West Coast Birdwatching

West Coast Birdwatching AKA Dave Astins. Pembrokeshire (Wales 🏴󠁧󠁒󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿) based bird tour leader and surveyor. I lead several overseas trips each year, usually for Wise Birding Holidays.

Oman πŸ‡΄πŸ‡² a particular speciality.

September sees the return of the Skomer Island Autumn Bird Migration event. I will be leading this event for The Wildlif...
22/05/2026

September sees the return of the Skomer Island Autumn Bird Migration event. I will be leading this event for The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales - WTSWW. The first event was back in 2014, where has the time gone!

One of my absolute favourite trips, we get the island more or less to ourselves for 3 days at a lovely time of year. The visitor accommodation is all ours!

The focus is on autumn migrants, but some Manx Shearwaters will still be present so we will go out and look for them after dark on one of the days.

Staying overnight is the best way to see Skomer 😊

Just 3 places remaining, details of how to book are on the poster πŸ‘‡

Wise Birding Holidays tour 2 of Georgia πŸ‡¬πŸ‡ͺ & Armenia πŸ‡¦πŸ‡² is complete!Yesterday was our last real birding day, with today...
14/05/2026

Wise Birding Holidays tour 2 of Georgia πŸ‡¬πŸ‡ͺ & Armenia πŸ‡¦πŸ‡² is complete!

Yesterday was our last real birding day, with today principally a travel day from Yerevan to Tbilisi, ready for our flight to London early tomorrow morning.

We had 2 main targets yesterday: Bimaculated Lark and Radde's Accentor.

Our first stop to the west of Yerevan saw us locate a Bimaculated Lark within minutes of leaving our vehicle. We were then treated to the brilliant display flight of this awesome lark, with at least 4 birds present. We also added Greater Short-toed Lark to our trip list.

On to the approach road to Mount Aragats, we were able to get a bit higher than during our first tour thanks to the slowly retreating snow, but still not as far as our usual locations.

We needn't have worried: by walking further up the partially snow covered road, we soon located Radde's Accentor, eventually seeing 3 birds well. Several White-throated Robin and Common Rock Thrush added to the occasion. We had set a new Wise Birding record for this tour: 230 species. A fantastic way to finish the trip.

Thanks in particular to our Georgian guide Dachi Shosh*tashvili from Batumi Birding who has been brilliant through both of our tours this year. 😍

A full day at Armash Fish Ponds today on our Wise Birding Holidays tour of Georgia & Armenia.The weather was perfect for...
12/05/2026

A full day at Armash Fish Ponds today on our Wise Birding Holidays tour of Georgia & Armenia.

The weather was perfect for dropping migrants in, storm clouds gathering and occasional bursts of lightning, thunder and rain. The latter made the tracks 'claggy'...much slip-sliding ensued and our boots were caked in mud all day!

All of the key targets seen well: Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, White-tailed Lapwing, Spur-winged Lapwing, White-headed Duck, Menetries's Warbler, Moustached Warbler and Paddyfield Warbler.

Bonus Black-winged Pratincole, Red-necked Phalarope & Turkestan Short-toed Lark.

A total of 97 species recorded, and the trip list is now on 226, just 1 shy of the Wise Birding best total for this tour. One day's birding to go...

Big day today on Day 8 of our Wise Birding Holidays tour of Georgia & Armenia.We left our accommodation in Yeghegis for ...
11/05/2026

Big day today on Day 8 of our Wise Birding Holidays tour of Georgia & Armenia.

We left our accommodation in Yeghegis for a 2 hour drive into the Yeghegnadzor Mountains in our ex Russian military 4x4s....they were more than up to the task! Target: Caspian Snowcock. Took a while but we eventually saw 3. We were in no rush. Great views of at least 20 Wild Goats (Bezoar).

Back down the mountain and on to Vedi Gorge via a short birding stop on the way. A crazy 10 minute spell almost as soon as we left the vehicle saw us notch up Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin, Finsch's Wheatear, Menetries's Warbler and Desert Finch, the latter a really tricky bird in Armenia.

Further up the gorge we found Grey-necked Bunting, which completed all the key species for the day. We even had time for an ice cream 🍦 😊

Day 7 of our Wise Birding Holidays tour of Georgia & Armenia: Lake Sevan to Yeghegnadzor Mountains.Day started with a ba...
11/05/2026

Day 7 of our Wise Birding Holidays tour of Georgia & Armenia: Lake Sevan to Yeghegnadzor Mountains.

Day started with a bang with 5 Crimson-winged Finches at a roadside stop overlooking Lake Sevan not far from our hotel. Tricky birds but that's now 3 trips in a row seeing this species! Horned Larks in the same field were a bonus.

Further around the lake we had another incredible 10 Montagu's Harriers hunting over the same patch of scrub 😍

Vardenyats Pass produced 5 White-winged Snowfinch including 2 pairs nest building. A pair of Bluethroat (race magna) showed well but we could not locate a Radde's Accentor at a traditional site.

On to Zedea where a crazy 10 minutes or so saw us rack up Eastern Rock Nuthatch, White-throated Robin, Upcher's Warbler and Eastern Orphean Warbler.

