Batumi, Georgia - Guns, Raptors and Rain! (1 Viewer)

Day Three. Makhinjauri & Batumi.

7.00 a.m., I didn't even bother getting out of bed ...the rain was still rattling against the window and the electric had failed due to continuing downpours and flooding! And that is how it stayed for much of the day, bands of rain driving in from the Black Sea, the hills to my east hidden by fog and rain. Absolutely no point going to the Count Station, so instead I paced the outside deck of my accommodation, House Sparrows and Chaffinches the top fare of my day.

By mid-afternoon, bored of a hotel still lacking electricity and a day threatening to have be virtually birdless, I borrowed an umbrella and headed out for the beach. With plenty of abandoned buildings offering cover, the next couple of hours were actually pretty good - dozens of Swallows and Bee-eaters heading north, a steady stream of Little Gulls migrating south, plus three Marsh Harriers in-off the sea, one Arctic Skua going south and a Hobby hugging the coast.

The rain, after 36 hours of near non-stop assault, finally seemed to be abating ...I even saw a little patch of blue sky open up briefly over the sea! Hmm, maybe I could even do a little 'proper' birding! Encouraged, I took a bus to the nearby Batumi city and took a walk/paddle around some scrubland near the seafront ...this turned out to be a very good move - in the bushes, on patches of grass and atop assorted rubble, there were migrants everywhere, most impressive indeed. Red-backed Shrikes by the dozen, many rather soggy, Whinchats flitting here and there, one very nice Siberian Stonechat, several Eastern Olivaceous Warblers. On lawns and gravel patches, heading a cocktail of assorted birds, at least 20 Black-eared Wheatears, a dozen or so Common Redstarts, plus quite a few White Wagtails and Yellow Wagtails. Pity I didn't come here earlier in the day, but it was sure a nice way to end the day, two Red-breasted Flycatchers and a Spotted Flycatcher rounding things off nicely. With that, and the rain returning, I wandered into Batumi city for a bite to eat ...and, surprise of the weekend, flushed a Common Quail in one of the main city centre streets!

And so ended my second day, my total raptor tally amounted to three Marsh Harriers, one Steppe Buzzard and one Hobby ...a little bit short of the tens of thousands that I had been dreaming about!!! :-O

Day Four. Departure.

Sod's law ...woke at dawn to see a blue sky from horizon to horizon, barely a breeze to stir the trees! And could I go up to the Count Station? Nope, had an early morning flight to catch! Ah well, I did see a Montagu's Harrier on the way to the airport!

Of course, it was a stunning day at the Count Station ... 55,540 raptors recorded, including 45,000 Steppe Buzzards and a smattering of other nice birds in their midst - a good mix of aquila eagles, plus goodies such as 48 Pallid Harriers and three Crested Honey Buzzards!

But ... given the passage should still continue for a good couple of weeks yet, I really couldn't leave the story unfinished - arriving home, I promptly bought new tickets and will be back there this coming weekend!

So, part two of Batumi, Georgia - Guns, Raptors and Rain!' will follow ... hopefully less mention of rain and guns, more of raptors


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Good luck :t:

Gladiator96 said:

Good luck :t:

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Agreed - some luck deserved through perseverance!

Yep another good luck wish, not used to Jos reports not being incredible success stories. Trust part 2 will fix that

viator said:

Yep another good luck wish, not used to Jos reports not being incredible success stories. Trust part 2 will fix that

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I hope so too :t:

This season's tally as of today, 972,810 raptors! Should hit the million mark before I get there ...would be nice if more than a half dozen actually go by while I am there

Good luck Jos, nothing anyone can do about the weather. Once ended up on a boat trip rather than a walk after 3 days of torrential rain in Costa Rica

Hope you strike lucky this time round Jos :storm:

Epic days for the Batumi Raptor Count ...on Wednesday, the magical million mark was crossed for the number of raptors counted this season, then on Thursday, a mind blowing 280,000 raptors passed in the single day! Smashing all previous records, this is the greatest ever single day total anywhere in Eurasia!

And so the scene is set for me to return to the hills above Batumi ....I guess this is where it all calms down and the rain returns 😄

Apologies for being so forward but I'm dying to know how round 2 went :bounce:

Gladiator96 said:

Apologies for being so forward but I'm dying to know how round 2 went :bounce:

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Your wish is my command :t:

See next post...

Batumi, Attempt Two

With over a million raptors streaming through the Batumi bottleneck from mid-August to mid-October and beyond, the spectacle unfolding is an evolving kaleidoscope of different species peaking at different times, be it the hundreds of thousands of Honey Buzzards and assorted raptors in mid-September or the clouds of Steppe Buzzards and large eagles that predominate in early October. Thus, having my first attempt to witness these movements rather flummoxed by the weather two weeks earlier, the season was still young for attempt number two.

