News

The latest news from the Batumi Raptor Count team: season updates, volunteering opportunities, fundraising, merchandise, publications & more.

We have a new website!

Our new website is faster, better looking, far more accessible, and with an improved daily count viewer. And there's more to come!

website

April 3, 2026 Get Involved

Applications open for the 2026 Flyway Monitoring Traineeship

With the preparations for the 2026 Autumn count well underway, we are happy to announce opening applications for the BRC Flyway Monitoring Traineeship.

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April 1, 2026 Get Involved

Call for Counters: We’re looking for volunteers for Autumn 2026

After successfully completing another crowdfunding campaign, we’re happy to announce the call for counters. The application form is now open for Autumn 2026.

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March 10, 2026 Reports & Research

New publication in Ardea: The eastern Black Sea coast as a principal raptor flyway in spring

For seventeen years, Batumi Raptor Count has tracked the legendary autumn raptor migration through the Batumi Bottleneck. Now, our first full study of spring migration along this flyway has been published open access in Ardea.

publication spring-count research ardea brc18

February 19, 2026 Fundraising

Something remarkable saved the Autumn Count of 2026

Many of you will be familiar with our winter crowdfunding ritual. This year our small team fell quiet at the worst possible time, but a remarkable act of generosity ensured the Autumn 2026 count can go ahead.

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October 23, 2025 Field updates

And… it’s a wrap. What a season!

It all came to a beautiful end. We began the count with a Marsh Harrier and wrapped it up with a Steppe Buzzard, both iconic species for the bottleneck. But so much happened in between...

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October 19, 2025 Field updates

1.5 Million raptors!

For the first time in BRC history, we have recorded a staggering 1.5 million raptors in a single autumn season, a true milestone after 17 years of counting!

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October 15, 2025 Field updates

What’s going on up north?

Although we haven’t shared many updates about our pilot count at Kvirike, that doesn’t mean we haven’t been counting!

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October 12, 2025 Field updates

Kite, Kite, Kite Optics

Kite, kite, KITE! We’d like to give a big shout-out to our sponsor this year, Kite Optics, for the T-shirts and optics.

black-kite kite-optics autumn-count brc17

October 5, 2025 Field updates

1,422,172 and counting

We’ve broken the season record of 1,422,171 raptors set in 2021! At 14:52 today, the 1,422,172nd bird crossed our transect line to the east - a juvenile Black Kite making its way through the misty clouds.

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September 29, 2025 Field updates

The weeks of diversity

The weeks of diversity have started! After the thrill of the million, we went straight through to the peaks of diversity. And that brings along… the eagles.

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September 17, 2025 Field updates

1,000,000 raptors — already!

It was a day full of suspense. We only needed a little over 10.000 more birds. We extracted every single one of them out of the bright blue sky.

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September 14, 2025 Field updates

Wave after wave after wave

Over 800,000 raptors counted — and we’re not even halfway through the season!

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September 8, 2025 Reports & Research

One million raptors: But where do they come from?

As a migration counter, you can’t help but wonder where the bird you just tallied came from, and where it is going. We look at a new study that helps answer this question for the raptors migrating through Batumi.

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September 5, 2025 Field updates

Half a million raptors!

Today we counted over 100K birds, which means we reached the half a million milestone!

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September 2, 2025 Field updates

High up above: the first few days from Kvirike

Our pilot count from Chalet Kvirike has now been running for a week and a half, and we must admit we are impressed by what we have so far experienced. Raptors often fly by at eye level, allowing for absolutely incredible views!

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August 29, 2025 Field updates

The Honey Buzzards have arrived!

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.

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August 17, 2025 Field updates

The first 1000+ raptors day

It has been 6 days now since the start of the count and yesterday was our first 1000+ day! Finally!!

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August 13, 2025 Field updates

Station 3 – Pilot count from Chalet Kvirike

Every year the same questions come up at our watch sites: what would we see if we counted from higher up in the foothills of the Lesser Caucasus? Would we see more Harriers? Are birds flying above the clouds?

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August 13, 2025 Field updates

The count has started!

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.

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August 9, 2025 Merchandise

BRC 2025 T-Shirt

With so many brilliant women involved in this year’s count, it felt only fitting to place a strong female at the heart of this season’s T-shirt design.

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August 9, 2025 Field updates

Count preparations

Yesterday, the coordinators of 2025 arrived in Batumi - the first all-women coordinating team in the history of BRC!

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August 6, 2025 Events

BRC at the Avian Odyssey 2025

We’re excited to share that Batumi Raptor Count will be part of the Avian Odyssey 2025, the annual meeting of the British Ornithologists’ Club, held this year at the Natural History Museum in London. Our chairman Tohar Tal will be speaking about BRC’s work protecting one of the world’s most spectacular raptor migrations.

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July 13, 2025 Get Involved

Flyway Monitoring Trainees of 2025

Last year, we launched the BRC Flyway Monitoring Traineeship, a new initiative with our long-time partner OSME. Meet the 2025 cohort of trainees.

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April 14, 2025 Get Involved

Applications open for the 2025 Flyway Monitoring Traineeship

With preparations for the 2025 Autumn count well underway, we're delighted to open applications for the BRC Flyway Monitoring Traineeship, run in partnership with OSME.

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March 16, 2025 Get Involved

Call for Counters: We’re looking for volunteers for Autumn 2025

After successfully finishing another crowdfunding campaign, we’re happy to announce the call for counters. We have now opened the application form and are…

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February 27, 2025 Fundraising

Soaring to success: We reached our €30,000 crowdfunding goal for Autumn 2025

Less than three months after re-launching our crowdfunding campaign, we're delighted to announce that we've reached our €30,000 goal to fund the Autumn 2025 count in the Batumi bottleneck.

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January 5, 2025 Merchandise

The BRC Webshop is open!

We are proud to announce that BRC now has its very own webshop, featuring a broad collection of beautiful, self-designed merchandise.

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December 30, 2024 Events

‘Fight for Flight’

During our 2023 Autumn count, Heather Fortune volunteered with us. "Fight for Flight" is the title of her year-long solo expedition, contributing to ornithological research and conservation across Europe and Asia.

