
Savi's warbler
Moustached warbler

24 September 2009

Today we ringed 12 birds out of 5 species. Our British ringers Ron and Jerry left and our Dutch volunteer Rene Vos came today.

Today's birds are:

Spotted crake
Willow warbler
Bluethroat
Redstart
Yellow wagtail

23 September 2009

Today was a very poor day and we could only ring 6 birds out of 3 species.

Today's birds are:

Redstart
Yellow wagtail
Whitethroat

22 September 2009

Today we ringed 17 birds out of 20 species.

Today's birds are:

Bee-eater
Red-backed shrike
Starling
Willow warbler
Swallow
Bluethroat
Redstart
Yellow wagtail
Garden warbler
Sedge warbler

21 September 2009

Today we ringed 79 birds out of 18 species. Our volunteer Feyzan left the station today.

Today's bird are:

Bee-eater
Roller
Willow warbler
Caucasian chifchaff
Swallow
Bluethroat
Redstart
Sand Martin
Marsh warbler
Yellow wagtail
Reed warbler
Lesser whitethroat
Spotted flycatcher
Stonechat
Black cap
Cetti's warbler
Garden warbler
Whitethroat

20 September 2009

Today there was swallow and sand martin shower at the station and we ringed 221 birds out of 14 species.

Today's bird are:

Red-backed shrike
Swallow
Bluethroat
Redstart
Sand Martin
Marsh warbler
Yellow wagtail
Reed warbler
Lesser whitethroat
Spotted flycatcher
Stonechat
Black cap
Cetti's warbler
Garden warbler

19 September 2009

Today we ringed 42 birds out of 18 species.

Today's birds are:

Red-backed shrike
Quail
Common rosefinch
Willow warler
Wood warbler
Swallow
Bluethroat
Redstart
Sand Martin
Marsh warbler
Yellow wagtail
Reed warbler
Lesser whitethroat
Spotted flycatcher
Stonechat
Black cap
Garden warbler
Whitethroat

18 September 2009

Today we ringed 9 birds out of 9 species. Our volunteer Emine Köpük left the station today.

Today's birds are:

Bee-eater
Red-backed shrike
Willow warler
Swallow
Redstart
Sand Martin
Garden warbler
White wagtail
Savi's warbler

17 September 2009

Today we ringed 39 birds out of 14 species.

Today's birds are:

Bee-eater
Red-backed shrike
Thrush nightingale
House sparrow
Swallow
Bluethroat
Redstart
Sand Martin
Marsh warbler
Yellow wagtail
Black cap
Cetti's warbler
Garden warbler
Wren

16 September 2009

Today we ringed 77 birds out of 9 species.

Today's birds are:

Red-backed shrike
Quail
Red-breasted flycatcher
Swallow
Bluethroat
Sand Martin
Marsh warbler
Siberian stonechat
Whinchat

15 September 2009

Today we ringed 17 birds out of 12 species. Our volunteer Emine Köpük arrived at the station today. She is coming from Naxcivan and recently started to get interest in birds.

Today's birds are:

Red-backed shrike
Tree sparrow
Willow warler
Chiffchaff
Bluethroat
Redstart
Sand Martin
Yellow wagtail
Reed warbler
Spotted flycatcher
Cetti's warbler
Garden warbler

14 September 2009

Today we ringed 19 birds out of 11 species. Peren and Feyzan sisters arrived today to volunteer for our station. Peren is studying in Ankara University whereas Feyzan is studying in Middle East Technical University.Eylül and Bengisu left Aras today after 15 nice days of ringing.

Today's birds are:

Red-backed shrike
Kingfisher
Thrush nightingale
Willow warler
Swallow
Bluethroat
Redstart
Sand Martin
Marsh warbler
Yellow wagtail
Garden warbler

13 September 2009

Today we ringed 36 birds out of 18 species.

Today's birds are:

Great Reed Warbler
Bee-eater
Red-backed shrike
Corn Bunting
Wryneck
Willow warler
Swallow
Bluethroat
Redstart
Sand Martin
Marsh warbler
Yellow wagtail
Reed warbler
Spotted flycatcher
Garden warbler
Whitethroat
Sedge warbler
Savi's warbler

12 September 2009

Today we ringed 21 birds out of 8 species. Jerry Lewis and Ron Clevely from UK joined us today. They are both ringing experts.


Today's birds are:

Red-backed shrike
Swallow
Marsh warbler
Yellow wagtail
Reed warbler
Cetti's warbler
Garden warbler
Whitethroat

11 September 2009

Today we ringed 15 birds out of 8 species. Today's species are as follows:

Reed warbler
Great reed warbler
Red-backed shrike
Whitethroat
Marsh warbler
Common rosefinch
Yellow wagtail
Willow warbler

10 September 2009

Today we ringed 14 birds out of 10 species. Today's species are as follows:

Cetti's warbler
Great tit
Reed warbler
Great reed warbler
Marsh warbler
Common rosefinch
Yellow wagtail
Whinchat
Willow warbler
Bee-eater

9 September 2009

Today we ringed 24 birds out of 10 species. Ringing team made a small kite today and enjoy the day trying to make it fly. Today's species are as follows:

Cetti's warbler
Reed warbler
Red-backed shrike
Kingfisher
Whitethroat
Marsh warbler
Thrush nightingale
Yellow wagtail
Bluethroat
Bee-eater

8 September 2009

Today we ringed 24 birds out of 11 species. Today's species are as follows:

Cetti's warbler
Savi's warbler
Reed warbler
Red-backed shrike
Whitethroat
Marsh warbler
Thrush nightingale
Yellow wagtail
Bluethroat
Redstart
Bee-eater

7 September 2009

Today we ringed 36 birds out of 11 species. Today's species are as follows:

Cetti's warbler
Savi's warbler
Reed warbler
Great reed warbler
Red-backed shrike
Kingfisher
Whitethroat
Marsh warbler
Swallow
Yellow wagtail
Tree pipit

6 September 2009

Today we ringed 20 birds out of 13 species. Today's species are as follows:

Great tit
Savi's warbler
Reed warbler
Great reed warbler
Tree sparrow
Marsh warbler
Garden warbler
Sedge warbler
Swallow
Paddfield warbler
Yellow wagtail
Bluethroat
Bee-eater

5 September 2009

Today we ringed 16 birds out of 6 species. Today's species are as follows:

