The amazing raptor migrations at Batumi, Georgia

For Johannes, nature study is a lifestyle. As a child he explored the Meetjesland – the area in Belgium he was born – in search for avifauna. Even now, he prefers to be outside in nature basically all the time. His biology study was therefore a logical choice.

In his student days he broadened his horizons and his journeys gravitated more and more eastward – always with bird migration in mind. It was an initial visit to the Caucasus that led to Johannes co-found the Batumi Raptor Count, an organization based in Georgia that coordinates the now annual bird of prey counts when in excess of 1 million birds have been counted passing overhead. The migration count gives a boost to local, small-scale and authentic ecotourism in the region and also works to raise the awareness of the value of nature and hopefully reducing poaching.

Johannes studied the effect of local hunting on migrating birds of prey in Georgia for his master’s thesis.

Learn more about this amazing raptor watchpoint