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December 13, 2024 Fundraising

Fundraiser for 2025

For sixteen years the BRC has conducted high-quality raptor migration counts. This long-term monitoring is critical to understand how bird populations are doing in our rapidly changing world.

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August 12, 2024 Merchandise

BRC 2024 T-Shirt

As you know, the start of a new count season also means that we are launching a new annual T-Shirt. For the 16th edition of the Batumi Raptor Count, we’re featuring a new species on our T-Shirts: the Black Kite.

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June 29, 2024 Get Involved

BRC Flyway Monitoring Traineeship in collaboration with OSME

Over the past decade, migration monitoring has become more and more popular along the East Afro-Eurasian Flyway, with projects (re)starting around the Caucasus region, the Middle East and Central Asia.

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May 28, 2024 Organisation

Female bird(er)s

From all the 37+ raptor species observed in the Batumi bottleneck — why in particular did we choose an adult female Honey Buzzard as cover photo?

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April 13, 2024 Get Involved

We’re looking for volunteers for Autumn 2024

After successfully finishing another crowdfunding campaign, we’re happy to announce the call for counters.

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April 9, 2024 Education

Education activities are kicking off

After publishing our new education booklet this past autumn, our education initiative is kicking into high gear this spring!

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December 22, 2023 Organisation

Collaboration in the East African-Eurasian Flyway

This year, the BRC had the honor of hosting three counters, Can Yeniyurt, Kadri Kaya, and Cemil Cezgin, from the brand-new Bosphorus bird migration count sites in Turkey.

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December 22, 2023 Get Involved

Count Coordinators for Autumn 2024

With the funding for 2024 complete, we have started preparations for the count! The count will run from the 12th of August until the 21st of October.

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December 22, 2023 Education

Education: The new booklet is in the schools!

Our new educational booklet about birds in Georgia is already in most schools in the bottleneck. In September, we held a meeting involving more than 25 schools dedicated to promoting the study of birds in their classes.

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December 22, 2023 Birds & Birding

GPS-tagged Greater Spotted Eagle at Batumi

On October 1st a juvenile Greater Spotted Eagle carrying a GPS tracker was seen passing Station 1.

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December 22, 2023 Fundraising

Mission accomplished: funding for the 2024 count is complete!

Since 2021 we’ve been constantly running crowdfunding campaigns to be able to fund our autumn counts, much-needed equipment, and other practical aspects of our monitoring and conservation efforts.

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December 21, 2023 Reports & Research

Falconry - Third time's the charm

After returning from Georgia last year, with ‘only’ two Levant Sparrowhawks tagged out of eight anticipated individuals, our moods were down. But in autumn 2023 we gave it another chance.

hunting levant-sparrowhawk tracking brc15

August 10, 2023 Merchandise

BRC 2023 T-Shirt

As you know, the start of a new count season also means that we are launching a new annual T-Shirt. For the 15th edition of the Batumi Raptor Count, we’ve decided to feature a new species on our T-Shirts, the Booted Eagle.

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June 10, 2023 Get Involved

Urgently needed: Long-term counters for Autumn 2023

For every autumn count we rely on a diverse group of volunteer counters. This year, unusually, most of our long-term positions are still open, and we urgently need people to help fill them.

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April 21, 2023 Reports & Research

First BRC publication in Russian Raptors Conservation journal

We are proud to announce the publication of our first Russian language paper in the Russian Raptor Research and Conservation Network’s (RRRCN) journal ‘Raptors Conservation’.

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April 9, 2023 Merchandise

Bird Artwork by Jérôme Wey

BRC is happy to announce our collaboration with Jérôme Wey!

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March 16, 2023 Fundraising

Successful completion of 2023 Crowdfunding!

Less than three months ago, on Christmas Eve 2022, we re-launched our crowdfunding campaign to fund the upcoming autumn count of 2023.

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March 11, 2023 Get Involved

Count Coordinators for Autumn 2023

We are still raising funds, but preparations for the BRC Autumn Count of 2023 have started. The count will run from the 12th of August until the 21st of October.

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December 22, 2022 Reports & Research

From counts to knowledge: research in progress at BRC

Student interest in Batumi's raptor migration has grown so much that our Research Coordinator can barely keep up. Here's an overview of the research currently underway at BRC.

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December 22, 2022 Education

Teaching teachers in Georgia about birds

In 2019 BRC started an educational project involving schools, teachers and Georgian conservationists, with the support of British Birds Charitable Trust (BBCT) and IJsvogelfonds of Birdlife the Netherlands.

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December 21, 2022 Reports & Research

From Georgia to Tanzania: the secret ways of the Levant Sparrowhawk

After 3 months of flying from woodland to woodland, often following river valleys and making longer stops on the way, ‘our’ Levant Sparrowhawk ‘Dudu’ is now sending data from the savannahs of Tanzania!

research levant-sparrowhawk conservation falconry tracking ffi brc14

August 12, 2022 Fundraising

Fundraiser for 2023

For thirteen years the BRC has conducted high quality raptor migration counts. This long-term monitoring is critical to understand how bird populations are doing in our rapidly changing world.

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August 11, 2022 Merchandise

BRC 2022 T-Shirt

We are glad to be back counting raptors again! It took us no less than 14 years to — finally — feature this charismatic species on our annual T-shirt: the Short-toed Eagle. Who can resist these eyes and this T-shirt?

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July 20, 2022 Reports & Research

Spring Report 2022 published

The third and final spring count gave us beautiful snow-covered surroundings and raptors in perfect light, we witnessed the return of birds and spring.

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April 24, 2022 Get Involved

We're looking for volunteers for Autumn 2022

After finishing a successful crowdfunding campaign, we’re happy to finally announce the call for counters.

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April 22, 2022 Fundraising

Successful completion of 2022 Crowdfunding!

When we launched our crowdfunding campaign on Christmas Eve 2021 we were not entirely sure what to expect. Over the years we have received endless words of encouragement and appreciation.

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April 12, 2022 Field updates

Already 400K raptors during the 3rd and final Spring Count

The 3rd pilot Spring Count is already halfway through, we have been counting for one and a half months and have already counted 400k raptors this season.

milestone spring-count brc14

March 1, 2022 Fundraising

Donation Doubling Days!

