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12 - 25 MAY 2002 by Dave Farrow dave@shortwing.co.uk Norwich UK This years Kazakhstan tour was once more a splendid affair with a mouth-watering list of birds, in spite of some spectacularly un-seasonal weather that included gales and heavy snowfalls! We began with a nocturnal arrival, and with mounting anticipation we drove towards the awakening dawn to begin our birding. At our 'al-fresco' breakfast in a lush rocky valley, the air rang with the songs of Red-headed Buntings and Common Nightingales, a flock of brilliant Rosy Starlings perched up in the morning sun and a pair of White-crowned Penduline Tits attended their dangling nest. We continued towards the Charyn river, stopping in a rocky gorge where we found Grey-necked and White-capped Buntings, Eurasian Crag Martin, Pied Wheatear and a Golden Eagle stooping on a Chukar which shot away to safety with a loud squawk. We emerged onto the wide open spaces of the Sugaty Plain that were alive with Isabelline Wheatears, and found a handsome group of Mongolian Finches at the roadside. On reaching our humble lodgings we found white- headed Long-tailed Tits around the lake and Azure Tits around the cabins. In the Turanga woods set astride the broad river, we searched for some of the real Central Asian specialities. We found lively Sykes Warblers, Turkestan Tits, and in a single treetop two Yellow-eyed Doves sat curiously observing three White-winged Woodpeckers engaged in a nuptial frenzy. In the saxaul desert we found Saxaul Sparrows looking bright alongside the 'Bactrian' House Sparrows, and on roadside marshes we saw Ferruginous Ducks and Garganey, Bluethroats, Barred Warblers, Citrine, 'Eastern Black-headed' and 'Masked' Wagtails, and two Eurasian Griffon Vultures soaring in a darkening sky as the weather turned sour. After the storm had passed, the desert came alive with song and we saw numerous smart Desert Wheatears, a superb Desert Warbler, Black-bellied Sandgrouse, a fly-past by a male Macqueen's Bustard, Horned Larks, a Booted Eagle and some very sandy-coloured Red Foxes. In the rocky environs of the scenic Red Canyon we saw 'Black-eared' Kites, Golden Eagle, Eurasian Honey Buzzard, Long-legged Buzzard, three Rock Sparrows and a Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush, and as dusk fell over the Ash Tree Lodge we had a fine view of a European Scops Owl by torchlight. With a last look at this desert we found a herd of Goitred Gazelle, and then came eight Pallas's Sandgrouse, winging their way across the Sugaty Plain as they returned from their drinking holes with sodden breast feathers. Two of these wonderful birds allowed a close approach, sitting in a bushy wadi as we excitedly admired their golden hues. As we headed towards Almaty we found numerous Lesser Grey Shrikes along the wooded shelter belts, a pair of Long-tailed Shrikes, Eurasian Golden Oriole, Oriental Turtle Doves and Eurasian Hobby. It was time to head for the hills, and as we ascending the Tien Shan we paused by a raging torrent that was home to a family of Brown Dippers. The following morning however we woke to a complete white-out with heavy snow blanketing everything! The mists parted briefly for us to see a distant Himalayan Snowcock, Red-mantled Rosefinch, and a very vexed pair of Ibisbill that were in the process of losing their eggs to a wily Carrion Crow. A search around the Observatory (and its snowdrifts!) succeeded in finding a Wallcreeper, White-tailed Rubythroat, both Brown and Black-throated Accentors and a stunning pair of Eversmann's Redstarts. White-winged Grosbeaks called from exposed tops and a Songar Tit appeared in the spruces. Not a bad haul considering the conditions! A hot blue sky and melting snow greeted us the following morning, so we headed up to 3400m and the near-derelict Kosmostantsia. A pair of highly prized Guldenstadt's Redstarts appeared, along with both Red-billed and Yellow-billed Choughs and numerous Altai Accentors. Lower down in the (now snow-free) juniper zone we found a female Severtzov's Tit Warbler, excitable Red-fronted Serins, Water Pipits and a pair of White- throated Dippers. To finish a great day we watched more Himalayan Snowcocks, uttering their eerie Curlew-like whistles as they chased each other across the scree slopes, in turn getting chased by a hopeful Red Fox! As night fell the skies stayed clear and we were able