Cetti's warbler
Reed warbler
Great reed warbler
Wryneck
Black cap
Mountain Chiffchaff

4 September 2009

Today we ringed 25 birds out of 12 species. Today's species are as follows:

Reed warbler
Great reed warbler
Red-backed shrike
Whitethroat
Marsh warbler
Garden warbler
Sand martin
House sparrow
Lesser whitethroat
Ortolan
Black cap
Nightjar

3 September 2009

Today we ringed 32 birds out of 14 species. Today's species are as follows:

Pendilune tit
Savi's warbler
Great reed warbler
Red-backed shrike
Syrian woodpecker
Wryneck
Marsh warbler
Garden warbler
Sand martin
House sparrow
Willow warbler
Nightjar
Spotted flycatcher
Tree pipit

2 September 2009

Today we ringed 52 birds out of 15 species. Today's species are as follows:

Cetti's warbler
Great tit
Reed warbler
Great reed warbler
Garden warbler
Sand martin
House sparrow
Sedge warbler
Swallow
Common rosefinch
Lesser whitethroat
Yellow wagtail
Willow warbler
Bluethroat
Nightjar

Second shower of sand martins (1 September 2009)

Today we ringed 201 birds out of 18 species. We had a sand martin shower at the last check and our ringer Sedat Inak had to ring until 2 am in the morning. Our volunteers Özgül Yahyaoğlu, Eylül Dizdaroğlu and Ayşe Bengisu Gelmez from Hacettepe University Biology Department joined us. As soon as Eylül and Bengisu arrived, they cleaned the house we stay in the village. Today's species are as follows:

Cetti's warbler
Savi's warbler
Great reed warbler
Red-backed shrike
Wryneck
Whitethroat
Marsh warbler
Garden warbler
Sand martin
Thrush nightingale
House sparrow
Swallow
Common rosefinch
Lesser whitethroat
Willow warbler
Redstart
Bee-eater
Golden oriole

31 August 2009

Today we ringed 32 birds out of 18 species so that we ended up with August by ringing 738 birds out of 53 species in total. Güler Bozok,Yiğit Ozan Çolak, Abdurrahman Sefalı, Yelda Yağcı, Sezgi Yalçınsü, Merve Aksu and Nadin Ebeoğlu helped us at the station during these 20 days. Today's species are as follows:

Pendilune tit
Savi's warbler
Reed warbler
Great reed warbler
Red-backed shrike
Wryneck
Whitethroat
Marsh warbler
Garden warbler
Thrush nightingale
Sedge warbler
Swallow
Whinchat
Willow warbler
Redstart
Wheatear
Black cap
Magpie

30 August 2009

Today we ringed 25 birds out of 14 species. Our volunteers Merve, Yelda and Sezgi left the station today. We appreciate their contribution to our work. Today's species are as follows:

Great tit
Greet reed warbler
Red-backed shrike
Wryneck
Whitethroat
Marsh warbler
Garden warbler
Barred warbler
Lesser whitethroat
Willow warbler
Redstart
Black-eared wheatear
Goldern oriole
Wood warbler

Sand Martin shower (29 August 2009)

Today we ringed 145 birds out of 19 species. We got a sand martin shower at the last check more than 70. Today's species are as follows:

Great tit
Pendilune tit
Savi's warbler
Reed warbler
Great reed warbler
Red-backed shrike
Wryneck
Whitethroat
Tree sparrow
Marsh warbler
Garden warbler
Sand martin
Thrush nightingale
Swallow
Common rosefinch
Lesser whitethroat
Willow warbler
Bluethroat
Bee-eater

28 August 2009

Today we ringed 21 birds out of 15 species. Today's species are as follows:

Pendilune tit
Reed warbler
Red-backed shrike
Wryneck
Whitethroat
Olivevacous warbler
Marsh warbler
Garden warbler
Barred warbler
Sedge warbler
Lesser whitethroat
Redstart
River warbler
Short-toed lark
Nightjar

27 August 2009

Today we ringed 28 birds out of 14 species. Today's species are as follows:

Reed warbler
Great reed warbler
Red-backed shrike
Wryneck
Whitethroat
Tree sparrow
Marsh warbler
Garden warbler
Thrush nightingale
Yellow wagtail
Whinchat
Willow warbler
Redstart
Bee-eater

26 August 2009

Today we ringed 22 birds out of 10 species. Our volunteer Nadin left the station today. Today's species are as follows:

Reed warbler
Great reed warbler
Syrian woodpecker
Whitethroat
Marsh warbler
Garden warbler
Sand martin
Sedge warbler
Yellow wagtail
Willow warbler

25 August 2009

Today we ringed 30 birds out of 12 species. Today's species are as follows:

Great reed warbler
Red-backed shrike
Wryneck
Whitethroat
Tree sparrow
Marsh warbler
Garden warbler
Thrush nightingale
Swallow
Lesser whitethroat
Willow warbler
Quail

24 August 2009

Today we ringed 25 birds out of 12 species. Today's species are as follows:

Pendilune tit
Greet reed warbler
Red-backed shrike
Whitethroat
Tree sparrow
Marsh warbler
Thrush nightingale
Whinchat
Willow warbler
Ortolan
Bluethroat
Quail

23 August 2009

Today we ringed 17 birds out of 9 species. Today's species are as follows:

Reed warbler
Great reed warbler
Red-backed shrike
Whitethroat
Tree sparrow
Marsh warbler
Garden warbler
Thrush nightingale
Willow warbler

22 August 2009

Today we ringed 23 birds out of 12 species. Today's species are as follows:

Cetti's warbler
Reed warbler
Great reed warbler
Red-backed shrike
Kingfisher
Tree sparrow
Marsh warbler
Garden warbler
Thrush nightingale
House sparrow
Whinchat
Lesser grey shrike

21 August 2009

Today we ringed 26 birds out of 9 species. Today's species are as follows:

Red-backed shrike
Whitethroat
Tree sparrow
Marsh warbler
Garden warbler
Thrush nightingale
Swallow
Yellow wagtail
Willow warbler

20 August 2009

Today we ringed 16 birds out of 8 species. Today's species are as follows:

Greet reed warbler
Red-backed shrike
Wryneck
Marsh warbler
Garden warbler
Thrush nightingale
Sedge warbler
Whinchat

