The Honey Buzzards have arrived!
A curious Honey Buzzard. Photo by Eduardo Campos Wals.
What week it has been in the bottleneck! The weather threw everything at us—rain, fog, blazing sun—but the migration didn’t stop, and neither did we.
A classic Station 2 perk: fresh Khachapuri!. Photo by Eva Drukker.
We had mornings with just a handful of Harriers and Honey Buzzards fighting against the wind, long hours waiting in the mist, and the classic Batumi FOMO, where you feel like most of the streams went to “the other station”. But the calm days were full of cherries: close-by Lesser Spotted Eagles, Ospreys, Rollers flashing against the ridge, juvenile Pallid Harriers, the first Steppe Eagle at eye level and even an Imperial Eagle much earlier than expected.
And then, on the 28th of August, it happened. Our first BIG DAY! Out of nowhere, the sky exploded with raptors. Kettles of Honey Buzzards here, flocks of White Storks there, walls of birds pouring overhead. Every counter was needed, and those who had taken the day off had to come running up the stairs to help. It turned into one of those Batumi days: the kind you dream of. Juvenile Pallids close enough for perfect IDs giving us the fourth-biggest Pallid day of August. Black Storks and White Storks filled the sky together, harriers streamed past in beautiful light, as well as Long-legged Buzzards soaring right overhead. It felt like it would never stop - the clickers were running hot, clicking away streams of Honey Buzzards, mixed with Black Kites, Booted Eagles, harriers and storks.
From cozy khachapuri breaks and grumpy wet hoopoes on rainy days to moments when the sky was overflowing with migration, this week had it all. Batumi migration season is just getting started, we are already over 140 000 birds and if this week is a taste of what’s coming… we’re ready.
The Station 1 team…
… and the Station 2 team.