Yeniçağa Lake hosts bird watchers, photographers

Home to 264 bird species, the Yeniçağa Bird Sanctuary in the northwestern province of Bolu's Yeniçağa district hosts many photographers and bird watchers every year during migration season.

Perched on an area of 2,780 decares, which is under the protection of the General Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks, Yeniçağa Lake is visited by thousands of birds of 264 species such as cranes, common rosefinch, honey buzzard, ruddy shelduck, fish eagle and flamingo every year during migration seasons.

Birds that visit the lake during migration seasons lay eggs and incubate there. Among these birds, the crane, imperial eagle, white-tailed eagle and corncrake are the leading bird species that accommodate and incubate in the lake.

The lake, which is home to more than half of the 465 bird species living in Turkey, was a draw for bird watchers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bird enthusiasts and photographers who come to this bird paradise, located two-and-a-half hours from Istanbul and two hours from Ankara, spend hours there to photograph and observe the birds around the lake.

Speaking to state-run Anadolu Agency, bird watcher and photographer Ergin Arar said that he works in Bolu and does bird watching in his spare times. Stating that he has been interested in birds since his childhood, Arar said, "The singing and species of birds have always aroused interest. With photography, I started researching them."

Pointing out that Yeniçağa Lake is a bird sanctuary that ranks second in size after Manyas in the northwestern province of Balıkesir, Arar said, "Home to cranes, which are widely mentioned in Anatolian culture, Yeniçağa Lake hosts a large number of birds, as well as common rosefinch, sedge warbler and tangle picker...