World Shorebirds Day at Batumi
About half of the world’s shorebird populations are in decline, and the rate of habitat loss is worse than ever before. The World Shorebirds Day aims on raising public awareness about the need to protect shorebirds and their habitats throughout their life cycles and about the need for ongoing shorebird research.
This year 756 registered locations worldwide participated in the event. Sabuko, Society for Nature Conservation Georgia, was one of them. We decided to focus on the threatened Chorokhi delta along the Eastern Black Sea Coast flyway at Batumi, Georgia, and conduct a shorebird count there.
Written by Robrecht Debbaut
On 05/09 we celebrated the Wordl Shorebirds Day with a team of volunteers of the BRC and headed out to the Chorokhi delta. Our plan was to look in the morning in Batumi for passerines and afterwards, when it was too hot for passerines, to go to the delta where we would focus on waders and crakes.
When we arrived at the delta around 9:30 a.m. it was already pretty hot, but that did not distract us from the quest. Some highlights upon arrival in the delta were squacco heron, citrine wagtails and lesser grey shrikes. An unpleasant sighting however were the numerous hunters and shot birds we encountered on our way to the beach. We saw some hoopoes and turtle doves shot dead and wounded purple herons and glossy ibises.
At the beach we came to well suited areas for waders. There we observed black-winged pratincoles, temminck’s stints, little stints and broad billed-sandpipers. After checking the waders it was so hot that we went for a swim in the Black sea. The water was refreshing and we only swum 15 meters away from a red-necked-grebe.
Before we had to head back, we hurried to the ponds which are well suited for crakes. At the ponds we saw a little crake, several short-toed larks and a red-necked phalarope! We could approach the phalarope up to 2 meters and thus had very close looks on it. On the way back to the bus we saw a cattle egret and ruddy shelducks. We were all tired of the exhausting day but satisfied as well. Without rushing to see as much species on one day, we still saw 74 species.
Species list:
| Wryneck | Jynx torquilla |
| White wagtail | Motacilla alba |
| Whinchat | Saxicola rubetra |
| Yellow-legged gull | Larus michahellis |
| Tree pipit | Anthus trivialis |
| Eurasian reed warbler | Acrocephalus scirpaceus |
| Great reed warbler | Acrocephalus arundinaceus |
| Eastern-olivacious warbler | Iduna pallida |
| Common whitethroat | Sylvia communis |
| Lesser whitethroat | Sylvia curruca |
| Willow warbler | Phylloscopus trochilus |
| Great cormorant | Phalacrocorax carbo |
| Rosy-starling | Sturnus roseus |
| Booted warbler | Iduna caligata |
| Black-headed bunting | Emberiza melanocephala |
| Little egret | Egretta garzetta |
| House sparrow | Passer domesticus |
| Tawny pipit | Anthus campestris |
| Hooded crow | Corvus cornix |
| Great egret | Ardea alba |
| Hoopoe | Upupa epops |
| Garganey | Anas querquedula |
| Little grebe | Tachybaptus ruficollis |
| Black-necked grebe | Podiceps nigricollis |
| Squacco heron | Ardeola ralloides |
| Grey heron | Ardea cinerea |
| Purple heron | Ardea purpurea |
| Glossy ibis | Plegadis falcinellus |
| Black kite | Milvus migrans |
| Marsh harrier | Circus aeruginosus |
| Montagu’s harrier | Circus pygargus |
| Levant sparrowhawk | Accipiter brevipes |
| Eurasian coot | Fulica atra |
| Black-winged pratincole | Glareola nordmanni |
| Little ringed plover | Charadrius dubius |
| Northern lapwing | Vanellus vanellus |
| Dunlin | Calidris alpina |
| Broad-billed sandpiper | Limicola falcinellus |
| Temminck’s stint | Calidris temminckii |
| Little stint | Calidris minuta |
| Wood sandpiper | Tringa glareola |
| Green sandpiper | Tringa ochropus |
| Common sandpiper | Actitis hypoleucos |
| Eurasian curlew | Numenius arquata |
| Common snipe | Gallinago gallinago |
| Ruff | Philomachus pugnax |
| Caspian gull | Larus cachinnans |
| Heuglin’s gull | Larus heuglini |
| Little tern | Sterna albifrons |
| Sandwich tern | Thalasseus sandvicensis |
| White-winged tern | Chlidonias leucopterus |
| Turtle dove | Streptopelia turtur |
| Common kingfisher | Alcedo atthis |
| Bee-eater | Merops apiaster |
| Great spotted woodpecker | Dendrocopos major |
| Short-toed lark | Calandrella brachydactyla |
| Sand martin | Riparia riparia |
| Barn swallow | Hirundo rustica |
| Yellow wagtail | Motacilla flava |
| Citrine wagtail | Motacilla citreola |
| Thrush nightingale | Luscinia luscinia |
| Common redstart | Phoenicurus phoenicurus |
| Northern wheatear | Oenanthe oenanthe |
| Lesser-grey shrike | Lanius minor |
| Cattle egret | Bubulcus ibis |
| European goldfinch | Carduelis carduelis |
| European greenfinch | Chloris chloris |
| Ruddy shelduck | Tadorna ferruginea |
| Red-necked phalarope | Phalaropus lobatus |
| Little crake | Porzana parva |
| Water rail | Rallus aquaticus |
| Common moorhen | Gallinula chloropus |
| Red-necked grebe | Podiceps grisegena |
| Great crested grebe | Podiceps cristatus |
Chorokhi Delta in mid August
Preparations for this year's autumn count are in full swing and the first counters have also arrived. Luckily there was still some time to visit the Chorokhi Delta and around 70 species were observed.
