KAZAKHSTAN & UZBEKISTAN BIRDING THE SILK ROAD OF CENTRAL ASIA APRIL 24–MAY 16, 2019 The scarcely distributed Saxaul Sparrow was a major highlight! Image by Cliff Hensel LEADER: MACHIEL VALKENBURG LIST COMPILED BY: MACHIEL VALKENBURG VICTOR EMANUEL NATURE TOURS, INC. 2525 WALLINGWOOD DRIVE, SUITE 1003 AUSTIN, TEXAS 78746 WWW.VENTBIRD.COM KAZAKHSTAN & UZBEKISTAN April 24–May 16, 2019 By Machiel Valkenburg On a beautiful April afternoon in the Uzbekistan capital, a group of birders met up for a trip along the ancient Silk Road. Everybody has heard about the Silk Road, but the details of the region remain largely a mystery to most in America. Our trip to Central Asia took us along the highlights of the Uzbek city states of Samarqand and Bukhara while we visited the best birding spots in Kazakhstan. Spring was late in Central Asia this year, a good three weeks late! Yellow-breasted Azure Tit was easily found in Uzbekistan. Image by Cliff Hensel We started the tour in Samarqand where we indulged ourselves in the steep history of this gorgeous ancient city; the famous conqueror Timur made it the capital of his empire, and the richness of the town can be seen everywhere. We visited the most desired places for insight into their beauty and history. The Registan Square was especially admired by all as the best place of all. The friendliness of the local people was astonishing, and we took loads of selfies with all the local people visiting the sites. We were true rock stars! The food in Uzbekistan is fantastic, and we visited a plovchana, a restaurant serving only one dish, Plov! This is rice with lamb and raisins. Naturally, we also did some birding in this area; we visited a mountain pass an hour’s drive from the city where our main target was the Finsch’s Wheatear, which we found after a short walk in a truly stunning landscape. Here, as well, we found White-capped Bunting, Eastern Rock Nuthatch, and a good selection of vultures that included both Eurasian Griffon and Himalayan Griffon. Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 2 Kazakhstan & Uzbekistan, 2019 We moved to the west to visit another gem of the Silk Road history, the city of Bukhara. We started with a splendid day of birding in the nearby Kyzylkum Desert. We had to leave very early to reach the best spots by 7 am, as this is the best time of day to find the illustrious Pander’s Ground-Jay. After several hours of searching we got a glimpse of this skulky bird—maybe briefly, but we saw it! We enjoyed views of Blue-cheeked Bee-eater and many Lesser Whitethroats. In the afternoon we returned to our hotel located in the center of the city. The center of Bukhara is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is probably the most beautiful spot in the history of the Silk Road. It has to be seen to be believed! The Registan Square is a delight to visit. Image by Machiel Valkenburg From the green city of Tashkent we flew to Kazakhstan, where the main birding of the tour took place. The history of both countries is very different. Uzbekistan has a rich history as a trading center, while Kazakhstanis were nomads and roamed the steppes with their cattle and horses. We arrived in Almaty, and the main attractions for us were the giant snow-capped peaks of the Tien Shan Mountains that rise above all and are always in the backdrop of the city. In the Almaty region we would visit three different regions. We headed east towards the beautiful Charyn Canyon; in the north we visited the clay desert of Tau-Kum while in the south the excellent birding spot of Big Almaty Lake was visited. This White-capped Bunting peeked around the corner at our group. Image by Machiel Valkenburg Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 3 Kazakhstan & Uzbekistan, 2019 The Charyn region is an Eolic stone semi-desert that holds many good species, and we had a lot of fun birding this wonderful area. One of the main targets here was the Pallas’s Sandgrouse, which we saw in a close fly-by over the desert in perfect morning light. From a small wormwood bush, the sounds of an Asian Desert Warbler were heard, and quickly after we had walkaway views of this stunning little Sylvia warbler. Common birds here were Desert Wheatear, Isabelline Wheatear, and Horned Lark, and the powerful Long-legged Buzzard was seen numerous times. A colony of Lesser Kestrels was a lot of fun, and Pied Wheatears and Rock Sparrows were numerous. Posting at an artesian well delivered us views of Mongolian Finch and Linnet. Scope views of Gray-necked Bunting for all were a good ending to our days at the Chinese border. Always fantastic scenery in Kazakhstan! Image by Machiel Valkenburg Our night excursion in Tau-kum rendered this