Impressions Besh Barmag early Nov 2019

All photos © Lasse Patrick Simensen

Migration report from Besh Barmag, late Oct till early Nov 2019

Text © Andy Butler, Paul Doherty, Simon Roddis

The group at the spot © Paul Doherty

Most birdwatchers are interested in migration and, having seen the blog reports and Trektellen posts describing the huge numbers of birds passing through Besh Barmag, Andy Butler, Simon Roddis and I planned to visit in the autumn of 2019.

News of motorway construction in the area made us hesitate, but we decided to go anyway and booked our flights from Britain to Azerbaijan, landing in Baku on the 17th October and flying back in the early hours of 6th November.

A brief look at a couple of sites close to Baku produced various species, but also left us impatient to know what was happening at Besh Barmag.

We got to the counting area in the early afternoon on 17th October and had to decide where to count from as the landscape had changed since last year. Quite a bit of preparatory work has been done for the new motorway and a route excavated to just beyond Besh Barmag, ending about 8 kms north of Zarat at 41.007382, 49.218314.

It was a huge relief to find that, although various groundworks had been done, the site itself was quiet with no workers present and nothing actually being done. We decided to set up on our watchpoint on the embankment at the northern point of the works. The elevated position here gave us a good all round view and was only slightly further north than the main counting spot in 2018.

Construction work at the former counting spot © Paul Doherty

Migration count started © Andy Butler

The 18th was our first full day and it can only be described as full on, with the three of us kept busy from dawn to dusk. The main movers were Rooks and Calandra Larks with totals of 8080 and 23,110 respectively. The Calandra Larks just kept coming - every time we thought there was a pause along would come another flock. Other birds included Ruddy Shelducks and Eastern Imperial, Greater Spotted and Steppe Eagles. The 17th and 18th also produced our only Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters with calling birds announcing their presence as they passed high overhead on their way south.

Ruddy Shelducks © Paul Doherty

Our first Little Bustards came on the 22nd October when a total of 47 flew south - this proved to be the highest count of our trip. The 22nd also produced a memorable incident when a Calandra Lark being chased by a Merlin took shelter under our car. The Merlin landed briefly on the car, just a metre or two away from us, then moved to a pile of earth some five metres away, before deciding that a bush 15 metres away was a safe distance to watch us from. The Merlin was a stunning juvenile of the pallidus race and looked strikingly different from the birds we see in Britain.

Little Bustard © Andy Butler

Juvenile pallidus Merlin © Paul Doherty

On the 23rd October we had a look at the beach and a nearby stream and enjoyed good views of Great Black-headed Gull and Spotted Crake.

Great Black-headed Gull © Andy Butler

Spotted Crake © Andy Butler

Besh Barmag isn't especially noted for raptor migration, but we had 52 Griffon Vultures moving south on the 26th October, including a single spiral of 21 birds.

Large soaring birds also featured on the 28th when there were 149 Dalmatian Pelicans, 43 Griffon Vultures, 14 Cinereous Vultures, 11 Eastern Imperial Eagles and a single Bearded Vulture. Our first Common Cranes of the trip came on the 29th when five flew south and it was also a good day for Great Black-headed Gulls with 51 flying south.

The weather began to deteriorate on the 30th, migration slowed and there was heavy rain on 1st and 2nd November.

Migration kicked in again on the 3rd with 105 Great White Egrets (including a fine overhead group of 86), 160 Pygmy Cormorants and an outstanding 20,050 Cormorants, with the late afternoon producing one group after another, some of over one thousand birds and with the flocks often changing shape in a marvellously fluid and sinuous manner. It was also a good day for Wood Larks with 20 heading south. A first year Eastern Imperial Eagle which flew south had a green colour ring on its left leg and what appeared to be some sort of transmitter on its other leg; we hope it might be possible to discover where it came from.

Great White Egrets © Paul Doherty

Pygmy Cormorants were prominent on the 4th with 448 flying south. The 5th November was our last day and produced a star bird in the shape of 20 Black-bellied Sandgrouse powering south over the Caspian Sea. It also produced a record count of 254 Mistle Thrushes (previous high here was 58), and our first Coot was located amongst the breaking waves. The Coot was unfortunate enough to be spotted by a White-tailed Eagle which hovered above it until the Coot was too tired to dive again and was plucked from the sea and carried to the shore.

