In 2024 OSME inaugurated a new initiative together with our close partners at Batumi Raptor Count. A fully covered 4-week internship for two lucky young naturalists from the OSME region. For the second round, in 2025, it was arranged for three openings, as human and financial resources were made available. Thus it happened that Yaren from Türkiye, Leyla from Azerbaijan and Motahareh from Iran got to spend an unforgettable period at this premier raptor conservation project in the Caucasus. Below are their personal reflections on the experience.

“I’ve been following Batumi Raptor Count (BRC) for years. For me, it was always a great example of teamwork, solid fieldwork, and standardized data collection. The OSME traineeship offered a wonderful opportunity to see what made BRC such an amazing initiative for two decades, and I learned a lot from my one-month stay there.

I was incredibly fortunate to be present during a record-breaking year with 1.5 million raptors! Coordinating the counting, identification, and data processing for such an enormous volume of birds is impressive on its own. But doing this while maintaining a coherent, happy team of counters and bird experts from all over the world makes it even more special.

However, while the sheer number of birds in Batumi is amazing, seeing the people was even more important for me. I may not have the chance to visit many other migration counts, so connecting with individuals who have extensive backgrounds in bird monitoring was vital. I learned so much from their perspectives. Getting to know the “behind the scenes” work required to make data reliable was invaluable. Their meticulous effort to count every bird and identify them with the most precision possible was inspirational.

My experience paid off immediately! Just two days after returning from BRC, I rejoined our TRC team and put my newfound skills into action. Without a doubt, we saw a visible improvement in our counts, from better identification techniques to more efficient data handling. This traineeship didn’t just enrich my personal skills. It elevated our entire project in Iran, making our raptor monitoring more accurate and collaborative.

I’m profoundly grateful for this opportunity made possible by OSME’s support, the welcoming BRC team, and, of course, the magnificent birds that bring us all together.”

“I’m Leyla from Azerbaijan. I started birding in 2017 at the Besh Barmag Bird Migration Count, and since then I’ve been involved in birdwatching, bird guiding, bird surveys, conservation, and migration counts. Birding has become a big part of my life, and Batumi was a dream I always wanted to experience.

I stayed at the Batumi Raptor Count for around 50 days, and those weeks changed everything for me. I had never seen so many raptors in my entire life – especially Honey Buzzards. It was an incredible chance to practice identification every single day, from close birds to “tiny dot” level silhouettes far in the sky.

I arrived with excitement and uncertainty, but the moment the first wave of Honey Buzzards poured over the mountains, all my worries disappeared.

Batumi Raptor Count – finally a dream came true. A true paradise for raptor lovers. For the first time, I experienced what it really means to be a counter: standing on a station and counting endless streams of raptors in sun, rain, fog, and even thunderstorms. The birds never stopped – and neither did the magic.

The team welcomed me warmly and supported me every day. The coordinators were amazing: calm, strong, organised, and inspiring. Reaching one million raptors in just half a season was unforgettable, and it happened thanks to the whole team working together. I felt proud every day – especially of our lady coordinators. Their strength and leadership were powerful.

I am truly grateful to OSME and BRC for this opportunity. OSME’s support for women is truly priceless. Batumi reminded me who I am and who I want to become. It was not just an experience – it was the beginning of something bigger.

This traineeship also helps me continue my work at Besh Barmag Migration Count. I’m returning with stronger skills, more confidence, and new ideas to support our team, improve our methods, and contribute to future successful seasons.

See you next season!”

“Arriving in Batumi during peak migration immediately reveals why the region is one of the world’s most important raptor flyways. In late August, when I joined the Batumi Raptor Count team, tens of thousands of birds were moving through the bottleneck every day. My first mornings were intense: new landmarks to memorize, fast-moving streams to follow, and a station rhythm to keep up with.

That changed quickly thanks to the long-term volunteers who are at the heart of the monitoring project. Many return annually, bringing years of experience and a strong sense of responsibility for the site. Their patience and willingness to teach created an environment that allowed me to grow quickly, and soon enough, my confusion turned into confidence. Within days, I found myself identifying species in the streams, ageing certain species, and even sometimes supporting the coordination team and helping newcomers settle into the routine. I was meaningfully contributing to the count. Realizing that growth unfolds in real time strengthened my belief that learning thrives in supportive communities and that sharing knowledge helps citizen science and scientific monitoring work together.

This traineeship was about more than just learning how to monitor bird migration, and it mattered to me long before I ever set foot in Batumi. Before I arrived, I was going through a tough time in my career. After finishing my master’s degree, I realized that industry jobs weren’t for me. NGO positions were hard to get, especially when applying from a developing country.

PhD applications were full of quotas and paperwork, and the setbacks hurt my confidence. As an early-career researcher without an affiliation, science felt further away than I expected. I started to wonder if I still belonged in this field. Finding the OSME x BRC Flyway Traineeship felt like a rare chance. It was an opportunity to volunteer, take on responsibility, reconnect with research, and join an international community once again. When I applied, I assumed I wouldn’t be selected; months of rejections had quietly eroded my confidence. Being chosen forced me to confront the fact that confidence can shrink and grow with experience and that rejection is not a measure of worth.

As the traineeship ended, I carried home both practical experience and a stronger sense of direction. The programme not only reconnected me with my passion but also pointed toward future possibilities. Alongside the core work of migration monitoring, I had the chance to explore broader conservation questions with people, such as how existing data might help address illegal raptor hunting in the region, or what would be required to activate a full-season raptor count project in İstanbul, another major bottleneck along the flyway. In the next chapter of my adventure, I aim to dive deep into these discussions raised during my stay in Batumi, supporting efforts to establish a migration count in İstanbul and exploring ways to use existing data to reveal more about the hunting pressure in the Batumi bottleneck. The traineeship showed me how much can be achieved when local communities, volunteers, and researchers work together across borders to safeguard the migratory flyways.”