Autumn Report 2024

by Samuel Prettyman, Aris Vouros, Filiep T'Jollyn & Marc Heetkamp

A classic ‘Batumi sunrise’ with a backlit male Montagu’s Harrier passing in the east of Station 1.

Photo by Bart Hoekstra.

August

Despite some rainy pre-count days and gloomy weather forecasts, the 16th annual count started, as planned, on the 12th of August. The sun broke through on the first morning of the count, bringing with it the sound of singing Green Warblers, as well as Lesser Grey Shrikes and Golden Orioles that alighted in the trees around the stations. This year, unlike last, it only took a few hours before the first protocol species crossed the transect line, an immature male Marsh Harrier. This individual was closely followed by already the first of 14 Booted Eagles!

The number of Booted Eagles at the start of the season was quite unprecedented, and the vast majority were recorded to the east of Station 2, far from the usual ‘Booted Highway’ to the west of Station 1. Within the first ten days of the 2024 autumn count, the number of Booted Eagles more than doubled the total for the same period in 2023, in part due to an impressive total of 44 counted on the 13th! Despite this, it was still undeniably quiet (as expected), and counters spent many long, hot hours getting to know each other, as well as coming up with riddles and games for the opposite station. The 13th did provide the first frenzy of activity when a flock of 69 White Storks materialised overhead at Station 2, calling for the first use of clickers by either station. Occasions such as these by no means marked the beginning of any prolonged flurries of activity, as the busy days were still a way to go. Though, they were a reminder that counters needed to be on their toes, continuously scanning the sky for loose birds and tight-knit flocks. The first Short-toed and Lesser Spotted Eagle were also seen on the 13th. It is possible that these were local birds, but they were exhibiting migratory behaviour, a reminder that cherries were turning up.

Background photo by Oskar Schwitters.

A beautiful male Golden Oriole perched next to station, marking the start of autumn migration.

Photo by Aris Vouros.

On the 15th we were helped by clouds in the mountains in the afternoon which appeared to bring some small streams of Honey Buzzards over Station 2, 33 in total by the end of the day. In addition, in the closing minutes of the count, a huge flock of 266 White Storks appeared out ahead of station 2. Although they took their time, they managed to cross the transect line within the official count period (from sunrise until 2 hours before sunset). This greatly boosted the day total, but in reality, this day felt about as quiet as previous days.

Although you, the reader of this report, have reached this point in a matter of minutes, it is important to remember that 48 long, hot and largely bird-less hours have passed for the counters by now! Therefore, avian activity on the 16th was very welcome! Numbers of raptors were measured in 100s rather than 10s (or 1s for that matter!) for the first time. Indeed, for the first time this season, the day total surpassed 1000, ideal for first time counters to get some experience counting and identifying streams – practice that would be essential for later in the season. The day began with loose streams of Marsh Harriers, bringing the total to 74 for the day, the highest record so far. As the day heated up, small streams of Honey Buzzards and Black Kites emerged from the distance, and one stream of 130 Black Kites in the east of Station 1 helped elevate this species’ total to 466, well above the total of 330 Honey Buzzards.

Continuing the upward trend from the previous day, the 17th was the first day when a single station (Shuamta) recorded over 1000 birds. The bulk of these were Honey Buzzards (401) and Black Kites (364); a very even split, which is not expected at this time of the season and quite challenging! Strange timings of migration would continue to be a theme this season. Particularly the early arrival of Black Kites, and Steppe Buzzards later in the season. Black Kites caused some low-level chaos when they flooded in quite ahead of schedule, occasionally vastly outnumbering Honey Buzzards in mid-late August, the opposite of what is usually observed. At times, this made things tricky for identifiers, as it was difficult to know what species to prioritise in a given stream. As is often the case, though, Black Kites tended to hug the coastline and fly a lower line than Honey Buzzards, making the separation of streams somewhat more manageable.

