rollingthunder
Well-known member
3 weeks Spring birding for migrants, residents, regional endemics, craft ales, 8k wine cultivation history with over 400 grape varieties and an indigenous Cigar industry - What's not to like?
A friend and I fly tomorrow at 21:15 from Heathrow to Tblisi, return trip £315 including 23k hold luggage each and some food and drink provided. British Airways were the only carrier flying direct when booked. Just over 5 hours scheduled with 2 added on for time zone difference. My birding partner has been once to Georgia for a Spring trip of 10 days in April a few years back whereas this is my 5th jaunt the other 4 all being for Autumn raptor migration at Batumi. We have a pencilled in an itinerary based on the map of his other trip and we will fill in the blanks after each day's birding as things, including weather, unfold. We pick up a hire car at Tbilisi Airport sometime between 6 and 8am on Friday morning and make the drive to Steptsanminda for the first 3 nights. The plan is to make our way East probing the borders of Ingushetia and Chechnya before dropping down to the plains and the Azerbaijan border. Then West adjacent to Armenia taking in the hill and lake habitats including the only Caucasus site for breeding Velvet Scoter. There are obvious target species and I am confident they will be seen but the trip is about migration no matter what we see. My friend has not visited Batumi for migrants and is keen to get to there. The Observatory at Sakhalvasho is now manned by a handful of volunteers in April and May and has been shown to produce excellent numbers of migrant raptors approaching 4-500k since Covid. I do not drive so it will be down to him with regard to the driving schedule.....
I am taking my Swarovski 12x42 NL's. The 95mm objective 'scope module with both the angled 30-70x zoom and the BTX binocular modules. In addition the Swarovski phone holder and adapters for the above. For photography I will be taking my brand new Nikon Coolpix P1100 with additional batteries and plenty of SD cards as I will take some stuff in RAW. My trusty Scillies-vintage 80's Silk D2 will accompany me along with a lightweight monopod that has a ball and tilt head. The gimbal head I have also proved useful with the BTX at Batumi last Autumn so that is also packed. I also have a waistcoat that I can clip the camera to on my chest or my hip which has a quick release arrangement. I used this recently in Morocco with my Canon MK2 and 100-400 zoom lens and mounted on the chest it proved very useful. The P1100 is not as heavy as the Canon so it should work well. My friend has the Canon package and shoots only in RAW so hopefully our camera arrangement should complement each other.
We will be booking accommodation on the fly depending on weather and birds - this will be easy with the Internet these days. All Hotels/Hostels will hopefully include breakfast which will allow us to go out as early as possible come back for food then off for the rest of the day - that's the plan anyway! I will also obtain a Georgian SIM card as soon as I find one after leaving the Airport.
My plan is to post stuff daily as a travelling blog much as I do on my other trips. This will be dependent on the Internet and how much energy I have at the end of the day after birding, Georgian hospitality, food and grog have taken their toll. I will do my best to update on details and birds as frequently as is possible.
Good Spring birding here to everyone -
Laurie -
A friend and I fly tomorrow at 21:15 from Heathrow to Tblisi, return trip £315 including 23k hold luggage each and some food and drink provided. British Airways were the only carrier flying direct when booked. Just over 5 hours scheduled with 2 added on for time zone difference. My birding partner has been once to Georgia for a Spring trip of 10 days in April a few years back whereas this is my 5th jaunt the other 4 all being for Autumn raptor migration at Batumi. We have a pencilled in an itinerary based on the map of his other trip and we will fill in the blanks after each day's birding as things, including weather, unfold. We pick up a hire car at Tbilisi Airport sometime between 6 and 8am on Friday morning and make the drive to Steptsanminda for the first 3 nights. The plan is to make our way East probing the borders of Ingushetia and Chechnya before dropping down to the plains and the Azerbaijan border. Then West adjacent to Armenia taking in the hill and lake habitats including the only Caucasus site for breeding Velvet Scoter. There are obvious target species and I am confident they will be seen but the trip is about migration no matter what we see. My friend has not visited Batumi for migrants and is keen to get to there. The Observatory at Sakhalvasho is now manned by a handful of volunteers in April and May and has been shown to produce excellent numbers of migrant raptors approaching 4-500k since Covid. I do not drive so it will be down to him with regard to the driving schedule.....
I am taking my Swarovski 12x42 NL's. The 95mm objective 'scope module with both the angled 30-70x zoom and the BTX binocular modules. In addition the Swarovski phone holder and adapters for the above. For photography I will be taking my brand new Nikon Coolpix P1100 with additional batteries and plenty of SD cards as I will take some stuff in RAW. My trusty Scillies-vintage 80's Silk D2 will accompany me along with a lightweight monopod that has a ball and tilt head. The gimbal head I have also proved useful with the BTX at Batumi last Autumn so that is also packed. I also have a waistcoat that I can clip the camera to on my chest or my hip which has a quick release arrangement. I used this recently in Morocco with my Canon MK2 and 100-400 zoom lens and mounted on the chest it proved very useful. The P1100 is not as heavy as the Canon so it should work well. My friend has the Canon package and shoots only in RAW so hopefully our camera arrangement should complement each other.
We will be booking accommodation on the fly depending on weather and birds - this will be easy with the Internet these days. All Hotels/Hostels will hopefully include breakfast which will allow us to go out as early as possible come back for food then off for the rest of the day - that's the plan anyway! I will also obtain a Georgian SIM card as soon as I find one after leaving the Airport.
My plan is to post stuff daily as a travelling blog much as I do on my other trips. This will be dependent on the Internet and how much energy I have at the end of the day after birding, Georgian hospitality, food and grog have taken their toll. I will do my best to update on details and birds as frequently as is possible.
Good Spring birding here to everyone -
Laurie -
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