Batumi - Boots on the Ground 6th to 28th September..... (1 Viewer)

[rollingthunder]

Juvenile Monty
Honeys and Juv BK from the Argo Restaurant
The 116 steps to Sakhalvasho Observatory aka The Stairway to Heaven.....

 

[rollingthunder]

Juvenile Monty
Honeys and Juv BK from the Argo Restaurant
The 116 steps to Sakhalvasho Observatory aka The Stairway to Heaven

 

[rollingthunder]

Saturday 14th September

Taking the weekend off to attend to chores e.g. washing and bike fettling and recharging my batteries hasn’t meant missing much up on the hill as yesterday was another quiet day but as always whatever passes close by or mid-distance can be grilled for experience. Something else I would like to grill is the scumbag who stole my shorts overnite. I put them, with a couple of t-shirts hung over my chained bike outside as unless it rains the stuff will dry quicker. I emerge this morning to find the shorts gone but the shirts still there - lucky me! I will be on TwatWatch for the remainder of the trip. I only bought one pair of shorts and these were a particular favourite as they ‘stretch’ which is ideal for cycling and I bought them in Eilat last year. I have lots of pairs of shorts at home so I am buggered if I am buying another pair - some Black Boxers I have will suffice…..

Less than 1k birds were recorded at Sak yesterday with Shuamta touching nearly 3k.

Honey Buzzard, Booted Eagle and Black Kite made up the bulk at Sak with the same but Steppe Buzzard replacing BE at Shuamta. A total of 7 Ospreys were seen between Stations and Shuamta scored with another Egyptian Vulture. Sak recorded a Greater Spotted Eagle whilst Shuamta hit back with a Steppe Eagle and a Black Vulture - I don’t know the migration status of Cinereous Vulture here but I would have thought it rare, I have never seen one. Ca30 LsE were recorded and smaller bits and bobs of StE and Eagle sp.

The weather today is forecast the same so I anticipate another ‘quiet’ day up there but who knows? The weather next week is predicted thundery showers which could spice things up with birds being grounded and moving through the area in fits and starts. I have seen these forecasts before and they often change to sunnier conditions on the day. Settled weather is better for the birds and that’s what it’s all about imo.

Yesterday I caught a 10s bus down to the airport and cycled down to this side of the delta taking in the sewage works and surrounding area. Viewing was only from the road as the track I have used in the past is now blocked by builders rubble and a Go-kart track - mark my words within 20 years this will all be gone as Batumi expands like the Black Hole of high-rise that it is. A few Black Kites in the air and Wagtails Both White and Yellow on the ground was all I saw. Large Gulls on the seaward side so I took a few pics of a beach roost to check later. There is a nice bit of dune-slack pool area but the conglomerate of pebbles etc made not only walking difficult but pushing a bike a nightmare…..so I didn’t bother. A pity as in the past I have had Red-necked Grebe, White-winged Black Tern and Purple Swamphen there. Today I am taking the same bus alighting at the airport and cycling around to the Chorokoi Delta proper.

A word about buses. All bus travel in the Batumi municipality must be undertaken, as far as a tourist is concerned, by using a Batu:mi Bus Card. They are free and freely available at shops and branches of the Georgian Bank. There are machines for topping up if required. Do not put more than a few Lari on as you will not use the credit and I don’t know how long the cards are valid for. I still have one from last year so I should try and use it to see if it’s still valid. I got a new one and put 10Lari on as I anticipated using near to that amount of credit - being picked up once a day for 15 days will now nearly halve that.

Buses are incredibly cheap:
Each journey on any bus anywhere around Batumi is 30 Tetri.
100 Tetri = 1 Gel / Lari.
Ca 3.6 Gel = £1 Sterling.
My 10 Lari credit is 30+ journeys.

If you wish to go outside to the next municipality of Khaki then you can go to the Botanical Gardens and get a taxi onwards and use their bus card. I don’t thing Batumi buses run to Chakvi. Sakhalvasho is on the border and no buses run up there. Not only would they struggle with the switchback road it is very steep in places. You have to swallow to equalise the pressure like taking off in a plane.

A shared Marshtruka is only a couple of Gel but that is still way more than the bus.

I know most birders hire a car or get a taxi but I personally like using the local transport and they are bike friendly it helps that mine folds.

More tomorrow -

Good birding -

Laurie -

 

[rollingthunder]

Sunday 15th September

Looks like i picked a good couple of days to take off - more by luck than judgement. With the weather forecast sunny and a warm 28-30c my gut feeling told me that it would be more of the same…..and so it was.