By this point, counters were getting well versed in count methodology, pairing up to count and ID some fairly large streams (albeit few and far between). The total for Honey Buzzards on the 18th breezed past the 1000 mark at Shuamta, settling at 1,210. Meanwhile, Black Kite numbers remained similar to the day before (431). Shuamta also had the season’s first Hen Harrier, a very early record for the species, while southbound Steppe Buzzards and Lesser Spotted Eagles were also recorded. The same high numbers were not experienced by the poor counters stationed at Sakhalvasho… A measly day-total of 62 birds was quite pitiful, made worse by what we were coming to expect! The FOMO was somewhat alleviated by a flock of 12 close overhead European Rollers, some of which perched in trees behind the station. Oh well, more time for riddles…

The 19th brought a significant increase in MonPal (Montagu’s and/or Pallid Harriers) numbers, including the first Pallid Harriers of the season, an adult female and a juvenile, both seen from Station 1. This variety early in the season comes in useful for ID experience, as the low numbers allow plenty of time to observe and study individual birds, rather than rapidly counting them. More early Black Kites came today (1,592 total), and outnumbered Honey Buzzards (1,311 total) again, causing further concern for some of the more experienced identifiers! More variety came on the 20th when Sakhalvasho had two Long-legged Buzzards in quick succession, again, an early record for this scarce species and a lifer (or ‘bimbo’) for many counters.

The Honey Buzzard protocol began on the 21st, and typically, numbers of this species fell (636 total)… But great excitement was had at Shuamta, as a Lanner Falcon sped past the station in the close east! This is a rarely recorded species, with this individual representing the 4th record for BRC. Meanwhile, harrier numbers continued to increase, around 50 MonPals are expected on a given day by this point. The Booted Eagle total continued to rise (27 total), contributing to this year’s impressive early season total.

A curious male Honey Buzzard. Photo by Matthew Sprangers.

Early in the season it is not uncommon to see the local Goshawks frolicking around. Once raptor migration picks up pace, they mostly seem to disappear, only to return again when the migration slows down. Photo by Aris Vouros.

The first of generally a few hundred to 1000+ White Storks passing through the bottleneck during autumn.

Strike an Isabelline pose! An Isabelline Wheatear that paid a visit to the Station 2 crew and giving very close, impeccable views. Photo by Aris Vouros.

Waiting for the raptors together. Photo by Oskar Schwitters.

Lanner Falcon, 4th for the bottleneck. Photo by Valentin Cordes.

MonPal records exploded on the 22nd, with over 120 counted in Shuamta before 8am (and the Harrier protocol is still a week away)! They continued to pour through and by the end of the day the previous highest count of the year (74 on 21st) had been far surpassed, with a huge day-total of 414. It was timed well, as the harrier presentation had been given the previous evening!

There were some nice cherries in the mix on the 23rd, including: Short-toed Eagle, Lesser Spotted Eagle, Osprey, and most of all a Saker Falcon that flew past the Shuamta station overhead, just three days after the Lanner Falcon. Unfortunately, on later inspection of the photos, it turned out to be an escaped falconers’ bird.

After a lull in the previous couple of days, counters had to spring into action on the 25th, as the Honey Buzzards (finally!) began to come through in decent numbers, helping the station totals surpass 10,000 birds for the first time. There was a fairly even split in activity between stations, Sakhalvasho recorded 5,329 Honey Buzzards and Shuamta recorded 4,096 (due to a large stream in the distant east). The streams began almost first thing in the morning: before the Shuamta station had been properly set up, radio messages were already coming through with exclamations about Black Kite Streams heading their way! MonPals were also very abundant on the 25th, when 655 were counted throughout the day. Following this surge in activity, the first time a single station recorded over 10,000 birds came on the 26th. 12,070 Honey Buzzards were counted by Station 1 and made up the majority of the 14,345 birds recorded. This was also a great day for more Roller migration, with 305 making their way across the transect line, including a large flock of 78 which flew by in the early afternoon.