19 August 2009

We ringed 42 birds out of 13 species. Our volunteer Nadin Ebeoğlu,who is a mater student at Environmental Sciences of Bosphorus University, joined us today. She is doing studyies about DNA of migratory birds that we trap at Aras Station. Today's species are as follows:

Savi's warbler
Greet reed warbler
Red-backed shrike
Syrian woodpecker
Water rail
Whitethroat
Marsh warbler
Garden warbler
Thrush nightingale
Sedge warbler
Swallow
Lesser whitethroat
Corn Bunting

18 August 2009

Today we ringed 46 birds out of 13 species. Today's species are as follows:

Cetti's warbler
Savi's warbler
Reed warbler
Greet reed warbler
Red-backed shrike
Kingfisher
Whitethroat
Olivevacous warbler
Tree sparrow
Marsh warbler
Garden warbler
Lesser whitethroat
Roller

17 August 2009

Today we ringed 37 birds out of 15 species. Today's species are as follows:

Great tit
Savi's warbler
Greet reed warbler
Red-backed shrike
Syrian woodpecker
Kingfisher
Whitethroat
Olivevacous warbler
Marsh warbler
Garden warbler
Thrush nightingale
Barred warbler
Swallow
Roller
Black-headed bunting

16 August 2009

Today we ringed 37 birds out of 17 species. Today's species are as follows:

Cetti's warbler
Reed warbler
Greet reed warbler
Red-backed shrike
Whitethroat
Tree sparrow
Marsh warbler
Garden warbler
Thrush nightingale
Barred warbler
House sparrow
Cuckoo
Sedge warbler
Swallow
Common rosefinch
Chiffchaff
Turtle Dove

15 August 2009

Today we ringed 20 birds out of 10 species. Yelda and Sezgi from Istanbul University Veterinary Faculty, Merve from Ondokuz Mayıs University faculty joined us where Güler, Yiğit, Yakup and Abdurrahman left the station for Kuyucuk Bird Station. Today's species are as follows:

Cetti's warbler
Savi's warbler
Reed warbler
Greet reed warbler
Red-backed shrike
Kingfisher
Whitethroat
Garden warbler
House sparrow
Common rosefinch

14 August 2009

Today we ringed 32 birds out of 10 species. Today's species are as follows:

Reed warbler
Greet reed warbler
Red-backed shrike
Little Bittern
Whitethroat
Tree sparrow
Marsh warbler
Garden warbler
Swallow
Green warbler

13 August 2009

Today we ringed 29 birds out of 14 species. Today's species are as follows:

Cetti's warbler
Savi's warbler
Reed warbler
Greet reed warbler
Red-backed shrike
Olivevacous warbler
Marsh warbler
Garden warbler
Sand martin
Thrush nightingale
Cuckoo
Sedge warbler
Swallow
Paddfield warbler

12 August 2009

Today we ringed 24 birds out of 11 species. Today's species are as follows:

Cetti's warbler
Pendilune tit
Greet reed warbler
Red-backed shrike
Tree sparrow
Marsh warbler
Garden warbler
Thrush nightingale
Barred warbler
House sparrow
Reed bunting

11 August 2009

Today we ringed 34 birds out of 12 species. Today's species are as follows:

Cetti's warbler
Savi's warbler
Reed warbler
Great reed warbler
Red-backed shrike
Syrian woodpecker
Water rail
Nightingale
Whitethroat
Olivevacous warbler
Tree sparrow
Marsh warbler
Garden warbler
Sand martin

Fall ringing started at Aras Station (10 August 2009)

Since the weather is a little cooler than previous years, we started bird ringing 5 day earlier. Sedat Inak, who is our ringing specialists are running the station this fall with the help of many volunteer students from different universities all around Turkey. Today we started ringing at the station with the help Güler Bozok, Yiğit Ozan Çolak, Abdurrahman Sefalı and Yakup Şaşmaz.

Today we ringed 27 birds out of 12 species. These species are as follows:

Cetti's warbler
Great tit
Pendilune tit
Savi's warbler
Reed warbler
Greet reed warbler
Red-backed shrike
Little Bittern
Syrian woodpecker
Kingfisher
Wryneck
Water rail

Aras Station Spring 2009 Report

In spring 2009 KuzeyDoga Society started bird ringing at Aras Station on March 15, 2009 and finished on June 1, 2009. Nets were checked and birds were collected every once an hour and ringed every day between 05:00 am and 08:00 pm in the daytime. 430 meters mistnets were used to catch the birds. Leader ringer Sedat Inak conducted the studies whole season with the help of other ringing specialists from Kenya, Finland, Netherlands and United Kingdom. Aras Bird Research and Education center had 6 foreign, 16 Turkish volunteer in this season. In total 2377 birds out of 99 species were ringed at the station. The list of these species is as follows:

1 Ixobrychus minutus - Little Bittern
2 Nycticorax nycticorax - Night Heron
3 Ardeola ralloides - Squacco Heron
4 Ardea purpurea - Purple Heron
5 Tadorna ferruginea - Ruddy Shelduck
6 Circus aeruginosus - Marsh Harrier
7 Circus macrourus - Pallid Harrier
8 Circus pygargus - Montagu's Harrier
9 Accipiter nisus - Sparrowhawk
10 Accipiter brevipes - Levant Sparrowhawk
11 Buteo buteo - Buzzard
12 Rallus aquaticus - Water Rail
13 Porzana porzana - Spotted Crake
14 Gallinula chloropus - Moorhen
15 Charadrius dubius - Little Ringed Plover
16 Lymnocryptes minimus - Jack Snipe
17 Gallinago media - Great Snipe
18 Columba livia - Rock Dove
19 Columba palumbrus - Woodpigeon
20 Otus scops - Scops Owl
21 Athena noctua - Little Owl
22 Asio otus - Long-eared Owl
23 Caprimulgus europaeus - Nightjar
24 Alcedo atthis - Kingfisher
25 Merops apiaster - Bee-eater
26 Coracias garrulus - Roller
27 Jynx torquilla - Wryneck
28 Alauda arvensis - Skylark
29 Riparia riparia - Sand Martin
30 Hirundo rustica - Swallow
31 Delichon urbica - House Martin
32 Anthus trivialis - Tree Pipit
33 Anthus pratensis - Meadow Pipit

