A few of us tried the Pansheti Swimming Pool area again with much the same result as the previous afternoon. Lots of Shrikes in the buckthorn and on small isolated bushes, both Corncrake still present and correct (and hidden), and a Wheatear and a Whinchat on the central grassy area. A quick stop at the Rubbish Creek also saw repeat birds, and after a another breakfast fit for a king we departed south over the pass. There was none of the crazy traffic fro the previous day and so by half nine we were able to stop and give the area just ahead of the high point a little bit of time - the snow fields here allegedly held Shore Lark and Twite and we were keen to add these to our trip list. I can't quite remember but Twite, which is not a common bird if you live in the south east, might have been a lifer for at least one of the team. Anyway, I struck off back down the main road along the rubbish-strewn crash barrier and before long had found a couple of Shore Lark pottering about.Some small birds a little further were no doubt the Twite. Along the way I found a Nightingale in the snow which was most bizarre. I didn't give it much thought at the time, it seemed rufous enough, but once we were all back in London this was questioned as to whether it was in fact a Thrush Nightingale. Looking at the photos properly it seemed that it was!
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| Thrush Nightingale |
I beckoned the guys over so they could see the targets, and as we all stood there in this white landscape a Caucasian Snowcock sang from the mountainside. The Shore Lark looked very different to the ones we get in the UK, much more extensive black on the face, and very white rather than yellow - indeed it is a sub-species called Black-necklaced Shore Lark - penicillata. Near what would be a bustling set of stalls selling all sorts of things in high season we found lots of Water Pipit, and Wheatear seemed to be all over the place.yet again we could hear Bee-eater somewhere above us, a reminder that many of these birds were actively heading north.
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| Shore Lark |
From here it was a very long drive back down through the forests and back to Tbilisi. Our plan was to bird Kumisi Reservoir all afternoon - this had a lengthy list of birds that we still needed for the trip, and we felt that if we spent longer there than our brief scan on the first day we might pick a few of these up. It was less busy than last time, in particular there were virtually no fishermen on what a weekday, and so we drove from spot to spot along the southern shore where there is a mostly abandoned village of crumbling concrete - Kumisi itself it seems, a sad sight but one that is common in Georgia.
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| A road sign reminding us quite how far east we were! |
We birded the southern edge only which is quite open. I suspect a lot of the birds are in the reeded and more marshy habitat on the northern side - I got a brief scope view of a number os Little Egrets and single Squacco over the reedbeds - but it isn't clear how you get there. Possibly you spend the whole day walking the entire circuit, but we did well enough. The highlights were a small group of Little Stint, with a Ringed Plover and Common Sandpiper for company. A tight group of small birds on the water turned out to be seven Black-necked Grebes, and flitting about the outskirts of some ruins were a pair of Eastern Black-eared Wheatear.
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| Black-eared Wheatear |
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| Hoopoe |
Late afternoon, flagging, we stopped at Mtisdziri Flash where TB pulled a sleeping Broad-billed Sandpiper out of the bag. There were loads of Ruff here this time, as well as Greenshank, Wood Sandpiper, Dunlin, Little Stint and Little Ringed Plover. There were over a hundred Cattle Egret, and finally - finally - a Yellow Wagtail flew over, a bird that we were amazed we could not find.
After that it was a late afternoon walk to try and add a few more species back at Ponichala - all trips end like this. We were moderately successful, with Little Bittern, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Middle Spotted Woodpecker and Savi's Warbler. Flush with this final hurrah we returned to the hotel at the airport for a final dinner and some celebratory beers - the flight was first thing the following morning. We had seen around 180 species in our whistle stop tour, including almost all of the major targets. It is a phenomenal country, crumbling yet beautiful, with landscapes you can't imagine. As we ate and contemplated we talked about landscapes further east that are even more sensational by all accounts. A trip to Kazakhstan might be on the cards, a country Rob knows well.... Or Mongolia.... Let's see what we can get organised.
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| The Snowcocks at Mt Kuso |
So that's a wrap. I know, I know. It's August, we went in the latter half of May. This is what happens when you're busy and have a feckless streak. All that remains is the customary and ever-popular trip list post, and then I can put this behind me and move on to some other things. I might actually have something to say.
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