Kazakhstan 2024 - the final day

Our final full day of birding. We had breakfast at our hotel at 6am, and we listened to the sounds of Cuckoo, Tree Pipit and Common Rosefinch while we waited for Lyosha to pick us up. Shortly after, we were re-united with Anar who drove us to a spot where there are Radon Baths. There were many people there enjoying a pre-work dip in the cool pools before heading down to the heat of Almaty for their working day. 

Early morning dip at Radon baths

Along side the fast flowing mountain stream we found Brown Dipper and Blue-Whistling Thrush. 

Brown Dipper

Blue Whistling Thrush

I decided to take off my shoes and socks, roll up my trouser legs and take a paddle in the fast-flowing and very cool mountain stream. My feet really appreciated it. 

Anar then drove us to another spot (ski resort) where we caught a series of three cable cars to the summit and walked around amongst the many visitors as we searched for Red-fronted Rosefinch. We had Guldenstadt's Redstart, Himalayan Rubythroat, Altai Accentor and Plain Brown Mountain Finch. ebird checklist here.

Time for a quick group photo (me with Loius-Philippe, Anar and Nick).

Yak

We returned to Almaty and checked into the Kazakhstan Hotel which was rather palatial. 

Everywhere has an Irish bar - I didn't sample the Guinness though!

However, I was on something like the 14th floor which meant the windows were locked shut and the air con didn't work. Coupled with the stifling heat it meant another sleepless night. We had dinner in a local restaurant which had a 94 page menu and were up at 5am the next day for our flight home via Istanbul.

And that was Kazakhstan. An epic two-week long trip covering deserts to mountains and everywhere in between. I haven't counted up the trip list but it was quantity and quality with some excellent birds such as Himalayan Rubythroat, Ibisbill, Guldenstadt's Redstart, Black Lark, Caspian Plover, Sociable Lapwing, Pine Bunting, Demoiselle Crane, Long-tailed Shrike, Sykes's Warbler and Pallas's Gull. I could name many more. Big thanks to Anar and Louis-Philippe for their hard work ferrying us around, feeding us and showing us some excellent birds - I can highly recommend them if you're planning a trip to Kazakhstan. And finally thanks to my travelling companion Nick. 

Kazakhstan 2024 - the Kosmostation and Big Almaty Lake

We had finally escaped the heat as we reached the Ile-Altau NP just above the city of Almaty. We left our hotel that morning at 6am. Anar drove us to a meeting point with another driver (Lyosha) who drove us up to the Kosmostation at 3,300 meters. We had to pass through a military checkpoint as we were entering a border zone with Krygyzstan and whilst there was a showy Eversmann's Redstart at the border post, I daren't take my lens out!

The Kosmostation itself is a very interesting place and worth taking a moment to describe. Situated about 30 kilometres south of Almaty at an altitude of about 3,300 meters. It had previously been known as the Tien-Shan High-Altitude Scientific Station and had been set up during the Soviet era to monitor high-energy cosmic radiation. Although it looks rather like a ram-shackle now, it is still operating with scientists still living and working there. It is also home to several high altitude specialists hence the reason why birders visit it. We birded around the old buildings and had four pairs of Guldenstadt's Redstart plus a fifth bird (a male) that was feeding young entirely by himself (good lad!). We also had Yellow and Red-Billed Choughs, Lammergeier, displaying Water Pipits, Brown and Altai Accentors, Himalayan Snowcocks and Plain Brown Mountain Finch.

Walking up the final stretch of road to the Kosmostation

Some of the old yet still operational buildings of the Kosmostation

The weather closed in and I was starting to feel the cold!

I spent a bit of time with the single male Guldentadt's Redstart while Louis-Philippe and Nick looked for Altai Accentor. 

Guldenstadt's or White-winged Redstart

Water Pipit (subspecies Coutelli)

Brown Accentor

After several very enjoyable hours at the Kosmostation, we returned to less lofty elevations and took lunch near the Big Almaty Lake.  

Big Almaty Lake

We walked the perimeter path of the lake where we had Nutcracker, Himalayan Rubythroat (stunner!), Evermann's Redstart, Blue-capped Redstart, Black-throated Accentor, Common Rosefinch and briefly Red-mantled Rosefinch plus more Greenish and Hume's Warblers than you could shake a stick at - all singing and calling! ebird checklist here.

Red-mantled Rosefinch

Common Rosefinch

Hume's Warbler

Hume's Warbler

Greenish Warbler

Blue-capped Redstart

Black-throated Accentor

Himalayan Rubythroat

We scanned the rocky edges of the lake and eventually located an Ibisbill - a stunning and enigmatic species.  After that we returned to the hotel and immediately after dinner I hit the hay as I was struggling still with fatigue.

After breakfast the next morning we returned to the Big Almaty lake but took a different route this time as we were looking for (and found) White-browed Tit Warbler. Views were very brief though and this photo was all I managed.

White-browed Tit Warbler

We also found a Sulphur-bellied Warbler, which although they are leaf warblers, do seem very happy hopping around on rocks and boulders. 

