Lake Van is home to thousands of flamingos that come every year from Iran’s Urmia Lake and stay here for 4 months.
The famous Van Lake Basin in Turkey is one of the most important places that host flamingos on the bird migration route between Iran and African countries.
The flamingos migrate from the Iranian Lake urmia, and stay in the Lake Van Basin for a while and raise their children here, then migrate again to African countries at the end of November.
Aerial footage of flamingos in Lake Van dazzles viewers. These images were captured using drones, during which the flamingos dancing on Lake Van and making a visual presentation became the focus of interest for bird and nature photographers.
Thousands of flamingos, which were seen in abundance on the shores of Lake Van in Çelebibağı and Kasımbağı districts in the Erciş region, were photographed by bird and nature photographers from the provinces and surrounding areas.
The lecturer at Van Yusunko Yale University (YYÜ) Faculty of Science Department of Biology, Prof. Doctor. Özdemir Adizel said that the Lake Van Basin is a very important area for birds.
Adizel also noted that many bird species live in the Lake Van Basin and among them are flamingos. “Flamingos are a migratory species. Therefore, they come to this region in the spring. In particular, they come from the interior of our country or from North Africa to these Areas. However, due to the lack of suitable breeding areas here, they go to the Iranian Urmia Lake or in the mud streams of the Caspian Sea Basin. They return to the Lake Van Basin around the end of July.
“After eating and waiting here for some time, they return to their winter accommodations, like the end of November, with the onset of the cold.”
Nature photographer Faruk Kaymak, who came to Erciş from the Ahlat district in Bitlis, said he saw the flamingos up close for the first time and was happy to have their photos taken.
Kaymak said, “Today we arrived at Erciş Beach. I came here with my friends to see the flamingos that visit Lake Van every year.”
“I have taken pictures and videos. We added beautiful pictures to our archive. There is really a nice gathering of flamingos on the shore of the lake.” “It was a very different experience for me.”
