Georgia Europe - Batumi - Migrating East for Autumn!

As the birding calendar moves towards another phase in the doldrums I have been thinking about birding adventures. It has been a while since my last trip and after a tough spring at the Farm it was about time I spread my wings and ventured beyond the gates! I found an advert on facebook which immediately grabbed my attention.

The Batumi Raptor Count (BRC) was advertising for counters for their 11^th season raptor count from August 17^th through to October 16^th 2018. During this period over a million birds of prey pass over the stations which are situated in Batumi, Georgia, Europe.

If you would like to learn more about BRC and its research programmes follow the link or click on the banner at the end of the page:- http://www.batumiraptorcount.org

Batumi is a key port along the Black sea coast and is the second largest city in the Ajara region of Georgia. A bottleneck is created in this mountainous area making it the most important flyway for raptors in the Western Palearctic.

The prospect of spending time with fellow enthusiasts and experts to learn about raptors and counting methods had me wasting no time in completing the application form and sending it off. A video interview took place with Triin and Bart (Co-ordinators) and my place for the full season was confirmed.  

John Wright took part in the autumn 2017 count I have included a link to his blog which has many fantastic pictures of species that passed through Batumi last year:-

https://wrightswanderings.blogspot.com