by the sea

hey, pelican!

We headed back to Lake Manyas around 8:00 in the morning to spy on its feathered beasts while waiting for the Kuşcenneti Milli Parkı to open. The area became a national park in 1959, and is home to 266 species of birds, 178 of which pass through during migration. Needless to say, Kuşcenneti Park is a very important place, and I was thrilled by the park's cleanliness and beauty. Often in Turkey, natural areas are treated like trash bins by the public, but Kuşcenneti Park was truly cared for. The information center was lovely, and the man who gave us our tickets was excited to show off the park's remote live cameras, which were fixed on the lake. Families trickled in, borrowing binoculars from the nice man, and mindfully headed through the little woods to the observation tower, where you can get a magnificent view of the birds.



I was delighted to discover that the observation tower was made with an Ottoman touch— it resembled an old wooden yalı, and once inside, Pedro found an owl pellet and feathers, which lead me to believe that the tower itself offered shelter. We set up the telescope, and were moved to silence.



The Great White Pelicans were pink.

in celebration of change

I'm a bit behind in posting— it's late September now, and there are still loads of photos from this summer that I haven't shared. So much has happened since July that I can't possibly catch up to it all, so I'm moving ahead with what is current, and will sprinkle in some summer here and there.

I have left Istanbul for a quiet seaside town outside the chaos. No more two hour commutes through murderous traffic, no more bumping my way up Istiklal, no more crazy howling neighbours, no more fearing the inevitable break-in. Upon returning from Nepal, I discovered that someone had taken the time to remove the locks from my front door— fortunately whatever they were using to jimmy open the door had broken off, and they never made it inside. As much as I love Istanbul, it is an exhausting city, and I was ready to move. I wanted owls and bats, the sea, clear skies and friendly faces. I wanted to get home from work in less than 30 minutes. I wanted light.

In celebration of our move and the coming of Autumn, Pedro and I went on a little adventure. Our destination was Lake Manyas, also called Kuş Gölü, and our goal was to catch a glimpse of two species of pelicans: the Great White Pelican and the Dalmatian Pelican. The sky was a violet-pink when we finally arrived at the lake, and the village shepherds were gently coaxing their flocks in for the night.



The air had a bite to it that called for sweaters— summer was over. We layered up and headed to the water, binoculars and telescope in hand. Distant, bulky white shapes brought childlike grins to our faces, and as we set the telescope at them to confirm what we knew they were, a battalion of Great White Pelicans soared past.



After a certain point, counting was futile— I had never seen so many pelicans in my life! One of the joys that got me through doing time at an ad agency in San Francisco was watching these prehistoric-looking beasts from the window by my desk, as they glided smoothly into the bay. Somewhere in the reddening light were the Dalmatian Pelicans, but distinguishing them from the rest of the crowd would have to wait for morning.