Beddington Farm - MEGA Richards Pipit !!

Pete Alfreys recent return from the magic of Corvo would have put the Beddington Farm crew on high alert. Even the most reluctant gamblers would have been checking the odds on “Pinpoint” finding a rarity at the Farm. True to form it happened this morning which caused a frantic rush of keyholders through the new gates at the end of Mile Road.

A Richard’s Pipit had been seen on the mound which caused early morning madness in my home. I joined the small group on the mound and happily snapped away at the bird as it traversed the area. In my haste to the Farm I had neglected to check my camera for SD cards and as the red Demo alert flashed on the screen I was cursing myself as I had left both cards in my laptops! Dooh!

I took the short journey home to recover the situation and returned to meet a fellow Surrey lister and Garry Messenbird at the gates to re-locate the bird! The bird was still present associating with a couple of Meadow Pipits calling as they moved from one area to the next. 

The bird even took a fly past the now permanent blot on the landscape the incinerator chimneys!

This is the third record for the Farm the last record in 1970 where two birds were found. The only other record was in 1958. For me this was a life bird despite records annually in the UK so it was an all ways winner for me and my 190 species for Beddington Farm! Surrey Vice County 237 species!

Thanks Pete for the heads up it certainly got the heart rate up! I am relieved the photo disaster was also rectified! Woo Hoo!!

Rep of Georgia - Chorokhi Delta - Laughing Surprise!

The Batumi Raptor Count is entering its final week and the Eagles are doing the Bottleneck proud. There are approximately a dozen counters including co-ordinators to man the stations as the count enters its final stage of the season!

Tohar and I took our last day off today and re-visited the Chorokhi Delta where I had already had a couple of good days birding. Today was no different with plenty of passerines on the Delta and shorebirds terns, Scoter and Gulls at sea.

The birding began before we had reached the famous land mine warning sign with a Laughing Dove which was frequenting the edge of a lorry park and a house. The bird showed no rings or signs of being a captive bird but it was near a house with chickens and feed! The bird was not tame flying off onto the poles but did not stray too far from the chickens feed. This species is not known for its migratory tendencies but is shown to be resident in neighbouring Turkey. The discussion has continued about this bird which can also be seen in Batumi but this is the first of this species I have seen in Georgia.

The scrubland of the Delta was particularly alive with birds today with Black and Common Redstart utilizing the desolate buildings and nearby bushes. Siberian Stonechat pairs were also perched allowing good view of the pinkish rump. Wheatear, Whinchat and Wagtails were present along the path.

Red Throated Pipit were numerous calling as they flew up from near the path and then flying rapidly past us and then dropping back into the vegetation. Getting a photo was a real challenge and one which I failed miserably at which is a shame as this was a new species for me but today offered the best views therefore I am now happy to add this species to my life list.

Calandra Lark was slightly more obliging with their slow and noisy progress around the Delta.

The water in the Delta was a lot higher today with Garganey, Teal, Coot, Moorhen and Little Grebe taking advantage of the swampy conditions. A fish carrying Osprey passed by as we were looking for the Swamphen which sadly we did not see today.

A Bluethroat was more obliging having just arrived in off the sea. It took one look at us and dived into a nearby bush but fortunately popped out again to see if we had gone!

We spent some time watching the sea which produced a flock of Scoter and Tohar called a couple of Caspian Tern as they made their way south along the beach. Nice!

The Delta did not disappoint with Greater Spotted and Steppe Eagles overhead amongst numerous Black Kite some of which were sat on the beach sunning themselves!

Rep of Georgia - Batumi Botanical Gardens - Krupers Nuthatch in the Bag!

I had taken the day off from the count to visit the Batumi Botanical Gardens. The gardens are situated close to the coast south of Batumi and are within walking distance of the house.

My intended quarry was to locate the Krupers Nuthatch which is resident in the pines within the gardens. I had prepared for a long day and with supplies camera and binos set off at reasonable o’clock along the path to the gardens.

Once inside the gardens I followed the main route down the winding path stopping at each cluster of pines and listened for any activity. After two hours I reached the Japanese Garden and all I had seen or heard were tits, chiffchaff and the odd flyover raptor. I decided to retrace my steps making my way back up the slope. 

At information board number 11 I heard Treecreeper and a woodpecker so decided to stop to watch a small flock of birds as they made progress through the trees. Initially there were no sign of the Nuthatch but then two birds came wheeling in across the path into the tree in front of me. I have inverted the above photo for easier viewing.

It seemed like a few seconds of chaos and the birds had moved on into the far pines but had I captured the moments. A quick flick through the pictures and it looked like a positive outcome. Relief and a smile mission accomplished!

I spent a further hour or so in the gardens with a certain spring in my step before exiting along the coast to head to Batumi for a celebratory lunch! Woo Hoo!

Rep of Georgia - Batumi Raptor Count - Eagles Everywhere!

The magical 1,000,000 raptor mark has now been surpassed with a celebration thrown into the mix. For the exact total visit the following link:-

https://www.batumiraptorcount.org/migration-count-data .

The eagles have also been contributing to the total sometimes in waves something that I have not witnessed before. I thought the Honey Buzzard migration was special but this spectacle is something else with large eagles forming semi orderly queues to stream past the stations.

The second eagle talk has also been given by Tojar with a challenging eagle quiz at the end of the presentation. This allows the opportunity for counters to learn more about the plumages of the birds and then put the theory into practice on the stations the next day.

This morning station one had a juvenile Lesser, Greater and Steppe kettling together on the west side of the station. This was the perfect opportunity to test my id skills on the back of the night before. It was a shame an Imperial Eagles did not complete the Batumi set of Eagles.

The rest of the day was slow with a handful of Red Footed Falcon passing the transect line in the west.