Back to the City

Another morning and still the Nightingales and Cuckoos are calling.  

Early morning sunlight on the dam

After an early morning saunter I met the rest of the group and we started off by watching from the dam.   White-tailed eagle, spotted by yours truly, was my contribution, but there were several new species added to our trip list including Grey Heron, Black-winged Stilt and Little Ringed Plover.

Black francolin were calling but too distant to make it worth the chase, so we decided to look for migrants instead.    Pied Wheatear showed off, whilst Eastern Orphean Warbler was a little more skulking.  This was also a great opportunity to look for insects before they warmed up - and there were several moths, iridescent beetles and Green Hairstreak Butterfly, to name but three.

Green Hairstreak

Breakfast over, farewells said and we were off back to Tblisi, via short stop at a local bridge where a Wolf had been reportedly strung up by locals (farmer protecting sheep or hunter - who knows?).   It was one of the most sickening and sad sights I have ever seen.   However, although it was an unpleasant sight, it is one of the realities of life in this area.   Wolves are known to follow the herds of sheep as they are being moved from one grazing area to another.   They are constantly on the move, as overgrazed areas were quite evident on our travels.   Stories are told of one farmer who did not stay with his sheep overnight, although dogs are left with the sheep (they have collars with long spikes on them to try to stop Wolves from attacking the dogs) he lost 30 of his 43 sheep in one go, so it is hard to tell them not to kill wolves with that sort of impact into their income.

Rocky landscape

Lunch was taken at what we had already decided was the the best restaurant of the trip so far.   At a nearby village, Levan spotted a 'legless lizard' crossing the lane in front of the bus.   He jumped out and grabbed it, this wonderful yellow creature writhed to try to escape but soon calmed and lay in his hands as he stroked it gently.    Some locals came out of their homes, the ladies quite concerned, laughing nervously and asking Levan not to let it go near the houses.  Completely harmless, this 'Sheltopusik' caused quite a stir.   After a short while, we took it further down to the road to the edge of the village and let it go, wishing it well and hoping it did not move back to the village again!

Pseudopus apodous - Sheltopusik

Our next stop was at Eagle Gorge, where the birds did us proud with two Egyptian Vultures giving a great show as they swooped and soared on the thermals created by the deep gorge.

There were different plants here too, and several interesting insects.   All too soon however, we had to continue the long haul back to the capital and into their rush hour.

We had dinner in town at a restaurant we had used previously, and as the night was still quite mild three of us decided to walk back to the hotel and take in some of the delights of this interesting city.