As we descended to the plains, some final mountain birding yielded a Blue-capped Redstart and two Blue Whistling Thrushes. We headed onto the vast rolling steppe finding six Eurasian Black Vultures and a stray male Brambling in brilliant plumage, Oriental Skylarks singing over the grasslands and a pair of Eastern Rock Nuthatches attending their mud nest in rocky hills adorned with prehistoric petroglyphs. Bimaculated and Calandra Larks lined the roads as did a tame pair of Black-bellied Sandgrouse, and the steppe turned blood-red with poppies as far as the eye could see, a rare spectacle that only happens every six or more years. We reached our yurt camp in the Taucum 'desert', in a spectacular setting of red horizons dotted with flocks of migrant Demoiselle Cranes, Montagu's Harriers hunting and even a distant Macqueen's Bustard visible from our 'backyard'. Our yurt camp blended into this environment so well, we were soon joined by Lesser Whitethroats and Common Redstart hiding beneath the cars, an Isabelline Wheatear indulged in mimicry-rich song-flights and a pair of Barn Swallows investigated the yurts for a nest site! Further explorations of the wide-open spaces of Kanshengyel revealed male Caspian Plovers herding young chicks across the salt-flats, Greater Sand Plovers still incubating a clutch of three eggs while others already had well-grown youngsters. A male Macqueen's Bustard displayed by fluffing himself up and scurrying about like a headless chicken, Black-bellied Sandgrouse flew in to drink at the adjacent waterholes, and around a farmyard teeming with migrants we surprised a Long-eared Owl and a Little Bittern, Great Reed Warbler and Common Nightingales, and the resident Desert Finches sang from the sparse trees. We headed back to Almaty, lunching en-route beneath a rocky outcrop seething with pink as noisy Rosy Starlings arrived for the summer, and a single Dalmatian pelican soared over the road. A slight hitch with our flight to Astana ensued, but the airline provided another plane and got us to Astana just three hours late. Our first day in Astana on an atypically cold and windy steppe reminded us that although we were on the same latitude as London, this city lies (almost imperceptibly) on the north slope running to the Arctic Ocean. A splendid male Pine Bunting sang from riverside bushes, Black-winged Pratincoles and White-winged Terns zipped about over lakes that held White-headed Ducks and both Red-necked and Black-necked Grebes. Of course the most-wanted bird here was the rare Sociable Plover, so very thinly spread in this vast landscape. Thanks to our local guide Sasha (who saved us about a month of searching!), we were able to enjoy a group of five birds feeding and displaying in a large field. A full day out on the Kurghaldzhin steppe was again windy and cold but that didn't stop the displaying Black Larks which lined the road. White-winged Larks were less obvious but present in smaller numbers, and on the shallow lakes hundreds of summer-plumaged Curlew Sandpipers fed in a tight pack with Little Stints and some fine looking Dunlin. A swarm of Dalmatian Pelicans fed in a frenzy, Pallas's Gulls loafed around their colony and thousands of migrant Red-necked Phalaropes dotted the surface of the steppe lakes. Our last day began with a thrill of two Little Crakes emerging from the reedbed and trotting along in full view of all, to within minimum focussing distance! Shortly after that a tame Baillon's Crake did something very similar, creeping along beneath the bank that we were stood on giving us superb views! The reedbeds rang with the songs of numerous Paddyfield and Great Reed Warblers, Bearded Reedlings zipped about and a stray Glossy Ibis flew over. Along the wooded riverside we found more Pine Buntings, several Booted Warblers in the bushes, a pair of Eurasian Penduline Tits with a nest and two male Little Bitterns engaged in a territorial dogfight. What a superb end to a great tour! This is a country where birds fill every corner of the many varied landscapes, and every departure becomes delayed due to some good birds bouncing into view! Kazakhstan continues to offer some of the best May birding to be had anywhere. If I hadn't been there, I would be very envious indeed! |