34 Anthus spinoletta - Water Pipit
35 Motacilla flava - Yellow Wagtail
36 Motacilla cinerea - Grey Wagtail
37 Troglodytes troglodytes - Wren
38 Prunella modularis - Dunnock
39 Erithacus rubecula - Robin
40 Luscinia luscinia - Thrush Nightingale
41 Luscinia megarhynchos - Nightingale
42 Luscinia svecica - Bluethroat
43 Phoenicurus phoenicurus - Redstart
44 Saxicola rubetra - Whinchat
45 Saxicola maura - Sibirian Stonechat
46 Saxicola rubicola - European Stonechat
47 Oenanthe isabellina Isabelline - Wheatear
48 Oenanthe hispanica - Black-eared Wheatear
49 Turdus merula - Blackbird
50 Turdus philomelos - Song Thrush
51 Cettia cetti - Cetti's Warbler
52 Locustella naevia - Grasshopper Warbler

53 Locustella fluviatilis - River Warbler
54 Locustella lusciniodies - Savi's Warbler
55 Acrocephalus melanopogon - Moustached Warbler
56 Acrocephalus schoenobaenus - Sedge Warbler
57 Acrocephalus agricola - Paddyfield Warbler
58 Acrocephalus palustris - Marsh Warbler
59 Acrocephalus scirpaceus - Reed Warbler
60 Acrocephalus arundinaceus - Great Reed Warbler
61 Hippolais pallida - Olivaceous Warbler

62 Sylvia mystacea - Menetries Warbler
63 Sylvia nisoria - Barred Warbler
64 Sylvia curruca - Lesser Whitethroat
65 Sylvia communis - Whitethroat
66 Sylvia borin - Garden Warbler
67 Sylvia atricapilla - Blackcap
68 Phylloscopus nitidus - Green Warbler
69 Phylloscopus sibilatrix - Wood Warbler
70 Phylloscopus collybita - Chiffchaff
71 Phylloscopus trochilus - Willow Warbler
72 Muscicapa striata - Spotted Flycatcher
73 Ficedula parva - Red-breasted Flycatcher

74 Ficedula semitorquata - Semi-collared Flycatcher
75 Ficedula hypoleuca - Pied Flycatcher
76 Parus caeruleus - Blue Tit
77 Parus major - Great Tit
78 Remiz pendulinus - Penduline Tit
79 Oriolus oriolus - Golden Oriole
80 Lanius collurio - Red-backed Shrike
81 Lanius minor - Lesser Grey Shrike
82 Pica pica - Magpie
83 Corvus monedula - Jackdaw
84 Corvus frugilegus - Rook
85 Sturnus vulgaris - Starling
86 Sturnus roseus - Rose-coloured Starling
87 Passer domesticus - House Sparrow
88 Passer hispaniolensis - Spanish Sparrow
89 Passer montanus - Tree Sparrow
90 Fringilla coelebs - Chaffinch
91 Fringilla montifringilla - Brambling
92 Carduelis carduelis - Goldfinch
93 Carpodacus erythrinus - Common Rosefinch
94 Emberiza citrinella - Yellowhammer
95 Emberiza hortulana - Ortolan
96 Emberiza schoeniclus - Reed Bunting
97 Emberiza melanocephala - Black-headed Bunting
98 Miliaria calandra - Corn Bunting
99 Ficedula albicollis - Collared Flycatcher

2009 Spring Season Volunteers of Aras Station

1- Jukka Hintikka (Finland)
2- James Kuria Ndungu (Kenya)
3- Richard Taylor (United Kingdom)
4- Arnold Wijker (Netherlands)
5- Luc Knijnsberg (Netherlands)
6- Emmanuel Rey (Switzerland)
7- Ulvi Dardoğan (Kafkas University / Kars / Turkey)
8- Mustafa Örki (Kafkas University / Kars / Turkey)
9- Mehmet Yılmaz (Kafkas University / Kars / Turkey)
10- Cumali Ketteş (Kafkas University / Kars / Turkey)
11- Sezer Akkurt (Kafkas University / Kars / Turkey)
12- Muhammed Karslı (Kafkas University / Kars / Turkey)
13- Fatih Mahmudoğlu (Kafkas University / Kars / Turkey)
14- Tuğçe Kara (Kafkas University / Kars / Turkey)
15- Ali Uçar (Kafkas University / Kars / Turkey)
16- Hayri Çakmak (Kafkas University / Kars / Turkey)
17- Sefa Ak (Kafkas University / Kars / Turkey)
18- Fatih Uzun (Kafkas University / Kars / Turkey)
19- Özkan Öztürk (Kafkas University / Kars / Turkey)
20- Hakkı Serhat Cacekli (Koç University / İstanbul / Turkey)
21- Orhan Gül (Ege University / İzmir / Turkey)
22- Aylin Uzunçakmak (Ondokuz Mayıs University / Samsun / Turkey)

1 June 2009 End of season

Today is the last day of our spring season at Aras Station. We are going to be back on August 15, 2009 for the fall season. Today we ringed 4 birds out of 3 species.

Today's birds are:

Great reed warbler
Reed warbler
Common rosefinch

31 May 2009

We ringed 21 birds out of 9 species.

Today's birds are:

Garden warbler
Common rosefinch
Sedge warbler
Reed warbler
Olivavecous warbler
Cetti's warbler
Marsh warbler
Great reed warbler
House sparrow
Little bittern

30 May 2009

We ringed 37 birds out of 10 species.

Today's birds are:

Sedge warbler
Garden warbler
Reed warbler
Marsh warbler
Paddyfield warbler
Olivavecous warbler
Sand martin
Great warbler
Little bittern
Kingfisher
Red-backed shrike
House sparrow

29 May 2009

Today we ringed 41 birds out of 15 species.

Today's birds are:

Willow warbler
Great reed warbler
Black-headed bunting
Red-backed shrike
Kingfisher
House sparrow
Barred warbler
Olivavecous warbler
Reed warbler
Sedge warbler
Spotted warbler
Marsh warbler
Sand martin
Penduline tit
Common rosefinch

28 May 2009

We ringed 95 birds out of 20 species.

