Jasper Wehrmann 9/24/14 Jasper Wehrmann 9/24/14

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.

We visited the delta south of the bridge as well as some small ponds just north of the bridge along the road.

The highlights were:
Sociable Lapwing - one present near the military buildings
Black-winged Pratincole – 3400 birds flying overhead, biggest flock: 2200
Stone Curlew – one near the river mouth on the shore
Heuglin’s Gull – subadult on a riverbank
Blyth’s Reed Warbler (ringing station)

Especially on the 18th a lot of passerine birds seemed to have freshly arrived in the bushes. We checked some bushes, walked around the ponds near the shore, did a bit of seawatching and spent some time at the mouth of the river, which is a good spot for waders and terns. Undoubtly the two most exciting observations were that of the Sociable Lapwing and the Pratincoles. We flushed the Lapwing near one of the military buildings at the beginning of the delta. This endangered species visits the delta every year in very small numbers during migration.

Especially in the morning, huge numbers of Black-winged Pratincole were migrating over the delta. The biggest flock we counted was about 2200 birds. In total we observed at least 3400 birds and just two sitting on one of the river banks. Probably the same birds were seen from counting station 2 that morning. Has there ever been a higher number of Black winged Pratincoles counted so far in the region? We would be happy to receive your comments on facebook or to contact@batumiraptorcount.org.

Albert de Jong & Jasper Wehrmann
(c) all photos by Albert

Full species list

	
			Species
			Number
			Species
			Number
		

			Mallard
			1
			Black-headed Gull
			1
		

			Pintail
			3
			Yellow-Legged Gull
			5000+
		

			Shoveler
			1
			Armenian Gull
			1
		

			Common Teal
			3
			Baltic Gull
			1
		

			Gargeney
			11
			Heuglins Gull
			1
		

			Quail
			2
			Little Gull
			3
		

			Black-necked Grebe
			2
			Common Tern
			2
		

			Little Grebe
			5
			Little Tern
			1
		

			Red-necked Grebe
			1
			Sandwich Tern
			1
		

			Great Crested Grebe
			3
			White-winged Tern
			6
		

			Cormorant
			5
			Whiskered Tern
			1
		

			Little Bittern
			1
			Turtle Dove
			30
		

			Black-crowned Night Heron
			7
			Scops Owl
			1
		

			Squacco Heron
			2
			Hoopoe
			1
		

			Cattle Egret
			2
			Kingfisher
			10+
		

			Little Egret
			2
			Bee-eater
			100+
		

			Great White Egret
			2
			Roller
			1
		

			Grey Heron
			10
			Wryneck
			2
		

			Purple Heron
			5
			Short-toed Lark
			10
		

			Osprey
			1
			Sand Martin
			100+
		

			Marsh Harrier
			5
			Barn Swallow
			100+
		

			Pallid Harrier
			4
			Tawny Pipit
			6
		

			Sparrowhawk
			3
			Tree Pipit
			10+
		

			Lesser Kestrel
			1
			Red-throated Pipit
			4
		

			Hobby
			1
			White Wagtail
			10+
		

			Moorhen
			4
			Yellow Wagtail
			100+
		

			Coot
			1
			Citrine Wagtail
			3
		

			Water Rail
			2
			Trush Nightingale
			2
		

			Little Crake
			1
			Bluethroat
			1
		

			Spotted Crake
			1
			Common Redstart
			2
		

			Black-winged Stilt
			1
			Northern Wheatear
			4
		

			Black-winged Pratincole
			3400
			Winchat
			6
		

			Little Ringed Plover
			2
			Stonechat ssp maura
			4
		

			Ringed Plover
			50
			Blackcap
			1
		

			Grey Plover
			1
			Common Whitethroat
			3
		

			Northern Lapwing
			5
			Lesser Whitethroat
			4
		

			Sociable Lapwing
			1
			River Warbler
			2
		

			Dunlin
			10
			Blyth's Reed Warbler
			1
		

			Curlew Sandpiper
			1
			Reed Warbler
			1
		

			Temmincks Stint
			1
			Great Reed Warbler
			1
		

			Little Stint
			10
			Booted Warbler
			1
		

			Wood Sandpiper
			11
			Willow Warbler
			1
		

			Green Sandpiper
			3
			Spotted Flycatcher
			1
		

			Common Sandpiper
			1
			Red-backed Shrike
			10+
		

			Common Redshank
			1
			Hooded Crow
			10+
		

			Spotted Redshank
			1
			Golden Oriole
			2
		

			Common Greenshank
			1
			House Sparrow
			8
		

			Common Snipe
			5
			Goldfinch
			15
		

			Ruff
			15
			Greenfinch
			1
		

			 
			 
			Ortolan Bunting
			1
		

Simon Cavaillès 8/15/14 Simon Cavaillès 8/15/14

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.

Highlights were: White Storks (83x), Spoonbills (3x), Terek Sandpipers (4x), Broad-billed Sandpipers (5x), Marsh Sandpipers (5x) Temminck's Stint (2x) and Isabelline Wheatear (8x).

Meanwhile the application form for raptor counters in autumn 2014 has been closed as the schedule is full. We are happy for the interest in our programme and looking forward to meet you in Batumi!

Filiep T'jollyn 3/12/14 Filiep T'jollyn 3/12/14

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. We had a fantastic week, enjoying stunning landscapes, Georgian cuisine, and lots of good birds. Highlights were two almost entirely white Sakers, Pallas'gulls, nest-building Imperial eagles, and so much more...

With the creation of SABUKO, the Batumi team is expanding its work to other parts of the country. One of the new key areas are the steppes of East Georgia, where important populations of several threatened species survive. The first step is to build an understanding of important breeding, wintering and staging areas, population sizes and threats. This information will be collected during targeted expeditions in 2014. You are very welcome to join us for the next trip, taking place from 12 to 20 April!

Day 1: Kumisi Lake: an easy start

Since most people had arrived in the middle of the night, we headed south for some easy birding near Kumisi Lake. As soon as we left the main road, good birding started and within an hour Imperial eagle, Merlin and several Long-legged buzzards were found. When we reached the lake, Pallas’ Gulls were everywhere (68 counted!), and gave excellent views. Good numbers of waterfowl were sitting on the water, with 3 Dalmatian pelicans among the many Ruddy Shelduck, Teal, Mallard and Goosander. Someone with a sharp eye spotted 2 White-tailed eagles on the other bank, and suddenly a Black Vulture flew over. Not bad for a first day!

Day 2: Going east

The main goal of the day was to reach Dedoplistskaro, the last town we would encounter during our journey east. On the way, the three teams each explored a sector of agricultural lands along one of the major river rivers which cut through the East Georgian steppes. After a lot of emptiness, our team hit upon a complex of humid fields absolutely heaving with birds. Thousands of calandra larks busily moving around, two Imperial and three White-tailed eagles soaring overhead, Hen harriers and Merlin everywhere.

One of many flocks of Calandra larks in the area (Thomas Luiten)

And then we found something very strange: a big white raptor in a tree. As it was quite distant, we didn’t have a clue what it could be: a white buzzard? A Pallid harrier? It didn’t seem to fit anything. But then it flew off, and it became clear that it was a large falcon. Our first conclusion was that such a white bird must be a Gyr Falcon, but back at home people pointed out the characters indicating Saker. Indeed, eastern Sakers can be very white. While we were enjoying views of a nice adult male Pallid Harrier, an even bigger surprise came: now two such birds were sitting in a tree!

The only Pallid Harrier of the trip (Quentin Dubost).

And suddenly there were two birds…. (Picture Thomas Luiten)

Record shot of one of the very Pale Saker Falcons (Thomas Luiten)

That said, it remains a mystery how two birds of such a rare color morph ended up together in East Georgia. We will revisit the site during our April expedition, and check if they might breed.

And of course we finished the day celebrating our finds!!

Day 3: Into the steppes…

After sorting out the border admin, we drove into the hills south of Dedoplistskaro.

This huge area is almost completely devoid of trees. Nevertheless, many Imperial eagles were seen. Several pairs had started to construct a nest on seemingly unsuitable electricity pylons. The lack of suitable nesting trees may form a limiting factor for this population, and we will follow this up to see if the provision of nesting platforms or the protection of trees is needed.

Despite the emptiness of the landscape, it held lots of attractive passerines:

Mixed flock of Spanish and Tree Sparrows (Thomas Luiten)

Day 4: A long trip through the Shiraki Valley to Vashlovani NP

We started out on a misty morning. Team Don would drive along the Alazani river, which forms the border with Azerbaijan, to check for birds wintering in the gallery forests. The river was very impressive river, but held few birds. We continued until we were kicked out by the border guards. On the way south we came across several small flocks of Little Bustard.

Small flocks of little bustards were present in the Alazani Valley (Thomas Luiten)

The other teams were having a good time on the vast Shiraki plains. Huge flocks of Calandra everywhere, and nice mixed flocks of Brambling, Chaffinch, Yellowhammer and Spanish Sparrow. Quite cool was also the abandoned Soviet airbase.

Buying supplies for a long stay in the wilderness (Quentin Dubost)

Soviet airbase in Shiraki Plain (Hugh Jansman)

Having seen enough calandra larks, we drove on to the Vashlovani National Park, where we installed ourselves in the comfortable stone houses, enjoyed a delicious meal and a few glasses of beer around the bonfire. Later that night, some people were woken up by howling wolves.

Stunning landscapes in Vashlovani NP (Hugh Jansman)

Alex prepared a nice fish for us (Hugh Jansman)

Day 5: Vashlovani NP

The Vashlovani National Park is a vast area of wilderness in the easternmost corner of Georgia. Apart from the important breeding populations, it is also home to many interesting mammals, including bear, wolf, lynx, porcupine and - until recently – Caucasian leopard. We spent a day exploring the area by car and on foot, and found very high densities of Imperial Eagle, many Black Vultures and a territorial pair of Lanner falcon. The eagles were already busy building nests. During the April trip, we will devote much more time to this wonderful area, and attempt to provide a robust population estimate for key species.

Winding roads in the national park (Hugh Jansman)

Imperial eagles were busy building nests (Paul Voskamp)

Golden Jackals are common in the area (Thomas Luiten)

Day 6: Iori River Valley

The Iori river runs through the steppes of East Georgia, and is lined with tugay forests, a mosaic of reedbeds, shrubbery and tall poplar and oak trees. This forms the breeding habitat of Black Francolin and Pheasant (now very rare in Georgia), and White-tailed Eagles build their impressive nests in the matyre trees. Halfway the river is the Dali reservoir, which holds good numbers of wintering waterfowl, including Dalmatian Pelicans and Pygmy Cormorants.

Dalmatian Pelicans over the Dali reservoir (Thomas Luiten)

We arrived tired and hungry in the historic town of Sighnaghi, built on a hilltop overlooking the Alazani plain and Greater Caucasus mountain range.

Day 7: No man’s land

South of the Iori, along the Azeri border lies an isolated range, with small forested valleys, cliffs and so called ‘mud volcanoes’. These are bubbling pools of grey mud, kept fluent by volcanic gases rising up from the depth. Standing on the ridge in the late afternoon light, we did some of the best birding of the trip. Imperial Eagles of different ages, Black and Griffon Vultures, White-tailed and Steppe Eagle all came soaring past, mostly very close and giving excellent views. In the distance, we could observe yet another nest of Imperial.