Last Day Out

Last day out birding in Georgia, catching the train to Tbilisi tomorrow, so an afternoon on the Chorokhi Delta was in order. Tried this site last week, but as the temperature was about 30 degrees it was pretty impossible birding ! Anyway it's a big place that looks a bit like Dungeness without the power station - with gravel and Sea Buckthorn everywhere and river channels cutting in every direction. Birded the most accessible areas for about four hours (wasn't in the mood for wading across the fast flowing channels). Here's a list - 1 Steppe Buzzard, 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 White-winged Black Tern, 4 Curlew Sandpiper, 2 Green Sandpiper, 6 Dunlin, 5 Little Stints, 1 Purple Heron, 140+ Short-toed Larks, 2 Citrine Wagtail, 40 Yellow Wagtail, 3 Great Reed Warbler, 1 Lesser Grey Shrike, 20 Red-backed Shrike, 4 Olivaceous Warbler, 1 Barred Warbler, 4 Hoopoe, 1 Reed Warbler, 10 Whitethroats, 15 Cuckoo (inc 1 brown one), 1 Wood Sandpiper, 20 Whinchat, 4 Sand Martin and a Turtle Dove - a pretty good afternoon out.

Curlew Sandpiper

Cuckoo

Olivaceous Warbler

Purple Heron

Red-backed Shrike

Steppe Buzzard

White-winged Black Tern

Even Better

An epic day on the patch - a huge torrent of rain at about 5am and the sunshine all day, did the same circuit as yesterday and for about the same amount of hours - 1 Booted Warbler, 3 Olivaceous Warbler, 6 Quail, 1 Nightjar, 13 Isabelline Wheatear, 1 Northern Wheatear, 1 Peregrine, 8 Hoopoe, 6 Redstarts, 1 Black Redstart, 2 Barred Warbler, 10 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Thrush Nightingale, 12 Common Whitethroat, 2 Short-toed Lark, 3 Lesser Grey Shrike, 20 Red-backed Shrike, 1 Wryneck, 2 Savi's Warbler, 1 River Warbler, 1 Marsh Warbler, 30 Reed Warbler, 10 Willow Warbler, 12 Ortolan Buntings, 20 Tree Pipis, 1 Citrine Wagtail, 25 Yellow Wagtail, 4 Slender-billed Gulls, 100+ Sandwich Terns and 40 Gull-billed Terns (which headed inland over Batumi).

Nightjar

Olivaceous Warbler

Savi's Warbler

Thrush Nightingale

Back on Form

Some rain overnight and the patch was back on form, during a 5 hour stint around the old casino site and the nearby park there was 1 Savi's Warbler, 1 River Warbler, an Olivacious Warbler, a Booted Warbler (plus a bird that seemed to fit both), 30 Yellow Wagtail, 2 Isabelline Wheatear, 1 Lesser Grey Shrike, 12 Red-backed Shrikes, 1 Hoopoe, 10 Reed Warblers, 2 Robin, 2 Redstart, 8 Blackcaps, 6 Barred Warbler, 40 Whinchat, 3 Honey Buzzards, 4 Whitethroat, 6 Ortolans, 2 Little Gull, a Lesser Whitethroat and a Peregrine.

Ortolan Bunting

Olivaceous/Booted Warbler

River Warbler

HB's

The patch has been quiet all day - no overnight rain, the only highlight being about 350 Honey Buzzards coming in off the sea.

Honey Buzzards

Kruper's

A couple of hours at Batumi Botanical Gardens and finally connected with Kruper's Nuthatch.

Stocker

Back on the patch again today, after rain overnight, migrants everywhere - 100+ Whinchat, 1 Little Stint (on a carpark puddle !), 40 Little Gulls, 5 Wrynecks, the Black-headed Bunting still, 3 Lesser Grey Shrikes, 34 Red-backed Shrikes, a Savi's Warbler, 2 Olivaceous Warblers, 1 Sedege Warbler, 26 Reed Warblers, 4 Ortolans, 8 Great Reed Warblers, 6 Barred Warblers, a Stock Dove, 2 Spotted Flycatcher and 9 Isabelline Wheatear.

Black-headed Bunting

Great Reed Warbler

Little Gull

Little Stint

Stock Dove

Wrynecks

Rain

Finally got out onto the patch, after a day of stupidly heavy rain - so bad that the foyer of the hotel was a foot deep in water ! The patch was fantastic though, even if it meant stopping and sheltering every now and then. All seen in a 2 hour period - 1 River Warbler, 1 Booted Warbler, 2 Nightjar, 1 Black-headed Bunting, 12 Ortolans, 1 Sedge Warbler, 40 Reed Warbler, 15 Willow Warbler, 4 Whitethroat, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, 4 Barred Warbler, 3 Lesser Grey Shrike, 25 Red-backed Shrike, 1 Little Crake, 10 Yellow Wagtails, 15 Isabelline Wheatear and 4 Little Gulls.

Lesser Grey Shrike

Nightjars

Red-backed Shrike

River Warbler

Black-headed Bunting

Raptor Fest

Went up to the Batumi Raptor Count watch point, in glorious sunshine, and was far from disappointed ! During the 4 hours that I was there had 20,000+ Honey Buzzards, 35 Black Kites, a Levant Sparrowhawk, a Short-toed Eagle, 2 Booted Eagles, a Montagu's Harrier, a White Stork and about 300 Bee-eaters.
The daily total from the BRC count can be seen - here http://www.batumiraptorcount.org/projects/raptor-count/latest-count

Honey Buzzards

Black Kite

Honey Buzzards

Levant Sparrowhawk

Quickie

A quick look around the temporary patch this morning - 4 Wryneck, 5 Great Reed Warblers and a Barred Warbler.

Wryneck

Batumi - Quality, not Quantity

Big clear out at Batumi, but what was left was quality - 3 Great Reed Warbler, 6 Ortolans, just 3 Hoopoe, a Bluethroat, 5 Lesser Grey Shrike, 3 Wryneck, 3 Red-throated Pipit, 5 Barred Warblers, 30 Red-backed Shrike, 10 Reed Warbler, 1 Citrine Wagtail, 4 Yellow Wagtails, 15 Isabelline Wheatear, 1 Tawny Pipit, 3 Quail and a Blackcap.

Bluethroat

Great Reed Warbler

Hoopoe

Ortolan Bunting

Wryneck