The Armash Fishponds, in the flat southwestern corner of Ararat province near the Turkish and Iranian borders, are a complex of artificial freshwater lakes built in the 1960s for commercial fish farming. Several decades on, they have become one of the most important wetland bird sites in the Caucasus, attracting both migrants and a remarkable list of breeding species.
The site is open access, more or less — there is no official infrastructure, no signs and no visitor centre, but local guides know the routes and the fish farm employees are used to birdwatchers. Spring and autumn migration are the obvious times, but breeding species through May and June are spectacular, and even winter holds large numbers of duck and waders. Bring a scope; the ponds are wide.