Today's birds are:

Common rosefinch
Garden warbler
Spotted flycatcher
Sedge warbler
Sedge warbler
River warbler
Blackcap
Marsh warbler
Olivaveceous warbler
Lesser whitethroat
Whitethroat
Sand martin
House martin
Great reed warbler
Black-headed bunting
Red-basked shrike
Nightingale
House sparrow
Cuckoo
Willow warbler

27 May 2009

We ringed 44 birds out of 13 species.

Today's birds are:

Garden warbler
Reed warbler
Sedge warbler
Spotted flycatcher
Common rosefinch
Cetti's warbler
Great reed warbler
Red-backed shrike
Little bittern
House sparrow
Little ringed plover
Lesser grey shrike
Rose coloured starling
Willow warbler

26 May 2009

We ringed 45 birds out of 10 species.

Today's birds are:

Spotted flycatcher
Sedge warbler
Garden warbler
Reed warbler
Cetti's warbler
Swallow
Sand Martin
Great reed warbler
Red-backed shrike
Willow warbler

25 May 2009

We ringed 59 birds out of 14 species.

Today's birds are:

Sedge warbler
Cetti's warbler
Marsh warbler
Reed warbler
Garden warbler
Reed warbler
Olivavecous warbler
Common rosefinch
Spotted flycatcher
River warbler
Rose coloured starling
Great reed warbler
Red-backed shrike
Barred warbler
Willow warbler

24 May 2009

We ringed 18 birds out of 10 species.

Today's birds are:

Cetti's warbler
Garden warbler
Spotted flycatcher
Sedge warbler
Marsh warbler
Reed warbler
Paddyfield warbler
Common rosefinch
Great reed warbler
Black-headed bunting
Red-backed shrike

23 May 2009

We ringed 32 birds out of 9 species.

Today's birds are:

Sedge warbler
Garden warbler
Olivavecous warbler
Reed warbler
Common rosefinch
Penduline tit
Great reed warbler
Little bittern
Rose-coloured starling

22 May 2009

We ringed 29 birds out of 11 species.

Today's birds are:

Sedge warbler
Reed warbler
Marsh warbler
Paddyfield warbler
Whitethroat
Great reed warbler
Little bittern
Red-backed shrike
House sparrow
Ruddy shelduck
Willow warbler
Rose-coloured starking

21 May 2009

We ringed 23 birds out of 11 species.

Today's birds are:

Green warbler
Thrush nightingale
Great reed warbler
Little bittern
Sedge warbler
Swallow
Reed warbler
Marsh warbler
Common rosefinch
Olivavecous warbler
Paddyfield warbler

20 May 2009

We ringed 35 birds out of 13 species.

Today's birds are:

Great reed warbler
Common rosefinch
Little bittern
Lesser grey shrike
Spanish sparrow
Sedge Warbler
Reed warbler
Redstart
Whitethroat
Garden warbler
Cetti's warbler
Sand martin
Swallow
Willow warbler

19 May 2009

We ringed 38 birds out of 14 species.

Today's birds are:

Willow warbler
Reed warbler
Sedge warbler
Redstart
Olivavecous warbler
Cetti's warbler
Swallow
Marsh warbler
Garden warbler
Common rosefinch
Paddyfield warbler
Great reed warbler
Cuckoo
Thrush nightingale
Kingfisher
Water rail

Turkish Birding Conference attenders at Aras Station (18 May 2009)

We ringed 35 birds out of 15 species.

Today's birds are:

Reed warbler
Willow warbler
Great reed warbler
Swallow
Red-backed shrike
Sedge warbler
Moustached warbler
Garden warbler
Lesser whitethroat
Whitethroat
Olivecous warbler
Common rosefinch
Cuckoo
Squacco heron
Golden oriole

17 May 2009

We ringed 24 birds out of 10 species.

Today's birds are:

Reed warbler
Cetti's warbler
Willow warbler
Great reed warbler
Kingfisher
Sedge warbler
Redstart
Olivaceous warbler
Common rosefinch
Marsh harrier

16 May 2009

We ringed 24 birds out of 12 species.

Today's birds are:

Reed warbler
Willow warbler
Great reed warbler
Red-backed shrike
Barred warbler
Little bittern
Garden warbler
Whitethroat
Marsh warbler
Redstart
Paddyfield warbler
Water rail

15 May 2009

We ringed 30 birds out of 13 species.

Today's birds are:

Reed warbler
Red-breasted flycatcher
Willow warbler
Great reed warbler
Swallow
Red-backed shrike
Sedge warbler
Spotted flycatcher
Garden warbler
Whitethroat
Marsh warbler
Olivacoues warbler
Common rosefinch

14 May 2009

We ringed 29 birds out of 12 species.

Today's birds are:

Reed warbler
Goldfinch
Blackcap
Willow warbler
Great reed warbler
Swallow
Red-backed shrike
Sedge warbler
Spotted flycatcher
Garden warbler
River warbler
Marsh warbler

13 May 2009

We ringed 38 birds out of 17 species.

Today's birds are:

Blackcap
Willow warbler
Thrush nightingale
Great reed warbler
Swallow
House sparrow
Kingfisher
Red-backed shrike
Sedge warbler
Spotted flycatcher
Barred warbler
Garden warbler
Whitethroat
Marsh warbler
Spanish sparrow
Olivaceous warbler
Pendilune tit

12 May 2009

We ringed 73 birds out of 13 species.

Today's birds are:

Sand martin
Reed warbler
Cetti's warbler
Swallow
Spotted flycatcher
Garden warbler
Lesser whitethroat
Whitethroat
River warbler
Redstart
Whinchat

11 May 2009

We ringed 44 birds out of 16 species.

Today's birds are:

Sand martin
Reed warbler
Willow warbler
Thrush nightingale
Great reed warbler
Swallow
Kingfisher
Sedge warbler
Spotted flycatcher
Spotted crake
Barred warbler
Garden warbler
Levant's sparrowhawk
Marsh warbler
Bee-eater
Sparrowhawk

World Migratory Day at Aras Station (10 May 2009)

KuzeyDoga Society has celebrated the World Migratory Bird Day at its Aras River Bird Research and Education Center situated near Yukari Ciyrikli village, Tuzluca, Iğdır. Over 40 people and 15 students participated from Yukarı Cıyrıklı village, Gazi Teachers' School and Iğdır city. The celebration was honored by Iğdır Director of Environment and Forestry Mr. Taner Tazegün and Kafkas University professor Dr. İsa Özaydın.