Sakhalvasho barely scraped 1k whilst Shuamta was busier with a comparatively healthy 4k+. Sak started well with early kettles of BK and a strong showing of Marsh Harriers at ca90 birds but hardly anything after 10am. Morale plummeted like it had been shot. A late male Pallid raised spirits and girded loins for Monday which will of course be a much better day……….because I am back! Shuamta was nothing to shout about but they did manage more Marsh Harriers and 3 each of Osprey and Crested Honey Buzzard and that as they say…..

My own local endeavours proved fruitless. Having got a late morning bus *16 to Sarpi I crossed the Chorokoi bridge and bicycled towards where I thought the river would be. Unfortunately it was grassland and scrub with the sea in the distance. A couple of off piste tracks left me piste off and longing for the comfort of the Batumi cobbles. Birdless or what! A calling flyover ‘flava’ Wag and a smart female Red-backed Shrike popped up just as I said to myself this looks good Shrike country. After a coupla hours of fruitless searching and negotiation the main track as if it was a minefield I cut my losses. I decided to cycle back to the airport as there would be a choice of more buses back to Old Town Batumi. I stopped on the bridge and sussed out the access etc is from the Batumi side to bird the Delta not the far side. This will be done on both days of the next weekend and possibly the final Friday depending on Saktivity.

A brace and a half of beer was consumed back in town and I went to an eatery called Uncle Feng’s which offers Asian fusion cuisine and I usually use it weekly when here. I hadn’t eaten out for 3 nights so it was high time I did. A huge plate of Sweet n Sour Pork strips coated in a spicy batter and drizzled with sauce and 1L, yes a Litre, of chilled dry White wine came to 33Gel or £9 Sterling. I took 1/3 away for tonights meal.

Back on the hill from Mon-Fri 9-4/5 depending on how bizzy it is - later if things are moving over or around the Obs.

Good birding -

Laurie -

 

[rollingthunder]

RbS.

 

[Gladiator96]

From my experience you have to walk/ride/drive until the end of the main track and then walk north along the beach to bird the delta.

On the Batumi side there is only a dead-end coast road from which you cannot see much of the delta. There are also a few fishponds right before the bridge which could be interesting.

 

[temmie]

Sunday 15th September

I stopped on the bridge and sussed out the access etc is from the Batumi side to bird the Delta not the far side.

Laurie -

As far as I remember, the South side is still best. You can probably get the best advice how to enter from the counters.
I vaguely remember we went (approx.) on this path and birded the encircled area:


The birds most people aim for (Moustached Warbler, Grey-headed Swamphen, Little Crake) can all be found there.

Based on observation sightings (more data and more exact data than ebird), you could technically get those on the North side as well and probably chances are just a bit less. Data from 2000-2024 are shown in the figure.

 

[Antik]

The purple drawing by temmie is correct for access from south. After reaching the sea you continue North along the beach to the river. Lots of low bushes and some small rain-filled ponds that could be completely dry along the way. A mountain bike would be easier than a fold-bike for sure!

For access from airport/north once you reached the dead-end asphalt road you cross west to the beach and walk a short distance to the beach. The river mouth is where a three-banded plover was seen last summer and you'll also find some gulls and waders. There weren't many paths to walk inlands along the river as it was all very overgrown.

 

[temmie]

The purple drawing by temmie is correct for access from south.

thanks, I hope it is correct, and if not, I reckon the straight path more to the South (going in a direct line to the beach) would probably be easier to navigate (but a bit of a detour), leading you to the beach and from there it's easy to walk back in the marshy partts where you see paths.

 

[rollingthunder]

Thanks, I will pay close attention and study the maps for a plan - access by bike is a priority you feel every lump and bump.

Laurie -

 

[rollingthunder]

Monday 16th September

Rainy night in Georgia or what!

Due to inactivity on the hill I cut my losses at 2pm and managed to hit the bus stop before the rain started.

3 hours of building drizzle then 3 hours of heavy rain, thunder etc and God knows what during the night. As I type this at 10am local it is still raining. It is forecast to do so on and off for much of the day so I cancelled the 08:30 pickup. What will I do with the 30Gel saved…..In hindsight I should have at least put a plastic bag over my Leather Brookes saddle! It is forecast an ‘unsettled’ week but hopefully raptors will move as and when so I anticipate being back up at Sak the rest of the week. Last night’s BBC weather map showed heavy rain from Rize on the Turkish Black Sea coast up to Batumi and covering all of Georgia over to Baku, Azerbaijan.

