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WINGS Birding Tours – Photo Gallery

Central Asia: Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan

Birding the Silk Road

Steve Rooke, Paul French, Paul Holt, Fabrice Schmitt

Our tour starts in the modern and very green capital city of Tashkent

And we begin our birding wth a visit to the mountains close by

The mature juniper trees here are home to Rufous-naped Tit, the only place on the tour where we see this Himalayan species

Other birds here include the perky Yellow-breasted Tit,….

While overhead there is a good chance of seeing a mighty Himalayan Vulture

Or a migrant Crested Honey Buzzard

Following the Silk Road we reach the ancient city of Bukhara where the Kalen minaret dominates the skyline

The city is famous for it’s rug-making, an art still practised today

along with many other crafts.

The oasis city lies on the edge of the Kyzl-kum desert, a mix of saxual groves and sand dunes.

This is by far the best place to see Pander’s Ground-jay, one of the most sought-after birds on the tour

Its striking black and white plumage makes it fairly easy to pick up.

Eurasian Roller is very common along the roadsides.

And this desert is a great place to see Menetries’s Warbler.

The small roadside tea houses attract migrants such as Thrush Nightingale

Bukhara is an oasis town and the wetlands nearby hold Marbled Teal

and White-tailed Plover

From here we ‘take the Golden Road to Samarkand’ where the majestic Registan is testament to its illustrious past

We’ll take time to explore this fascinating place.

And many other sights such as the remarkable Street of Tombs

Our birding will take to the hills south of the city from where we can just see the distant Pamir mountains

Here almost every bush has a male Red-headed Bunting, their jangling song a constant backdrop

This is a fantastic place for birds - Turkestan Shrike is common.

Upcher’s Warbler will be freshly arrived from its East African wintering grounds

as will the smart White-throated Robin

Wheatears include the scarce Finsch’s Wheatear,….

…and the similar Pied Wheatear, here one of the rare ‘vittata’ forms

We should also see Eastern Rock Nuthatch, usually located by their loud piping call

And there is always a chance of a Lammergeier drifting overhead

Leaving Uzbekistan we arrive in Kazakhstan and drive north to our camp in the Taukum Desert, possibly passing miles of steppe smothered in poppies if the rains have been good

We’ll stop on the way to look for White-headed Ducks and other waterbirds

and we should certainly see clouds of Rose-coloured Starlings

Being traditionally a nomadic people, our agents in Kazkhstan know how to camp and we have two comfortable nights under canvas, surrounded by birds

Where we can chat about the day’s sightings around the camp fire

North of the Taukum Desert lies the Illi River Delta, fringed by Turanga woodland

This is the habitat for the little-known Yellow-eyed Stock Dove,…

..the dapper Saxaul Sparrow,…

…White-winged Woodpecker,…

…and if we are lucky, Striated Scops Owl

We’ll spend some time birding close to our camp

An area full of thousands of larks of various species, including Bimaculated Lark

And small waterholes attract Black-bellied Sandgrouse.

And there is usually a pair of Caspian Plovers nearby

We then move to the open plains east of Almaty. The sense of space is exhilirating!

which are bisected by the Charyn River gorge

The low vegetation here is where we find Asian Desert Warbler

And we visit a small colony of Lesser Kestrels

These plains are favoured by Pallas’s Sandgrouse, eruptive visitors from the steppes of Mongolia

Any source of water is a magnet for birds, such as Asian Crimson-winged Finch,…

or Grey-necked Bunting

We then turn our attention to the snow-capped Tien Shan mountains.

The dark forests of Tien Shan Spruce give way to juniper scrub and flower-filled meadows.

The gravel bars of the lake are the haunt of a special bird…..

the enigmatic Ibisbill

and also the White-throated Dipper

We have plenty to look at up here, such as Red-fronted Serins,….

Eversmann’s Redstart

Sulphur-bellied Warbler,….

and perhaps best of all, the gorgeous Severtzov’s Tit Warbler

Moving to the very tops we will scan for Himalayan Snowcock, their eerie calls echoing around the peaks

We will be well above the tree line, and on the look out for Altai Accentor,…

and the striking Guldenstadt’s Redstart.

To bring our Silk Road adventure to a close we travel to Kazakhstan’s futuristic new capital, Nur-sultan

Which sits in the vast northern steppe, a sea of grass dotted with lakes

Where Demoiselle Cranes stride through the cotton grass

and Bluethroats sing from damp hollows.

There will be groups of Ruff with males in full breeding plumage performing their leks

while Black-winged Pratincoles skim overhead

and Red-footed Falcons keep watch from roadside bushes.

The steppe is home to two excellent larks - the large Black Lark, this one a male,…

and the delightful White-winged Lark which sing high up in clear blue skies.

One of the many highlights of this region are the rare Sociable Plovers

After a final steppe sunset, we’ll begin our journeys home