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