Today I will duck and dive, always pack an Umbrella, for September in Batumi their wet season runs from mid-August to end October. What I haven’t been able to do is spend much time checking for migrants around Town. Today will be an ideal opportunity helped by overnight precipitation and birds sheltering and feeding.

Yesterday at both stations was dire to put it mildly. The Batumi Bird Doldrums continue. Even the counters left less than an hour after I did. Sak recorded just over 1k whilst Shuamta put another couple of hundred on their tally. BK provided the bulk with a coupla hundred HB. Notable at Sak were a total of 4 Ospreys - I managed just one but it did look to be carrying a fish. A smart Peregrine flashed by as did a juv Hobby. Quite a few Sprawks actually but they are not put up. Yesterday’s BRC website totals just carry numbers they normally add an annotation but I guess the numbers speak for themselves. A large 20+ group of visiting birders being led by guides from Sabuko the Georgian conservation NGO were there for the day as part of their tour - bad news I’m afraid. The guides spent a lot of the day apologising…..

It wasn’t, however, all doom and gloom staring at angry birdless skies.

The vantage point of the Obs allows excellent views of passerines moving or feeding in the copious vegetation whether they be local or migrants. Yesterday for about 15 minutes there was a loose party of Long-tailed Tits. Alerted by the call I thought nothing of it until I clocked several feeding. Their heads were ‘dirty’ looking lacking the clean demarcation of our own birds. They belong to the Caucasian subspecies ‘major’ and are a tick for me. I seek subsp out where I can. There is another subspecies that slightly overlaps in Anatolia. As usual there were several Blue Tits in with them and at least 2 possibly 3 Phylloscs. These were Green Warblers - looking for all the World like juvenile Willow Warblers fresh out of the spray shop. They looked so fresh and sporting a hint of a wing bar I suspect juvenile nitidus Again these were birds to be observed as they were very flighty and elusive. Think flashing small Green bird and Green leaves and you get the picture. In fact it reminded me of when I landed on St Mary’s, Scilly in ’83 and hotfooted it up to the Garrison to look for Britain’s 1st Green Warbler, it had been there a week already, to find I had the huge Pines and the bird all to myself. Excellent views obtained but nobody to share them with - lucky me. I remember it being blowy and there is a very real danger of being hit by a falling seed cone. These are cones on steroids and mature ones are the size of a football indeed they were highly prized by the locals for their wood-burners and fireplaces. I use past tense as they had a frost, almost unknown, which killed a % many years ago but hopefully natural seeding has helped recovery.

I couldn’t even tell you what the current status of Green Warbler is? I do know that I woke up one morning to find my UK list down by 2 species when it and 2-barred Greenish (or 2-barred Gughish for those that were there) had been lumped with Greenish. When much time, effort, pennies and anguish are put in and your reward is taken away by academic bean counters (only joking) it doesn’t seem fair…..

Other Green birds noted were a flock of Bee Eaters feeding around the Obs, in the strong light the appeared Silvery through the binoculars. In addition a fem/juv Golden O thought it was going to flash by unnoticed but didn’t.

More tomorrow -

Good Birding -

Laurie -

 

[rollingthunder]

Having looked at the maps kindly provided I did cycle the right track. Down to a car park at the end but didn't walk North. I am afraid that although the bike is handy pushing it or attempting to cycle to the Delta to the North will be difficult as I do not intend to leave it chained anywhere. Stolen Shorts outside and Chocolate from the hostel fridge is one thing - the bike is another. I will try from the Airport side, probably Saturday as there is a road adjacent and I might be able to access the Delta at various points from and with my bike. I have been down the beach road a few times but again once you leave the luxury of Tarmac it is very unfriendly terrain for my MO. I have been right to the river on that side and you can get good scope views of stuff particularly any waders that are feeding or roosting gulls depending on tide.

Laurie -

 

[rollingthunder]

LTT - neither the diagram or photo are mine.

 

[rollingthunder]

Tuesday 17th September

Is best forgotten…..