Today – March 1st 2022 – marks the start of our 3rd and final spring count in Batumi. A historic day, which also marks the start of our final sprint to complete the crowdfunding for the BRC autumn count of 2022.

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February 28, 2022 Organisation

SLAVA UKRAINE, SLAVA GEORGIA! 🇺🇦🇬🇪

Tomorrow, March 1st 2022, a small team of BRC volunteers will begin the 3rd and final spring count in Sakhalvasho, Georgia.

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February 26, 2022 Get Involved

Count Coordinators for Autumn 2022

We are still raising funds, but preparations for the BRC Autumn Count of 2022 have started. The count will run from the 12th of August until the 21st of October.

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February 26, 2022 Events

Watch Now: Worlds Collide

The short film Worlds Collide, directed by Nicholas Rodd, about migration through the Georgian bottleneck is now free to watch indefinitely and embedded below.

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December 25, 2021 Fundraising

World-class migration monitoring at Batumi soars or falls with your support!

Over the past years we have been getting more and more surprised reactions from volunteers and visitors about the fact that Batumi Raptor Count is a 100% volunteer-based organisation.

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December 24, 2021 Reports & Research

Falconers: friends or foes in raptor research and conservation?

Batumi Raptor Count has long documented the causes and consequences of illegal raptor shooting in Georgia, but the role of traditional falconers remained a blind spot. Last autumn, BRC teamed up with Fauna & Flora International to explore whether a constructive alliance with ethical falconers is possible.

hunting conservation falconry ffi sparrowhawk research brc13

December 24, 2021 Reports & Research

Update: Moult study of Batumi raptors

The Batumi Raptor Count has done extraordinary raptor migration monitoring for years, but apart from all the migration data we have been collecting for so long, the bottleneck offers another interesting possibility.

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December 18, 2021 Get Involved

Volunteers Wanted: Spring Count 2022

In 2019 and 2020 we carried out the first and second spring pilot counts in the Batumi bottleneck, revealing a very different composition of raptor migration compared to autumn. We're looking for volunteers to join us for the third and final spring count in 2022.

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December 16, 2021 Reports & Research

New publication: Opportunistic in-flight foraging behaviour of Black Kites during spring migration

The most recent autumn issue of the Sandgrouse, published by OSME, contains a short paper describing preliminary results of Black Kites obtained during the two BRC spring counts conducted so far.

publication black-kite spring-count research sandgrouse brc13

August 11, 2021 Merchandise

BRC 2021 T-Shirt

We are glad to be back counting raptors again! Fed up with all the darkness in our lives recently, our designers have created a more colorful T-shirt than ever before.

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June 4, 2021 Get Involved

5 Reasons why you should NOT participate in the Batumi Raptor Count

Since 2008, in over a decade of counts, over 380 volunteers have participated in the annual Batumi Raptor Count. This year, the 13th count is organized, which runs from August 12th until October 21st of 2021.

autumn-count volunteering brc13

May 9, 2021 Events

Watch now: Worlds Collide selected for British Documentary Festival

A short film directed by Nicholas Rodd about migration through the Georgian bottleneck has been selected by the British Documentary Festival, and is free to watch until May 14th.

documentary hunting conservation worlds-collide brc13

April 14, 2021 Get Involved

We're looking for volunteers for Autumn 2021

Have you missed counting raptors as much as we have? If so, we have good news for you: the application round for the BRC volunteer raptor counter positions is now open!

autumn-count volunteering brc13

April 12, 2021 Reports & Research

BRC: A model for migration monitoring in new BirdLife review

A new Sandgrouse paper, initiated by Ben Jobson (BirdLife International), reviews the challenges and opportunities for monitoring of migratory soaring birds in the East African-Eurasian flyway.

publication research birdlife flyway sandgrouse brc13

March 18, 2021 Reports & Research

Now Open Access: From migration counts to conservation in a flyway under threat

In the August 2020 issue of British Birds, we published a long-form paper on Batumi Raptor Count.

publication conservation british-birds natuur-oriolus research flyway brc13

March 11, 2021 Get Involved

Count Coordinators for Autumn 2021

We approach the future with hope in our hearts and have started planning the BRC Autumn Count 2021. The count will run from the 12th of August until the 21st of October.

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February 5, 2021 Organisation

BRC Spring Count 2021 Cancelled

This year the third pilot spring count was supposed to be conducted. Sadly, after many considerations, we hereby announce that the count has officially been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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December 18, 2020 Merchandise

BRC 2020 T-Shirt

Many things have changed in 2020, but one thing has not: this year — once again — we have a BRC T-shirt for sale. After so many annual shirts, we simply could not leave a 2020-sized ‘hole’ in our collection.

August 7, 2020 Reports & Research

Spring Report 2020 published

Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has ground daily life to a halt for many of us, bird migration of course continued and so did our team of spring counters in Batumi.

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August 1, 2020 Reports & Research

New publication in British Birds: From migration counts to conservation in a raptor flyway under threat

We are proud to announce the current August issue of British Birds contains a long paper on Batumi Raptor Count.

publication conservation british-birds flyway

July 3, 2020 Organisation

BRC Magazine 2019

With all that 2020 is throwing at us, last year feels like an eternity ago already.

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April 13, 2020 Organisation

BRC Autumn Count 2020 Cancelled

It is with a heavy heart that we have to inform you that we are cancelling the BRC autumn count for 2020 due to the ongoing covid19 pandemic.

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January 8, 2020 Organisation

Spring Count 2020

It has been an unavoidable topic in recent weeks and right now it has also become something that the BRC feels a need to act upon: the COVID-19 virus.

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December 21, 2019 Reports & Research

Autumn Report 2019 published

The 12th season brought unprecedented numbers of Black Kites, a new raptor species for the BRC counts, and marked the start of an education project in collaboration with local teachers.

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October 8, 2019 Reports & Research

Half Season Report 2019

The 12th edition of the Batumi Raptor Count started differently than previous years, with a brand-new observation platform at Station 1 and an earlier start date. Read on for the season's highlights, from record-breaking rollers to a stunning dark morph Marsh Harrier.

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September 15, 2019 Reports & Research

New publication: Population trends from 8 years of BRC Autumn Counts

For 8 important species for the bottleneck, we have analysed trends over the past 8 years of standardised counts (2011-2018).