The coordination between stations was improving and highly necessary for days like the 28th, when at long last the Honey Buzzards arrived! What a beautiful day, the sky was filled from 10am onwards with a carpet of raptors! 65,587 Honey Buzzards were counted in total, contributing to the grand total of 71,808 protocol species. Counters on Station 1 were flung into the deep end, counting birds at all distances and heights, while station 2 frantically scanned the streams picking out birds that weren’t Honey Buzzards. It was amazing to experience the first real big day, and be left in awe of such a spectacle.

After this excitement we were ready for more, and although not quite as productive, the 29th certainly delivered. 41,377 Honey Buzzards sailed through leaving our jaws on the floor once again. Black Kites were numerous today too (6,796 total), and their passage appeared to begin in earnest. In addition to the Honey Buzzards and Black Kites, MonPals reached a truly ludicrous day total of 943, the highest count of the season. The 29th also saw the first of what would be a record year for Crested Honey Buzzards, five were recorded in total today. Counters were unable to stop and appreciate scarcities such as these as there were so many other birds to count. Though, in hindsight, there was no need to worry as there were to be many more in the upcoming days.

Though the rush had temporarily subsided for the 30th, a respectable 18,107 Honey Buzzards were counted. It was a testament to the steep learning curve of the last couple of days that this kind of number now seemed so manageable. The weather was very mixed that day, which didn’t help matters. In the early afternoon, dense clouds glided in and ‘gloopsed’ both stations, and from this point on visibility was very on and off, and the count ended with torrential rain and a classic Batumi thunderstorm.

Perhaps due to this inclement weather, the month went on to close on a high, with 43,525 protocol species, the vast majority of which were Honey Buzzards. Although days like this certainly shouldn’t be dismissed, it was becoming clearer that we were going to miss out on a truly gigantic ‘Big Day’ this year.

We were over the moon with this Marsh Harrier flying over. A very old individual probably, due to the reduced wing markings. Photo by Bart Hoekstra.

During the ‘Honey Buzzard period’, Station 1 counts all HBs, which results in many scopes fixed on the east. Photo by Bart Hoekstra.

Rain pushes the Honey Buzzards downwards towards eye level. Great conditions for photography, although a little dark. Photo by Bart Hoekstra.

A flock of Rollers flying past Station 2. Always a treat. Photo by Bart Hoekstra.

A close fly-by of a female Honey Buzzard. Photo by Marc Heetkamp.

A mixed stream of Honey Buzzards and Black Kites in between the two stations. The red tarp marks the spot where Station 2 is weathering the weather. Photo by Bart Hoekstra.

Birders looking up from the Station 1 observatory as a stream of Honey Buzzards crosses right overhead. Photo by Bart Hoekstra

September

With September arriving, so did some new counters who were eager for the numbers but also the species variety that this part of the season has to offer. Even more Pallid Harriers had started to join in with the ringtails which up till now consisted almost solely of Montagu’s, making the ringtail harriers quite an identification task. Crested Honey Buzzard numbers were building slowly as well, it seemed as if we were seeing a few of them nearly each day with counters calling them out left and right. A few hundred thousand Honey Buzzards were still due to turn up though, so our real thoughts were stuck waiting for another big push.

With the first couple of days quite hot and cloudless, the vast majority of birds passed through the bottleneck far in the East, and due to the HB protocol they were all to be counted from Sakhalvasho. Although Trektellen might have given the impression that most of the birds were passing over Sakhalvasho, these numbers were, in actuality, gathered by counters toiling in the sun, counting distant dots to the east of Shuamta! Meanwhile, Shuamta counters had a nice time checking out some close Cresteds and in general getting the better views of everything. But after those gruelling hot days with a bit of overcast skies and rain, the birds offered us some sweet relief. On the 3rd of September we managed to count a total of 60k raptors with more than 47k of those being Honey Buzzards, only outdone by the 4th of September where we had an astounding 55k Honey Buzzards! When previously birds were seen to the East of Shuamta, these days with cloudy weather forming in the Lesser Caucasus birds were forced between stations and around Sakhalvasho. These big numbers in our overlap zone put our coordination skills to the test, but the previous big days had prepared us for this and we managed to keep our cool and make the best of this migration spectacle. But how can you keep your cool with hundreds of Rollers accompanying the raptor madness giving us our best day in the season with 342 birds! Or when suddenly a Saker Falcon decides to soar right above your head — only the 20th record for this species for BRC. This is truly Batumi, the place where Honey Buzzards dominate the raptor migration and paint a beautiful background to all the other raptor species.