Presumably the motorway will be completed but we hope that it will still be possible for birdwatchers to gather at Besh Barmag and witness the spectacular migration. It can be a bit of an overwhelming experience - you can look through a telescope and see birds passing at all sorts of distances between you and the far horizon, or you check out some birds high overhead and realise that there are others passing even higher than them.

Our special thanks go to all the people who helped with advice and information in advance. Miryusif met us at the airport and made sure we got to the accommodation at Zarat safely. He was an invaluable source of information and advice during our trip. We did manage to get our hire car stuck on the embankment during the bad weather, so our final piece of advice is to be very careful on the dirt tracks if it rains.

Steppe soil on rainy days is very slippery © Paul Doherty

The outstanding memories from this trip are many - raptors overhead, the whistling wings of Little Bustards, a large flock of migrant Great White Egrets against a brilliant blue sky, huge flocks of Starlings shape-shifting in response to attacks from a Sparrowhawk.

Besh Barmag is a brilliant place for migration enthusiasts!

Social Impact Report - Birds bring jobs to Azerbaijan!

Social Impact Report

Besh Barmag Bird Migration Count

Autumn 2018

Editor Tomas Axén Haraldsson

        

• Introduction (English/Azerbaijani)

• Job creation

• Local financial gains

• Capacity building – individual & institutional 

• Conclusion, Links and media

Introduction

The sacred rock Besh Barmag overlooks the narrow coastal plain between the Caspian Sea and the foothills of the Greater Caucasus. Field research and explorative activities at Besh Barmag since 2007 have revealed this place to be one of the most important bird migration ”bottlenecks” in the entire Eurasia. The monitoring period September – December 2018 was the most extensive to date and a fairly complex operation with paid staff, volunteers, organized monitoring, logistics and communication.

Nearly 3 million migrating birds were counted during the three month period which has sent awe through the international ornithological community. The interest these birds have attracted can be detected also outside the ornithological sphere; in terms of job opportunities, local income, strengthening of local organisations and individuals as well as positive images from a rural part of Azerbaijan. This report will describe these non-ornithological results and values and how a source from Mother Nature, birds in this case, can bring about jobs, income and positive change in rural areas.

A wealth of short reports, photos and impressions from the field can be seen at www.birdingaze.blogspot.com

A research paper with the ornithological result of the period will be published in Sandgrouse, the journal of the Ornithological Society of the Middle East, Caucasus & Central Asia (OSME)

We are grateful to the organisations, charities, tour operators and individuals who have sponsored our work during this and previous seasons.

Kai Gauger

Biologist and co-founder of the Besh Barmag Bird Migration Count

 

Quşlar pul qazandırır!

Xəzər dənizi və Böyük Qafqaz dağları arasında yerləşən Beşbarmaq ərazisi son illərdə dünyanın vacib ornitiloji ərazilərindən biri olduğunu isbat etmişdir. Son illərdə ərazidə aparılan müşahidə və monitorinq proqramları eyni zamanda yerli iqtisadiyyatın canlanmasında, yeni iş imkanlarının formalaşmasında da rol oynamaqdadır. Məlum məsələdir ki, əsas gəlir qaynağı aqro-iqtisadi fəaliyyətlərə dayanan ucqar bölgələrdə əlavə gəlir qaynaqları yaratmaq çətindir.

Üç aylıq Beşbarmaq Quş Müşahidəsi proqramı çərçivəsində yaradılmış iş imkanları bunlardır:

Akkomondasiya (gecələmək) yeri: 

Lahiyə ərzində gecələm üçün müşahidə məntəqəsindən cənubda, Zarat kəndində yerləşən “Zaratuştra Ailəvi İstirahət” adlanan və 5 ədəd iki mərtəbəli evlərin olduğu kompleks istifadəyə götürülmüşdür. Sössüz ki, yerli istifadəçilərin az olduğu payız mövsümündə bu kompleksin 3 ay istifadəsi əlavə gəlir deməkdir. Yerli əhalidən olan bəzi xanımlar təmizlik işlərinə köməklik edərək əlavə qazanc əldə etmişlərdir. Kompleksin evlərdən kənarda yerləşən mətbəxi üçün ödəniş olunmuş və yeməklərin hazırlanması üçün Bakıdan aşbaz dəvət olunmuşdur. 