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August 16, 2019 Merchandise

New BRC T-shirts

We are proud to announce that with the new season come two brand new designs for BRC T-shirts.

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August 16, 2019 Field updates

Season 2019 has started

This year the 12th of August already marked the start of the 12th Batumi Raptor Count. To better detect changes in migration timing, we have decided to start the count 5 days earlier and finish 5 days later.

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June 30, 2019 Reports & Research

Spring Report 2019 published

After 11 years of autumn counts it was time for something completely different. This spring a group of 13 enthusiastic counters monitored the Batumi spring migration from March 21st until May 31st.

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June 25, 2019 Organisation

BRC Magazine 2018

The final preparations for the upcoming Autumn Count are in full swing. Do you want to read up on what could be ahead of us this season?

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April 21, 2019 Birds & Birding

Black-winged Kite in the Chorokhi Delta

During a visit to the Chorokhi Delta, the BRC spring count team spotted a Black-winged Kite, only the second record for Georgia and a wonderful reward after a day of otherwise quiet birding.

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April 14, 2019 Field updates

Spring Count Update

Where to start? Well, let's start with the beginning of the day: unlike in autumn, where you are woken up by just the sound of the local rooster calling, in spring he's joined by a choir of feathered friends.

spring-count season-report black-kite sardinian-warbler krupers-nuthatch imperial-eagle pilot-count brc12

April 10, 2019 Reports & Research

BRC goes Open Access

In 2008 Batumi Raptor Count made its first full-season count of migrating raptors along the eastern Black Sea coast.

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April 4, 2019 Events

BRC at IBOC2019

We just returned home from the 3rd International Bird Observatory Conference (IBOC) in Eilat. It was a very successfull get together of people from bird observatories across the globe to share knowledge and experiences.

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February 14, 2019 Reports & Research

New publication: Egyptian Nightjar at the Chorokhi delta, Georgia and status in Europe

In August 2017 a BRC team (Jonas Schärer, Xu Shi and Jaime Escobar) observed an Egyptian Nightjar in the Chorokhi Delta which turned out to be the first national record.

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February 12, 2019 Field updates

Pioneering pilot spring count in Batumi 2019

Spring migration in Batumi? We would love to show you what that looks like, but we don’t really know. All we know for certain is that birds will be going in the opposite direction, somewhat like in the video below. But how many?

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February 6, 2019 Organisation

New raptor watch platform

Now that the minister of Finance and Economy of Adjara has announced the construction of the new raptor watch platform, we are proud to spread the word.

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December 11, 2018 Reports & Research

Autumn Report 2018 published

The freshly published BRC Autumn Report 2018 features season highlights, phenological peculiarities and general overview with many photos of both birds and people.

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October 6, 2018 Birds & Birding

Black kite with wingtags spotted

On September the 22nd, when 4257 black kites flew by station 1, we spotted a black kite with wingtags and a transmitter on his back.

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September 29, 2018 Field updates

1 Million Raptors!

Yesterday's highlights were the more than 100,000 raptors counted by both stations and the almost 1,700 eagles on Station 1, but we fell just short of the million.

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September 10, 2018 Field updates

Harrier Madness

The best day of the season on Station 2! So far.

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September 9, 2018 Field updates

500,000 Raptors counted!

The birds may not care, but we do: today we passed the 500,000 raptors mark!

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August 28, 2018 Field updates

The first 100,000

We have now been counting for 12 days and yesterday we passed the first milestone of the season: we have counted the first 100,000 birds! The start of the season has been everything but standard this autumn.

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August 16, 2018 Events

Announcement: Batumi Birdwatching Festival 2018

We would like to invite all of you to the annual Batumi Birding festival, taking place the first week of September this year.

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July 27, 2018 Organisation

BRC Magazine 2017

The final preparations for the upcoming Autumn Count are in full swing. Do you want to read up on what could be ahead of us this season?

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June 27, 2018 Get Involved

5 Reasons why you should NOT participate in Batumi Raptor Count

Since 2008, in a decade of counts, over 300 volunteers have participated in the annual Batumi Raptor Count. This year, the 11th count is held, which runs from August 17th until October 16th of 2018.

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October 4, 2017 Birds & Birding

Unexpected plumage: immature Honey Buzzard

The BRC 2017 autumn count marks a special anniversary season, and it has already brought plenty of surprises.

honey-buzzard autumn-count identification rarities brc10

September 25, 2017 Reports & Research

Half-season report

Our 10th Autumn count kicked off at 17th August, with the coordination team and first volunteers arriving to our headquarters in Sakhalvasho a few days before.

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September 6, 2017 Field updates

Half a Million

Today added another 75.000 to the tally. Our volunteers have been counting for exactly 3 weeks now, and have reached a season total of 498.928 raptors! Almost half a million, right? Six more weeks to go, bring it!

milestone autumn-count brc10

August 27, 2017 Birds & Birding

MEGA: Egyptian Nightjar, new for Georgia

Volunteers from the BRC team visited Chorokhi Delta on their day off today and found an EGYPTIAN Nightjar on the beach. The bird was flushed by a shepherd dog and flew around observers, giving very close views.

rarities egyptian-nightjar chorokhi-delta brc10

August 25, 2017 Field updates

Volunteer from Kenya - Welcome Martha Mutiso

We are very pleased that for the 10th anniversary of the autumn count, BRC is able to welcome the first African volunteer into our project.

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August 22, 2017 Field updates

TWENTY-thousand Honey Buzzards and counting

Today we saw a first wave of Honey Buzzards coming over. A nice start, more to come ;) The first movements of harriers were noted as well.

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August 21, 2017 Birds & Birding

Rarity: Eleonora's falcon flies over station 2

First rare migrant of the season! Today station 2 enjoyed close views of an Eleonora's Falcon soaring over the counters for a short time.

rarities autumn-count eleonoras-falcon brc10

August 16, 2017 Field updates

Start of the 10th autumn season count

Tomorrow the 10th edition of the Batumi Raptor Count officially starts! Last days team members were actively working to prepare the count.