amazing Small Five-toed Jerboa! Image by Cliff Hensel Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 4 Kazakhstan & Uzbekistan, 2019 Tau-Kum is known for the bird migration; millions of birds migrate over the clay desert towards their breeding grounds in Siberia. In this part of Kazakhstan, no accommodation is available, and therefore we lodge in a lovely private yurt camp. These nomad homes are spacious, and the professional cook prepared delicious meals. On the evening we arrived we immediately hit a big one! I was scanning the desert and found a Caspian Plover two miles from the camp. We all ran to the bus and drove towards the plover. While the sun was going down, we enjoyed close scope views of one of the most attractive waders of our planet in breeding plumage. Here we found a few Greater Sand-Plovers as well, plus many Black-bellied Sandgrouse. Other highlights included Saxaul Sparrow, White-winged Woodpecker, Yellow-eyed Dove, Red-headed Bunting, and a smart Little Bustard. One of the biggest prizes of this venture was the stunning Caspian Plover! Image by Cliff Hensel Woodpeckers are always good; this White-winged was amazing! Image by Cliff Hensel Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 5 Kazakhstan & Uzbekistan, 2019 The final part in Almaty before flying further north was a two-night visit to the mountains south of Almaty. In about one hour we drove from 800m above sea level to 3,000m above sea level; quite the rise—the highest elevation we birded was 3,600m! This huge difference means a huge change as well in the avifauna; we left the desert species behind us and entered the world of high mountain birds. We birded the vicinity of our gorgeously located hotel and loved all the special birds that passed by. We started with an iconic species, the Ibisbill! We were lucky having close views, as the bird was resting on a sandbank instead of foraging between the pebble banks. In the juniper scrub we found the beautiful White-tailed Rubythroat, active Black-throated Accentors, a flying strawberry named Red-mantled Rosefinch, the skulky Sulphur-bellied Warbler, and cute Fire-fronted Serins were always around. The Rubythroats in the world are stunning, and this White-tailed performed superbly for us. Image by Cliff Hensel In the higher grounds we were lucky to find White-winged Redstart and the two other accentors (Brown and Altai) quite quickly. The surprise on the Cosmos Station, an old research station used by the Russians during the space race, came from a pair of Wallcreepers. We had a lot of snowfall just before our arrival, and the birds had descended to forage in lower grounds. Another highlight was the splendid Himalayan Snowcock, which we admired on two different days, a true gem of the Kazakh mountains. For our final part of the tour we flew 800 miles north to the capital, Nur-Sultan. The main birding spot here is the Korgalzhyn NP, but after our flight we spent the afternoon birding a small forested area near the city where we quickly found our target for that day, the superb Pine Bunting. Korgalzhyn is a dream for every shorebird lover, with a large chunk of the population of shorebirds passing through on their migration north towards the Russian tundra. We came across large groups of breeding plumage Ruffs, Spotted Redshank, and Red-necked Phalaropes. The road between Nur-Sultan and Korgalzhyn is already excellent with loads of Pallid Harriers, Short-eared Owls, and Red-footed Falcons. One of the main stars in the park is the Black Lark, an elegant lark that is endemic to the region. An absolute personal favorite! Other interesting sightings included Black-winged Pratincoles, more ‘beema’ Yellow Wagtails, Slender- billed Gulls, and Terek Sandpipers! On our last evening in this completely newly built city, we enjoyed a wonderful traditional local dinner in the best restaurant of the city. We drove almost 3,000 miles across the vast plains of Central Asia, traveled the foothills of the majestic Himalaya Mountains, met countless interesting and friendly people, and sampled the best cuisine the region had to offer. All in all, this amazing destination never stops to amaze, Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 6 Kazakhstan & Uzbekistan, 2019 and I will be looking forward to returning again in 2021. My thanks go to all the enthusiastic participants on this tour who were all a pleasure to travel with. I hope to see you all again soon! Our delighted group posing in front of the Kazakh flag in Nur-Sultan! Image by translator ☺ Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 7 Kazakhstan & Uzbekistan, 2019 Checklist BIRDS: This Checklist order, and common and scientific names are those given by James F.