There was a demonstration of bird ringing led by master ringer Sedat İnak. Students learned about bird ringing and its importance for monitoring bird populations. Volunteers James Kuria Ndung'u of Kenya and Emmanuel Rey of Switzerland added an international flavor. A nice surprise was the spontaneous agreement between Yukarı Cıyrıklı citizens and director Tazegün to reforest and protect a barren area overgrazed by sheep and goats. This will make the region even more important for migrating birds.

We ringed 109 birds out of 27 species.

Today's birds are:

Reed warbler

Goldfinch

Cetti's warbler

Blackcap

Red-breasted flycatcher

Chiffchaff

Willow warbler

Thrush nightingale

Great reed warbler

House sparrow

Swallow

Red-backed shrike

Sedge warbler

Spotted flycatcher

Nightingale

Spotted crake
Little bittern
Garden warbler
Whitethroat
River warbler
Marsh warbler
Mountain chiffchaff
Redstart

For more pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/kuzeydoga/WorldMigratoryDay2009Aras

9 May 2009

We ringed 35 birds out of 13 species.

Today's birds are:

Reed warbler
Cetti's warbler
Red-breasted flycatcher
Chiffchaff
Willow warbler
Thrush nightingale
Nightjar
Great reed warbler
Swallow
Red-backed shrike
Sedge warbler
Spotted flycatcher
Garden warbler

8 May 2009

We ringed 23 birds out of 10 species.

Today's birds are:

Reed warbler
Willow warbler
Thrush nightingale
Swallow
Red-backed shrike
Spotted flycatcher
Little bittern
Garden warbler
Whitethroat
Levant's sparrowhawk

7 May 2009

We ringed 11 birds out of 6 species.

Today's birds are:

Chiffchaff
Willow warbler
Thrush nightingale
Swallow
Red-backed shrike
Garden warbler

6 May 2009

We ringed 59 birds out of 18 species.

Today's birds are:

Reed warbler
Cetti's warbler
Blackcap
Chiffchaff
Willow warbler
Thrush nightingale
Great reed warbler
Swallow
Red-backed shrike
Sedge warbler
Spotted flycatcher
Nightingale
Barred warbler
Little bittern
Garden warbler
Lesser whitethroat
Whitethroat
Great tit

5 May 2009

We ringed 120 birds out of 20 species.

Today's birds are:

Sand martin
Reed warbler
Blackcap
Red-breasted flycatcher
Chiffchaff
Willow warbler
Thrush nightingale
Great reed warbler
Swallow
Kingfisher
Red-backed shrike
Sedge warbler
Spotted flycatcher
Nightingale
Spotted crake
Barred warbler
Little bittern
Black-headed bunting
Garden warbler

4 May 2009

We ringed 23 birds out of 11 species.

Today's birds are:

Red-breasted flycacher
Chiffchaff
Willow warbler
Thrush nightingale
House sparrow
Swallow
Kingfisher
Red-backed shrike
Sedge warbler
Spotted flycatcher
Moustached warbler

3 May 2009

We ringed 28 birds out of 12 species.

Today's birds are:

Sandmartin
Reed warbler
Goldfinch
Cetti's warbler
Blackcap
Red-brested flycatcher
Chiffchaff
Willow warbler
Thrush nightingale
Great reed warbler
House sparrow
Swallow

2 May 2009

We ringed 31 birds out of 16 species.

Today's birds are:

Cetti's warbler
Blackcap
Chiffchaff
Willow warbler
Thrush nightingale
Great reed warbler
Swallow
Kingfisher
Spotted flycatcher
Nightingale
Little bittern
Whinchat
Olivaceous warbler
Savi's warbler
Menetries warbler
Corn bunting

We did not have many birds at Labor Day (1 May 2009)

Today is labor day. However it is officially an off day here in Turkey, we kept ringing at Aras Station :-) Today the weather was a little cloudy and partially rainy in the afternoon. We ringed 30 birds out of 13 species. We ringed the first garden warbler of the season this year.

Today's birds are:

Bluethroat
Blackcap
Willow warbler
Swallow
Chiffchaff
Thrush nightingale
Redstart
Cetti's warbler
Savi's warbler
Whitethroat
Garden warbler
Red-backed shrike
Little bittern

End of April (30 April 2009)

We finished the month of April here at Aras station with 5 ringers from Kenya, UK, Netherlands and Turkey. Today it was a nice day and we ringed 42 birds out of 17 species.

Today's birds are:

Great reed warbler
Willow warbler
Swallow
Chiffchaff
Thrush nightingale
Redstart
Cetti's warbler
Sedge warbler
Yellow wagtail
Reed warbler
Sparrowhawk
Mountain chiffchaff
Spotted crake
Sand martin
Red-backed shrike
Goldfinch
Montagu's harrier

Best day ever: Red-backed shrikes arrived (29 April 2009)

Today was a maginificient day of ringing because we had the most numbers of the birds since we started at Aras station this season. We ringed 99 birds out 18 species. First red-backed shrikes of the season arrived at the station and unfortunately they already killed two birds in the net, too.

Today's birds are:

Great reed warbler
Blackcap
Willow warbler
Semi-collared flycatcher
Swallow
Chiffchaff
Thrush nightingale
Cetti's warbler
Savi's warbler
Lesser whitethroat
Sedge warbler
Yellow wagtail
Reed warbler
Nightingale
Whitethroat
Barred warbler
Grasshopper warbler
Red-backed shrike

A very good day (28 April 2009)

Today it was warm all day and we had really good numbers of birds. We ringed 60 birds out 20 species.

Today's birds are:

Bluethroat

Blackcap

Willow warbler

Swallow

Chiffchaff

Thrush nightingale

Kingfisher

Redstart

Cetti's warbler

Moustached warbler

Savi's warbler

Lesser whitethroat

Sedge warbler

Reed warbler

Sparrowhawk

Barred warbler

Levant sparrowhawk

Grasshopper warbler

Spotted crake

Sand martin

Mountaing Chiffchaff & Marsh harrrier (27 April 2009)

We ringed 27 birds out of 11 species. The weather was warm all day.

Today's birds are:

Great reed warbler
Willow warbler
Chiffchaff
Thrush nightingale
Moustached warbler
Lesser whitethroat
Sedge warbler
Reed warbler
Penduline tit
Marsh harrier
Mountain chiffchaff

Weather gets better (26 April 2009)

Today we ringed 25 birds out of 11 species.

