{"id":2518,"date":"2020-01-28T12:59:20","date_gmt":"2020-01-28T12:59:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/?p=2518"},"modified":"2020-01-30T10:12:37","modified_gmt":"2020-01-30T10:12:37","slug":"from-the-black-sea-to-the-greater-caucasus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/?p=2518","title":{"rendered":"Black Sea & Greater Caucasus"},"content":{"rendered":"

January 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I was in elementary school, my class teacher reported from trip to the Black Sea<\/strong>
\nshe had done recently. At that time, I neither knew exactly where this sea should be,
\nnor could I imagine that this woman, who was standing in front of me, should really have
\nseen real dolphins<\/strong>. At least, that’s what she said.<\/p>\n

In 2019 I decided to go to Georgia, which was on my list for a long time already.
\nTwo things should definitely happen:
\nA. I wanted to see at least one of the three species of dolphins<\/strong> inhabiting the Black Sea
\nand, if possible, making sound recordings of their vocalisations.
\nB. I wanted to witness the raptor mass migration<\/strong> at the famous ‘Batumi bottleneck’.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, the trip should go to the Greater Caucasus<\/strong>, in order to get recordings
\nof some of the elusive mountain species<\/strong> there.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nsome Black-eared Kites<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nthe dark side of Batumi<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nview from one of the raptor observations points<\/p>\n

Georgians usually have huge and lush gardens (subtropical climate along the Black Sea coast!).
\nAs is to be expected, they inhabit abundant wildlife as these countless European Tree Crickets.<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/PFR15788_1-10_190916_BIO_etcrick-1-S_geo_batumi_OPoint01_REF-S_B.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

PFR15788, 190916, European Tree Cricket Oecanthus pellucens<\/em>, song, Batumi, Georgia<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/PFR15806_1-10_190918_BIO_WLS_etcrick-SEV-S_geo_sakhalvasho_DMS_BIN.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

PFR15806, 190916, European Tree Crickets Oecanthus pellucens<\/em>, song, Batumi, Georgia
\nBinaural down-mix from Double-MS recording.<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/PFR15798_1-10_190917_BIO_cauchicha-2-SC_geo_batumi_OPoint02_REF-S_B.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

PFR15798, 190917, Caucasian Chiffchaff Phylloscopus lorenzii<\/em>, social call, Batumi, Georgia<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/PFR15800_1-11_190917_BIO_ebeeat-30-FC_geo_batumi_OPoint02_REF-S_D-C.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

PFR15800, 190917, European-bee Eater Merops apiaster<\/em>, Batumi, Georgia
\nOne of the countless flocks of migrants passing by every day.<\/p>\n

Long story short: the three days at the Batumi Raptor Count<\/a> were breathtaking.
\nIn 2019 the count itself was coordinated by Pia Fetting<\/strong>, a fellow ornithologist from
\nGermany and she did a pretty good job<\/strong> as the other folks from the team as well.
\nThe organization, communication and coordination was highly professional<\/strong>.
\nThanks to Pia’s help we had incredibly good observations, also in the wider area
\nof \u200b\u200bBatumi. Upon request, the BRC<\/a> team arranges accommodation with local families<\/strong>
\nto strengthen the local economy<\/strong>. This was a real stroke of luck.
\nI have rarely met such fine and welcoming people and eaten so much fantastic home
\nmade food (vegan!).
\nIt should also be mentioned that (illegal) bird hunting<\/strong> is commonplace here, also at
\nthe migration hotspots. Witnessing hunters shooting European Honey Buzzards,
\nEurasian Bee-eaters and ducks was hard but daily business.
\nBrief interventions<\/strong> were enough to get hunters to flee immediately what made me think
\nonly little control by governmental institutions could solve this problem<\/strong> apparently
\nquite easily.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

From Batumi we went an hour further north along the Black Sea coast. Good wader,
\nsongbird and raptor migration<\/strong> could be observed right on the beach. Every evening
\nBottlenose Dolphins<\/strong> came very close and could be observed from just a few meters.
\nThey used to hunt fish in shallow water<\/strong>. Likewise, unforgettable!<\/p>\n

