The count has started!
A local Steppe Buzzard. Photo by Eduardo Campos Wals
Yesterday was the first day of the 17th autumn count. With a small team of counters we counted a small number of birds for this first day.
Caucasian Sand Lizard. Photo by Eduardo Campos Wals.
Both stations combined we counted 59 birds! We saw four species, Honey Buzzard, Marsh Harrier, Black Kite and Booted Eagle. The latter two showed up in quite some numbers, giving us a first taste of the streams we will soon be counting. Some local Steppe Buzzards, Wood Pigeons and a Short-toed Eagle made an appearance, but it will be a while before they will start their migration. We are more then ready for them though.
The raptors were joined by a Golden Oriole, Bee-eaters, Lesser Grey Shrikes, Swifts, hoverflies, dragonflies, snakes, Caucasian Sand Lizards. The non-birds got some extra attention as they was only one Steppe Buzzard close enough to be photographed.
Of course, we still had to do some work on the stations to make sure we are able to see every bird passing by, no rest for the wicked.
All in all a great first day of the count, and we are very much looking forward to all the birds coming our way, let’s reach that 1 million again!
We will keep you posted about the count as the season progresses, through our social media, website and newsletters. See our link in the bio.
‘Gardening’ around station to ensure we have good visibility of the bottom of the valleys. It is incredible how fast vegetation grows on the edge of the Colchic ‘Rain forest’. Photo by Elien Hoekstra.