Photo Gallery
Sunbird
We travel north from Tbilisi through rolling hills cloaked in beech forest…
…with time to stop to look for birds…
…such as Green Warbler…
…and the dapper Semi-collared Flycatcher.
We’ll stop as well for a shady picnic…
…perhaps with some bread made locally in a traditional oven…
…and on our travels we’ll also encounter some of Georgia’s many historical buildings which are always worth a stop…
…if only for the chance to see the local race of Common Redstart…
…and Black Redstart.
Our journey then reaches a high pass…
…where we’ll stop to look for high-altitude birds such as Snowfinch…
…and Alpine Chough…
…before we descend to the River Terek valley….
…where we’ll spend a few days based in the small village of Stepantsminda lying in the shadow of Mt Kazbegi.
While birding in the valley, we’ll be looking for some of the local specialities…
…of which the smart Güldenstädt’s Redstart is one of the most sought-after.
By scanning the valley slopes…
…we should find (and hear) Caucasian Snowcocks, still relatively low down before they retreat higher up for the breeding season
We’ll explore quiet side valleys…
…where at least one encounter with a Wallcreeper is likely…
…while other local species include Red-billed Chough…
…Dipper…
…and the striking Ring Ouzel.
Overhead we can expect to see the mighty Lammergeier…
…or an equally impressive Griffon Vulture.
The Terek valley is a natural flyway for migrants, and Ortolan Buntings can be particularly common…
…as can various races of Yellow Wagtail…
…and there should be plenty of Caucasian Chiffchaffs on the move as well.
Other migrants could include Barred Warbler…
…smart Lesser Grey Shrikes…
…or even a well-camouflaged Scops Owl.
We’ll spend time on the slopes above the village…
…looking especially for groups of Great Rosefinch…
…and there will be flocks of Twite to distract us.
Leaving the mountains, we’ll head south, entering open, steppe habitats…
…where we find a different selection of birds typical of this open grassland such as Calandra Lark…
…Tawny Pipit…
…and Crested Lark…
…wWith color provided by European Bee-eaters…
…and Black-headed Buntings…
…and Black Vultures soaring overhead.
Our destination is Chachuna,an open area in the very south of the country where the landscape is dotted with wild pistachio trees…
…prfect look-out points for the Woodchat Shrikes…
…and vivid Rollers.
The bushes are also good breeding sites for warblers such as Ménétries’s Warbler…
…and Eastern Orphean Warbler…
…while the rockier areas are home to Rock Buntings…
…and we’ll hear and might be lucky enough to glimpse Black Francolin…
…and there may be a local breeding pair of Levant Sparrowhawks.
In this warm, dry environment there will be plenty of insects to look at such as Green Hairstreak butterflies…
…or even a huge Emperor Moth…
…while the steppe grasslands hold some very interesting flowers