Well, as far as I am concerned. It rained virtually all day, hard in the morning soft and light in the afternoon, petering out around 4:30. I had a bearing ‘noise’ on the bike and so spent an hour finding the source of it. It appears to be a steering head issue and not a front wheel one which is to be thankful for. There are a couple of decent bike shops in Batumi but Brompton bits can be more problematic. We, Zuka and I, will be popping into his guest house for an adjustable spanner. I think it has just dried out a bit. I have some chain lubricant which will have to suffice until I can re-grease it back in Blighty.

The rain however did not deter the counters. It merely meant not starting until 08:15 and finishing at 17:45 or thereabouts. There isn’t a lot else to do at Sak apart from notes and you do them in the evening. Passage, as expected, was minuscule but every cloud has a Silver, almost literally in this case, lining and the frustrated observers deserve every, presumably, dusky secondary feather.

Honey Buzzard totalled just 24 at both stations - the days of 65k were long gone this season anyway. A sprinkling of Pallids at both Stations kept spirits up and several males at Sak were well deserved. BK, as expected, dominated the streams with about 1100 in total. In addition ca60 Marsh Harriers were noted. Hopefully zillions of birds have roosted somewhere in both Greater and Lesser Caucasus and are migration-ready over the next 3 days. The weather forecast is mixed but not bad with a bit of rain but more clear productive conditions hopefully. The next ‘wet’ all dayer is Saturday which, for me, along with Sunday is pencilled in for Chorokhi.

Bird of the day and possibly the season for beauty, quality and rarity goes to a distant pale ‘falcon-like’ bird that settled on a tree on the Eastern ridge. It was a Black-winged Kite and iirc the 5th record for Georgia. I saw the 4th bird which passed much closer between the Obs and the coast. The dusky inner secondaries could easily be discerned on that bird I will enquire today if that feature was noted yesterday.

More tomorrow -

Good birding -




Laurie -

 

[Gladiator96]

Seems there was a Demoiselle Crane in the delta yesterday. Hopefully it managed to evade the local hunters.

 

[rollingthunder]

Wednesday 18th September

What a difference a day makes…..

An absolutely glorious day weather-wise at both stations. Mixed cloud, blazing sun and a light onshore breeze from time to time to push birds a bit towards the Obs. Not fantastic numbers but they made up for that in both quality and views of the small to medium sized birds. A lot of Easterly ‘large’ Eagles remained just that. When these birds get taken by Shuamta they tend to get ID’d as that is where, generally, the birds kettle before streaming.

I attach a screenshot of the day’s tallies - notable again were the amount of OHB’s nearly double figures and if this continues then triple-figures for the season beckons…..

I will just give a breakdown of my day’s birding in relation to the above as I have now reached the halfway point in the trip and apart from one day of large movement I have been a tad underwhelmed compared to previous visits when 4-5 days on the hill would generally produce 15-30k days and usually a 50k. Having said that I am sure there are both BK and Steppe Buzzard are waiting in the wings and vying for the top slot.

I arrived at 9am and ascended the ca116 steps - they don’t get any easier.

9-12noon was fairly quiet with a trickle of sightings including more Marsh Harriers and a coupla Ospreys. The MonPals seemed to have dried up. A Peregrine intent on breaking the sound barrier gave some hawking Bee-eaters a fright. Mid-morning saw small kettles of BK and Booted Eagles the latter sometimes in small parties and nearly hitting the 500 mark eventually. I don’t think I have seen so many before. A lot of birds giving views for aging. An absolutely stonking male Pallid Harrier tore through at a nice viewable height over the assembled birders. He wasn’t kettling with the hoi-polloi he was headed South to the grasslands of East Africa where I remember first making the species’ acquaintance more years ago than I care to remember!

12-2:30 produced some moderate volume movement with both BK and HoneyB streaming either side of us and again more Booted. Not to be outdone Short-toed began to make their presence with nearly 50 recorded by the end of the day. I missed the OHB but there will be more. Close in Lesser Spotted Eagles and a pair of Hobbies jousted in front of us whilst Hirundines flitted past.

3 o’clock is Eagle o’clock as birds started to appear in mixed kettles mid-distance and in the East. There happened to be a couple of sharp-eyed observers on yesterday who quickly picked up the first of 2 juvenile Steppe Eagles. If you only had binoculars they would remain Speck Eagles fortunately the Swarovski BTX 30x came into its own and coupled with the species distinct juvenile plumage made ID acceptable. Within 5 minutes it was followed by an Eastern Imperial that kettled ok but seemed to have a bit of a flap problem. The bird had a nice ‘Golden’ patch around the neck. For some of the counters these 2 birds were life ticks. I, personally, would want closer better views than that but that’s me. Fortunately I have seen a few Eastern Imps and many hundreds of Steppe at Eilat in the Spring last year.