Bazarlıq:

Lahiyə müddətində kənddə yerləşən mağazalarda 8000 AZN-dən çox pul ərzaq məhsulları və digər şeylərin alınmasına xərclənmişdir. Yerli dükan sahiblərinin gəlirləri bu 3 ay ərzində 30% artmışdır. Eyni zamanda bəzi şeylərin alınması üçün Siyəzəndəki marketlər, habelə  Beşbarmaqda olan dükanlar da istifadə olunmuşdur.

Loqistika: 

Gələn ziyarətçilərin Bakıdan Zarata gətirilməsinə və aparılmasına kömək ütmək üçün 5 ədəd yerli sürücü işə cəlb olunmuşdur. Lahiyə ərzində onlar ortalama 150 saatlıq məsafə qət edərək əlavə gəlir əldə etmişlərdir. Həmçinin, ərazidə küləyə qarşı qorunmaq üçün tikilmiş kiçik qorucağın hazırlanmasında yerli ustalar cəlb olunmuş və 1600 AZN pul xərclənmişdir.

Lahiyə çərçivəsində yerli tərəfdaş kimi çıxış edən Təbiət Dostları (NFA) təşkilatından olan könüllülər lahiyənin təşkilində, idarə olunmasında, yerli iştirakçıların seçilməsində və digər məsələlərdə əvəzsiz köməklik göstərmişdir.

(translation by Zülfü Ferecli, Azerbaijani ornithologist and project participant)

Bird migration counts going on. The sacred rock of Besh Barmag in the background. Photo Michael Heiss

Job creation

The socio-economical situation and opportunities for making a living in rural Azerbaijan are severly limited and strained. The old agro-economy of the past is not in balance with present time challenges and demands and at the same time the fertile ground needed for new ideas and entrepreneurship is often lacking. Remnants from the Soviet era (1923 – 1991) are scattered across the landscape with crumbling industrial complexes, where thousands of people used to work, and the oil boom has largely failed to infuse money and raise living standards in rural Azerbaijan.

In this context, even a limited operation like the present project can provide both jobs, income and a sense of attention and international interest. Each visiting foreigner, each meal and each local transport is an income and the project management has tried persistently to keep the income opportunities for the local inhabitants.

The job opportunities being created can be summed up;

Accommodation

The project hired the entire complex called ”Zarathustra Istirahat Ailevi” in the village of Zarat, some 7km south of the observation area at Besh Barmag. The premises consists of five simple two-storey holiday units each with 3 beds plus one additional, bathroom and small kitchen. It also has a garden and a small separate kitchen and dining room with seating for about 30 persons. Our project cook used this kitchen and dining room to provide full board for all participants and paying visitors.

The hotel management obviously was delighted to make such good business on a ”low season” since the place is mainly used for holidaying families from Baku during the summer months.

Local women villagers were employed as staff for cleaning and laundry during this period. Two individuals were involved and were paid by the hotel management a part time salary for the hours per day they worked.

Cook

For the entire three-month project period the hotel had hired a cook from Baku. His income is estimated to an above-average Azerbaijani monthly salary. His duties apart from preparing three meals per day to the participants present (3-18 persons) was also some general coordination and linking up with the hotel management, cleaning staff and caretaker.

Groceries

The project cooking organisation spent a total of 4.900$ in the local grocery stores where 2-3 people worked. This is a very small village store so this period of heightened sales is estimated to have increased the turnover by 30% during those three months. Another 500$ were spent in grocery stores in Siyazan, a town 15km north of Zarat.

The visitors also bought an estimated 100+ meals from the local kebab stalls at the rest houses at Besh Barmag as well as their own supplies from the supermarkets.

Logistics and coordination

A volunteer coordinator was provided from Nature Friends Azerbaijan (NFA). Among his duties were to meet and arrange for the visitors, link up with local authorities and support with technical issues. He was also instrumental in organising and building a wind shelter. The project also extends its great appreciation to NFA for their crucial backoffice work and general support.

Transports

Taxi drivers and minibus drivers were employed on a regular basis to take participants from Baku Airport to Zarat and back. The project had arranged a minivan for the main daily transportation purposes.

An estimated total of 150 hours of driving/work for five different drivers constitutes an important part of their income.

The wind shelter

A local craftsman was charged to build a wind shelter (see photo above) for the observation spot. The construction work was done within a few days and costed a total of 1600AZN.