Background photo by Bart Hoekstra.

The Black Kites had decided to play nice in the end and were showing up in orderly fashion both in timing and flightpath. Their numbers remained relatively steady in the low thousands, with a nice 3k on the 4th of September, and luckily they did not peak early with the Honey Buzzards which would have been a counting nightmare. Their streams as always were beautiful to see and count, kettling up all together and then streaming out in lines nice and straight, making the life of our counters just a bit easier.

The next days continued with more good numbers of birds pouring through the bottleneck, and with autumn weather giving the occasional rain forecast, many evenings were spent debating whether the morning would turn out to be a sleep in or not. Unfortunately, counters and coordinators alike had to learn the hard way that accurate weather forecasts and Batumi are not compatible, leading to few harsh early morning wake-ups after long nights out at the Green café, open once again after a four-year hiatus! As dreary as the slow walk up to station may be normally, when you were expecting to be asleep for a few more hours it's even harder! However, the birds more than compensate, and they never wait! Early morning harriers were quite the treat with a few male Pallid Harriers passing close by both stations making us all run for our cameras.

We also started to see the first signs of large eagle migration with Lesser Spotted Eagles making an appearance (still in the single digits, though), and a few early Steppe Eagles were thrown in the mix as well, just enough to build the anticipation for the big eagle days to come. Non-raptors also kept us occupied in the slower hours of the count. With rainy weather species such as Black-winged Pratincoles, that would otherwise not be forced to pass through the bottleneck, can be seen migrating in big numbers. The 6th of September was such a day when Shuamta called out a big flock of 642 Black-winged Pratincoles between stations! Sakhalvasho had a bit of difficulty picking up on them but once we did it was hard not to notice them as they passed right next to the station offering breathtaking views. The only sound to be heard was their soft purring calls and the clicking of camera shutters.

Although the numbers were amazing with tens of thousands of Honey Buzzards still recorded, it was clear that we were seeing the downwards slope of the peak of this species and that there was probably not going to be another huge day. On the 8th we had our last big push and 47k Honey Buzzards were logged crossing the transect line helping us cross into the half-million! This milestone is important in every count, even though it passed by a bit unnoticed that day. Looking back, maybe we should have given this milestone the attention it deserved…

In any case their eastern cousin was doing quite well with multiple Crested Honey Buzzards being an everyday occurrence. This peaked on the 9th of September when we counted an impressive total of 16 Crested Honey Buzzards between both stations, a record day for the species in the Batumi bottleneck! This species is undoubtedly one of the main attractions of Batumi and every year many tourists flock to the stations to get to see this eastern specialty, and this year it seemed it was easier than ever to do so. At the end of the season we managed to reach a total of 92 Crested Honey Buzzards. As of yet the reason for this increase is not well understood. Whether there is something changing in the ecology of the species and they are expanding their breeding distribution or changing their autumn migration routes, or observer effort is to blame, has not been fully looked into. In any case they were a pleasure to see in all their colour morphs, putting a smile on the face of every counter when they were called out.

A lone Crested Honey Buzzard circling in front of the ridge in between the stations. Even from afar it is easy to tell this concerns an adult male, with its strikingly broad tail bands. Photo by Marc Heetkamp.

An inquisitive juvenile Black Kite. Photo by Marc Heetkamp.

Part of the flock of 642 Black-winged Pratincoles crossing in between the stations. Photo by Aris Vouros.

September is a fantastic period to see ringtail harriers, like this adult female Montagu's Harrier, in all their plumages. Photo by Marc Heetkamp.

Two Hobbies quarrelled over this prey (a Short-toed Lark?), and this one managed to get away with it. Photo by Bart Hoekstra.

Scanning for the first bird of the day to cross the bottleneck. Station 1. Photo by Paula Menzel.