Sadly, there was a very strong contrast here, on the one hand the wonderful landscape
\nand wildlife, and on the other hand, tons of plastic waste<\/strong>, oil production facilities just
\na few 1000m off the shore, big numbers of neglected, sick or injured street dogs and
\nthat apparently complete disinterest<\/strong> of many vacationers for these things.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Talking about environmental issues<\/strong>, we should also experience a surprise in the nearby
\nKolkheti National Park<\/strong>. Wikipedia: “The wetlands of Central Kolkheti are a Wetland of
\nInternational Importance, a Ramsar Site<\/strong>.” We found it almost empty of birds (three
\ncormorants, two warning Little Bitterns, three seagulls). After a few minutes in our rented
\nkayak we encountered the first motor boat<\/strong>, which raced through the floodplain.
\nMany more should follow, some of them with armed men<\/strong>. The attempt to combine
\necotourism<\/strong> and event tourism<\/strong> has a massive negative impact<\/strong> on local bird communities
\nand on migratory birds as well.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

After demanding hours of driving (definitely only recommended for advanced drivers!!)
\nwe reached the Greater Caucasus<\/strong>. Here, too, it quickly became apparent that mass<\/strong>
\ntourism<\/strong> had already arrived.
\nInstead of remote mountain villages<\/strong> we found massive car and transit traffic, ski lifts
\nand ski slopes on all sides, an incredible number of hotels and guest houses, countless
\nconstruction sites (more hotels, guest houses) and almost 100 shuttle busses driving
\ntourists to sights all day.
\nThis quickly made it clear that here sound recording wouldn’t be possible<\/strong>.
\nSome remote valleys provided rest for at least some time – until the next quad bike
\nor jeep came rattling through the valley.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nthe famous Russia\u2013Georgia Friendship Monument<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Nevertheless, raptor<\/strong> and nocturnal heron<\/strong> (herons, egrets and bitterns) migration<\/strong> was
\nquite massive<\/strong> here too and there have been daily observations of Golden Eagles,
\nBearded Vultures, Griffon Vultures, Wallcreeper, Caucasian Ring Ouzel, three different
\nChichaff species, Eastern Black Redstarts and Caucasian Dunnocks.<\/p>\n

Noise has not been removed in the following recordings to give a realistic impression
\nof the acoustic situation.<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/PFR15840-1_1-10_190920_BIO_bcnheron-nycticorax-SEV-FC_bwprat-FC_geo_sminda_REF-S_E-D_D-C.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

PFR15840, 190920, Black-crowned Night-Heron Nycticorax nycticorax<\/em>,
\nBlack-winged Pratincole Glareola nordmanni<\/em>, nocturnal migration
\nStepanzminda, Georgia<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/PFR15852-1_1-10_190920_BIO_lbitt-minutus-1-FC_bcnheron-nycticorax-FL-FC_pheron-purpurea-1-FC_geo_sminda_REF-S_E_E-C_D.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

PFR15852, 190920, Little Bittern Yxobrychus minutus<\/em>,
\nBlack-crowned Night-Heron Nycticorax nycticorax<\/em>,
\nprobably Purple Heron Ardea purpurea<\/em>, nocturnal migration
\nStepanzminda, Georgia<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/PFR15871_1-10_190921_BIO_watpip-coutelli-6-3-FC_geo_sminda-E_REF-S_B-C.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

PFR15871, 190921, Caucasian Water Pipit Anthus spinoletta coutelli<\/em>, calls in flight
\nStepanzminda, Georgia<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/PFR15906_1-10_190922_BIO_rouz-amicorum-3-ECD-FC_geo_sminda-E_REF-S_C.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

PFR15906, 190922, Caucasian Ring Ouzel Turdus torquatus amicorum<\/em>, excitment and flight calls
\nStepanzminda, Georgia<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nnot an easy task to find it…<\/p>\n

On the last day we visited a protected area near Kutaisi. Here, good numbers of
\nwoodpeckers<\/strong> could be observed and their calls could be studied very well.<\/p>\n

Many thanks to Pia Fetting<\/a> and Michael Hei\u00df<\/a>!!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

January 2020 When I was in elementary school, my class teacher reported from trip to the Black Sea she had done recently. At that time, I neither knew exactly where this sea should be, nor could I imagine that this woman, who was standing in front of me, should really have seen real dolphins. At… Continue reading Black Sea & Greater Caucasus<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2537,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[10,35,30,162,20,31,160,61,161,128,73],"class_list":["post-2518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-acoustic-ecology","tag-autumn","tag-bird-migration","tag-caucasus","tag-coasts","tag-conservation","tag-georgia","tag-man-made-sound","tag-montane","tag-mountain","tag-nature-reserve","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2518"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2518\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2561,"href":"https:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2518\/revisions\/2561"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.singwarte.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}