At the stunning Monastery at Noravank we easily located a pair of Red-tailed Wheatears and had great views of Red-fronted Serin. An early dinner in a cave followed, and the day was completed with 3 Brown Bears on slopes near our accommodation and calling Scops Owl from our hotel. What a day!

Day 6 of our Wise Birding Holidays tour of Georgia & Armenia. Today was a transitional day, crossing the border into Arm...
09/05/2026

Day 6 of our Wise Birding Holidays tour of Georgia & Armenia. Today was a transitional day, crossing the border into Armenia πŸ‡¦πŸ‡², but with a couple of birdy stops thrown in and a few key target species added to our list.

Border crossing was relatively smooth, and this was followed by an excellent lunch in Dilijan. After lunch it was into Dilijan Forest where we found 3 Semicollared Flycatchers and 2 bonus Hawfinches.

Late afternoon we visited Norashen Reserve on Lake Sevan primarily to see the colony of Armenian Gulls, bonus birds included 2 Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters, a Collared Pratincole and 2 European Turtle Doves.

Our final full day in Georgia πŸ‡¬πŸ‡ͺ on our Wise Birding Holidays tour before we cross the border into Armenia.The morning w...
08/05/2026

Our final full day in Georgia πŸ‡¬πŸ‡ͺ on our Wise Birding Holidays tour before we cross the border into Armenia.

The morning was spent in Krtsanisi Forest (Ponichala Reserve) just south of Tbilisi. An amazing place with woodpeckers at every turn and much more besides! Stunning views of a pair of Levant Sparrowhawks and a fight between Middle Spotted and Syrian Woodpeckers will live long in the memory.

Lunch under some trees on the way to David Gareji Monastery was lovely and rewarded with great views of a pair of Penduline T**s and a singing Common Nightingale.

On to the Monastery, which straddles the border between Georgia and Azerbaijan, and we were successful with our three main targets: Western Rock Nuthatch, Eastern Orphean Warbler, and Chukar Partridge. Throw in a pair of copulating Egyptian Vultures, and an interesting assortment of Pied / Eastern Black-eared / hybrid Wheatears, and there was never a dull moment!

On the way back to Tbilisi double figure Calandra Larks and a sub-adult male Pallid Harrier rounded off a fantastic day.

Tomorrow: Armenia πŸ‡¦πŸ‡²

South to Tbilisi and its environs today on Day 4 of the Wise Birding Holidays tour of Georgia & Armenia.A significant ra...
07/05/2026

South to Tbilisi and its environs today on Day 4 of the Wise Birding Holidays tour of Georgia & Armenia.

A significant raptor passage was evident as we headed down from the Jvari Pass with hundreds of European Honey-Buzzards and other species on the move.

At Kojori Forest we quickly located KrΓΌper's Nuthatch and had excellent views of at least 3 birds.

We finished at Kumisi Lake which added some 30 new species to our trip list. Highlights included Roller, European Bee-eater, White-winged Tern, Whiskered Tern, Ruddy Shelduck, Isabelline Wheatear, Eastern Black-eared Wheatear, Rosy Starling, Spanish Sparrow, Cinereous Vulture, Black Stork and Western Yellow Wagtails in various forms.

A relatively relaxed day around Stepantsminda on day 3 of our Wise Birding Holidays tour of Georgia & Armenia, as a resu...
06/05/2026

A relatively relaxed day around Stepantsminda on day 3 of our Wise Birding Holidays tour of Georgia & Armenia, as a result of how well we did yesterday 😊

Some of the group opted for a pre-breakfast repeat of yesterday's trip up for Caucasian Snowcock, and it was equally fantastic with bonus Alpine Accentors and the rising sun hitting the high peak of Mount Kazbegi.

Migrants were thin on the ground, probably as a result of the cold northerly breeze from Russia, but late in the day a good push of raptors saw at least 100 Honey Buzzards pass over us at Dariali Monastery on the Russian border.

Tomorrow we leave Stepantsminda and head back to Tbilisi, it's been brilliant here but we are ready for pastures new 😍

Day 2 of our Wise Birding Holidays tour of Georgia & Armenia and it was an absolute belter.Pre-breakfast we had a couple...
05/05/2026

Day 2 of our Wise Birding Holidays tour of Georgia & Armenia and it was an absolute belter.

Pre-breakfast we had a couple of hours scanning the slopes of Mount Kuro. As well as our main target of Caucasian Snowcock, we also picked up a couple of Caucasian Grouse and Alpine Accentors. A couple of the group saw a Great Rosefinch but it eluded others.

After breakfast we went back up the slopes and then walked back to our hotel for lunch. A brilliant few hours where our main quarry, Great Rosefinch, was enjoyed by all. We ended up with 35! A moment where European Bee-eaters crossed paths with Alpine Chough was a real treat. Two Mountain Chiffchaffs were seen well and then several GüldenstÀdt's Redstarts completed the 'Caucasian Big 5' in a single morning 😍

After lunch we had brilliant views of two male Wallcreepers, and at Kobi we had amazing views of a European Nightjar and a Levant Sparrowhawk at the same time!

We finished with a large herd of East Caucasian Tur...what a day!

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