Eye to eye with our logo – an adult male Pallid Harrier. Photo by Aris Vouros.

With the Honey Buzzard (HB) protocol behind us, Shuamta managed to up their daily totals and even surpass Sakhalvasho’s numbers a few times, contrary to what had been going on previously. The HB protocol ending was once again precisely timed as Honey Buzzard numbers slowly declined in the low thousands and were replaced with ever increasing numbers of Black Kites who were picking up in the few tens of thousands. Migration was quite weather dependent with good sunny days and low thousands of birds which were small fry for our now experienced team of counters who spent these relaxed days enjoying refreshments and local food from the cafe near Shuamta. Days like these were quite educational with more experienced counters helping others in separation of the many species passing by this time of year. Cresteds continued to add up in number while nice cherries such as Egyptian Vultures and even a Cinereous Vulture that nearly took our heads off on the 14th kept counters on their feet and with their cameras at hand. The first Greater Spotted Eagle also appeared around the middle of the month, marking the transition from the first to the latter half of the count where eagles are the main feature for many.

By mid-September, we traditionally enter the period of peak species diversity, as migratory streams intensify. Pallid Harriers gradually join the last Montagu’s Harriers in the steady flow of Marsh Harriers, which continue to migrate. The Booted Eagles, too, become more abundant along their "Booted Highway," reaching their peak in the latter half of September. Large eagles begin to join the kettles of Black Kites (which also peak in mid-September), while Steppe Buzzards start to replace Honey Buzzards. This is a fascinating but challenging period for identification.

2024 followed this same pattern, although the large eagles were somewhat delayed. The dominant species were the Black Kites, with the majority of the streams counted from Station 1. On September 17th, we recorded the 3rd Black-winged Kite during an autumn count. It attempted to sneak through the bottleneck, and was first spotted far to the east before briefly perching in the dead trees on the ridge.

The days stretched on until September 21st, when the migration began slowly under overcast skies. By the afternoon, however, the clouds parted, allowing raptors to continue their way southward. Both stations had a fantastic afternoon, together counting over 550 Marsh Harriers. Finally, we saw decent movements of Steppe Buzzards and Black Kites (respectively 11K+ and 7K+), though most of these were counted an hour past the official end time of the count (protocol states we end no earlier than 2 hours before sunset). Most of the goodies were for Station 1, with 12 Ospreys, 3 Crested Honey Buzzards, a great count of 350 Booted Eagles and the first push of 65 Lesser Spotted Eagles.

With Steppe Buzzards and Black Kites continuing their migration until sunset, we had high hopes for the following day. And sure enough, on September 22nd, we saw 13K+ Black Kites and 10K+ Steppe Buzzards. However, it was a bit messy at Station 2, as Steppe Buzzards came again in their typical unpredictable way. Black Kites kettle up, leave the thermal nicely at the top as they should and then stream out in almost military order so we can click them away with no effort (‘beginner streams’ we call them). Steppe Buzzards on the other hand leave the kettle whenever they want and stream out in every possible direction. Sometimes you see a kettle just completely fall apart and then you need to call on your next level counting skills to get them all on your clicker. For the rest this day was quite uneventful until station one got treated with a beautiful close-by adult Egyptian Vulture.

Still, the numbers of Black Kites and Steppe Buzzards seemed a bit low for the time of year. Were they still to come or was something else going on? Would we make it to the million?

Station 2 could be seen from miles away this year, thanks to its strikingly red tarp. Although this did not seem to bother the birds much, with plenty of eye-level, close views of raptors.

Photo by Paula Menzel.

Might as well make yourself somewhat comfortable with the endless Batumi streams. Photo by Oskar Schwitters.

View towards Station 2 from just behind the watchpoint café. Photo by Bart Hoekstra.

Scanning, counting, identifying, coordinating. Photo by Bart Hoekstra.

Streams close and far away, everything has to be counted. Photo by Bart Hoekstra.

Rainbow over the bottleneck, a common sunrise sight. Photo by Nikolina Bukovac.