Today's birds are:

Great reed warbler
Bluethroat
Willow warbler
Swallow
Chiffchaff
Redstart
Lesser whitethroat
Sedge warbler
Yellow wagtail
Nightingale
Jackdaw

A normal day (25 April 2009)

Today we again ringed less birds 25 out of 12 species due to bad weather.

Today's birds are:

Great reed warbler
Blackcap
Willow warbler
Swallow
Chiffchaff
Thrush nightingale
Moustached warbler
Savi's warbler
Sedge warbler
Yellow wagtail
Whitethroat
Collared flycatcher

Two Dutch volunteers joined us (24 April 2009)

Today two of our new volunteer from Netherlands joined us. Their names are Arnold and Luc. Arnold is an experienced ringer whereas Luc is a trainee. Out Turkish volunteer Fatih and Tuğçe left the station as well.

Today we ringed 47 birds out of 19 species.

Today's birds are:

Great reed warbler
Blackcap
Willow warbler
Semi-collared flycatcher
Swallow
Chiffchaff
Thrush nightingale
Kingfisher
Redstart
Lesser whitethroat
Yellow wagtail
Nightingale
Sparrowhawk
Scops owl
Whitethroat
Garden warbler
Great tit
Collared flycatcher
Wood warbler

Children's Day (23 April 2009)

Today is national sovereignty and children's day in Turkey and it is 86th anniversary year of the establishment of the Turkish parliament. Then founder of Turkey Mustafa Kemal Atatürk gifted this day to world children and it is being celebrated as children's day.

We had a nice day of ringing because we have ringed the highest number of birds since we started this season. There was a yellow wagtail shower of 46 individuals.

Today we ringed 66 birds out of 13 species.

Today's birds are:

Blackcap
Willow warbler
Semi-collared flycatcher
Swallow
Chiffchaff
Cetti's warbler
Kingfisher
Thrush nightingale
Savi's warbler
Pallid harrier
Yellow wagtail
Reed warbler
Penduline tit

Bad weather continues (22 April 2009)

Today we still had bad weather and we could only ring 12 birds out of 6 species.

Today's birds are:

Swallow
Chiffchaff
Thrush nightingale
Savi's warbler
Whinchat
Stock dove

Three buteos in one single day (21 April 2009)

Today we had a good warm spring day around 13 degrees all day. The most surprising event of the day was ringing three common buzzards. The number of the species and the number of the birds we ring is increasing day by day. Today we ringed 36 birds out of 15 species.

Today's birds are:

Greet reed warbler
Bluethroat
Willow warbler
Swallow
Chiffchaff
Kingfisher
Redstart
Thrush nightingale
Moustached warbler
Savi's warbler
Lesser whitethroat
Grasshopper warbler
Sedge warbler
Robin
Common buzzard

Swallow shower started (20 April 2009)

Today it was clear and shiny around 13 degrees and we got very good numbes of birds today. Since Jukka left, we are 3 ringers from now on. Sedat, Richard and James. Not only the number but also the number of the species increasd today and today we ringed 5 new species at Aras Station for this season. We ringed 43 birds out of 14 species.

Today's birds are:

Bluethroat
Swallow
Night heron
Chiffchaff
Thrush nightingale
Kingfisher
Rock dove
Great snipe
Redstart
Tree pipit
Cetti's warbler
Black-eared wheatear
Moustached warbler
Savi's warbler

We stuck in the mud and Jukka's last day (19 April 2009)

We had a surprise when we were going to the station this morning. Since it has been rainy for almost a week, it was very muddy and our van stuck in the mud this morning. We could take it out by the help of a tractor coming from the village. However it was cloudy and cold in the morning, it became sunny in the afternoon. We spent the afternoon by washing our van. Sedat flushed a purple heron to the nets and caught it by hands. It was also a good day for migration including a short-toed eagle, an epgyptian vulture, a golden eagle, a short-eared owl and a red-throated pipit. We ringed 17 birds out of 9 species. Two of them were new species to this season.

Today was also Jukka's last day and we are very thankful to him for his contribution to our ringing station. He is again very welcome to Aras next year.

Today's birds are:

Song thrush
Great reed warbler
Purple heron
House saparrow
Bluethroat
Blackcap
Willow warbler
Semi-colored flycatcher
Swallow

Very few birds including a brambling (18 April 2009)

Today we had very few birds due to bad weather of clouds and rain at 8 degrees al day. We observed a short-toed eagle migrating, bearded tits right behind our trailer, an osprey hunting in the pond and little crake. Today we ringed 11 birds out of 10 species.

Today's birds are:

Water pipit
Swallow
Starling
Willow warbler
Yellow wagtail
Redstart
Cetti's warbler
Wryneck
Great reed warbler
Brambling

Bad weather goes on (17 April 2009)

With respect to last year, the weather goes cold this spring. It has been cold and cloudy for almost a week. Today it was agan raint, cloudy and cold around 8 degrees. The dog carcass has been eaten by vultures and only bones left. We observed 1 black kite, 3 black vultures, 6 griffon vultures, 1 egyptian vulture and 1 red-footed falcon. Today we ringed 16 birds out of 9 species.

Today's birds are:

Chiffchaff
Bluethroat
Water pipit
Willow warbler
Cetti's warbler
Yellow wagtail
Savi's warbler
Grasshopper warbler
Spotted crake

An interesting observation of Arctic Skua (16 April 2009)

Today it was cloudy and partially rainy. We made a very interesting record here in Aras Station. We saw an arctic skua. Not only our Finnish ringer Jukka but also our British ringer Richard identified it and we also took some pictures however they are not in very good quality. Besides arctic skua, we observed 1 great snipe, 1 griffon vulture, 1 bearded tit, 2 redshanks, 1 booted eagle, 1 egyptian vulture, 1 merlin, 1 golden eagle, 1 black stork, 6 Alpine swifts. Today we ringed 11 birds out of 5 species.
Today's birds are:

Chiffchaff
Bluethroat
House sparrow
Lesser whitethroat
Ortolan

Yellow wagtails arrived (15 April 2009)

Today it was cloudy an rainy. It was around 8 degrees all day. We had quiet a lot of yellow wagtails. However it was a rainy day, we had good observations such as griffon vulture, lesser spotted eagle, golden eagle, sandgrouse, red-footed falcon and black stork. Today we ringed 24 birds out of 10 species.

