Wednesday 11 September
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| Black Kites and Honey Buzzards on the move |
After our visit to the coast north of Batumi it was one more back up the mountain to the
Sakhalvasho raptor watch point for four hours. Still plenty of migrating raptors but not the huge number yesterday in our absence. Whilst we saw many
Honey Buzzards there were far more
Black Kites and we also saw one of the two
Steppe Eagles recorded on the day. In addition, a good number of
Booted Eagles, over 300 recorded during the day, along with a couple of
Short-toed Eagles.
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| Black Kite Milvus migrans |
A passing
Osprey over the sea was a welcome sight but, for me, it was more the sightings of
Hobbies and
Sparrowhawks at a closer distance that was more appreciated. Just when all seemed quite the call went out and most "rushed" to the other side of the viewing platform to get a look at the silhouette of the passing
Lesser Spotted Eagle.
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| Honey Buzzard Pernis apivorus |
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| Honey Buzzard Pernis apivorus |
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| Honey Buzzard Pernis apivorus |
As always, lots and lots of
Bee-eaters and later joined by more migrating
Barn Swallows. Checking on the day's total I noted that
Black Kites exceeded
Honey Buzzards by almost six-fold with 7591 recorded compared with 1243 of the latter. The total raptor count for the day was a splendid 10548.
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| Sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus |
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| Booted Eagle Aquila pennata |
Birds seen:
Osprey, Honey Buzzard, Black Kite, Steppe Eagle, Lesser Spotted eagle, Short-toed Eagle, Booted Eagle, Sparrowhawk, Hobby, Bee-eater, Barn Swallow
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| Even time to study the small green lizard |
Check out the accompanying website at http://www.birdingaxarquia.weebly.com for the latest sightings, photographs and additional information
the photo labelled booted eagle is a sparrowhawk
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