Local produce enjoyed daily during the project. Photo Michael Heiss

Local financial gains

Aside from the jobs created and the individual income for families in the area, other financial gains for the local economy can be noted. Visiting international groups not part of the project operation stopped by for meals, snacks, bathroom visits and shopping. The extensive promotion of Besh Barmag as an international birdwatching destination, including thousands of followers on social media and a news program by BBC Azerbaijan, has resulted in a rise of visitors and it is likely to continue to grow.

A seminar was given in Baku on 3 December and attended by a number of people, including a tour operator, state tv AzTV as well as the head of the Swedish embassy.

Capacity building

To plan, fund, organise and execute such a complex project in a challening context like rural Azerbaijan is a process of learning, experiencing and strengthening on both institutional and individual levels.

Institutional level

Nature Friends Azerbaijan has been the main partner in Azerbaijan for this project. NFA is the Azerbaijani branch of International Young Nature Friends (IYNF), an international youth organization with more than 120.000 young members across Europe.

NFA have been involved in the creation and development of this wider initiative since 2015. Its leadership have been closely involved in planning the field work, recruit young local participants, communicate in Azeri on web pages and leaflets, organise the logistics and support with administrative work.

An international bird conservation project with this number of participants has not been done in Azerbaijan before and to be involved in that has been useful.

Saida Valadzada, volunteer coordinator with NFA:

”Throughout the birding events for the past years Nature Friends have placed open calls in social media for involvement of new enthusiasts, students of relevant disciplines in bird-watching camps and monitoring. This attracted both ecologists and ornithologists as well as the young people who were interested in birdwatching but were never engaged, in fact. Some of those enthusiasts participated in each event held at least once a year and more than that, they became active NFA members who were involved in decision making process.”

Individual level

One of the most tangible outcomes of the project has been the personal learning and training of young Azerbaijani naturalists. From basic visitors in nature to skilled field assistants, and some cases also co-leaders with foreign birdwatching tour groups. About ten Azerbaijani nationals, aged 17 to 30, have been involved in both this project as well as the running up Bird Camps done in 2016 and 2017. Four of them are now OSME members. Their own journeys from beginners to skilled birdwatchers are well reflected in three guest blogs at www.osme.org by Zülfü Ferecli, Gunay Behramzade and Leyla Muslim, see links below.

Part of the team during a sunny November day. Zülfü Ferecli, second from left, and Leyla Muslim, fourth from left. 

One of the Azerbaijani participants, Leyla Muslim, describes her feelings in a guest blog at the OSME web:

”Everything was different and new for me. I was really impressed. That passion and enthusiasm of birders motivated me so much. I have learned many bird names, which was new for me. I wanted those two weeks never to end. So, I was looking forward to the next project.”

Another participant, Zülfü Ferecli, has joined this and previous activities at Besh Barmag as well as being a co-leader on birdwatching tours in Azerbaijan. He is running a popular YouTube channel on birds in Azerbaijan and currently starting up his own birding guide business.

In conclusion, the Besh Barmag Bird Migration Count is not only an internationally widely recognised bird conservation project, it is also develops to a matter of national prestige providing income to the local communities. Building on the recent achievements a further development with local support can make the Besh Barmag Bird Migration Count to a flagship project in the Caucasus and along the Caspian.

This project has strengthened the local capacity and helped foster the Azerbaijani nature conservationists and youth leaders of tomorrow.

Find the full report as pdf file here: http://www.tomasharaldsson.se/?page_id=251

Links and media

Main project web Birding Azerbaijan 
www.birdingaze.blogspot.com 

News program by BBC Azerbaijan (English and Azerbaijani, from autumn 2018) 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53id2G1nvFI#action=share 

Article by Baku Magazine (English, from spring 2017) 
https://baku-magazine.com/conservation/wings-across-caspian/  

Article by 1News (Russian, from autumn 2018) 
http://www.1news.az/news/sezonnoy-migracii-millionov-ptic-cherez-beshbarmag-mozhet-ugrozhat-novaya-strategicheskaya-trassa-foto-video 

Bird Camp Besh Barmag documentary (English, from spring 2017)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZf6-mPuXDs&t=18s 

Guest blogs at the OSME web (English and English/Azerbaijani, from 2017-2018):

Gunay Behramzade https://osme.org/content/azerbaijan-and-besh-barmag-project

Zülfü Ferecli https://osme.org/content/i-love-nature-2

Leyla Muslim https://osme.org/content/i-love-nature-6