As many of you know, Batumi Raptor Count also counts several non-raptor species that are always welcomed with excitement! In the last few days, several flocks of Rollers and, finally, the first Turtle Doves showed up together with a single Oriental Turtle Dove! 📸Marc Heetkamp 3/4

Here's our Honey Buzzard peak day in context. Of the 96K+ that passed today, 93.913 passed in the standard count period of sunrise+1h to sunset-2h. So today was the 6th biggest Honey day in BRC records. Just shy of the 100K that was crossed only 4 times: in '12, '15, '21 & '22.

Some of the presumed Oriental (Crested) Honeybuzzards we Batumi Raptor Count volunteers managed to pick out among many many thousands of European Honeybuzzards #migrating past Shuamta in the last few days!🍻 #BirdsOfTwitter #migration #BirdsSeenIn2023 #birdwatching #birdphotography

Our counters this season remain ever sharp-nosed, most certainly that they could smell this juvenile Honey Buzzard passing the transect line! This absolutely stunning picture was taken by one of our dedicated long-term counters Marc Heetkamp.😍

Last week’s ‘white’ Black Kite 😲over Sakhalvasho, #batumi #Batumiraptorcount 🇬🇪

Have you heard the one where the pigeon walks into a Peregrine nest...😀

And last, but certainly not least: the ever-entertaining Crested Honey Buzzards continue to pass through! Some of them are basically within grabbing distance. 🤩 4/4 📸Marc Heetkamp

With exactly two more weeks to go, we are extremely happy and proud to have once again counted >1 million raptors during #BRC15!😍 Let's see how we came here, and what we can still expect in the upcoming 14 days...🧵👇 1/5 📸Marc Heetkamp

Leucistic Marsh Harrier with Batumi Raptor Count a few days ago!

Pied Bush Chat today at last light in the Chorokhi delta, superb find by Marc Heetkamp and others! Tarsiger

Pied Bushchat, Saxicola caprata photographed at Chorokhi Delta, Batumi, photo by Marc Heetkamp - the 1st record for Georgia

Not the worst day in the Chorokhi delta ever;) Together with @BNDRdam and Matt Daw we had the first Pied Bush Chat for Georgia, along with the 2nd Oriental Sky Lark. We also had 2 Richard’s Pipits as a dessert! Hopefully more nice surprises will follow! Tarsiger WP Birding

Despite some of the later species, such as Imperial and Steppe Eagles showed up in lower number than usual, we recorded high numbers of Black Storks, Short-toed Eagles, Black Kites, and of course, the single Great White Pelican! 📸Marc Heetkamp 2/4

Altogether, we can look back at another incredible season! Thanks to our coordinators and all of the amazing people that joined us as a counter! We could not have done it without you!💚 Keep an eye on our website and socials for the upcoming autumn report!👀 📸Marc Heetkamp 3/4

Dahlias becoming a hotel for frogs Allison Lamb raises around 200 dahlias on her property and was delighted to discover that the blooms serve as a perfectly sized house for frogs. x.com/FrogOnIG/statu…

So what can the radar tell us? Well, just after midnight the radar ‘lights up’ because almost 400,000 (!!!) birds immediately flee to the sky! Over about an hour, and looking at the entire country, MILLIONS of birds are seriously disturbed by fireworks.

Happy New Year! 🥳 (for humans) — But… not so much for the millions of birds, that are scared to death by the sudden burst of fireworks. See the KNMI radar light up in between rain showers. Live feeds below for other radars 👇 Study: doi.org/10.1002/fee.26…

We've been awfully quiet on here this season. But not due to a lack of action! One of this year's highlights has been a record-shattering total of *92 Crested Honey Buzzards* (Pernis ptilorhynchus) making their way through the Batumi Bottleneck! (📸: Marc Heetkamp) 1/4

📢NEW STUDY describing the first full-season spring raptor migration counts in the eastern Black Sea flyway! Read about seasonal contrasts in raptor migration, the eastern Black Sea coast as a principal spring flyway, and much more. Preprint➡️biorxiv.org/content/10.110… 1/9🧵👇