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Georgia (the country) in October? (1 Viewer)

Alexjh1

Well-known member
Just a bit of pre-emptive research: we are looking at a trip to somewhere in the last full week of October, and from a shortlist of 7 countries that fall within our budget and specifically appeal to us both, Georgia is my current favourite.

I've had a quick skim over trip reports, but they all seem to be in either April/May or September, which while understandable as they seem to be the prime times to visit, doesn't necessarily help if you are trying to visit outside that in terms of birds.

It wouldn't be a targetted birding trip per say, but just being out in nature in general, which would therefore entail birds automatically. Would probably be flying into Kutaisi or Tblisi.

There are certainly a lot of species that appeal, that have been mentioned in trip reports, but some have certainly been implied to be migratory, and I'll assume small warblers etc will already be gone, but if anyone can give me an idea of the statis of any of the following in October that would be greatly appreciated, including if they do things like moving further down the mountains where applicable?

I do appreciate a bunch of these would almost certainly require specific "birding" rather than just casually seeing, but I feel it's good to have an idea what I'm working with.

Caucasian Black Grouse
Caucasian Snowcock
Guldenstadt's Redstart
Twite
Lammergeier
Dalmatian Pelican
Great White Pelican
Demoiselle Crane
Long-legged Buzzard
Caucasian Chiffchaff
Wallcreeper
Red-fronted serin
Caucasian Great Rosefinch
Alpine Accentor
Pygmy Cormorant
Squacco Heron
Any non-UK found Woodpeckers
Tengmalm's Owl
Eagle Owl
Any non-UK found falcon
Larks: any other than UK ones, Crested or Calandra
Sombre Tit
Krupers or Western Rock Nuthatch
or any other noted highlights.

I also haven't spotted any guides who do one or two day trips, so if you were aware of any that would also be a very useful thing.

Thanks for any help!
 
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Half of your list should be gettable in the Kazbeg valley or near Svaneti. I was at Kazbeg around 5th of October (already 10 years ago, during the first raptor count of 2008!), and while it is a bit colder and more chance for rainy / windy days, the birding was still very good and most of your targets can be readily found in 1-2 days.
It all depends on the line of snowfall if you have to get up higher on the mountain to get the Snowcock / Grouse / Rosefinch / Redstart. Rosefinch and redstart come down and can be seen in or close to the village when it's snowing higher up the Kazbeg.

for stake-outs of other birds I would trawl through observation.org:
https://georgia.observation.org/index_map.php
You'll see quite some rarities lately, but that is ofcourse because it's september and the country is full of birders. Use the search function for any species and expand the time interval if desired. You can click on maps (on the right) to see the distribution of the species, and click on the red squares in the map to have more detail about that sighting in that area.

e.g. the Nuthatch, the botanical garden in Batumi is a good place but there are more.
https://georgia.observation.org/soo..._valid=0&grid=5000&kwart=0&st=&second_specie=
 
Thanks for the help!

@temmie - I'd definitely been looking at the Kazbeg valley, but on a week trip and probably flying into Kataisi rather that Tbilisi due to cost/time was making it prohibitively complex for what was intended to be a fairly chill week - but Svaneti seems more doable from Kataisi? Any particular sites?
 
Thanks for the help!

@temmie - I'd definitely been looking at the Kazbeg valley, but on a week trip and probably flying into Kataisi rather that Tbilisi due to cost/time was making it prohibitively complex for what was intended to be a fairly chill week - but Svaneti seems more doable from Kataisi? Any particular sites?

If you stay at Mestia and go to the new ski resort for access to the higher mountains be aware that there can be very heavy snowfalls even at the end of September. We were there 2 years ago and had about six inches of snow in a couple of hours which made birding very difficult.

Nick
 
As Nick says, if you fly in Kutaisi it will be probably better to go to Svaneti, so go to Mestia and from there you climb up the mountain.

I haven't been there so cannot give more details but others have and should have more info.
If you fancy something organised, http://www.batumibirding.com/caucasus/svaneti/node/113 will save you the hassle and they know the ins and outs of the region very well. I just don't know if they do custom tours / daytrips / ... in october.
 
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