Eyes on the east. Especially in the 2nd half of the season that is where the magic happens, with most birds passing east of Station 2. Photo by Filiep T'jollyn.

We would like to take the opportunity to thank Kite Optics for providing us with state of the art optic materials and sponsoring our annual T-shirts. We are looking forward to continue working with them in the years to come.

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September 23rd brought renewed hope for hitting the million mark! We counted more than 50,000 raptors, with 26K Black Kites and 23K Steppe Buzzards/medium raptors. The day started slowly, but by 9:00 AM, the gates opened up making way for these neverending streams to blacken the sky. Among the highlights were more than 1,100 Booted Eagles, making it the 4th-largest count for this species, and over 600 large eagles, including 20 Steppe Eagles, two Imperial Eagles, and the only Golden Eagle of the season. Additionally, over 300 Short-toed Eagles contributed to a remarkable day. Non-raptor highlights included two Oriental Turtle Doves passing Station 2 in the morning.

Following a few rainy, unsettled days, Black Kites continued migrating during breaks in the weather, ever eager to head south. Any self-respecting Black Kite does not wait for thermals to start migrating! As soon as the rain lessens, they’re off, always flapping southward.

September 26: Eagle-Galore! Clear skies after two rainy days, we were ready for the birds! They took their time, but by noon they arrived. While in the beginning flocks consisted mostly of loose Black Kites, a few Steppe Buzzards with a few Eagles intermixed, soon the Eagles started to become more and more abundant, and suddenly it was just Eagles! Station 2 got flooded with over 2,000 large eagles counted in just 1.5 hours. By evening, the total had reached over 3,000, including 800+ Lesser Spotted Eagles, 40 Greater Spotted Eagles, and 23 Steppe Eagles. The day also included impressive counts of Short-toed Eagles (600+) and Booted Eagles (800+), making for an unforgettable "Batumi day."

The next day saw a slower migration of eagles. That gave us time to identify, or learn to identify, and enjoy these fantastic raptors so much more. Station 1 handled most of the large eagles, ending the day with over 1,500. During several hot, cloudless days, bird numbers dropped. On the 30th we got treated by 4 Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters that paid us a visit at station 2, a lifer for many of us.

A stunning light-headed female Honey Buzzard. A light-headed plumage is common in juvenile birds, but very rare in adults. Photo by Bart Hoekstra.

A kettle of Black Kites and a lone juvenile Lesser Spotted Eagle. Photo by Aris Vouros.

A dark morph Booted Eagle showing its signature headlights. Photo by Marc Heetkamp.

One of the first juvenile Steppe Eagles of the season. Unfortunately this bird had a fatal meeting with a hunter on its first and last voyage south. Photo by Marc Heetkamp.

We regularly see birds with broken wings, like this juvenile Black Kite. Although not fatally shot, this bird will not make it far. Photo by Aris Vouros.

Instead of signs of poaching, this is the kind of ‘darkness’ we prefer to see. An immature, 2nd calendar year, Cinereous Vulture. Photo by Marc Heetkamp.

October

October 3rd, a first sunny day after days with rain? Grease the clickers, cause the raptors will come! And so they did… at least the eagles did. It lasted again until noon, but then the eagles were all over Station 2. More than 2,400 large eagles were counted across both stations. This included the 3rd best count of identified Lesser Spotted Eagles ever recorded from a single station (766), and a great day for Greater Spotted Eagles (65). We also saw the season's only Griffon Vulture and a Greater Spotted Eagle of the fulvescens morph. However, the Steppe Buzzards and Black Kites remained elusive.