In the days preceding my return on 3 October, the raptor counts went into an amazing overdrive - the heavens opened and raptors poured through in numbers never seen before, an incredible 280,000 passing on the 2 October alone, the greatest single-day count ever recorded anywhere in Eurasia! With such a peak however, I did slightly worry that they would be none left to migrate over while I was there!



3 October

All looked good as the plane touched down early morning, Northern Wheatears scattering from the runway, a Black Kite circling alongside and the weather glorious with blue skies and sun! No messing about this time, I went straight from the airport to the raptor count station at Saghalvasho and as I hiked up to the hilltop station already there were eagles overhead - a small swirl of Lesser Spotted Eagles drifting towards ridge, one Greater Spotted Eagle in their midst, a mass of Black Kites just beyond.

Two weeks earlier, the slopes had been draped in cloud on my arrival and prospects of any birds had been thin indeed. What a contrast on this day however, the hills positively sparkled in the morning sunshine and a quick scan of the horizons revealed birds in all directions, a stream of Black Kites approaching from a low ridge to the north, a light movement of Steppe Buzzards on the higher slopes to the east and Marsh Harriers sneaking past nearer the coast. Ah yes, this certainly did have the making of a good day!

And so I settled down to enjoy the day, many of my fellow observers still somewhat in a state of shock by the incredible events of the day before, the skies near darkened by the sheer mass of birds they said, but for me, the passage unfolding was impressive enough ...Black Kites passing over almost constantly, Marsh Harriers and Pallid Harriers migrating through with regularity, Hobbies zipping through and also a light trickle of Short-toed Eagles and Booted Eagles, Lesser Spotted Eagles gradually increasing as the morning ticked by. One White-tailed Eagle far to the east, several Red-footed Falcons directly overhead, then a few hours into my stint, the first event to destroy the spirits ...watching a juvenile Marsh Harrier through my scope, the sun catching the deep chocolate browns and golden head a treat, suddenly something was amiss - tumbling and spiraling downwards, the bird was in trouble. To the ground it plummeted, a sorry sight that truly blights the experience at Batumi, the bird had been shot by hunters on the ridge to our north - a total waste of a magnificent young Marsh Harrier, its last flight seeing it fall to rot in the forests below. Hunting has apparently declined over the last decade, tales of drunken hunters sitting atop grassy knolls with Kalashnikov are no more, but the massacre continues regardless - from the count station, shots ring out from the ridges both north and south throughout the day, any bird low enough a target, from Barn Swallows and Bee-eaters up to the large eagles, nothing is safe.

Though it takes the wind out of your sails to actually witness the downing of a raptor, the sheer spectacle of the mass migration is still an amazing sight and within a couple of hours of seeing this Marsh Harrier fall, movements were truly beginning to pick up - Eurasian Sparrowhawks in numbers, more Pallid Harriers and Booted Eagles, then suddenly late in the afternoon, an almighty push of birds ...Steppe Buzzards and Black Kites flooding in from the eastern skies, a good selection of eagles too. Truly a good omen for the next day, these last two hours of the day were pretty amazing - in kettles rising above the slope and in lines streaming south, it was a mass of birds right across the skyscape ...hundreds of Black Kites and 2000 Steppe Buzzards plus, richly peppered by a couple of hundred Lesser Spotted Eagles, good numbers of Great Spotted Eagles, 30 Short-toed Eagles, a few Steppe Eagles and Booted Eagles and one Imperial Eagle ...certainly a feast for the eyes! And in their their midst, against a setting sun, flocks of Black Storks too, wheeling around to the backdrop of wooded slopes, a fine ending to the day!

Well done.

On a smaller scale, admitedly, I find it depressing when hearing the gunshot around the migration watchpoints. Apparently, the discipline around Gruissan has dropped off the scale in recent times with everything dissappearing down the barrel! A Mute Swan taken out after being surrounded by seven hunters is currently going to local tribunal. The problem is those in positions of power are generally involved in the hunter circles.

I admire your courage in just being there and those who stand up to these guys under immense pressure/fear of physical and verbal abuse.

Happy birdwatching!

rosbifs said:

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I admire your courage in just being there and those who stand up to these guys under immense pressure/fear of physical and verbal abuse.

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The guys working to try and change attitudes have very much pushed a non-confrontational approach and there is, as yet, no notable friction and certainly no cases of physical or verbal abuse. Indeed, I understand hunters happily talk to birders about the hunting. Can't say I would be keen to chat though.

