Friday 9th May.
A morning of travelling the 260km from Borjomi to Batumi. Fortunately there is a new road or one that has been upgraded the E60 which is basically a Tbilisi by-pass over to the Black Sea coast finishing near Poti.
We took that for about 2/3 of the way being tempted only once to cut the corner to Batumi through the mountains. We soon regretted our decision as the road surface deteriorated quickly - we are both fed up with road surface and safety issues so we resumed our journey on the E60. We stopped around 11am for a bite to eat at Didi National Lake which appears to be a relict oxbow of the River. Cuckoo, RBShrike, Nightingale Greed Warbler, Steppe Buzzard and a Booted Eagle with a snake provided the backdrop.
Before checking in we decided pop up to the Bird Observatory at Sakhalvasho. Having ascended the 130 steps of the Stairway to Heaven many times I drew my breath in to avoid Hypoxia. It doesn’t appear to have any Spring counters this year which was a surprise although I could find no daily counts online so I feared the worst. The Spring count has been going only since the end of Covid but has still yielded impressive results of 400k over 8 weeks or so. We had one Steppe Buzzard in 1.5 hours plus both Common and Alpine Swift and BeeEaters plus quite a few Spotted Flycatchers. We have had a few Black Kites down at Chorokoi and that’s about it. Mark is understandably disappointed as I have bigged the place up constantly. I did remind him that my other 4 visits have been in the Autumn and that migration is not an exact science with the vagaries of the weather being the dominant factor. He is, however, easily pleased so bashing a range of habitats for 4 days with an eye up for any overhead movement will see him suitably placated. In addition I know some good bars and eateries in Batumi where the staff know me - he was impressed with that but as stated he is easily impressed…..
To finish the day we decided to visit the Airport side of the Chorokhi. The fields are still dotted with scrub and accessible via muddy tracks but the mounds of builders rubble and plastic from the continuous hotel construction a coupla miles away is, frankly, depressing. To add to the misery there is some sort of scramble track with attendant noise which only adds to that provided by the boy racers with their Go-Pros James-Deaning it at over a Ton down the boulevard. I headed to my go-to comfort zone of the Dog kennels c/w water and food by the locals. These are the street dogs that are familiar in Turkey and Morocco that have tags in their ears to show they have been neutered or spayed. I know several of them well and they always seem to recognise me which makes me feel good and alleviates all the other crap down there.
The tide was in but in addition the river was in full spate as are many that we have crossed. The volume and speed of the water is very noticeable compared to Septembers following a dry Summer. Scattered pools each contained a pair of Black-winged Stilts whose default is to alert other species. Redshank, Ruff, Little Stints, Greenshank, Kentish Plover, Ringed Plover,Dunlin and Common Sandpiper were all present. The sandbars held dozens of Armenian, Slender-billed, Yellow-legged, Black-headed and mediterranean Gulls. Purple Heron, several Squacco Heron, Little and Cattle Egrets probed the edges. Several Great Reed Warblers chugged away as they do. Hardly any raptors save for a handful of Black Kites and a distant unidentified Buzzard sp. Several Gull-billed Terns were busy plunge-diving successfully.
The weather was glorious today and more of the same tomorrow but tumbles down on Sunday and Monday. Typically it picks up on Tuesday as we leave and we arrive at Kutaisi as the weather deteriorates there and the continued pattern of chasing and just missing decent weather continues to our departure on Friday from Tblisi which is forecast a nice day. We will have had 3 days clear Blue skies and no rain in 3 weeks - very disappointing…..
I am reminded of Tantalus who was punished by the Gods for stealing Ambrosia, no not the Custard, and punished by being sent to Tartarus. He was chained to a rock (aren’t they all) in a stream below fruit trees. When he was hungry he would reach out for food and the fruit and leaves would wither thus becoming inedible. His shade gone he would attempt to slake his thirst by drinking cool, clear, water from the stream only to see it disappear as he cupped his hands. This has been our situation in Georgia - good weather always tantalisingly out of reach…..
Good birding -
Laurie -
