Sakhalvasho Day 1…..
I finally made it after having a chat with a friendly barman and enquiring if he knows of somebody, anybody, with a car who would be willing to pick me up and drop me at Station (ca14km) and reverse the process. It turns out they have someone who delivers stuff who would be more than willing so a deal was struck.
Hassan will be picking me up at 10am and returning at 5pm Mon/Tue/Thur and Fri - Wed we will make a 3rd and final trip up the Argo at midday after i have caught a bus to the Chorokhoi Delta for about 3 hours birding by way of a change. We have agreed 50 Lari a day which at £13.50 is not bad at all. I will also give him 50Gel on Friday when we finish.
Yesterday prior to pickup it had rained really heavily from 2am onwards finally, mercifully, tailing off by 7am. There isn’t much if any precipitation forecast for the rest of the stay and that deluge has been all we have had so we have been lucky this trip as it is the only one i pack both a small brolly and rain guard for.
The weather up at Sak was a mix of light cloud with sunny spells turning to heavy threatening stuff by 4pm. Station 2 at Shuamta called it a day about 3pm due to both rain and lightning forecast. They are some 7km distant in the foothills where the birds start kettling but are quite exposed and still only have a stretched seasonal tarpaulin to protect themselves from the elements. This was the situation at Sakhalvasho until 2019 when a purpose built concrete building was provided by the Adjara tourist people in acknowledgement of the ecotourism value and somewhere where the many and growing visits from schools etc are now the norm. There is even a separate flushing toilet a sort of ‘cabin in the woods’ for females and those of a shy disposition. The new loo is much more sturdier than the old corrugated tin edifice that used to be utilised due to the fact that a lone female entered it for a ‘comfort break’ early one morning to find herself face to face with a young Brown Bear! I don’t know who was more surprised and frightened but my sympathies are obviously with…..the Ursine upstart.
In Georgia Bears don’t need to shit in the woods as they have a purpose built facility.
Ascending the many concrete stairs, after 4 years it doesn’t get any easier. You are greeted by a loose collection of the seasonal counters, assorted birders set up for the day and glancing up at the second storey a phalanx of more visiting birders - yesterday there was about 50 all day. They are generally Western European but with a sprinkling of Georgians (at this time of year usually associated with tour guiding). Despite this Tower of Babel of babbling birders the Lingua Franca is English…..and rightly so. Despite that generalisation birders often shout out sightings in their native tongue but someone usually follows it up with an English rendition almost like an echo. It is all good natured and the more expert people become very obvious and that helps people like me out. It is very difficult to ‘get in first’ as the seasoned counters and visiting experts usually pick up and tentatively or specifically ID stuff way out which means when birds get closer they are not only positively identified but aged and often sexed. I tend to sit (take your own chair) equidistant from the counters and groups calling stuff out that way you get the best of both worlds and can still scan for your own pleasure when there is a lull. 10-5 is enough for me as you see most of the stuff that is recorded that day in my experience.
My first day up ‘on the hill’ is always a learning curve of getting your eye in and re-acquainting yourself with the topography of the vista as all the hills, gaps, lumps, bumps and distinct trees have a name to enable locating individual birds, groups, kettles and streams. Yesterday I had trouble locating individual birds as it was numbers-wise a relatively quiet day with a lot of birds passing high and generally on the Eastern fringe. Despite that the variety of raptors was excellent with about 16 spp recorded iirc. Most species were seen well particularly through the scope if not photographed - that is personally speaking. I managed to rattle of a coupla thousand shots but as the camera is on ‘burst’ setting it is all too easily done and only realised when checking through similar images back on the laptop but it generally ensures a sharp image each time the shutter is depressed. This trip I am using my recently purchased Swarovski combo of 12x42 NL Pure and 95mm ATX scope c/w 30-60x zoom and a cracking bit of kit it is. I think my bird locating problem is down to the fact that I am used to using my Ziess 7x42’s that have gone everywhere for 40 years. Although the Swaro’s are not a quantum leap in optical performance they are nearly twice the magnification and although the field of view is not far off the same (how do they do it) - these will take some getting used to but having 12x magnification is simply stunning imo. I have a coupla Lumix bridge cameras for photography forsaking my Canon D7 with 150-600mm zoom as it is simply too much to carry as hand luggage which is a shame.
I was just in the process of setting up when someone who was wider awake than me called out a flyover Tawny Pipit which he had picked up on call - I clocked it and had excellent views of a species that I would have probably thought a ‘flava’ Wagtail had I seen it at distance without a call. All was fairly quiet up until midday with a coupla Pallid Harriers ID’d both an immature male and a beautiful fresh Gingery/Orange jug. Batumi is fast becoming the Harrier hotspot for migrating birds with several thousand ‘MonPals’ recorded annually + hundreds of actual Montys and dozens of Pallid not forgetting the odd Hen. Mixed Black Kites and Booted kettled and streamed throughout the day. A coupla close Greater Spotted Eagles were picked up trying to sneak through the valley by some visiting birders. Lots of Lesser Spotted Eagles were seen, many distant and high but a coupla dozen seen well and photographable. A handful of Levantine Sprawks were also evident a couple even low over the Observatory - the both raced through in a flight style different to the flap/glide of Common Sprawk of which several dozen beat their way South and to the West. Short-toed Eagles were evident with the odd one here and there - I think a distinct profile with notable carpal jut but maybe that’s just me. Quite a few Marsh drifted over including nice creamy-headed females. Late afternoon produced 2 stunning Ospreys within half hour of each other - always nice to see on migration. Passerines obviously included a steady passage of all 3 common Hirundines but mainly Swallows. A handful of Red-rumpers were noted as were half a dozen Alpine Swifts that scythed through the air is if the effects of gravity doesn’t apply to them! A distant party of 7-8 Rollers were followed by a gaggle of 5 noisy Ravens which could be heard at distance so there must have been juveniles involved. Both Honey and Steppe Buzzard were evident - nice juveniles of the former and too few of the latter but that should pick up whilst I still have time.
Movement of the day goes to…..the Falcons!
Resident Kestrel aside Hobbies flashed through in ones and twos. The birds I saw were juveniles but Adults were noted. Mixed groups of 3-4 included the odd Red-footed Falcon including stinking males. At 3pm a party of 3 RFF strafed the Ops then ones and twos came over higher and just before 5pm a swarm of 5 birds hawked and stooped between the Obs and the bay. All in all a very enjoyable and productive day. Today could see high birds to the East but who knows? It is nice to bird in good weather without low cloud. What is better for the birds is not generally the best birding views but you have to ask yourself what is important? On beautiful days I have seen Eastern Black-winged Kite, Imperial and Steppe Eagles so expect the unexpected and you will not go far wrong…..
I will post some pics later when I finish my 2nd visit.
Good Birding -
Laurie -
www.batumiraptorcount.org