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April 11, 2017 Reports & Research

NEW BRC Publication in Sandgrouse

Our study on hunters' habits and motivations for shooting raptors in the Batumi bottleneck has been published in Sandgrouse, the journal of the Ornithological Society of the Middle East and the Caucasus (OSME). Congratulations to Anna Sandor, Johannes Jansen and Wouter Vansteelant!

publication hunting research sandgrouse brc10

March 1, 2017 Fundraising

Review of SWAROVSKI OPTIK’s new FieldPro package

We review Swarovski Optik's new FieldPro package, as Jasper Wehrmann, Folkert de Boer and Johannes Jansen share their thoughts on the redesigned EL binoculars they've been using this season.

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November 26, 2016 Reports & Research

Autumn report 2016 is ready

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September 19, 2016 Reports & Research

Half-season report for 2016 is out

The 9th season of Batumi Raptor Count has reached the halfway point! Once again we're witnessing a rush of raptor migration, growing enthusiasm for raptor identification, and no shortage of surprises.

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September 16, 2016 Education

Youth exchange in Chorokhi delta

Final exposure event of the Youth exchange, protecting the Chorokhi delta. There will be an exhibition on the delta and its importance for birds.

chorokhi-delta brc9

September 2, 2016 Events

Global Shorebird Counting

Between 2-6 september 2016 the annual global shorebirds count is taking place.

chorokhi-delta brc9

August 30, 2016 Field updates

Season take off - get ready for the peaks

It was a calm start, yes, totally calm. Only few birds passed the stations putting us in disbelief about migration ways but never doubt the birds, they will certainly come.

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August 26, 2016 Field updates

Apparently Montagu's Harrier migrates with delay this year in Batumi

Reaching the average peak around 3 Sep we usually have good numbers already in August. Until 25 Aug we count in average a proportion of 600 and more Montagu's Harrier / MonPalHen.

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August 18, 2016 Events

Meet us at the British Birdfair

This weekend one of the biggest gatherings of the birding community takes place, at Rutland waters in England.

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August 16, 2016 Field updates

Tomorrow we start to count

Tomorrow we will launch the 9th edition of the Batumi Raptor Count! Coordinators and first volunteer counters have settled in Sakhalvasho, Georgia, during the last days in order to complete preparations.

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June 29, 2016 Get Involved

Coordinator team complete

Our team of count coordinators is complete!

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June 21, 2016 Organisation

Raptor Migration Network has been founded

From 9th to 11th June we met with representatives from several major soaring bird migration bottlenecks of the western palearctic in Chalets d’Irati-Larrau/Lorraine, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France.

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February 5, 2016 Organisation

Newsletter February

We've launched a refreshed, mobile-friendly website that's easier to navigate. This issue covers a word from our new chairman, BRC membership, the 2015 Raptor Migration Report, and our 2016 birdwatching tours.

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February 2, 2016 Reports & Research

Report 2015 is out

BRC continued its monitoring work with another successful season studying the raptor migration in the Batumi bottleneck. In autumn 2015 we managed to count a total of 1.029.478 raptors without double counts!

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January 30, 2016 Organisation

A word from the new chairman

After another very successful season in 2015, the volunteers of BRC only had a couple of weeks to recuperate, and while 2016 is still young, the preparations for the count of autumn 2016 are already in full swing.

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January 2, 2016 Get Involved

Start of BRC membership

Join us as member to become integral part of BRC. We'd like to create closer ties with you throughout the year, and with your help continue our raptor conservation efforts in Batumi.

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October 11, 2015 Field updates

1 million raptors within 7 weeks!

After 7 weeks of counting in autumn 2015 we reached again the season total of 1 million raptors! Steppe Buzzard migration finally kicked off and we counted over 120 000 birds during 3rd, 4th and 5th of October.

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October 5, 2015 Events

EuroBirdwatch results

At the Batumi Raptor Count, we had a great weekend and contributed 90,756 migrating birds to the tally.

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October 2, 2015 Events

EuroBirdwatch with us

We warmly invite everyone to come up to one of our two watchpoints this weekend and observe migrating birds together with us.

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September 30, 2015 Reports & Research

Update on hunting monitoring

The first year of the systematic monitoring of the hunting pressure in the Batumi Bottleneck is slowly coming to its end.

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September 7, 2015 Field updates

500.000 within first 3 weeks

The first 3 weeks of raptor migration counting in Batumi are over and we can already say that the start of this season was a big surprise.

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July 15, 2015 Get Involved

Hunting monitoring volunteers

Sabuko - Society for Nature Conservation Georgia is looking for motivated people who want to help monitor the illegal hunting pressure in the Batumi bottleneck.

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May 27, 2015 Events

Talk at OSME, Norfolk on illegal hunting in Batumi (4th July)

Talk by Oliver Reville: Addressing illegal hunting at Batumi through education and awareness raising.

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May 19, 2015 Events

Talk in Murcia on Batumi migration (30th May)

Spanish talk on migration spectacle of Batumi, in Murcia, Spain. Attend and listen to the talk of Blanca Perez, sharing her experience as a count coordinator in 2014!

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March 20, 2015 Events

Join our lectures

If you want to hear more about the BRC, there are several opportunities to catch up with one of the team members in the next days.

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March 7, 2015 Events

BRC at the Extremadura Birdwatching Fair in Spain

After having had stands at birdfairs in Belgium, the Netherlands and Great Britain, this year was the first time BRC was actively promoted in Spain.

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March 5, 2015 Organisation

BRC weekend Ghent

During 20-23 February most members of the enlarged BRC team came to Ghent to spend a long weekend together.

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February 1, 2015 Merchandise

BRC T-shirts for sale!

For only 15 euro you become the proud owner of this original BRC T-shirt with Pallid harrier print. Send an email with your size to filiep.tjollyn@batumiraptorcount.org. We have small, medium, large, XL & XXL.

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December 3, 2014 Get Involved

Research Coordinator

The Georgian Black Sea coast is a walhalla for birders, but also ecologists and other researchers are increasingly interested to visit the area.

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October 3, 2014 Field updates

African-Eurasian day record from Batumi: 264.891 raptors

On 2nd October 2014 our counting team witnessed the largest passage of raptors ever seen outside of the Panamerican Flyway and counted 264.891 raptors in a single day!

