Venture to Kazakhstan 

May 18- June 2, 2008

What were our memories of Kazakhstan? Was it snow-capped mountains stretching across the sky or Astana, a monolithic new city with buildings and ideas seemingly larger than reality? It could be grassy steppes filled with displaying larks that extend to the horizon, or decaying concrete remnants from the Soviet era crumbling into the dust. There were herds of horses stirring up clouds of dust and grassy meadows carpeted with purple and yellow spring wildflowers; and familiar, yet unfamiliar birds that introduced us to a unique blend of Eurasian species. All of these and many more gave us an insight into Kazakhstan, the 9th largest country in the world and surely the largest one that most of us knew so little about before our visit. 

A lot of this has now changed since our tour touched just a small corner of this huge land. Although we only saw a little piece of Kazakhstan, all of us were impressed by the land, the very friendly people, and the potential for the future. Yes, there are some issues that to us, as outsiders, need some help. The litter problem is massive and will certainly need resolving as soon as the tourist infrastructure begins to grow. Hotels are fine, but the toilets are for the intrepid and adventurous. 

It's always interesting to offer a new destination that's so different to anywhere that we have been before. Yes, the Europeans have been birding in Kazakhstan for the last 10 years, and I certainly hope that our US based tour is the first of many birding trips by Ventures and other US tour companies to this fascinating bird-rich country. 

So how was our trip to Kazakhstan? Rather than go through the days in a chronological manner, it's probably better to just hit the highlights, such as the high elevation peony meadows our first day with singing Grasshopper Warbler, Common Quail and Corncrake. Himalayan Griffon Vultures soared overhead and every wire seemed to hold a European Roller. Our Almaty hotel was a little austere, but the hot showers after our return from the deserts were most welcome. Common Rosefinch, Greenish Warbler and White-throated Dipper were singing loudly on the grounds as the spring nesting season began in earnest. Exploring the eastern deserts surprised us with the quantity of birdlife living in such a seemingly inhospitable habitat. We had superb views of Pallas's Sandgrouse scurrying like giant bugs across the rocky desert, fell into the burrows of Great Gerbils and watched thousands of Rose-coloured Starlings wheeling across the rocky mountainsides. The wind howled through the animal ravaged turanga forests as we searched successfully for White-winged Woodpecker, Turkestan Tit and Pale-backed Pigeon and every pile of rocks and desert debris seemed to have its own pair of Isabelline Wheatears. Water in the desert is very important and so our lunch was often taken quietly watching the stream of birds coming in for their lunchtime drink. On the Sogety Plains these included both Crimson-winged and Mongolian Finches, while in the Taukum Desert Temminck's Stints, Black-bellied Sandgrouse and a host of pipits, larks and wagtails added their transient colour to the birdlife. At times, every scrubby bush and grove of trees seemed to hold a migrant resting after moving north the previous night. One day we must have hit a little push of migrants with many Barred and Upcher's Warblers, Spotted Flycatchers, Bluethroat and Red-backed Shrikes all crowded into any available scrap of habitat. A pair of Barn Swallows spent the night in one yurt, while a Sykes's Warbler had to be rescued from another. We almost all had to be rescued from the daily pile of delicious chocolates that seemed to accompany every meal and I for one, certainly enjoyed the fresh tomatoes and cucumbers that also seemed to be a daily fare. A displaying Houbara (Macqueen's) Bustard was distant but a real treat and thankfully we did see them a lot closer. It took us 2 hours of searching the seemingly lifeless steppes to successfully find a splendid pair of Caspian Plovers as well as several pairs of Greater Sand Plovers, along with their new chicks. Collared Pratincole, Imperial Eagle and a nice selection of waterfowl was at Lake Balkhash, along with the very unsightly evidence of many weeks of beer and vodka drinking. The fresh air in the Tien Shan Mountains was a welcome break from the dry desert atmosphere. Snowy mountains rang with the calls of Himalayan Snowcock, while Himalayan Rubythroat, Black-throated Accentor and White-winged Grosbeak added their sound and colour to the mountain scenery. Looking for Guldenstadt's Redstarts in the bizarre setting of the Cosmic Station was certainly an otherworldly experience- similar I would guess to birding within the Bermuda Triangle! Hiking to some nearby cliffs was very fruitful with Siberian Ibex adding some mammalian interest to the host of accentors, rosefinches and a splendid male Wallcreeper that flashed its black and cherry red wings in front of our eyes. A pair of Red-fronted Rosefinches really tested our powers of identification, although maybe the lack of a good local fieldguide had something to do with it! These high elevation birds are very rare below 3000m, and as a result were "lifers" for all of us, including Sergei, our local guide. 

All of us except Dianne continued our journey on to Astana and Korgalzhyn Nature Preserve. Touted as one on the finest wetlands in Central Asia, we were certainly not disappointed with the numbers of either the species variety or the number of individuals. Dalmatian Pelicans soared like white airships over the reed-beds and the lakes held a wide host of waterfowl including Whooper and Mute Swans, Northern Shoveler, Red-crested Pochard and a local speciality, the endangered White-headed Duck. Beautiful White-winged Black terns fed over the marshes and we eventually did find the quite uncommon Black-winged Pratincole. A consortium of environmental groups is studying sociable Plovers, with certain individuals being fitted with tiny radio transmitters to establish where their wintering grounds lie. We were lucky to find several small flocks of these very attractive plovers, one female having 3 very tiny chicks. Blizzards of Yellow Wagtails were in every patch of wet grassland and Black and White-winged Larks added some local interest to the clouds of Short-toed and Skylarks that inhabited these short grass steppes. 

The food was variable, often a little difficult for the vegetarian, but we managed to find an alternative in most situations (there was always chocolate!) with a bias on starches. Some soups, seasoned with fennel, were delicious and others had their share of "mystery meat" to investigate and struggle through. It's always easy to pick on the little things on any tour, but overall it really was excellent. All of our drivers, especially Misha were very good (if a bit "gazelle-like" from time to time) and both Sergei and Nastya added more than a lot to our tour. Thanks everyone for making our first Venture to Kazakhstan so enjoyable- I have already made reservations for May 2010- and I for one can't wait to see rubythroats in the Tien Shans, pratincoles in Korgalzhyn and bustards in the Taukum again in the future.

Rosy Starling

Part of a huge flock of Rosy Starlings

Tien Shan Mountains

Our very comfortable Yurt camp

Himalayan Rubythroat

Success after finding Caspian Plover

European Kingfisher

Astana- the new capital of Kazakhstan

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