Plenty of birds now kettling and streaming but at 4:30 I made the decision to pack things away - always leaving binoculars out. This paid off with a rather smart Long-legged Buzzard being picked up with 3 SteppeB in the mid-distance. The bird was bigger, pale-headed and had a smart crisp tail. A nice finish to a good day.

Beer / Food / Sleep / Repeat…..

Good birding -

Laurie -

 

[wolfbirder]

Wednesday 11th September

Addendum to yesterday’s notes were another good day count of Crested Honey Buzzard at Station 2 Shuamta of another 8 birds and a single Long leg. Sak recorded 3 CHB, the 2 I saw were well marked birds with distinct tail patterns.

My new arrangement of being picked up by the lovely Zuka at 0830 means arriving at Sak for 9 o’clock which is great. Generally speaking not much moves before then despite counters being on site from 6ish onwards.

It was generally a quiet day again very hot with a heat haze which meant me just looking at mid-distance kettles and anything that passed over the Station. Hats off to the counters for straining their eyes at hazy specks but that’s why they are there. The absence of any low cloud meant more or less continuous light streams with not only birds to check but allowed long views of individuals passing over and near.

Honey Buzzards have noticeably dropped off with <1500 birds counted at each Station. Black Kites now rule with nearly 14k recorded at Sak - it will be interesting to see if the day count record of 38k from last year is beaten. Harriers have also tailed off from several hundred per day to easily <100. Still 40+ Marsh, several Monties and a couple of close Pallid impresses me as a UK birder that does not see any Harrier annually! Nearly 200 Booted Eagles was very impressive, whatever their age they look freshly airbrushed particularly the dark juveniles and their subtle ‘fresh’ unmoulted look. Short-toed just made double digit. I managed a close in Lesser Spot and my first Osprey of the season a smart looking female. This bird thermalled with BK and BE not the normal migrating Ospreys I see which are normally making a Bee-line South somewhere.

A handful of nice Steppe Buzzards in the afternoon and a distant unidentified large Falco sp.

Small groups of Bee Eaters hawked close by and I recorded my first Storks of the trip with a single of each. The only Rollers noted were a small party of 15 birds that passed in front late morning.

I spent a couple of hours on the upper terrace yesterday rather than where the counters work. Viewing from the latter means you can pick up directions when something notable is being grilled but I opted to go upstairs to look myself as passage was light. I spent time in the company of half a dozen birders from China that I have been chatting to on and off for a few days. They have travelled across China to catch a plane to Tbilisi and then a train to Batumi a distance of over 7Kkm. They are stopping at a guest house literally at the bottom of the Station steps. They are constantly chattering as stuff passes and give whoops and high fives for close in birds whether it be a Booted or a Short-toed. The White Stork in with Kites etc had them in raptures - yes it is a strange hobby but all the better for having strange voices from distant lands enjoying the experience…..

More tomorrow.

Good birding -

Laurie -

The notes I post are only what I see each day here is a link to what BRC put up.

Migration Count Data — Batumi Raptor Count

I can't imagine a more difficult conversation Laurie, than between enthusiastic and excited Chinese birders and a bloke with a broad Black Country twang! Must have been great to watch the exchange.

Reminds me of when me and a few mates from Tipton went to see Wolves in a preseason friendly at Partick Thistle. One of them went to order a taxi but it never came, possibly due to the impossibility of translation /communication between broad Glaswegian and broad Black Country -.

 

[rollingthunder]

I went with my twitching mates on an Wolverhampton RSPB coach trip to Martin Mere.
Winter job, Geese, Merlin etc. Just in front of the hide there was a single really smart-looking Fieldfare feeding on some Sea Buckthorn berries.
One of the lads (Dave Burns) commented that there was a 'bostin' Fieldfare on the berries.
When we got back to the coach one of the group, who had been in the visitor centre, said he had clocked the latest news chalk board and it had on there 'Boston Fieldfare?' yes with a ?😆
Sorry to almost everybody out there apart from Wolfie - it's a Black Country (lost in translation) thing.

 

[rollingthunder]

Thursday 19th September

Addendum to yesterday - the odd 1 or 2 Levanter Sparrowhawk through in the morning and a steady hourly trickle of Sprawks. As these do not tend to be posted I forget myself.