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September 24, 2014 Birds & Birding

Two days in the Chorokhi Delta

On September 18th and 19th a small group of birders from the BRC visited the Chorokhi delta for birding. In total, we observed 99 species, including some birds in the hand at the ringing station.

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September 22, 2014 Field updates

Halfway through the count

This season we started with some very positive upgrades to Sakhalvasho village. The days of fighting with the blue tarp are finally over… at least on station-1… We now have an actual shelter and proper stairs leading there.

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September 16, 2014 Reports & Research

Raptor shooting survey

Not only birdwatchers are keen on autumn raptor migration, the region around Batumi is also notorious for its raptor shooters. Although it is illegal in Georgia to shoot raptors, many get shot when passing the bottleneck.

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September 6, 2014 Events

World Shorebirds Day at Batumi

About half of the world’s shorebird populations are in decline, and the rate of habitat loss is worse than ever before.

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September 5, 2014 Birds & Birding

Sightings on Observation.org

Share your observations from around Batumi and see what else is around.

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August 15, 2014 Birds & Birding

Chorokhi Delta in mid August

Preparations for this year's autumn count are in full swing and the first counters have also arrived. Luckily there was still some time to visit the Chorokhi Delta and around 70 species were observed.

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August 15, 2014 Events

Meet us at British and Dutch Birdfair

From tomorrow onwards, we will be present at the British Birdfair. This year, the birdfair organisers kindly offered us a free stall, to promote our conservation work. You can find us in Markee 6 stall 5.

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August 7, 2014 Reports & Research

Updated protocol of monitoring raptors

With the experiences from 6 years counting raptors at Batumi we decided to discuss the protocol, our insights into the migration flow at the bottleneck and the integration of new ideas.

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May 11, 2014 Events

World Migratory Bird Day

Today, Bird Conservation Georgia celebrates World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD), through its Batumi Raptor Count (BRC) programme located at the city of Batumi in Georgia, together with the CMS Raptors MoU Coordinating Unit.

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May 1, 2014 Events

Turkey Bird Watchers Conference

Next week, the 16. Türkiye Kuş Konferansı | 16th Turkey Bird Watchers Conference is held in Istanbul, organised by Doğa Derneği. The central theme of this edition is "Migration Routes and their threats".

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April 5, 2014 Fundraising

Champions of the Flyway grants $30k

At the Champions of the Flyway awards ceremony the Batumi Raptor Crew was honored to receive a check of $30.000 for Bird Conservation Georgia, presented by Angelo Caserta, BirdLife’s Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia.

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April 3, 2014 Field updates

Good start of spring count

The first day of spring count in Batumi was dominated by the migration of Steppe Buzzards and Black Kites. In the morning we saw them flying close to the mountains and were afraid of a long day with distance observations only.

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March 12, 2014 Birds & Birding

Tripreport: Eagles and Little Bustards in East Georgia

Just like Batumi, the east of Georgia is a great birding destination in winter. This is the report of Bird Conservation Georgia's first trip to the region.

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March 6, 2014 Fundraising

Support our Bird Race Crew in Eilat

As the first recipient of a grant from the Champions of the Flyway event, we are delighted to field the Batumi Raptor Crew team and play our part to help the inaugural Champions of the Flyway Bird Race in Eilat become a runaway…

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March 5, 2014 Birds & Birding

Tripreport: Batumi in winter

Outside the main migration season, birding in Georgia can also be very rewarding. Peter Adriaens and Chris Gibbins headed to the Georgian coast in winter for a gull-fest, and turned up the first-ever record of Buff-bellied Pipit for the country.

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March 4, 2014 Merchandise

BRC Design Contest

We are expanding our assortment of merchandising and are looking for the artists among you with creative ideas.

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March 2, 2014 Fundraising

Champions of the Flyway Bird Race funds BCG

We are pleased to inform you that BirdLife and SPNI have selected Bird Conservation Georgia as the first recipient of funding generated by the Champions of the Flyway Bird Race to support our conservation work!

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February 16, 2014 Events

BRC at the Belgische Vogeldag

This saturday the BRC will be present at the Belgische Vogeldag. We will have a stand where people can find out more about the project.

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February 12, 2014 Get Involved

Pilot Spring Count 2014

The BRC is conducting its first spring count in Batumi from 01. April till 31. May and invites everybody who is keen to join the migration count.

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February 11, 2014 Organisation

New program board

The BRC has a new program board, now functioning within Bird Conservation Georgia. We welcome Folkert de Boer and Siranush Tumanyan as new members, and a few leave us.

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December 8, 2013 Merchandise

Order the BRC new year cards

Wish your friends and family merry migration and a happy new year with the new BRC postcards! One pack contains 5 different postcards and 5 envelopes, and costs €10, delivery included.

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October 17, 2013 Field updates

End of BRC autumn count 2013

BRC's monitoring of migrating raptors autumn 2013 is over! Yesterday, the 16th of October, was the final day of our monitoring program. In total, from both count stations together 1.229.199 raptors were counted this fall.

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October 14, 2013 Education

Exciting Environmental Education Exchange

2013 was already the 3rd Autumn in which BRC organized an "Environmental Education Exchange" for students from Georgia, Armenia and Turkey.

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October 3, 2013 Events

Festival extension trip to Kazbegi

After the Festival, we embarked on a three-day trip (from 8 until 11 September 2013) to Kazbegi targeting the Caucasus endemics, with the happy few that signed up for the extension tour.

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September 18, 2013 Education

Unforgettable Birds and Biodiversity Camp

On Sept 11th we said goodbye to over 20 great young students from the Caucasus who participated in our 2013 Birds and Biodiversity Camp.

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September 8, 2013 Events

Batumi Bird Festival 2013 report

Yesterday we celebrated the end of a fantastic second edition of the Batumi Bird Festival 2013.

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September 7, 2013 Field updates

Catch up on the season

This year’s autumn migration season has been underway for 21 days now, and so far everything points to another great experience for all participants.

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September 6, 2013 Birds & Birding

Birding in the Chorokhi Delta

The first of september 2013 was a day that will be long remembered for us, four lucky BRC counters that decided to spend their day off in the Chorokhi delta.

