Batumi Raptor Count
Flyway Monitoring Traineeship
in collaboration with OSME
Over the past decade, migration monitoring has become more and more popular along the East Afro-Eurasian Flyway, with projects (re)starting around the Caucasus region, the Middle East and Central Asia. Simultaneously, we get approached frequently by ambitious people from across the flyway who are interested in learning about the Batumi Raptor Count and bringing knowledge about migratory bird monitoring back home. In the past decade, we have been fortunate to host (aspiring) migration count leaders from around the world, who have gone on to start or reinforce successful bird monitoring initiatives in their home countries. Thanks to a new traineeship programme with our long-time partner OSME, we are now able to further strengthen this kind of capacity building along the flyway.
What the traineeship entails
Trainees will join the Batumi Raptor Count for at least a full month and their accommodation and travel costs will be fully reimbursed by OSME’s Youth Development Fund, up to €1300 combined. Given the highly standardised nature of our counts, trainees should primarily expect to be long-term counters as this will naturally expose them to many of the aspects involved in our standardised monitoring: the count protocol, identification training and becoming a part of a team of international volunteers. However, on top of that, trainees will be involved in organisational aspects as well, which concerns using the Trektellen platform, data checking and cleaning, off- and online public outreach, organising evening activities and other social events, communicating with the host families, and interacting with tourists present. As a trainee, you’ll have the option of participating in education activities (e.g. school visits) and other research and conservation activities if these are taking place during your stay. However, in the end the Batumi Raptor Count first and foremost organises raptor counts, so all activities are influenced to a degree by the raptor migration dynamics in the period of participation.
What we expect
We expect highly motivated, ambitious trainees, who are willing and able to put in long hours every day for at minimum a half-season period of a month, either Aug 8th – Sept 17, Aug 31st – Oct 1st or Sept 17th – Oct 24th. Trainees should live in the OSME region. They should have conversational command of the English language, a social and communicative character and preferably some background in identifying Western Palearctic raptor species. Furthermore, trainees should read and meet the expectations for volunteer counters. In addition, participants are expected to provide a written and illustrated report with photos/videos (or other form of expression) of their participation for the website and social media channels of BRC and OSME.
Applying for the traineeship
We are currently accepting applications for the Autumn 2025 traineeships. You can apply by sending a motivation letter and short CV. Applications are at least open until May 15th. Afterwards, the application process will remain open until we have selected 2 trainees.
Send your correspondence to volunteer@batumiraptorcount.org with the subject ‘Traineeship 2025’.
In collaboration with OSME,
the Ornithological Society Of The Middle East, The Caucasus And Central Asia
Past Trainees
2024
“I had considered participating in the Batumi Raptor Count for the past five years. While applying for this year, I was considering coming here for a month and, being lucky to be one of the first trainees of the OSME Traineeship program, I became a full-season counter. Although the primary purpose of a raptor count project is getting to know birds of prey better, meeting people from around the world, with the same interest but also different backgrounds is the part that you will never forget. Here, everyone including the BRC team, coordinators, counters and local families are so friendly and supportive that you feel at home.
As a trainee, I had the chance to see how this international project is being organized and learn about the challenges. I worked closely with the coordinators and learned a lot from them. By working with professional people, I have a stronger motivation and lots of new ideas that I like to implement in a similar project (Galugah Raptor Count) in my country, Iran. Thanks to OSME and BRC, I’ve had a wonderful experience and let me tell you, I already know that I will be back to BRC very soon!”
Mitra Daneshvar, Iran
“Two years ago, I first heard from my colleagues about the project Batumi Raptor Count. At that time I could not imagine that I would end up here, that every day I would enjoy the view of the mountains, the Black Sea and to count birds. During the autumn, thousands of birds of prey fly here every day, and BRC volunteers do a great job. I learned to identify the species of birds of prey in flight, as well as their age and gender. During my time in Batumi, I saw thousands of flying Black Kites (Milvus migrans) and European Honey Buzzards (Pernis apivorus). Half of them turned out to be viewed very closely and photographed. The other part flew far away, and I practiced counting thousands of tiny dots (birds of prey for sure, but flying far from the station). I have seen many different harriers, Booted eagles (Hieraaetus pennatus), Crested Honey Buzzards (Pernis ptilorhynchus), Short-toed Eagles (Circaetus gallicus), Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus), Steppe Eagles (Aquila nipalensis), one Saker Falcon (Falco cherrug) and even Egyptian Vultures (Neophron percnopterus). It was the first time I saw Levant sparrowhawks(Accipiter brevipes) and Lesser Spotted Eagles (Clanga pomarina). BRC is not only birds, it is also a huge community of interesting people from all over the world who love birds. Thanks to this program, I not only learned a lot about birds, learned how to identify them, but also found a huge number of friends from different countries. Thank you OSME and BRC for such a great opportunity!”
Alyona Kaptyonkina, Kazakhstan