Birecik Bird Sanctuary

It was already dark when we left Halfeti. We’d been late leaving that morning and then we went off daylight savings time, robbing us of an hour of light. We all assumed we were heading back to Gaziantep. However, we found ourselves bumping along a road next to the river, clearly in some sort of town. The driver pulled into a gas station – we thought he was lost and was trying to get onto the freeway. It turned out he was looking for a famous bird sanctuary. The station was right next to the sanctuary, but it wasn’t obvious how you got in. I’d read about this sanctuary in exploring possibilities for birdwatching in Turkey. It’s the only place in the world with bald ibises. The bird almost became extinct. This refuge began with one breeding pair, and now they have 109 birds. When they hit 100 they bought a satellite and inserted some sort of transmitter in each bird. Now they know where they all are all the time. Bald ibises are migratory birds that winter on the Nile. Most of them travel through Syria and Jordon to get to Egypt, but some fly over the Mediterranean. Sadly, it was too dark to see them, but I bought a couple of photos. It seems like a good cause to support, even if they are singularly ugly birds.