The weekend of 5 and 6 October we joined the EuroBirdwatch. On these days we also counted the non-protocol species and that was a blessing. There were the blue skies again and we did not have many raptors to click away. The smoke from all the fires the Georgians love to make in their backyards, was stuck hanging horizontally in the valleys, a sign that there were no thermals again today. Consequently, the few eagles that did cross were struggling quite a bit, staying low, flapping a lot with an open bill. That's how we discovered a Lesser Spotted Eagle with a transmitter and got fantastic views of a group of three Steppe Eagles (2 juveniles and an adult) together with a Long-Legged Buzzard from above. A few days later we saw eagles doing bush-to-bush-migration, flying a bit, resting in a tree with open beaks, flapping a few hundred meters, landing again. A group of 98 Black Storks even gave up and landed in the trees to wait for better circumstances. On these EuroBirdwatch-days we got a lot of joy out of counting Red-Throated Pipits, Red-Footed Falcons, Crag Martins, Lesser Kestrels, quite some Barn Swallows and many more.

Background photo by Aris Vouros.

A protocol species that was also picking up was the Black Stork. Everyday we were getting nice groups of these wonderful birds with 200 on the 5th and 150 on the 6th. This would result in the best year ever for this species. Another spectacle these days were the hundreds to thousands of Red-Veined Darters (Sympetrum Fonscolombii), medium-sized red dragonflies, that were also making there way south through the bottleneck

October 7. Another hot and Sunny Day. This became a bit the story of autumn count 2024. We got many long periods of hot and sunny weather. We speculated that the weather to our east was so good it did not push any raptors towards the bottleneck. The day did bring a surprise, though, in the form of the second Black-winged Kite of the season.

October is the month of the Greater Spotted Eagles, our home speciality! October 8th was again rainy, but on the next sunny day 103 Greater Spotted Eagles were ID’ed at Shuamta (Station 2) with a close-by fulvescens morph to put a crown on that day… Almost 11,000 Steppe Buzzards were also palmtopped that day. Maybe still… one million? No, this marked the last major push for Steppe Buzzards, and it was clear we would not reach the million mark this year.

A few more sunny days, followed by some very rainy days, were predicted ahead of us. Migration would be very very slow.

All our hopes were put on the 16th, the only sunny gap before more thunderstorms. Trektellen.nl Shuamta October 16: “Big expectations for today! We did not get a real 'big' day, but at least we got birds! The day started off with very strong songbird migration with thousands of Chaffinches and dozens of Woodlarks. After that we got a very diverse pallet of raptors in all their different plumages: Imperial Eagle adult overhead, adult Steppe Eagle overhead, several Hen Harriers with two males together quite close to the station, two White-Tailed Eagles, a juvenile Greater Spotted Eagle of the fulvescens morph, adult male Pallid Harrier overhead… It's like we got a 'best off' of the season today. We were very happy with that because the predictions till the end of the count are not very promising”.

Even on humble Station 1 the day was quite memorable, with a nice close-by Imperial to start the morning and few but close Eagles passing in overhead. While the counters at Shuamta got the numbers, Station 1 settled for some nice variety with a late Crested Honey Buzzard making his way through and a total of 19 protocol species. Not bad for mid-October. We even had company all day by a Long-eared Owl roosting in trees next to the station — this even had some people from Shuamta running up after the count to take a look…

Waiting for the birds, and plenty of time for station shenanigans. Photo by Wim Bovens.

Not only watching Ice Age. Also feeling it. Photo by Ehsan Talebi.

Waiting for the rain to properly stop, hoping for these missing Black Kites and Steppe Buzzards. Photo by Filiep T'jollyn.

What a more mesmerising pair of eyes to look into than a Short-toed Eagle’s?

Photo by Marc Heetkamp.

One of the many flocks of Black Storks. This year was our best ever for this species with 2434 individuals. Photo by Nikolina Bukovac.

A Long-eared Owl accompanying us just downslope from Station 1. Photo by Aris Vouros.

Most of the time Hen Harriers have completed a full wing moult before they depart on migration, so seeing this immature female had some retained secondaries was quite a surprise. Photo by Nikolina Bukovac.

With a bit of sunlight from above, the dark vegetation below really makes the wing barring and trailing edge of this Lesser Spotted Eagle ‘pop’. Photo by Aris Vouros.

Our home specialty, the Greater Spotted Eagle. Photo by Aris Vouros.

Two Steppe Eagles circling below the station, a juvenile (left) and an adult with a small nape patch (right). Photo by Marc Heetkamp.

