Batumi - More Kettles than a Tea Room - Final Part

September 11th

 

My last official count day, and the passage at station 1 warmed up nicely, with a good early movement of Harriers, mostly Marsh Harrier, some even pausing in the trees.  



 

 

As the day wore on, the passage got better and better, and soon I got the feeling Batumi was trying its best to give me a last hurr'ar.  One of the larger kettles:

 

An immature White-tailed Eagle put in a brief appearance, and I had my own heart-pumping moment.

Some of the Honey were flying low at the station, and I had to look twice when I thought one bird had dark eyes. It did! It was a male Crested Honey Buzzard!  My own find!  It begun to kettle close-by. One of the best moments of the trip was followed by one of the most frustrating, as my attempts to film the bird resulted in me filming the wrong bird throughout! :-(

The day was nearly over, when we heard from one of the hunting monitoring team on the search for bird remains, that they'd found a Honey Buzzard. I assumed it was a body, though I was still eager to see it.

Imagine my surprise when they returned, and revealed from their blanket, a live female Honey Buzzard!  It had a shot wing sadly, so there was no chance of it surviving.

 

It was such a bitter-sweet moment, to see this beautiful bird close-up and to discover all its amazing adaptations (like its well-muscled legs for digging, and slit-shaped nostrils to decrease soil intake), all the time keeping in mind the reason it was here.

 

 

 

 

 

I was even given the chance to hold it. It was a great privilege.  To feel her heartbeat was incredibly humbling.

 

 

 

In the evening, several Night Heron were heard calling as they migrated over, and the only moth of note at the café was the dark form of the Boxworm Moth.

 

 

September 12th

 



It was supposedly my day off today, but I really couldn't face going to the nearby delta, where hunting is rife on a weekend (apparently there were very few birds to see anyway).  Instead, I just travelled with the others to station 2, with a plan to go for a walk through the woods.

 

On arrival at the station, a Common Rosefinch flew over calling. 

 

Soon enough, I took a route down through the precipitous woodland, in search of Woodpeckers and the like.  I didn't have a map, so negotiating the many tracks was a challenge!

 

The likes of Song Thrush and Wren were added to the Georgia list, and a Red-breasted Flycatcher was seen well.  Eventually, I did find a bit of Woodpecker activity. 

 

An unseen Black Woodpecker called, and a Middle Spotted Woodpecker eventually showed itself, after a series of anxious calls caused by a Great Spotted Woodpecker on the same tree.  Lesser Spotted Woodpecker was also later heard.

 

I somehow found my way back to the station, and I settled down for some passage.  The day was a particularly warm one, and this clearly suited the larger birds. 

 

An Egyptian Vulture was spotted a bit late to see it well, but that didn't matter, as a further 2 birds passed, followed by a few Eagles. 

 

Lesser Spotted Eagle were well represented, but then, a stunning immature Steppe Eagle passed so close, I could touch it (see video at the end).  Finally a good view of this species!

 

Then, I spotted a large Eagle at mid-distance.  As it began to kettle nearby, others present excitedly identified it as an Imperial Eagle!  What a bird.

 

As things quietened down a bit towards the end of the day, I thought I'd go on another wander, in a different direction.  I ended up walking right to the bottom of the hill. I was exhausted, but I got adequate reward in the form of a drink and wash in the clean mountain river.

 

 



The only birds of note really were a family party of newly-fledged Ortolan Bunting, but it was a nice walk nonetheless.

 

We stopped at a suburban shop on the way back to base, and a Wood Sandpiper flew over calling! A good example of why I don't have an off switch when it comes to birding! ;-) 

 

September 13th

 

The day dawned on my last day in Batumi.

 

I spent the morning at least up at station 1, in the hope there would be one last finale.  That didn't really happen unfortunately, but it was nice to see a Redstart in the hand. Although 'samamisicus' is the more frequent race round here, this proved to be one of those tricky ones which couldn't be safely assigned to race.

The final bird list for Georgia was 89, all from around the count stations.

All too soon, it was time to say goodbye to everyone.  I miss this place.

The journey home was uneventful, and I typically landed in Heathrow in driving rain, having barely experienced rain in 2 weeks in Georgia!

All in all, the fortnight was immensely enjoyable, with incredible birding and wonderful people.  I found some of the counting quite intense, and counting distant dots isn't all that enjoyable, particularly when birds are passing close in the other direction that you can't look at or you'll loose count! Staying as a counter is of course much cheaper than if you went as an eco-tourist (though not massively cheap, I would say [They're currently working on reducing accommodation cost through grants etc.]).

Overall though, I would recommend the experience to all serious birders, particularly if you want to improve your ID skills. You'll be able to tell juvenile Montagu's and Pallid Harriers apart in a glimpse afterwards!

I want to thank all who enriched the experience with their friendliness and humour.

Here's a better-quality video of taster footage from the fortnight.

 

I must try and get to some other birding areas in Georgia next time. I WILL go back next year if I can!

Batumi - More Kettles than a Tea Room - Part 2

August 31st

As everyday, I was up at 5:30, to start my first day as a raptor counter.

Although officially today was a 'learning day' for me, just observing how the counting works, I couldn't resist getting stuck in later in the day.

After a lovely breakfast, I walked up to the main count station, once again surrounded by various unidentified bird sounds.  Only the many Bee-eater were recognised.

 The view from 'Station 1' was spectacular.

The day started slowly with just a trickle of Harriers (including a cracking dark-phase male Marsh Harrier) initially, but then the Honey Buzzard began to appear.

Although the raptors were the main focus, I was delighted to see migrating flocks of Roller and Turtle Dove amongst the many Bee-eater.  A Wood Sandpiper called as it went over, and a Short-toed Lark and a few Ortolan Bunting checked us out.

As the day warmed up, the Eagles began to appear, and they were all lifers. Many Booted Eagle moved through, and distant Lesser Spotted and Steppe Eagle were seen. I looked forward to seeing them closer though.

One or two Short-toed Eagle were found, a female Red-footed Falcon whizzed through, and a distant male Pallid Harrier was great to see.

The main highlight of the day occurred when a sub-adult Egyptian Vulture appeared in a distant kettle - it stood out like a sore thumb!

Soon enough, particularly when the cloud descended, we were literally surrounded by raptors, and Batumi started to show what it's all about. 

The final count of some 13,000 Honeys was apparently quite 'slow', but a the time it felt like a baptism of fire for me on my first day!

The cloud soon turned to rain, and the count went on hiatus.

A male Golden Oriole gave us something to look at for a while, as it seemingly enjoyed a wash and brush-up at the top of a nearby tree.

Remarkably, this turned out to be the only rain-break I experienced during the counting!

The birds continued their migration once the rain stopped, but only in small numbers.  A pair of Black Stork moving through was the last highlight.

On the walk down back to the house, I found this stunning Red Ladies-tresses Orchid by the path.

To wind down before the evening meal, some of the counters joined the local children for a game of football. Having not played in like 10 years I was a bit rusty, but it was the best fun I've ever had.  The kids were fantastic!

Despite having had no sleep the night before due to traveling, plus playing football for an hour, I was still pumped to get up at 5 tomorrow for more counting!