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August 29, 2013 Fundraising

Disney Conservation Grant for BRC

Batumi Raptor Count (BRC) has been awarded a $23,400 grant from the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund (DWCF).

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August 19, 2013 Education

The end of a successful 'Back to Nature Camp'!

From 10-15 august 2013 BRC hosted the first Back to Nature camp for 15 Georgian children between 10-14 years old, coming from different backgrounds.

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August 17, 2013 Field updates

Ready to count!

The first hours of counting migratory raptors at Batumi has started. Honey Buzzards, Harriers and Bee-eaters have already passed the stations.

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August 6, 2013 Events

BRC at British and Dutch Birdfair

This month BRC will be present at the British and the Dutch Birdfair. We will do a lecture about what we have done with BRC so far and what we want to do in the future.

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July 3, 2013 Fundraising

EU Youth In Action supports youth project at BRC!

Our Birds and Biodiversity Camp is one of two youth projects at BRC in 2013 which aims to bring together young people from the Caucasus and western Europe with a passion for nature and environmental conservation.

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May 27, 2013 Birds & Birding

One morning of spring migration in Choroki delta

After more than two weeks of raptor counting, we headed to Chorokhi Delta for an early morning of passerine migration watching, and enjoyed a good variety of species despite the modest numbers.

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May 10, 2013 Birds & Birding

Crested or Oriental Honey Buzzard and hybrids

On our first pilot count in 2007, which lead to BRC's birth, the first Crested Honey-buzzard (also referred to as Oriental Honey-buzzard, Pernis ptilorhynchus orientalis) was recorded on migration over Batumi.

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May 2, 2013 Fundraising

Swarovski ATX scope review

Last autumn, we were delighted to receive the continuing support of Swarovski Optik. They have been providing us high quality optics to conduct our count, as always loaning their newest products.

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April 27, 2013 Fundraising

Rufford Foundation grant approved

It is our distinct pleasure to announce that the Rufford Small Grants Foundation (RSGF) has approved a 2nd small grant for the monitoring and conservation work conducted at BRC.

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March 25, 2013 Organisation

Threatened species photos needed

Visual materials are an important asset for BRC to help convince grant-makers and sponsors to support our conservation work.

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February 14, 2013 Events

BRC at Belgische Vogeldag

Next saturday, on february the 16th, BRC will be present with a talk and a stall on the 'Belgische Vogeldag'. Johannes will present an overview of 5 years of BRC and at our stall you can find out more about our project.

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January 31, 2013 Merchandise

"One million"-Tshirts now available

NOW available: brand new "One Million"-edition of the BRC 2012 t-shirts. Be quick to purchase yours, this limited edition costs 15€ only! 2012 volunteers who haven't got one yet, can order one against shipping costs.

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January 26, 2013 Events

BRC at Dutch Birding Day

See you this saturday at Dutch Birding Day? BRC will be present with a talk and a stall. Wouter will present an overview of 5 years of BRC and at our stall you can find out more about our project.

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November 30, 2012 Education

Reporting on 2012 Education Activities

In 2012 BRC implemented various education activities around environment and nature for various age-groups. This environmental education program stems out of activities conducted by the BRC in Adjaria, Georgia in previous years.

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November 21, 2012 Organisation

Invitation General Meeting

We kindly invite all members to attend the BRC General Meeting 2012, taking place in Ghent, Belgium, from the 7th to the 9th of December.

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November 19, 2012 Fundraising

Thanks for latest gifts

With a gift from Natuurpunt Vogelwerkgroep and many individual donations, including a major gift from Laurens Vogelaers, we have secured our budget until the end of 2012.

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November 5, 2012 Organisation

Thanks to all volunteers & staff

Over the past two weeks you elected a new Board, which will soon start preparations for a splendid 2013 edition of BRC.

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October 21, 2012 Organisation

Board 2013 elections

It's time to vote for the 2013 BRC Board. Members are invited to cast their vote for President, Secretary, Treasurer and Board Member before the end of October.

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October 9, 2012 Events

BRC on Vroege Vogels

During the festival, the Dutch journalist Roel Pauw visited our project. He recorded a compilation of the diverse aspects of BRC and this was broadcasted last Sunday on the Dutch radio-station Vara for the program 'Vroege Vogels'.

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October 9, 2012 Fundraising

Support from Natuurmonumenten

To cope with our rapid growth and increase in activities, we are constantly looking for additional funding opportunities.

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October 4, 2012 Birds & Birding

The first 'Shikra' of BRC: hybrid or aberrant Levant?

After we posted about the first Shikra record of BRC on September 16th, we received several comments about the identification of this challenging accipiter.

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October 1, 2012 Events

RuffordSG conference Armenia

From 27th until the 30th of september, the Rufford small grants recipients conference was held in Tsaghkhadzor, Armenia.

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September 28, 2012 Birds & Birding

A day birding in the Chorokhi delta (Batumi)

On the 23rd of September two Finnish volunteers of BRC had a day off exploring the bird diversity of Chorokhi delta.

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September 16, 2012 Birds & Birding

Shikra: new species for BRC?

Just after his arrival in Batumi, Brecht Verhelst discovered the first putative Shikra (Accipiter badius) ever for the BRC.

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September 12, 2012 Birds & Birding

Dark morph Marsh Harriers

Since the start of the count we have seen a lot of Marsh Harriers. At least 16 of them were adult males of the rare dark morph. In former years only a handful of dark birds passed the stations.

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September 6, 2012 Field updates

African-Eurasian Day Record: 179,342 Honey Buzzards

Few days ago on August 30th we were happy to report to you our all time record of 99,000 Honey Buzzards passing our observatories.

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September 1, 2012 Field updates

Day record of 99.000 Honey Buzzards on 30th August 2012

The unique convergence of migratory raptors in Georgia is strongly shaped by the weather conditions in the region, something the BRC team has long observed firsthand.

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August 30, 2012 Events

BRC at the ECCB

This week, three board members are representing the BRC at the European Conference for Conservation Biology in Glasgow, Scotland.

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August 17, 2012 Field updates

Count kicked off today

Today the first volunteers, assisted by our coordinators, started the autumn 2012 count. Just a few hours in, they had already reported the season's first juvenile Pallid Harrier, on a very rainy day!

