14-10-2019 Eagle catwalk
Somehow, on the 14th of October 2019, we found ourselves with half the team taking a day off expecting another ‘slow day’. They could not have been more wrong…
A juvenile Steppe Eagle. Wonderful, striking plumage, so generally very easy to identify. Photo by Bart Hoekstra.
After a very slow morning with a Krüper’s Nuthatch posing on top of a bush on station as clear highlight, suddenly eagles started popping out of nowhere. As Filiep T’jollyn, BRC veteran of veterans, so aptly put it: an eagle-catwalk unfolded right above our heads. Usually separating non-juvenile Greater Spotted Eagles and (sub)adult Steppe Eagles is among the most difficult identification challenges in Batumi, when all you can see against overcast skies are dark silhouettes with an occasional sliver of barring in the innermost primaries. Well, not this day. This day identification was all a breeze: the light was absolutely perfect, eagles were showing off all their angles and plumage features finally looked just like in Forsman’s guide with photos from the Middle East.
And most immatures, in this case a 2nd calendar year bird, are pretty straightforward to identify as well. A 2cy Steppe Eagle. Photo by Bart Hoekstra.
Adults are usually a different story, but not when the light is like this. Strong light shining through the innermost primaries makes the wing barring pop out and identification a breeze. Photo by Bart Hoekstra.
An approaching adult Steppe Eagle. Photo by Bart Hoekstra.
And the same bird from above. So many details! Photo by Bart Hoekstra.
And there were so so many Steppe Eagles. Normally we’re happy with a few dozens identified among the other large eagles, but this time they just kept coming. We ended up identifying a record breaking 70 Steppe Eagles, most of which crossed the transect line very close to station 2. In between were multiple juvenile Imperials, a few adults, some White-tailed Eagles, a Griffon Vulture that was suddenly over our heads, and plenty of Greater Spotteds, Lesser Spotteds and Short-toed Eagles. This day could not have been better. While not a mega day in terms of sheer numbers (only 4660 birds that day), it was Batumi at its best and a day to remember!
The Krüper's Nuthatch that, in hindsight, was the first sign of a fantastic day to come! Photo by Bart Hoekstra.
An adult Imperial Eagle cruisin' overhead. Photo by Bart Hoekstra.
And a juvenile Imperial. It really doesn’t get any better plumage-wise… Photo by Bart Hoekstra.
And then BOOM, while we were busy with the Steppe Eagles, suddenly a juvenile Griffon Vulture has appeared right above us. Photo by Bart Hoekstra.
We finished the day celebrating fantastic migration in the Green Cafe. Well, at least half the team did. The other half took to the cafe and its local alcoholic beverages for different reasons.
Rainy days
While the first half of the count often has short, intense afternoon showers with violent thunderstorms, the last weeks of the count are more drizzly with longer periods of rain. Although it may not be very motivating during these days to go to station in the morning (especially to Shuamta), the company of a nice count team can really pull you through. Ultimately some of the most memorable days on station for me were rainy ones with a cosy atmosphere, unexpected sightings (such as Short-eared Owls) and a wide array of weather phenomena and cloud types.
Photo by Adrien Brun.
Photo by Adrien Brun.
Photo by Adrien Brun.
Photo by Adrien Brun.
Photo by Adrien Brun.
Photo by Adrien Brun.
Photo by Adrien Brun.
Our first million
The year was 2012, a year which is considered to be one of the best seasons of all time, and not only because of the outrageous parties.
From the middle of September, the numbers of Honey Buzzard decrease, and the migration builds up towards the peak of Steppe Buzzards and Eagles. Peak day for the Steppe buzzards happened in 2012 on the 24th of September (56,527), together with a good flow of Aquilas (496). At the end of September, the total count tailed 956,267 raptors, and to reach the one-mil-milestone seemed only one good day away. Thus, from then on we carried two bottles of Champagne to the stations – every day in full expectation to count the 1 Million bird.
However... visible migration became low. High pressure systems were opening the mountainous passage for the raptors and many of them passed the Caucasus apart from our count stations. At the same time our powerline survey team was counting raptors along another transect line up to 50 km inland. They sent us messages with nice migration of Steppe Buzzards and Eagles. But in Batumi, the sunny sky was empty of birds and clouds. Only a couple of thousands passed our stations and the counters were waiting and waiting for 9 more days.
A strong rain front had struck the region and lasted for 3 days. We all knew that, as soon as this front would calm down, a migration wave would push through. And so it happened.
The next morning the sky was clear with still some clouds hanging over the higher mountains. On station two the number of migrants became higher and higher as the day went by. Folkert de Boer was counting a large stream of Steppe Buzzard in the far East while we continuously checked the totals of the day and then it was clear. We reached the 1 Million counted raptors at Batumi for the first time of the monitoring program on the 10th of October 2012!
05-10-2015 Steppe eagle brings a visit to station 1
This steppe eagle visited station 1. Most likely the eagle selected an inappropriate sleeping place, where it was disturbed in the morning and flew away. It landed on top of a tree near station 1, waiting for thermals to continue migration. The eagle stayed there for nearly two hours before he left. Lots of telescopes and cameras were pointed at him.
Empty Skies or How I Spent The Best Day Ever in the Delta
6 Years and 1 day ago I woke up with the heaviest hangover of my life. And it was not only from the Chacha.
The day before I was in the delta for bird ringing. We had a real nice morning and I was quite content, but as I knew a big day was possible in the coming days, I kept in close contact with Jasper Wehrmann on the counting station, until around noon, when the communication suddenly stopped. The last information I got was that it was an extremely quiet morning, so I presumed that he fell asleep or his battery was dead…. How wrong I was..
That evening I got a call from Jasper and I started actually quite enthusiastic because we caught some nice birds, the local Marsh Harrier gave some splendid views and we even had some kettles of black kites… And then I heard I missed the best day ever on the counting station! Of course I joined the celebration, but the reason I drank Chacha that night was somewhat different from the rest.
And I was not entirely alone in my misery, as the day after a film crew from the Netherlands joined us on the station to record “In de ban van de Condor”. Where on the record day it would have been difficult to see some clear sky between the birds, now it was difficult to find a bird which came close enough to film…