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Armenia 18-25 May 2019 (1 Viewer)

laszlo111

Well-known member
We spent a week with the family watching and photographing birds in Armenia. The number of species definitely exceeded our expectations. We moved on a rented Renault Duster 4WD car and slept in a tent. We visited most of the places listed in the birds trip reports from this country. We were particularly based on this report https://www.cloudbirders.com/tripreport/repository/BERTRANDS_ArmeniaGeorgia_0810_2015.pdf
Unfortunately, it could not be seen Radde's accentor and White-throated robin but it's not a problem. Other species rewarded this failure.
In Armenia, there are many places with birds that are not mentioned in popular reports. A week is not enough to find them all, but I recommend two, in which we accidentally went:
Orbelian Caravanserai Area. A very good place for many interesting species. We arrived there in the middle of the night and it was raining in the morning and there was very poor visibility. Because of this, it was impossible to see the area in detail. I took pictures Rock sparrow and Common rosefinch and we had to run away from the storm.

Tatev viewpoint
We stopped only for a moment and took pictures Bearded vulture, Griffon vulture and Red-fronted serin.

In my opinion, the best places for birds are Mount Aragats and valleys north from Vedi.
I invite you to see photos of birds. In the signatures I give the place of taking the picture http://szymonbartosz.pl/galeria/ptaki-birds/armenia/.
 
Thanks for posting Szymon, some lovely photos on your linked site (I especially like the acrobatic Hoopoes, Armenia is definitely the place for that species!).
 
Richard Prior thank you. The acrobatic Hoopoes are good but the background is not very natural. It was impossible to take this picture differently.
 
Awesome pictures of the birds you have seen! The "Griffon Vulture" is a Cinereous Vulture (Aegypius monachus) though :)
 
Nice report and some superb pictures:t:

As for the lack of information - use that as a bonus imo and make your own.
Much more satisfying than going around with a site guide and standing by a bush where such and such a Warbler was seen..........4 years ago! If the habitat is there then so will the birds:t:

I have yet to visit Armenia and have only been to Georgia last Autumn and plan to return this year if prices drop to Kutaisi. A Spring visit to the region is a ‘bucket list’ job.

I don’t know what dry river beds are called in Armenia but it won’t be ‘wadis’ that’s for sure - that’s what they are called in Muslim countries (Oued) and considering nobody with an Armenian passport can enter neighbouring Azerbaijan due to border issues and their recent spat i would use any Russki that you know (nyet and da is mine)...

Thanks again for posting and good birding -

Laurie:t:
 
Nice report and some superb pictures:t:

As for the lack of information - use that as a bonus imo and make your own.
Much more satisfying than going around with a site guide and standing by a bush where such and such a Warbler was seen..........4 years ago! If the habitat is there then so will the birds:t:

I have yet to visit Armenia and have only been to Georgia last Autumn and plan to return this year if prices drop to Kutaisi. A Spring visit to the region is a ‘bucket list’ job.

I don’t know what dry river beds are called in Armenia but it won’t be ‘wadis’ that’s for sure - that’s what they are called in Muslim countries (Oued) and considering nobody with an Armenian passport can enter neighbouring Azerbaijan due to border issues and their recent spat i would use any Russki that you know (nyet and da is mine)...

Thanks again for posting and good birding -

Laurie:t:
I fully agree with you re finding your own birds instead of following the well trodden paths in the guide books and I’d recommend anyone going to Georgia and Armenia to have that pioneering attitude:t:
Re your wadi comments, basically in English we call them wadis, if you read Israeli birders’ reports in English they call them wadis too, so yes, there will be an Armenian word for a dry river bed just as there’s presumably a Hebrew word too, I think you’re mixing Muslim with Arabic;)

All the best
Richard
 
And here it is.....Armenian for river is Geti.

Maybe it is best not to mix birding and semantics;)

It was more about making the point of the recent history between the 2 countries which has led to Armenian enclaves. If i had visited Armenia i think it would be wise to have any entry stamps on the middle pages of your passport and remove them if you intend visiting next door - similiar with Israeli stamps and Muslim countries... Azerbaijan has plans this Summer to bulldoze dozens of Christian churches, which will be of Armenian/Georgian origin so if you are visiting either of these 3 it might be prudent to maybe give one a miss but i have found that birders seldom pay attention to human rights or Politics etc when it comes to foreign trips.

Being a pedant i do not think i am confusing Muslim with Arabic as Muslim is religion not a language. I have visited Maroc many times where the official language is the introduced Arabic except for indigenous Berber and colonial French - despite the Maroc’s not being true Arabs.

All the best and good birding -

Laurie:t:
 

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Thank you very much for visits my website and all comments. I will also show you landscapes from Armenia http://szymonbartosz.pl/podroze-journeys/armenia/ and our team.
I forgot to wrote that on the rocks near Shaki Waterfall we heard Eurasian eagle-owl. It is probably also good place for birds but we don't had time to explore this area.
 

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Yes please - more from an underwatched region:t:

I don’t drive so access is a bit more limited on my trips and although i do take a folding Brompton from time to time i would not consider it for such a mountainous region. On the + side i do not envy you the haggling over minor scratches etc...

Good birding -

Laurie:t:
 
Some absolutely stunning photos of both the birds and scenery. Thank you. This will definitely be added to my wish list of places to visit.
 
What a fantastic gallery of shots laszlo, the flying Cuckoo...has to be the BEST that I’ve seen! I managed to shoot one in flight earlier on this year in the UK, and was quite pleased with my result until I saw yours. :-C :t:
 
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