Birdwatchers flock to Rize to photograph glaucous gull, not seen in Turkey for 140 years

RİZE - Anadolu Agency

DHA Photo

Birdwatchers wanting to photograph the glaucous gull have been flocking to the Black Sea province of Rize, as the species has not been seen in Turkey for 140 years.

Photographer Murat Saltık, who spotted the reappearance of the glaucous gull, said he had been birdwatching for years without noticing its difference with the other species.

“I didn’t know it was a glaucous gull when I first photographed it. But when we examined it with experts, it was confirmed. After we confirmed it, we gave the happy news to everyone," Saltık said.

"This gull was last seen in Istanbul in 1874. Now, birdwatchers from all around Turkey are coming to Rize to try to see it,” he added.

One Saltık's fellow birdwatchers, Mustafa Çulcuoğlu, said he had come from the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa to photograph the glacous gull, describing it as "one of the most beautiful examples of Turkey’s biological diversity."