Today's birds are:

Chiffchaff
Bluethroat
Pendilune tit
Lesser whitethroat
Song thrush
Yellow wagtail
Redstart
Savi's warbler
Thrush nightingale

Hakuna Matata (14 April 2009)

Today our volunteer Serhat Cacekli from Koc University left. When leaving, he sang a Kenyan song called "Hakuna Matata (No problem)" that James taught us. Our British ringer Richard Taylor joined us, too. Now there are one Finnish, one Kenyan, one British and one Turkish ringer at Aras Station. It was warm all day. The number of vultures hanging around our carcass increased and we also saw some egyptian vultures, too.

It was cloudy and around 8 degrees. Today we saw 4 black and 1 griffon vultures around the carcass. We also had good migration including 15 Montagu's harriers, 2 pallid harriers and 1 black stork. We ringed 11 birds out of 5 species.

Today's birds are:

Chiffchaff
Bluethroat
Siberian stonechat
Whinchat
Yellow wagtail

Scops Owl (13 April 2009)

It was warm all day and we had the first scops owl of this season. We had a barbecue party in the afternoon because our volunteer Serhat Cacekli would be leaving in the following day. We observed the osprey flying over the ponds again. Our carcass worked out today and we saw three black vultures soaring over it. We ringed 25 birds out of 11 species. Our two new volunteers from Kafkas University Biology Department joined us today. Their names are Fatih Mahmudoğlu and Tuğçe Kara. They are very experienced about the work done in Aras station because they participated in our project more than a month last spring.

Today's birds are:

Chiffchaff
Bluethroat
Cetti's warbler
Pendilune tit
Song thrush
Willow warbler
Robin
Siberian stonechat
Little whitethroat
Sedge Warbler

11 species in one day (12 April 2009)

It was again very cold in the morning and got warmer in the noon. Since we started, we had the most diverse day of the season. We not only observed, but also ringed the first black cap of the season. 5 professors and associate professors from Kafkas University Veterinary Faculty visited us at the station and our ringer Sedat Inak gave them brief information about what is being done in the station. He also showed ringing process of a bird as demonstration. We ringed 21 birds out of 11 species. We observed ravens and magpies around the carcass we left yesterday, but not vultures yet. We also saw an osprey catching a fish over the ponds around our station. Today it was an important day for our Finnish ringer Jukka because he ringed his first house sparrow :-)

Today's birds are:

Chiffchaff

Bluethroat

Pendilune tit

Swallow

Siberian stonechat

Starling

Black cap

Great tit

Whinchat

Water pipit

House sparrow

A very good day of new species (11 April 2009)

It was very cold in the morning and it even snowed until noon. In the afternoon it was very sunny and the snow melted. Today is one of the best days of ringing since we started since March 15. We also saw 3 black vultures soaring over our station. Sedat and Onder drove to Tuzluca for shopping and saw a dog carcass hit by a car on the way. They carried it on the other side of Aras river just opposite of our station to attract vultures. The carcass is visible from the station and even magpies started to come today. We also had a very new species of Aras station and ringed a wood pigeon.The other interesting bird of the day was a male sparrowhawk that we ringed. We ringed 30 birds out of 10 species.

Today's birds are:

Chiffchaff

Bluethroat

Cetti's warbler

Pendilune tit

Song thrush

Willow warbler

Redstart

Lesser whitethroat

Sparrowhawk

Wood pigeon

Bluethroat Shower (10 April 2009)

It was very cold in the morning and got warmer in the afternoon. Today we had a lot of bluethroats all day. The wind which occurs in the evening did not let us have many birds. We ringed 23 birds out of 5 species today.

Today's birds are:

Bluethroat
Cetti's warbler
Swallow
Siberian stonechat
Starling

James arrived (9 April 2009)

Today our Kenyan ringer James Kuria Ndungu arrived at Aras Bird Station and started to work with other colleagues in the station. He previously worked with Dr. Çağan Şekercioğlu in Ethihopia. Our volunteer Muhammed Karslı left the station. It was a warm day all day long. We ringed 17 birds out of 7 species. We had the first jacksnipe of the season.

Today's birds are:

Chiffchaff
Bluethroat
Pendilune tit
Kingfisher
Swallow
Jacksnipe
Siberian stonechat

Swallows arrived (8 April 2009)

It was warm and clear before the noon. It got cloudy and rainy in the afternoon. Today we ringed the first swallows of this season. It seems that swallow shower will start in a few days. We ringed 22 birds out of 7 species.

Today's birds are:

Chifchaff
Bluethroat
Song thrush
Savi's warbler
Kingfisher
Swallow
Moustached warbler

Savi's warbler (7 April 2009)

Today it was rainy and cloudy around 10 degrees so that we did not have many birds at the station, but we caught the first savi's warbler of the season. We ringed 12 birds out of 6 species.

Today's birds are:

Chiffchaff
Bluethroat
Robin
Goldfinch
Redstart
Savi's warbler

Wild boar (6 April 2009)

It was a warm day around 17 degrees and there was no wind. We saw a very big wild boar when we are doing the last check. We had the second penduline tit of the season today. We ringed 20 birds out of 4 species.

Today's birds are:

Chiffchaff
Bluethroat
Song thrush
Penduline tit

Good migration (5 April 2009)

However we did not ring many birds today, there was a very good migration during the day. It was clear and around 13 degrees. We observed 83 common buzzards, 8 black kites, 1 steppe eagle, 1 lesser spotted eagle and 3 egyptian vultures migrating over our station. We ringed 11 birds out of 5 species today. We trapped the first wryneck of the season today.

Today's birds are:

Chiffchaff
Bluethroat
Cetti's warbler
Water rail
Wryneck

Two new species & two new volunteers (4 April 2009)

Today it was a clear and warm day around 15 degrees. We not only had two new species but also had two new volunteers Muhammed Kekeş from Kars and Hakkı Serhat Cacekli from Istanbul. We trapped the first kingfisher of the season. The other new species was Cetti's warbler. We ringed 23 birds out of 9 species.

Today's birds are:

Chiffchaff

Bluethroat

Reed Bunting

Bearded Reedling

Great tit

Dunnock

Siberian stonechat

Cetti's warbler

Kingfisher