Yesterday was like watching Coal form I’m afraid. Hardly any streams passed over or nearby. Sak counters seemed to show little interest at times content in tossing stones into a plastic cup and chatting when not on their mobile phones. There were a few of the newbies that were scoping - there might not be birds to count but it doesn’t mean there aren’t species to look at or ID. It was left to the hardcore visitors and newly arrived. It’s Batumi Bird Festival don’t you know! There must have been 100+ up there yesterday with several small groups here for the week and a delegation from Batumi Tourism or something like that. I got chatting to Mike Weedon and Ian Lycett both from Birding media. They were on a 5-day junket and stopping in the Radisson Blue. I informed them that back in the day they would be classed as ‘Dudes’. We had an extended laugh over several hours with some much-need self-deprecating humour that is the British forte. Fortunately there were some good visiting birders on point including the 2 aforementioned.

Before the 1030 arrival there had been the usual suspects trying to sneak through below the Obs. About half a dozen Pallid and the odd Monty gave reasonable views between us and the sea. 4/5 Rollers scorched right over our heads just skimming the assembled tripods. A 2+5 distant Black Storks lumbered through. A steady trickle of 60+ Marsh Harriers during the day but little of the Eagles of yesterday really. Wednesday saw 1400+ in total, mainly medium-sized, but impressive in volume and increasing variety. Fingers crossed for more of the same over the coming week…..A clutch of Ospreys, again one with a Fish. Some wag asked for the ID of the fish - I couldn’t resist ‘it’s a Flying Fish’. Once again BK dominated with the statistics. In total yesterday Sak had 1k+ birds and Shuamta 4k+ of all species. Station 2’s account reads as ecstatic but birds do start to kettle low at that watchpoint. In addition a stunning flock of 5 Pallid Harriers came through on the seaward side including 2 beautiful males and Levanter Sprawks were here and there with single smart males and a wheeling party of about 15 adjacent on the Eastern side of the Obs. Also both Common and Lesser Kestrel singles were noted and agreed the latter fem type distinctly paler and hawking for insects rather than floating by. Not forgetting Sprawks always Sprawks.

Two additional records yesterday are worthy of further mention due to identification and the level of some of those present at Sakhalvasho.

First a party of birds were spotted way out at sea making their way South and flirting with the lower cloud and the horizon. The bulk of them were discernibly Lapwing (presumably ours). There were also about 15 smaller birds in with them flying with a zippier distinct jinking flight. To my eyes they could have been Ruff or something but a couple of the counters said straight away…..not just Pratincole but Black-winged Pratincole. Us 3 Brits looked at each other and shrugged out collective shoulders. Granted if they were Prats they are more likely to be BW so we bowed to superior knowledge. Personally BwP would be a tick for me but not on those views.

Second a distant soaring large Falcon was detected in the East. Fortunately against the sky and not the hills but it was distant. For once I managed to clock it as the BTX has a handy little locater thingy whereby you just look through a tiny reticule containing a dot and wherever that is pointed so the scope will generally be and it works very well. I clocked this bird and the plumage indicated Peregrine. Bart Hoekstra was on site and on the case and said ‘Calidus’ Peregrine. He was grilling it through his Swarovski and must have been on full power…..or something. He commented on mantle colour - a daily learning curve at Station 1. I have heard of this Tundra subspecies and it is highly migratory as are lots of Peregrine subspecies. After all the name means ‘wanderer’ iirc. Attached are a couple of relative screenshots for further basic info.

Today, Friday, I had to take the painful decision to cancel my lift at 0630 as I have to make a choice for the day and let Zuka know as he has to go to school at 9. Yes my taxi lift is a 17yo schoolboy. He informed me only yesterday of his age and that he only passed his test 6 weeks ago. I pulled on my seatbelt reassuringly…..

I plan on visiting the Batumi Botanical Garden this afternoon as the *10 bus route is from the Airport to the Gardens.

Tomorrow looks mixed so I will have to decide. Sunday looks good so back to Sak I think. Monday is looking a washout. Tue/Wed are thundery showers. Thursday/Fri/Sat are sunny warm and fine - all good fun as they say.

I will sift through and post some images over the weekend.

Good birding -

Laurie -

 

[rollingthunder]

Oh and btw Wolfie I don't have a Black Country accent. I lived abroad in Aden and East Africa coming back via Germany until I was 7 and moved straight to South East London until 23 ;-)