Highlights were: White Storks (83x), Spoonbills (3x), Terek Sandpipers (4x), Broad-billed Sandpipers (5x), Marsh Sandpipers (5x) Temminck's Stint (2x) and Isabelline Wheatear (8x).
Meanwhile the application form for raptor counters in autumn 2014 has been closed as the schedule is full. We are happy for the interest in our programme and looking forward to meet you in Batumi!
Birding in the Chorokhi Delta
The first of september 2013 was a day that will be long remembered for us, four lucky BRC counters that decided to spend their day off in the Chorokhi delta.
Not because of the weather though. When we arrived at 8 am the rain poured down already and it wouldn't really stop. The heavy rainfall of the night before resulted in much higher water levels than normal, making an otherwise easy walk now a challenging exercise, and after one hour we were completely soaked, cold and trembling, even considering to go back. Given the fact that it couldn't get any worse we decided to give it a try and worked our way to the beach. A day that started with rain ended with rain, but also with a lot of birds.
Despite the heavy rain and our limited use of optics, the bushes on our way to the beach produced good numbers of passerines. These including several olivaceous warblers, barred warbler, wryneck, shrikes, whinchats and (hemprichii) stonechats. In the open areas in between these bushes we found ortolan buntings, yellow and citrine wagtails and a flock of 40 short-toed larks. In one of the flooded areas we found our first two broad-billed sandpipers, several wood sandpipers and a nice flock of 25 little gulls. When we arrived at the beach, one of the first birds we found was a beautiful though rain-soaked black-eared wheatear. During a brief intermission in the rain, we decided to try our luck over the sea. This was very productive, with 4 arctic skuas, 75 garganeys, a red-necked grebe with some great crested grebes and an astonishing 674 yelkouan shearwaters in two time frames of 30 min!
Walking north we flushed 3 little bitterns from the small bushes on the beach, as well as lots of willow warblers, whitethroats, wheatears, wagtails and a great reed warbler. Even more spectacular were the lesser whitethroat, 5 hoopoes, 3 nightjars and 1 roller that we saw coming in from the sea. Good numbers of yellow wagtail were migrating south, with 300 of them in a five-minute frame only. The river mouth was very interesting, with 5 additional broad-billed sandpipers and a terek sandpiper in a nice mixed flock of waders. A huge flock of 400 white-winged terns, 400 little terns, 30 gull-billed terns, several common terns, whiskered terns and a couple of caspian terns was continuously flying around. The air was filled with mixed groups of up to 110 greenshanks, 90 wood sandpipers, 100s of calidris sandpipers, 22 night herons, tens of grey and purple herons and much more.
The downside of this nice day (besides the pouring rain and fogged up optics) was the presence and activity of hunters. We counted 194 shots during our time in the delta and saw at least a dozen hunters. Several herons were flying round with broken legs or damaged wings. The most heart-breaking part was the moment when we had to euthanize a ringed plover laying on the beach, wounded from a gun shot.
This day showed us the importance of the Chorokhi delta as a stopover place for a great variety of birds. Although it may be cold and wet, Chorokhi delta may be very well worth a visit on a rainy day!