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August 15, 2012 Events

BRC at the British BirdFair

The British Bird Fair is happening this weekend and BRC is pleased to be given the opportunity to deliver a talk there. Danny Heptinstall will be presenting the monitoring and conservation work of BRC at 12.10 on Friday the 17th.

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August 11, 2012 Fundraising

Swarovski increases optic support!

It is our pleasure to have received 3 Swarvovision binoculars and 3 scopes with alu and carbon tripods for the autumn count 2012.

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May 2, 2012 Birds & Birding

White-tailed lapwing in Chorokhi

On the 1st of May 2012, White-tailed lapwing (Vanellus leucurus) was observed near the Chorokhi delta (just south of Batumi) by Roland Schlegel, a German birder enjoying our homestays.

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February 7, 2012 Fundraising

Swarovision EL 12x50 Binocular Review

There are not many decent 12X binoculars on the market. Most are bulky in the hand, have a dark image, and have a field of view akin to viewing birds through a pair of toilet paper tubes. But Swarovski's entry is a bit different.

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October 12, 2011 Field updates

Towards the end of the 2011 season…

As the 2011 count draws to a close, the BRC team looks back on a successful season of monitoring, community-based conservation and student exchange in Batumi.

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September 19, 2011 Field updates

Halfway through the season…

The BRC 2011 counts have been running for just over a month, with Honey Buzzard migration in full swing and Steppe Buzzards now taking over. Here's an update on the season so far, our volunteer team, and life on site in Batumi.

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August 28, 2011 Fundraising

Swarovski Optik sponsors

We're proud to announce that Swarovski Optik has lent us new scopes and binoculars to support the count, a generous boost for our volunteers on the watchpoints.

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August 24, 2011 Field updates

One week of BRC: 18 volunteers + 6 students vs. 10.000 raptors!

“Too soon.” In the days leading up to the count, villagers here in Sakhalvasho conveyed to us that the count would begin in earnest on 20 August.

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August 17, 2011 Field updates

BRC 2011 … Starting the autumn season!

The heat and haze hung heavy over Sakhalvasho today, as project participants kicked off the first day of the Batumi Raptor Count 2011.

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July 27, 2011 Organisation

Batumi counts on Trektellen

From now on, you'll be able to follow the Batumi counts in real time via www.trektellen.nl!

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June 24, 2011 Reports & Research

ARDEA accepts article on Batumi raptor migration

The Dutch ornithological journal Ardea has accepted our manuscript South West Georgia: an important bottleneck for raptor migration during autumn.

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April 1, 2011 Fundraising

OSME fund for conservation granted

The Ornithological Society of the Middle East has granted 500 GBP to the project 'Assessment of hunting pressure on migrating raptors through the Lesser Caucasus'.

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March 16, 2011 Organisation

Successful preparation visit

During the first week of March, Johannes and Brecht visited Georgia to make preparations for the upcoming count season.

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March 3, 2011 Get Involved

Presenting the BRC 2011 Coordinators!

As spring advances, we continue to receive more applications to volunteer for BRC 2011. Thank you all for the enthusiasm!

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March 1, 2011 Reports & Research

BSc Thesis Michael Tholin on weather related Kazbegi migration patterns…

A while ago we announced the analysis of migration intensity and locality in function of weather at the Batumi bottleneck as a Msc. Thesis project by Jasper Wehrmann.

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February 20, 2011 Reports & Research

Medraptors: BRC research partner for 2011

In autumn 2011, Nicolantonio Agostini and Michele Panuccio of MEDRAPTORS (the Mediterranean Raptor Migration Network) will join BRC to study the flight behaviour of migrating raptors at Batumi.

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December 7, 2010 Fundraising

Prins Bernhard Fund for Nature approved

A grant of 20,000 EUR has been awarded to a cooperation between BRC and Georgian Centre for the Conservation of Wildlife (GCCW).

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October 23, 2010 Organisation

Processing data & looking forward to 2011…

The BRC 2010 count wrapped up successfully on 16 October, and we're already busy planning big things for the 2011 edition, including some changes here on the website.

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October 11, 2010 Field updates

Lots of rain, lots of migration, lots of rain, lots of migration...

Over 10 days since the last update and the weather conditions in Batumi have changed dramatically compared to what we experienced in September.

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October 6, 2010 Fundraising

Rufford Small Grants Foundation supports BRC2011

we are pleased to announce that the Rufford Small Grants Foundation has awarded 6000 GBP to the monitoring and educational activities of BRC 2011.

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September 29, 2010 Field updates

A summary of 2 weeks at Batumi: migration in general & some perspectives on hunting in the bottleneck…

It has been nearly two weeks since the last update and since then there has still not been a long period of unfavourable weather in between the Caucasus and Batumi.

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September 18, 2010 Field updates

BRC 2010: the full state of affairs…

The 2010 Batumi Raptor Count is now halfway so we bring you a longer update than usual.

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September 13, 2010 Field updates

Slow migration, but Oriental Honey-Buzzards on three succesive days...

Following the season's first Crested (Oriental) Honey Buzzard on 9 September, two more were spotted on the following two days, a rare treat during an otherwise slow migration spell.

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September 9, 2010 Field updates

Oriental Honey Buzzard! ... That calls for a little newsflash!

Another 40,000 Honey Buzzards passed through the bottleneck today, capped off by a stunning adult female Oriental Honey Buzzard, only the fourth ever recorded at Batumi.

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September 8, 2010 Field updates

Spectacular migration at the Batumi bottleneck!

It has been a busy week at the Batumi bottleneck, with peak Honey Buzzard migration arriving right on schedule alongside notable sightings of Steppe Eagle and Demoiselle Crane.

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September 2, 2010 Field updates

Short update

After two days of rain the weather is improving and temperatures are rising to 35° and higher on the counting stations.

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August 28, 2010 Field updates

Two weeks of counting ... 100.000 Honey Buzzards!

it has been about two weeks since the start of count and in that time approx. 100.000 Honey Buzzards Pernis aviporus passed the Batumi bottleneck. This included over 60.000 individuals on August 24th.

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August 20, 2010 Field updates

BRC 2010 ... takeoff!

with the start of the count, we can offer you all some more news concerning BRC 2010.

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