You sir are a gentleman and a scholar

A visit to Batumi in autumn is definitely on my bucket list :king:

Jos Stratford said:

The guys working to try and change attitudes have very much pushed a non-confrontational approach and there is, as yet, no notable friction and certainly no cases of physical or verbal abuse. Indeed, I understand hunters happily talk to birders about the hunting. Can't say I would be keen to chat though.

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I talk, socialise and drink with numerous hunters here. On the whole I trust them to stick to the 'guidelines' and hope that they respect my choice for watching rather than shooting. I also hope that our 'relationship' means that they think twice about the birds they shoot in the sense that they stick to the species and bag limits.

Only once has someone (not a hunter) tried to mock me about Ortolan Bunting. I put him down by firstly, argueing such a small bird can't have been very satisfying, secondly, overpriced and finally resorting to calling him a to""er. He has never tried since.

It's difficult for us to judge when some of the most respected birders (and forerunners) shot and stuffed birds and collected eggs. However, this is not a reason to step back in time now and education is the way forward. I was certainly bought up to understand the concept of eating/using anything that was hunted. Sorry this is getting a bit philosophical and I didn't want it to be.

4 October.

Sunny at dawn, a mere breeze across the hilltops, a perfect migration day. At Saghalvasho, large flocks of Chaffinches were winging their way south, a few Hawfinches and Crossbills too, plus the occasional Tree Pipit and Red-throated Pipit. Out to sea, a couple of flocks of Great White Egrets migrated south, as did four Ruddy Shelducks and, rather bizarrely, several large flocks of Rooks.

In the skies however, the raptors we're going to steal the day ...a trickle of Marsh Harriers and Booted Eagles early on was soon to be replaced by a far heavier movement of Black Kites, a near constant stream of them funneling in from the ridge to our north to pass directly over our head, Short-toed Eagles in amongst them a treat. One of the seasoned observers said it was looking good, kites in the morning often preceded eagles in the afternoon he said. I certainly hoped so! And by midday, his prophecy seemed to be coming true ...a good stream of eagles was building, initially passing a little to the east, then directly overhead.

At Batumi however, directly overhead is not always good news ...many of these birds were dangerously low and we'd already heard many shots ring out from the ridge to our rear. Rather depressingly, several flocks of Stock Doves had already passed over, each passing us only to meet the hunters moments later ...shots would ring out, then almost surely several of the birds would be no more. Lesser Spotted Eagles were already passing in numbers, then a shout went out as the first Steppe Eagle of the day approached - a stunning bird, it came in low ...too low.

Beneath our observation point it glided, flapping to gain height as it approached the ridge - a sense of gloom hit me as I realized it was going to pass right over where the hunters were sitting. Over the ridge it went, a double shot rang out, the Steppe Eagle vanished ...no mighty bird gliding out the other side of the ridge. Depressing, totally depressing.

Fortunately, very few further shots were heard through the afternoon, the hunters seemed to have left. So it was, in peace and amazement, a memorable afternoon unfolded ...non-stop action, eagles galore, and clouds and clouds of Steppe Buzzards! Over our heads, over the ridges to the east, in the valleys either side, raptors, raptors, raptors!!! In a frantic race to count and identify, it was one moment standing in awe at the sight of 21,500 Steppe Buzzards streaming by, then skipping from eagle to eagle the next moment, separating Greater Spotted Eagles from the hundreds of Lesser Spotted Eagles passing. In great wheeling flocks, hundreds of Black Kites too. As the birds streamed south, no less than eight Imperial Eagles picked out of the flocks, plus almost 30 Steppe Eagles, many dozens of Short-toed Eagles, plenty of Booted Eagles and, an added bonus, one Griffon Vulture too. Truly a fantastic few hours.

And then, as the afternoon edged to its end, cloud built on the hills and migration came to a grinding halt. A weather front was approaching, spits of rain threatened and the day was over. Most most superb it had been …bar the downing of the Steppe Eagle seconds after it had cruised over, a sad image that will also remain with me for quite a while.

Glad to hear you finally connected Jos. I've seen raptor migration in Israel and Sthn Spain but, bloody hell, 21, 500 Steppe Buzzard plus silly numbers of other stuff. Stunning.

chris butterworth said:

Glad to hear you finally connected Jos. I've seen raptor migration in Israel and Sthn Spain but, bloody hell, 21, 500 Steppe Buzzard plus silly numbers of other stuff. Stunning.

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700 assorted eagles in the mix, t'was nice :t: