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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.