From Latakia/Slenfe

Slenfe is a small village (a popular summer resort for Arab tourists) ideal for exploring a recently established protected area called the Fir-Cedar Reserve, where the last stand of Syrian cedars Cedrus libani still strives to survive - the stand of firs Abies cilica is on the other hand overwhelming.

The reserve is easy to be accessed from Slenfe for half-day or 1-day trips to see following breeding birds:

Spectacled Bulbul Pycnonotus xanthopygos
Rufous Bush Robin - migrant breeder
White-throated Robin Irania gutturalis - migrant breeder
(Eastern) Orphean Warbler Sylvia (hortensis) crassirostris - migrant breeder
(Eastern) Long-tailed Tit Aegithalos caudatus tephronotus
Masked Shrike Lanius nubicus - migrant breeder
(Eastern) Jay Garrulus glandarius atricapillus
Black-headed Bunting Emberiza melanocephala - resident and/or migrant breeder
Rock and Cretzschmar's Bunting Emberiza cia and E. caesia - migrant breeders

The ridge of the reserve (of which Jebel Nabi Matta is the summit, at around 1600 m asl) offers a spectacular view point for observing the autumn migration of soaring birds coming down from Turkey. Up until now only two ornithologists have the chance to visit this key site in autumn (Pyman in 1953 and Serra in 2004), and have witnessed a soaring bird passage that could potentially equal that of Israel. Bird species detected so far are:

White Stork
Black Stork
Black Kite Milvus migrans (possibly the eastern variant)
Levant Sparrowhawk
Common Buzzard Buteo buteo
Steppe Buzzard
Steppe Eagle
Lesser Spotted Eagle
Booted Eagle Hieraaetus pennatus
Honey Buzzard