Wouter van Pelt, Rasmus Elleby, Zackarias Svensson and Filip Collit
| Passing | Staying | Comment | ||
| Shoveler | Anas clypeata | 3 | ||
| Wigeon | Anas penelope | 2 | ||
| Garganey | Anas querquedula | 75 | ||
| Little grebe | Tachybaptus ruficollis | 2 | ||
| Great crested grebe | Podiceps cristatus | 6 | 2 | |
| Red-necked grebe | Podiceps grisegena | 1 | ||
| Yelkouan shearwater | Puffinus yelkouan | 674 | Passed during approx. one hour | |
| Cormorant | Phalacrocorax carbo | 4 | ||
| Little bittern | Ixobrychus minutus | 3 | ||
| Night heron | Nycticorax nycticorax | 35 | 13 + 22, probably 2 birds shot | |
| Squacco heron | Ardeola ralloides | 2 | ||
| Little egret | Egretta garzetta | 6 | 10 | |
| Grey heron | Ardea cinerea | 50 | 10 | |
| Purple heron | Ardea purpurea | 10 | 20 | |
| Marsh harrier | Circus aeruginosus | 1 | 2 | One immature male coming in from the sea |
| Montagu's/Pallid harrier | Circus pygragus/macrourus | 2 | ||
| Honey buzzard | Pernis apivorus | 1 | Coming in from the sea | |
| Hobby | Falcon subbuteo | 2 | ||
| Peregrine falcon | Falco peregrinus | 1 | ||
| Oystercatcher | Haematopus ostralegus | 9 | ||
| Ringed plover | Charadrius hiaticula | 3 | 1 shot bird | |
| Grey plover | Pluvialis squatarola | 35 | ||
| Turnstone | Arenaria interpres | 1 | ||
| Dunlin | Calidris alpina | 100 | ||
| Broad billed sandpiper | Limicola falcinellus | 7 | ||
| Little stint | Calidris minuta | 24 | ||
| Wood sandpiper | Tringa glareola | 90 | ||
| Green sandpiper | Tringa ochropus | 10 | ||
| Common sandpiper | Actitis hypoleucos | 1 | ||
| Terek sandpiper | Xenus cinereus | 1 | ||
| Greenshank | Tringa nebularea | 110 | ||
| Black-tailed godwit | Limosa limosa | 9 | ||
| Whimbrel | Numerius phaeopus | 1 | ||
| Ruff | Philomachus pugnax | 5 | ||
| Arctic skua | Stercorarius parasiticus | 4 | juv | |
| Black-headed gull | Chroicocephalus ridibundus | 1 | ||
| Slender-billed gull | Chroicocephalus genei | 1 | ||
| Yellow-legged gull | Larus michahellis | 2000 | ||
| Little gull | Hydrocoloeus minutus | 25 | ||
| Little tern | Sternula albifrons | 400 | ||
| Gull-billed tern | Gelochelidon nilotica | 30 | ||
| Common tern | Sterna hirundo | 10 | ||
| Caspian tern | Hydroprogne caspia | 4 | ||
| White-winged tern | Chlidonias leucopterus | 400 | ||
| Whiskered tern | Chlidonias hybrida | 8 | ||
| Turtle dove | Streptopelia turtur | 14 | ||
| Nightjar | Caprimulgus europaeus | 3 | Coming in from the sea | |
| Hoopoe | Upupa epops | 9 | 5 coming in from sea | |
| Kingfisher | Alcedo atthis | 4 | ||
| Roller | Coracias garrulus | 2 | 1 coming in from the sea | |
| Wryneck | Jynx torquilla | 1 | ||
| Shorttoed lark | Calandrella brachydactyla | 40 | large flock | |
| Sand martin | Riparia riparia | 200 | ||
| Barn swallow | Hirondo rustica | 250 | 120 | |
| House martin | Delichon urbicum | 30 | ||
| Tree pipit | Anthus trivialis | 10 | ||
| White wagtail | Motacilla alba | 50 | ||
| Yellow wagtail | Motacilla flaca | 300 | 150 | flava/thunbergi/feldegg. 300 birds passing in only 5 minutes |
| Citrine wagtail | Motacilla citreola | 10 | ||
| Trush nightingale | Lusciana lusciana | 15 | ||
| Wheatear | Oenanthe oenanthe | 50 | ||
| Black-eared wheatear | Oenanthe melanoleuca | 1 | ||
| Whinchat | Saxicola rubetra | 15 | ||
| Siberian stonechat | Saxicola maurus hemprichii | 3 | ||
| Barred warbler | Sylvia nisoria | 1 | ||
| Blackcap | Sylvia atricapilla | 5 | ||
| Whitethroat | Sylvia communis | 15 | ||
| Lesser whitethroat | Sylvia curruca | 2 | ||
| Great reed warbler | Acrocephalus arundinaceus | 4 | ||
| Olivecious warbler | Iduna pallida | 5 | ||
| Willow warbler | Phylloscopus trochilus | 20 | ||
| Spotted flycatcher | Muscicapa striata | 1 | ||
| Great tit | Parus major | 2 | ||
| Penduline tit | Remiz pendulinus | 1 | ||
| Lesser grey shrike | Lanius minor | 1 | ||
| Red-backed shrike | Lanius collurio | 50 | ||
| Hooded crow | Corvus cornix | 35 | ||
| Golden oriole | Oriolus oriolus | 3 | ||
| Ortolan bunting | Emberiza hortulana | 16 | ||
| Shots | 194 | |||
| Shot birds | ||||
| Ringed plover | 1 | |||
| Night heron | 1 | |||
| Purple heron | 1 |