Our Team

2018

Black Kite! They may not win many beauty contests, but they keep you company all season long and never cease to surprise with their fascinating behaviour.

Shuamta — not at all influenced by the presence of a lovely cafe nearby.

Nothing beats an Adjarian khachapuri during a lunch break while birding along Batumi Boulevard on a rainy day.

Am I allowed to cheat? Because here I have to say the 1st of April 2020, when we counted 100,000 raptors with just five people (!) from one station during our second pilot spring count. An incredible day I'll never forget!

EuroBirdwatch, October 6, 2018: a day that started quietly. For once we were counting all birds, not just raptors… until, early in the afternoon, out of nowhere, several hundred large eagles appeared along the seaside of Station 1. They came and went so fast that most people on station that day never even noticed it! But my companion Philippe and I caught it in full swing, and had a blast counting and identifying eagle after eagle as they streamed past station.

The most amazing birds, landscapes, food, and people… What more does a person want?

“Did you see that Marsh above/below your stream?”.

When I think a large eagle is approaching, but it turns out to be a juvenile Black Kite. No complaints, though…

2016

Not a ‘species’, but a morph: the dark morph of the Marsh Harrier. Truly stunning birds. I keep missing out on the Lanner, Saker and Eleonora's Falcons.

Shuamta, although the early-morning climb to the top always makes me question my life's choices.

I started out just wanting to learn how to identify Honey Buzzards and ringtail harriers. Now, a decade later, it's the people I keep coming back for, although the birds are still fan-tas-tic.

‘Drama Queen (undeservedly so)’

“Station 2, did you see that Imperial Eagle in your East 1 or close East 2?”.

The eagle catwalk on October 11, 2021. A huge number of eagles passed that day under fantastic light and incredible diversity. At some point I palmtopped 50 Greater Spotted Eagles at once, truly incredible when you consider the global population size of this species.

Georgian food is fantastic, but nothing beats the beer and chips in the garden after a long day of counting in the scorching heat.

Although I've been at the wrong station on bigger days, October 1st, 2025 was my personal peak day, with an incredible 142,978 Steppe Buzzards counted from my station.

Juvenile Honey Buzzards that appear like large eagles head- or tail-on.

2013

More than one specific species, I am fascinated by seeing the groups of raptors gathered together in Batumi in those ‘monster kettles’, following that imaginary highway over the station.

I absolutely love “tenili” that braided smoked cheese with a cold beer in the garden, sharing moments with all the volunteers after the count.

I first discovered Batumi at a conference where Johannes and Brecht presented numbers that, to me at the time (around 2010), seemed unimaginable. From that exact moment, I couldn't get the idea out of my head, I just knew I had to witness that spectacle with my own eyes. And here I still am, all these years later...

More than just a nickname, I feel very proud to be the creator of the well-known new Georgian species: the ‘BlackE StorkE’.

Eagles! I always end up with the feeling that they should have flown closer for me to be absolutely sure!

I have many! But probably the day we were about to break the Roller record at the time, with all the Station 1 counters dressed in blue to attract them and celebrate with those outdoor feasts we used to have, with tables piled high with food and music!

Shuamta, I will forever remember the romantic side of the old Station 2, back when no infrastructure existed yet, and dawn would find you in the middle of the forest with the first raptors soaring overhead.

I will never forget October 2nd, 2014, when I was coordinating at Station 1. The sky was practically clouded with raptors, and the 10 volunteers of us there were so busy counting that we didn't realize the sheer magnitude of it until the day ended and we just looked at each other's faces exhausted after the work!

“Station 1, do you see a XXXXX in between the two stations?”.

2024

Marsh Harrier. I never took them seriously before coming to Batumi, and since then, I've always been fascinated by all the discussions about aging and sexing them.

I love them both, but Shuamta scores higher for the surrounding nature, quiet early mornings during Harrier season and the amazing view for many species, especially eagles.

You can never say no to a hot khachapuri, fresh from the oven, at the cafe close to Station 2!

Birds & people!

