The 2026 season is about to start and the annual T-shirt is available!
The 2026 BRC coordinators have arrived in Batumi. Meet this year's team and find the new T-shirt.
This season, 50 raptor enthusiasts from 20 countries are joining the count and its surrounding activities. Once again, anticipation has been high, and we had to close applications for volunteer positions very early. It is therefore worth mentioning that anyone hoping to join the autumn count as a volunteer should plan ahead and apply as early as possible. Keep an eye on our newsletter for future opportunities!
This year, our coordinating team consists of Mitra Daneshvar (Iran), Elle Heiser (United States), Lauren Evans (United Kingdom) and Valentin Cordes (Germany).
As we prepare for the first day of the standardized count on August 12th, we visited Station 1 to check on the status of the count platform and see if we could spot a few raptors. We were excited to watch a juvenile Peregrine Falcon grow from a speck in the distance to a close flyby in our East 1, and we look forward to watching many more birds follow in its path!
We are very grateful to our sponsor, Kite Optics, for providing stellar optics and financial support to make this year’s count possible! As part of their sponsorship, Kite Optics offers BRC supporters 10% off webshop orders using the code BRC2500KT at checkout.
This year’s T-shirt, featuring a pair of squabbling juvenile Steppe Eagles and designed by Elien Hoekstra, is available to purchase online or in person at the count platform.
