Text by Kai Gauger, photos by Lars Delling, Moritz Schulze, Christian Baarlink, Martin Fichtler and Kai Gauger From May 20th to 28th Kai Gauger led a trip along the birding hotspots in eastern Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan. The guests were from Germany, Austria, Denmark and Great Britain and the ground logistics were (as always) perfectly arranged… Continue reading spring birding tour 20.-28.05.2018
Shirvan National Park Easily accessible along the Baku-Astara highway 120 km south of Baku, Shirvan National Park is one of Azerbaijan’s top all-round nature sites and is best known as the home of the iconic goitered gazelle. The gazelle is an absolute Azerbaijan success story, since their numbers had dropped to just a few hundred… Continue reading Day trip – Shirvan-Gobustan
For spring 2018, Batumi Birding offers a birdwatching trip to Azerbaijan. The travel route will cover all main landscape types from the Greater to the Lesser Caucasus, from coastal wetlands to dry steppes in order to cover the large diversity of bird species including all Caucasian specialities. These beautiful Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters were photographed in Shirvan… Continue reading Birding tour in spring 2018
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
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)
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
A detailed report from the spring trip is now online available. It is in Swedish but has a species list in English, Swedish and Latin. http://www.avifauna.se/avifauna/rapporter-arkiv/reserapporter/ Videos from the trip can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/user/Tomas06560656/videos
Birding Azerbaijan 