Georgia, positioned on the east coast of the Black Sea, is a small country which punches well above its weight regarding the sheer birding riches and spectacle that it offers. With the Lesser Caucasus mountains forming a migration bottleneck with the Black Sea coast, the migration of birds of prey over Batumi is the 3rd largest in the whole world, with over 1,000,000 birds of prey passing during the autumn. We time our tour to coincide with this incredible spectacle, watching as Honey Buzzards are passing in their tens of thousands and harriers, eagles and accipiter’s pass in one of the greatest concentrations on earth. A migratory hotspot for many birds, the coastal areas can be alive with migrant warblers, shrikes, larks, chats, pipits and wagtails from Russia. Visits to the Chorokhi Delta and Mtirala National Park will feature migrant waders, marsh terns, herons and egrets, and many breeding specialities.
Our tour will also see us travel into the incredible Greater Caucasus Mountains, staying within touching distance of such enchanting species as Caucasian Snowcock, Caucasian Black Grouse, Caucasian Chiffchaff, Güldenstadt’s Redstart, Green Warbler and Great Rosefinch. The mountains, reaching over 5,000 meters at their highest and spanning from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea, are home to a host of other specialist species including Red-fronted Serin, Kruper’s Nuthatch, Western Rock Nuthatch, Eastern Imperial Eagle, Lammergeier, and possibly Wallcreeper, and are sure to blow us away. A set of key subspecies which we should encounter are Water Pipit ssp. coutellii, Shorelark ssp. penicillate and Twite ssp. brevirostris. Focusing on the western end of the range, we will spend our time in the Svaneti National Park, visiting key areas to maximise our chances of seeing the most desirable species. The scenery will be stunning, and the birding equally so, with many other superb species on offer here! A tour not to be missed!
DAY ONE
We will depart from London on an early morning flight, arriving in Batumi at 7:30 pm. Transfer to hotel for welcome dinner.
DAY TWO – FOUR
Our itinerary here on the Black Sea coast will be somewhat flexible, depending on the weather. Our primary focus will be to experience the raptor migration from the two main raptor watchpoints (Saghalvasho or Shuamta) where we can hope to witness one of the greatest migration spectacles in the Western Palearctic. On a good day, 1000’s or even tens of 1000’s of Honey Buzzards and Black Kites can stream through, with support of impressive numbers of Pallid, Montagu’s and Marsh Harriers, Levant’s Sparrowhawks, Booted, Short-toed, Lesser and Greater Spotted Eagles and Steppe Buzzards. Our tour timing also means we stand a chance of seeing Crested Honey Buzzard; a rare but regular visitor here in the second week of September, while passage of Red-footed Falcon, Lesser Kestrel, European Rollers and Black Storks can also sometimes feature.
Other hotspots we will visit are the Chorokhi delta, where migrant wetland birds refuel and offer a good chance of Grey-headed Swamphen (recently split from Western Swamphen), Little Crake, Squacco Heron, Citrine Wagtail, Little Stint, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Terek Sandpiper and much more. We will also visit the Botanical Garden, Mtirala National Park, Batumi Boulevard and seaside Miracle Park, where Kruper’s Nuthatch can be encountered at the former site, and if weather conditions are conducive, migrant species could include a list too long to mention here! Overnight Batumi.
DAY FIVE
Today we will check out from the hotel, and start early for our drive north towards the high mountain region of Svaneti. Along the way, we will make a stop at Kolkheti National Park, where the river mouth and Paliastomi lake make for good birding. We will find waders, terns, wheatears and other goodies at the river mouth, while looking over the lake we will look for Night Herons, White-tailed Eagle, Little Gulls and grebes. Continuing our journey in the afternoon, we will drive up a scenic road into the Caucasus, reaching the historical village of Mestia by dinner time. Overnight in Mestia.
DAY SIX
We plan an early rise, as we will drive up a high mountain slope to reach the highest point at sunrise. From this point, we will scan for Caucasian Snowcock on the steep rocky slopes, and may find the Caucasian Black Grouse on the lower slopes with dwarf rhododendron. The area will provide a good chance to connect with the Great Rosefinch, and at the base of scree slopes we will search Guldenstadt’s Redstart. The high mountain forest at the treeline might result in good views of Caucasian Chiffchaff, Green Warbler and Krüper’s Nuthatch. The latter has it’s northernmost and highest occurence here. If there is still time in the afternoon, we will visit the base of the Ushba glacier where we will look for Golden eagle, Twite (ssp flavirostris), Horned Larks (ssp penicillata) and Wallcreeper. We will hopefully encounter Lammergeier in this region also. Overnight in Mestia.
DAY SEVEN
If weather was not favourable the day before, we may go up the pass again to search for the missing target species. In the morning we will head toward Ushguli, a Unesco protected village, dotted with guard towers. This scenic site holds many Water pipits (ssp coutelii), the local subspecies of buzzard (menetriensis), Red-fronted serins and Ring ouzels (ssp armoricum). Depending on the time and the weather, we will continue towards the Shkara glacier. Overnight back in Mestia.
DAY EIGHT
We will use the morning hours to further explore the Svaneti region. We will start our descend back down and south, for a drive of about 5h, and will break the journey with another stop at Maltakva beach to see if there are freshly arrived waders or terns there. We will reach Batumi in the evening. Overnight in Batumi.
DAY NINE
We will dedicate our last day in Batumi to raptor migration, and might see a slightly different raptor flight than the first days. If the weather is not favourable, we will bird the lowlands for migrant songbirds. In any case, we will surely see some superb birds. Festive farewell dinner in Georgian style. Overnight in Batumi.
DAY TEN
After breakfast and checking out, we will head to the airport to catch our morning flight back to London.
