2011 Tour Narrative
We began our tour in Bukhara. Here the wetlands and waterways that surround this ancient oasis town provided some great birding with Pygmy Cormorant, Purple Herons, Marbled Duck, lots of White-tailed Plovers chasing off numerous Marsh Harriers, our first Temminck’s Stints, a lone perched Osprey, and very smart Citrine Wagtails mingling with equally dapper Black-headed Wagtails. Some had clearly taken this mingling a bit too far and we found a couple of puzzling hybrids! The extensive reedbeds held very pale Bearded Tits, along with Thick-billed Reed Buntings and an array of warblers - Clamorous Reed Warblers were everywhere but the shy Moustached Warblers took some effort to locate. Elsewhere, we had fantastic views of Ménétries and the first of many Sykes’s Warblers, as well as showy Bluethroats. The deserts west of the town gave us some close encounters with Pander’s Ground Jays, as well as lots of Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters and a range of migrants including Thrush Nightingale, Ortolan Buntings, and flocks of Common Rosefinches. Back in Bukhara there was plenty of time to explore the ancient city as we walked around the Ark, past the Kalen Minaret and the turquoise domes of old madrasses and mosques, and through the bustling trading domes.
Following the Silk Road we reached Samarkand. Here, our immersion in the fascinating culture of the region continued as we visited the Registan, the amazing Bibi Khanum mosque and Timur’s mausoleum, the wonderful city bazaar, and the incredible Shahr-i-Zindah – the street of tombs that is a riot of blue tiling. The birding at Samarkand was equally enthralling with Eastern Rock Nuthatch, Hume’s Short-toed Larks, White-throated Robins, Asian Paradise Flycatcher, Upcher’s, Eastern Orphean and, Eastern Olivaceous Warblers, Isabelline Shrikes, hordes of Nightingales, Pied and Finsch’s Wheatears, and White-capped and Red-headed Buntings. Our last destination in Uzbekistan was the Chimgan Hills close to Tashkent where we found Yellow-breasted and Turkestan Tits, Indian Golden Oriole and Hawfinch among the juniper trees. We ended this part of the tour with a really wonderful traditional meal at one of Tashkent’s most famous restaurants.
Hopping over to Kazakhstan we found ourselves in the vast northern steppe where almost perfect weather ensured some great birding with the specialities such as Sociable Plover, and White-winged and Black Larks all showing well. Other highlights here included an amazing aerial show of up to four Bitterns, some smart White-headed Ducks, a single male Smew, thousands of Red-necked Phalaropes, lots of Black-winged Pratincoles, a nesting colony of Great Black-headed Gulls, clouds of White-winged Black Terns, lots of Red-footed Falcons, Pallid Harriers, both Long-eared and Short-eared Owls, and some singing Pine Buntings. Moving south we travelled from Almaty to the Taukum Desert, via close encounters with a Lammergeier and then a Corncrake and then the intriguing rock carvings at Tamgaly. The area immediately around the camp held displaying Macqueen’s Bustard, Caspian and Greater Sand Plovers, lots and lots of Black-bellied Sandgrouse joined by good numbers of Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, and masses of Calandra and Bimaculated Larks among many other birds. North of our camp the Illi River Delta provided the backdrop for a great days birding with Striated Scops Owl performing beautifully, followed by Yellow-eyed Stock Dove, White-winged Woodpecker, Azure Tit, and Saxual Sparrow. Little Bitterns, a huge flock of Great White Pelicans, and some migrating Oriental Honey Buzzards were further distractions. We returned to Almaty driving through steppe covered in poppies as far as the eye could see, and via a huge breeding colony of Rose-coloured Starlings, to spend the night in a comfortable hotel before heading east. Here on the wide open plains a group of 11 Pallas’s Sandgrouse feeding quietly proved to be very approachable, and we also watched Asian Crimson-winged and Mongolian Finches coming to drink, and found Shore Lark and Asian Desert Warbler in the seemingly empty landscape. There were small groups of Lesser Kestrels, perched right by the road, a fine Saker perched on the ground before taking to flight, and magnificent Himalayan Griffon Vultures joining equally impressive Black Vultures sailing over a wide gorge,
Our time in the mountains was about as perfect as it can get. Our first afternoon was spent sitting quietly in superb weather amidst masses of stunning wild flowers as, one by one, all the special birds of the juniper slopes presented themselves to us. Apart from anything else it was the really close views we had of White-winged Grosbeak, Red-mantled Rosefinch, Sulphur-bellied Warbler, Eversmann’s Redstart, Himalayan Rubythroat, and Black-throated Accentor that made the afternoon so special, although the star of the show had to be the male Severtzov’s Tit Warbler that hopped around the bushes seemingly oblivious to our presence just a few feet away – a magical moment. Elsewhere we watched a pair of Ibisbills going about their business, found Himalayan Snowcock, Güldenstädt’s Redstart, Altai and Brown Accentors, and Plain Mountain Finches on the high tops, and Merlin, Three-toed Woodpecker, Nutcracker, Brown Dipper, Blue-capped Redstarts, and Red-fronted Serins lower down among the Tien Shan Spruce. Steve Rooke
Updated: December 2011