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

Kazakhstan 2024 - the Ile River Delta

This morning we were allowed a lie-in and were not up until the late hour of 5am. We rechecked the sheep pens for better views of Desert Finch where this time we also had Turkestan Shrike, Blyth's Reed Warbler and Sykes's Warbler (ebird checklist here).

We scoped out several drinking pools (whilst enjoying breakfast in the car) for Black-bellied Sandgrouse (ebird checklist here).

It's not just birds that like the drinking pools

and these horses were very curious of us!

We spent the rest of the morning searching hard for Caspian Plover and I am pleased to say that with time running out we came across 6 birds (3 adults and 3 juveniles)! 

Victory snatched from the jaws of defeat as we found these Caspian Plovers just before we needed to leave the area.

We also enjoyed close views of this rather confiding if not slightly nervous Black-bellied Sandgrouse (not Pallas's Sandgrouse as I previously stated - thanks Yoav Perlman for pointing that one out).

Black-bellied Sandgrouse

We did in fact find a Pallas's Sandgrouse shortly after that - which was nice as the closest I'd come to seeing this species was a stuffed one at the Natural History Museum in Dublin many years ago. That particular specimen had been shot in Drumbeg, Co. Donegal in 1888. Presumably part of the large irruption that year caused possibly by heavy snowfalls and hard snow crust in its central Asian breeding area which led to problems with drinking water and feeding. Thankfully this bird was very much alive and well.

Pallas's Sandgrouse

Plus this very pale large raptor that we just couldn't fathom what it was and as I write it remains unidentified (However - see footnote).

Mystery raptor - suggestions and thoughts are welcome (see footnote)

ebird checklist here

Sadly that was the end of our time in the Taukum desert, we returned to our motel, checked out and were on the road again by 1pm. We spent most of the rest of that day driving towards the Ile River Delta. Within about 30 minutes of our accommodation we stooped  at an area of Turanga Woods to try for White-winged Woodpecker, Yellow-eyed Dove and Turkestan Tit and Saxual Sparrow. ebird checklist here

White-winged Woodpecker

Yellow-eyed Dove

Late that evening we arrived at our rather interesting guesthouse, a pirate themed venue complete with strippers pole!! 

They laid on a sumptuous meal of grilled Carp, salads and dumplings. 

Grilled Carp with all the trimmings

Dumplings, salads, bread - our waistlines were slowly expanding

The toilet was a bit basic so I elected to pee in a bottle that night rather than brave the dark. 

The 'en-suite' loo!

As sunset we had European Nightjar, Common Nightingale and Pallid Scops Owl. 

Pallid Scop's Owl

We left the pirate hotel the next morning but not before I dug out a Shrikra and Common Nightingale in the grounds. ebird checklist here 

As the day progressed we ventured further into the Ile River Delta stopping off at various different spots during the day. Highlights included Pallas's Sandgrouse, a Golden Eagle being chased by a Long-legged Buzzard, Steppe Grey Shrike and halimodendri Lesser Whitethroat.

Golden Eagle accompanied by Long-legged Buzzard

'halimodendri' Lesser Whitethroat - one of the eastern forms of Lesser Whitethroat.

Checklists are here and here.

We reached our camping spot by 5pm and whilst Louis and myself looked for and found Pander's Ground Jay, Anar set up our camp. We had brief views of Pander's Ground Jay and I enjoyed much closer views of an Asian Desert Warbler. After we had pitched tents, inflated the mattresses we settled down for dinner. As we sat eating Nightjars flew over our heads and we watched the moon come up as the sun set. We all went to bed at 8pm but I just lay awake in my tent listening to the sounds and silence of the desert, which from what I could tell was mostly Isabelline Wheatears, Crickets and Nightjars.

Yet another excellent 'field kitchen' meal from Anar

The moon rising over our desert basecamp

The sun sets on another great day of birding

We rose at 4am to search for Pander's Ground Jay, managing to locate a small party of these charismatic birds.

Pander's Ground Jay

We then gathered for breakfast followed by one final bit of birding in the area where I tried for shots of Turkestan Shrike, Asian Desert Warbler and Rufous Bush Chat. I failed with two but got decent shots of Asian Desert Warbler.

Asian Desert Warbler

With that, we packed up our tents, hit the road once more and spent the rest of that day driving towards our next set of digs. I was so tired that evening that I skipped dinner altogether and went to bed early. 

Footnote: Rob Vaughan and Yoav Perlman have both pointed out that this is a Short-toed Eagle - mystery solved!