Few visits had been made in summer, until Wamcke discovered a 
breeding colony of Greater Flanrdngos Phoenicopterus ruber in 1977 (Kilic 
1988). Although this species has been recorded in the summer since then, 
breeding has not been recorded. Nevertheless, the huge size of the plain 
(19,000 hectares) and the problems of access caused by the soft mud 
surrounds of the lake may have prevented records. Also, Greater 
Flamingos are known to have a cycle of breeding sites, not necessarily 
using the same ones each year. 
Other breeding species include Ruddy Shelduck, Greater Sand Plover 
Charadrius leschenaultii and, perhaps. Marbled Duck Marrmronetta 
angustirostris (Grimmett and Jones 1989). 
Together with Uygar Ozesmi, I visited this area, having been informed 
by locals around Hotamis that the Karapinar wetland was now perhaps 
a more important site. Certainly, the large number of hunters who travel 
from as far as Istanbul and Syria, have, over the past two years, abandoned 
Hotamis Sazligi in favour of the bird-rich Karapinar Ovasi. 
We spent two days here in April 1991, but the sticky mud prevented a full 
circuit of the lake or even making accurate counts from the southern side. 
We estimated the size of the lake at 6x7 km. 
We approached the area from the southwest, via Karapinar itself, rather 
than from the road to Gotoren which is east of the plain and which runs 
along the Karadja hills. This approach has, however, been used by most 
visiting birdwatchers as it allows a more complete view of the whole 
area. 
Following a small, reed-choked drainage canal (good for migrant 
passerines) about 5 km from Karapinar, we eventually reached an 
excellent reedbed Phragmites, intersected by small, apparently freshwater 
but possibly brackish lagoons. This area was surrounded by wet grassland 
and sedge Scirpus beds and was approximately 1x2 km in area. This 
surprised us, given the comments of Grimmett and Jones (1989). This 
marsh may be new, as it was not noticed in a visit in 1989 (G Magnin pers 
comm). The reeds may be harvested in the summer, making the marsh 
less noticeable in winter. 
During the two days we spent at Karapinar Ovasi, we recorded the 
following species. 
Great Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus 1 
Pygmy Cormorant Phalacrocorax pygmeus 8 
White Pelican Pelecanus onocrotalus 8 
Bittern Botaunis stellaris 2 Possibly a pair seen, but no booming heard 
Night Heron Nycticorax nycticorax 3 
25 
