Wildlife in the Göksu delta

The Göksu delta and its Kuşcenneti bird reservation are of outstanding environmental importance, boasting a tremendous variety of flora and fauna. The best place to start an exploration of the area is Akgöl, the westerly lagoon, where pygmy cormorants, Dalmatian pelicans, marbled and white-headed ducks and even the practically extinct black francolin and purple gallinule feed. The sand spit is a nesting ground for loggerhead and green turtles as well as a home to sea daffodils and Audouin’s gulls. East of this, reached by an access road halfway between Taşucu and Silifke, are extensive ditches where you’ll see kingfishers (including the rare chestnut brown and white Smyrna variety), coots, wagtails, spoonbills, egrets and grey, purple and squacco herons. Still further east, the huge natural fishpond of Paradeniz lagoon and the flats beyond it harbour waders, ospreys and terns. Nesting and migration seasons are in the spring (with a peak between late March and early April), and in October. Information leaflets on the delta are available from the Özel Çevre Koruma Kurumu (Special Environmental Areas Protection Agency; t 0324/714 9508), 5km west of Silifke, near the church of Aya Tekla, in the grounds of the DSİ waterworks complex; if you contact them in advance you can also arrange an English-speaking guide for group trips. If you want to go independently, you’ll need your own car or a taxi.