You have probably heard about Batumi Raptor Count in Georgia, but do you know Besh Barmag in Azerbaijan? Where Batumi is situated at the western end of the Caucasus, Besh Barmag is its counterpart at the eastern end. A bottleneck for migrating birds between the Caucasus mountains and the Caspian Sea that is just being… Continue reading Besh Barmag Bird Migration Counts 4-18 November 2017
Text © Pia Fetting Between the 21st and 23rd of April, the meanwhile second larger international Bird Camp at the famous Besh Barmag bottleneck in Azerbaijan took place. Like the last Bird Camp in September 2016 it was again gratefully and excellent organised by NatureFriends Azerbaijan, SOF BirdLife (the Swedish BirdLife partner) and AOS (Azerbaijan… Continue reading Bird Camp Besh Barmag April 2017
Text © Christoph Himmel The western Caspian coast of Azerbaijan is an important stop-over site for migrating waders, with Gyzylagach State Reserve holding the highest numbers of them. Despite the importance of this area it is under-surveyed, as the last counts took part in 1990. According to recent publications, 53% of the wader species of… Continue reading Crowdfunding for research on waders in Gyzylagach
Two Long-billed Dowitchers were discovered on an exploratory winter field trip on 31 January 2017 near Narimanabad (Kizil Agach). This is the first known record of this species for Azerbaijan. The trip was guided by Jos van Oostveen from Kaukasus Plus Reizen. Congratulations! Long-billed Dowitcher © Jos van Oostveen Rear view © Jos van Oostveen… Continue reading First record of Long-billed Dowitcher for Azerbaijan
Season: January – February Target species: Little Bustard, Dalmatian Pelican, Caucasian Snowcock, Güldenstädt’s Redstart, Red-fronted Serin, Caucasian Twite, Black Francolin, White-tailed Lapwing, Caspian Tit, White-winged Lark, Little Bustard, Siberian Buff-bellied Pipit, Finsch’s Wheatear, Black-throated Thrush and the Great Spotted Woodpecker (ssp. poelzami). Locations: Greater Caucasus, Absheron National Park, Gobustan, Shirvan National Park, Qizilagach National Park,… Continue reading Caucasian Winter Tour (11 days)
Season: April – June Target species: Caucasian Snowcock, Caucasian Black Grouse, See-see Partridge, Black Francolin, all four vultures, Shikra, White-tailed Lapwing, Terek Sandpiper, Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, Great Spotted Woodpecker (ssp. poelzami), Bimaculated Lark, Western and Eastern Rock Nuthatch, Wallcreeper, Rose-coloured Starling, Güldenstadt’s Redstart, Rufous-tailed Bushchat, White-throated Robin, Blue and Red-tailed Rock Thrush, Finsch's, Pied and Persian… Continue reading Caspian Spring Tour (12 days)
Date: September – November Target species: Caucasian Snowcock, Güldenstädt’s Redstart, Red-fronted Serin, Caucasian Twite, Black Francolin, White-tailed Lapwing, Desert Wheatear, Caspian Tit, White-winged Lark, Little Bustard, Siberian Buff-bellied Pipit, Finsch’s Wheatear, Black-throated Thrush and the Great Spotted Woodpecker (ssp. poelzami). Locations: Besh Barmag bottleneck, Greater Caucasus, Shirvan National Park, Qizilagach National Park, Talysh Mountains, Baku… Continue reading Bird Migration Tour (10 days)
Text © Pia Fetting This blogpost covers the time between the 4th and 16th of September before the BirdCamp at Besh Barmag started. During these days Chris and I were in Azerbaijan, later joined by Micha. We mainly did migration counts (the numbers are available on trektellen: http://trektellen.org/maps/index/0/1533) at Besh Barmag and went to some… Continue reading Summary of the days before the bird camp 2016
In May 2017 Batumi Birding is offering a trip to Azerbaijan with the same programme like last year's Avifauna journey. High paced, focus on target species and visiting all major hotspots. Kai Gauger and Brecht Verhelst will be the guides. If you are interested in joining us please have a look at: http://www.batumibirding.com/azerbaijan-undiscovered/node/135 The profit… Continue reading spring trip 2017 offered
Text & Photos © M. Heiß The rush of nature and bird friends from the Bird Camp Besh Barmag ebbed away and after the wonderful dinner in Baku Pia and I drove back to the bottleneck area. We counted together for the next 1,5 days and after she left to do migration counts in Batumi… Continue reading Last days at Besh Barmag in autumn 2016
Birding Azerbaijan 