Unfortunately, the predictions were right. We got five days of thunderstorms and pouring rain. Ice-Age 1 and 2, Kungfu Panda 1 and 2, and more, helped us through the days, because it was raining so hard that we did not even make it to the stations. Only on the final day a few counters decided no to let the season go out on such a bad note, and in a few gaps of light rain between the heavy showers went up to Station 1 to count the final raptors of the season. We managed to count a few tens of Steppe Buzzards heading north, most likely trying to avoid the rain showers further to the south.

The rain stopped on October 22nd, the first day after the official end of the count.

We did not make it to the million. We did not even make it to 900K. We lacked a few 100k of Black Kites and Steppe Buzzards. These are the species that make the million. Eagle-wise we had quite a good year though. Despite these low numbers, it was again a memorable experience, because it’s not only the birds that make up Batumi Raptor Count but also the people! The fantastic group of volunteers from all over the world made it extraordinary once again and we want to thank them so much for that. Our thanks go out to Kite Optics for sponsoring us and OSME for supporting our new Flyway Monitoring Traineeship (more on that later). We also want to thank the host-families for the wonderful care they take of us. Without them we are nothing!

See you in 2025!

Background photo by Marc Heetkamp.

Continue reading below for more from this autumn count

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Background photo by Bart Hoekstra.

More from this year’s Autumn Count

Immature Honey Buzzards

This season, something peculiar happened with the Honey Buzzards. On the 9th of September, a counter photographed a weird and messy looking Honey Buzzard, assuming it was messy because of the weather or an illness. Though, after closer examination, it looked to have moulted while still having juvenile type feathers as well, indicating… “AN IMMATURE?!?!?! This would be one of the very few records in Europe, this can’t be right?!?!”

Two days later, another interesting individual, showing the same characteristics, passed our stations. Absolutely crazy, as if one was apparently not enough! To make it even crazier, we recorded 2 more individuals after that which seemed to have very good papers for being immature birds too. In the upcoming months we will try to look carefully at all the available pictures of these birds and let you know more as soon as possible!

In 2017, we documented the first autumn immature Honey Buzzard in the Western Palearctic. Read more about it in this Sandgrouse article.

One of this season’s immature Honey Buzzards.

Photo by Aris Vouros.

Birding in the Chorokhi Delta &
on the Batumi Boulevard

Every counter gets a day-off every week and many of them use this free time to, guess what… go birding — But now not around the stations, but in the Chorokhi Delta or on ‘the Boulevard’.

The Chorokhi Delta is the river mouth just south of Batumi-city and with its grasslands, scrubs, marshes, pebble beach and small mudflats, it’s a magnet for migrating birds, birders and unfortunately also hunters. This year it didn’t deliver any ‘extreme’ rarities as last year (Pied Bushchat, Oriental Skylark, Three-Banded Plover), but still, it lived up to its name. White-Tailed Lapwing, Baillon's Crake, Little Bustard, Menetries’s Warbler and Demoiselle Crane were maybe the cherries on the cake, but a species like Black-Winged Pratincole also stole the show with groups of sometimes a few hundreds that could be observed from very close. Also fantastic observations were made of Yelkouan Shearwaters. Other specialities of the delta are Turkestan Short-toed Larks, Citrine Wagtails, Tawny Pipits, White-Winged Black Terns and Stonechats in all their subspecies.

The Boulevard is an artificial park that stretches for a few kilometers, stuck between the city and the beach. It is a perfect migrant trap and attracts sometimes loads of songbirds that need some rest on their way to the South. The main species were Common Redstarts, Lesser and Common Whitethroats and at the last week of the count hundreds of Chiffchaffs and Robins. In between this ‘bulk’ we found nice numbers of Red-Breasted Flycatchers, Barred Warblers, Bluethroats and Willow Warblers. Nicer birds were the classic Nightjars and Wryneck, but the real goodies were Blyth’s Reed Warbler, Grey-Headed Woodpecker, Moustached Warbler.

Background photo by Bart Hoekstra.