The birds, animals and plants of Kemerburgaz

The notebook has five plates: four seasons and one summer night. Each plate gathers into a single scene the creatures that can be seen at Kemerburgaz on the same days of that period, so looking at a plate means seeing at a glance what is going on outside. Choose a season below, then touch the drawings on the plate to read the notes.

SpringMarch–May · 21 recordsAs storks cross north over the Bosphorus the forest comes back into leaf, and for a fortnight the Judas trees turn the slopes pink.White stork · Golden oriole · Judas tree SummerJune–August · 21 recordsThe days are long and hot: the bee-eater colony is in the sandy bank, dragonflies patrol the dam, and rhododendron flowers along the stream.Bee-eater · Great spotted woodpecker · Hungarian oak AutumnSeptember–November · 20 recordsFrom late August honey buzzards stream overhead, and in the forest the season of acorns, chestnuts and fungi begins.Jay · Honey buzzard · Hawfinch WinterDecember–February · 21 recordsWith the leaves down the birds are easier to see; the dams fill and overflow, and snowdrops break the soil at the end of January.Robin · Tawny owl · Blue tit NightnewSummer nights · 10 recordsOn summer nights: the scops owl’s single-note whistle, bats under the lamps, and fireflies at the meadow edge.Scops owl · Pipistrelle bats · Fireflies

This short list does the work of the current month alone: records whose migration, flowering or fruiting falls in exactly these weeks appear here. Touch a card and the species opens on its own plate.

Honey buzzardPeak passage: 20 August–20 September LeylekSouthward passage: August–September Ivy-leaved cyclamenFlowering: September–November Autumn crocusFlowering: September–October BrambleFruit: August–September Fly agaricSeptember–November

The notebook is more than its plates. The pages below take the same creatures from other angles: where they live, how they nest, what pressures they are under, and in which month and on which walk to look for them.

Species index →See all 89 records on one page and filter them by name, group and season. Habitats →Walk through the four great habitats and the sixteen small worlds inside them, from a tree hollow to the space under the eaves. Nests →Get to know the birds by their homes: who nests where, with what, and why? Pressures →See which habitats and which species are affected by the airport, the motorway, new building, drought and fire. Observation calendar →A month-by-month chart of migration, flowering and the dawn chorus, showing the best weeks to go out. Walks →Neşet Suyu, the dams and Uzunkemer: three short walks, described stop by numbered stop. Climate scenarios →Read which species could stay here and which could withdraw from Kemerburgaz along the IPCC’s three emission pathways. Pocket notebook →A four-page A5 notebook: cover, species card, colouring page and record list. Print it, fold it and take it into the field. StoriesIn the first story you follow a bee-eater’s migration through its own eyes; more are on the way.