October 1st, 2025. Although I was the coordinator of Station 1 and the big numbers belonged to Station 2, the total for the day was more than 170,000, and the whole sky was filled with birds! At some point, I had to let go of counting some Steppe Buzzards, which was not easy at all. But in general, despite all the chaos, everything went well, and everyone was satisfied!

September 3rd, 2025. A cloudy, rainy, sunny, crazy day! We had lightning strike the stairs at Station 1, and it was very loud and scary! All the fog and wind didn't stop the birds from migrating, and everyone was struggling to count gloopsing/ungloopsing birds! Then the sun came out, but another storm was on its way in the afternoon. I had to make an important phone call, so I went behind the station. While trying to escape the fighting dogs and the thunderstorm and talking at the same time, I came back to an empty station with hundreds of birds kettling around me! It seemed everyone had left the station when the storm started, and I was there without any clicker or scope. I started counting the birds in my head while waiting for the others to come back. I can tell you, it was the moment when I really appreciated clickers!

“Station 2, have you seen X in your E2?!”

Dark-morph Booted Eagle. It can be very sneaky in any stream of birds!

2021

Shuamta 99% of the time. Except when it's foggy and Station 1 is getting all the cool birds…

Because over 1 million raptors! But also it's a very good way to connect with like-minded people.

Griffon Vulture, but also vultures in general. More for personal rather than aesthetic reasons, as this bird was the one that made me start birding in the first place. Out of typical Batumi species, I really like Short-toed Eagles.

The birds are “gloopsing”.

Spring 2019

Black Kite is the best raptor, hands down.

Shuamta

“Mexican” potatoes.

Uhm, crazy raptor migration?? That's definitely the answer for deciding to join for the first time. However, the thing that keeps pulling me back is spending hours upon hours with amazing like-minded people. No raptor beats that.

September 4th, 2021 during the Honey Buzzard peak. After a couple of days with heavy rain, the HBs had been waiting for better conditions. We ended up counting over 125,000 raptors that day from one station alone. 80% of those birds were counted before noon. Absolutely magical!

Ugh, a difficult question! Bird-wise, two days come to mind right away. Coordinating this day, when mass chaos continued all day long with a relatively small team. I'm still super thankful to the counters that were there that day! Another insane day was September 27th, 2021, when we reached the one million milestone by counting insane numbers of large eagles flying all around us. Coordinators are not supposed to be counting birds, but when we saw the number of eagles coming at us, there didn't seem to be any other way, so I counted nearly 2,000 large eagles within some 30 minutes — madness!

Potato Boy

Katastrof!

Sexing older Marsh Harriers — the horror! I guess “not knowing” is not “being wrong” though…

2021

Greater Spotted Eagle, especially the younger birds with that beautiful black-silver plumage… Every time I see them it still feels like the first, just an amazing bird. I still haven't seen Lanner Falcon and Black-winged Kite in Batumi, both rare but sporadic visitors to the bottleneck.

Even though I love both, I must go for Shuamta. The lush green hills and mountains of Mtirala National Park surrounding this watch site make it very magical.

Badrijani is great, which is an eggplant roll with walnut filling and pomegranate seeds on top, an absolute Georgian classic! Next to that, “Mexican” potatoes are also sublime. Even though there's nothing Mexican about them, they are tasty for sure!

Question Marc

Probably either “Station 1, did you have a … in your west” or “Stinky bug”. The last one you have to experience for yourself to understand the pain and suffering hidden behind that word.

That's like choosing between my children! There's just too many to choose one out of, but if I have to I'd say October 5, 2023. After a very quiet day I somehow had a feeling that something was brewing in the north behind the mountains. I decided to stay for a bit after the count, and to go back to our village with a tourist, which was the best decision I ever made. With 2 other counters, we experienced a huge push of large eagles shortly after the rest left, seeing around 750 Lesser, Greater and Steppe Eagles and dozens of Short-toed and Booted Eagles. All in the most beautiful light! A moment to remember forever.

An insane number of birds, the most beautiful and impressive species of birds, and the most interesting people. The best combination ;)

Somehow I've never witnessed a 100k+ day on my station. I believe my peak day, 6 September 2023, flattens out around 88k ;) The best is yet to come!

Probably Black Kites that look like large eagles.