Sulphur-bellied Warbler

We also pinned down a Songar Tit and had many more Hume's and Greenish Warblers.  ebird checklist here. After lunch I elected to take a break and went to bed as I no longer had any energy or even interest in any further birding that day.

Kazakhstan 2024 - Kopek Pass

Unfortunately I endured another poor night's sleep due to the heat and the preceding long day. The fatigue was really starting to hit me now, reducing my motivation and enthusiasm. We started by staking out a watering hole but I struggled to stay awake which was a pity (and I knew it) because the birding was epic. We had Brandti Shorelark, Greater Short-toed Lark, Tree Pipit, Grey-necked Bunting, Mongolian Finch, Izzy Wheatear, Tawny Pipit and Pallas's Sandgrouse. If I hadn't taken some photos I'd have very little recollection of the birds we saw.

Doesn't look like much of a watering hole but the birds here were epic!

Mongolian Finch

Grey-necked Bunting

Brandti Shorelark

Small flock of Pallas's Sandgrouse

I can't help feeling a bit sad looking the above photos. I was struggling to stay awake and managed only very mediocre photos of some amazing birds. There wasn't really anything I could do about it other than power through it all, I reasoned with myself that I could rest when I got home because I might never be here again.

We stopped at the Kopek pass for White-capped Bunting. ebird checklist here.

As we approached the old capital of Almaty we looked for Indian Golden Oriole and managed to find five of these elegant albeit rather skulking birds. We also had two Long-tailed Shrike in the same area.

ebird checklist here

Another stop further along we had a pair of Indian Golden Oriole's by a nest.

Indian Golden Oriole

Just hitting rush hour in Almaty

We arrived into Almaty and checked into our hotel. The heat of the desert was now behind us and my room had a nice comfy looking bed, I hoped to finally catch up on some much needed sleep. The hotel itself was very interesting. It came complete with a Bird of Prey aviary containing mostly Lanner Falcons that had been confiscated by customs as they were being smuggled out of the country!! All in all a rather sad sight to see. We had singing Blue Whistling Thrush along the river beside the hotel and after dark a Eurasian Scops Owl sang outside my room.

 

Kazakhstan 2024 - the Charyn Plateau

I finally managed to get a reasonable night of sleep, which was just as well as we were up at 4:30am to head for the Charyn Plateau. We stopped en route at a spot for Hume's Whitethroat. We had a singing bird in the gorge and enjoyed nice if not slightly distant views of this bird (versus the injured one we saw in Kuwait in 2019). Since 2019, Hume's Whitethroat has been lumped with Lesser Whitethroat, so no longer considered a full species, oh well!

Hume's Whitethroat

ebird checklist for that stop here.

 We then stopped at another spot overlooking a gorge where we had Oriental Turtle Dove on the wires. 

ebird checklist here, 

We then made a quick stop by a little cemetery where we had Lesser Kestrel and Little Owl. ebird checklist here. 

Louis-Philippe had mentioned a local drink that is made from fermented horse's milk which I was curious to sample. He knew of a place where we could try some, so we  stopped at this little farmhouse and sampled their fermented horse's milk - an experience I'll not forget and I loved taking in some of the local culture and cuisine and was humbled by their hospitality and kindness.

Genuinely refreshing (at 3% alcohol too)

We'd only gone a short distance along the road after our refreshment break when an Himalayan Griffon Vulture drifted over our heads. We pulled in quickly to get a better look and found a singing Grey-necked Bunting in the same spot.

Himalayan Griffon Vulture

Grey-necked Bunting

We continued onwards and soon parked up on a plateau / alpine meadow area (complete with edelweiss flowers) where we searched for a Himalayan Griffon nest on the cliff-face. However the nest looked unoccupied and it was likely that the young had fledged already - hopefully. Still, by way of compensation we had beautiful views of a Bearded Vulture drifting gracefully over the valley and small numbers of Alpine Swift thrown in for good measure.

ebird checklist here 

We then set about a search for Pine Bunting and whilst we did manage to locate a male singing on the wires it didn't drop down too often to allow for photos.

Male Pine Bunting

ebird checklist here

We then checked out a nearby fast-flowing stream for White-throated Dipper. 

This is the same Dipper species we get in the UK and Ireland except the race we saw here was leucogaster which lacks the chestnut coloured belly.

Whtie-throated Dipper

 ebird checklist here

Before we left the area this rather fearless Roller posed on the bridge for us.

European Roller

We made further stops for a noisy flock of Rosy Starlings and a pair of soaring Black Storks. 

Rosy Starling, Rose-coloured Starling or Rosy Pastor

As the day wore on we stopped to seach an area of meadow near some pools for Richard's Pipit. This had been a bit of 'bogey' bird for me in the UK so I was delighted to see and hear one although it remained too far away for any sort of photos but at least there was this showy roadside Citrine Wagtail.

Citrine Wagtail

ebird checklist here

Checked a final spot for Meadow Bunting. We were successful but time was dragging on and it was late when we got back to our hotel and went out for dinner. 

Meadow Bunting

Driving home into a stunning sunset