Siberian Stonechat (Saxicola maura)
On the eight day we drove some distance to ge to the Altyn Emel National Part. We made a stop along the was in a grassland with tall grass and some bushes. We wanted to look for a Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata). In that mission we were not lucky, but it doesn't mean this stop wasn't really great.
Turkestan Shrike (Lanius phoenicuroides)
There were plenty of songbirds hiding or singing in this habitat. Some we've seen on a few occassions already, some we've seen for the first time here. We saw Turkestan Shrikes (Lanius phoenicuroides) or Corn buntings (Emberiza calandra). As a compensation for a the Pied Bush Chat we saw at least a Siberian Stonechat (Saxicola maura). There were also the relatively common Paddyfield Warblers (Acrocephalus agricola) and Syke's Warblers (Iduna rama). Among them some that acted a bit more differently - singing in plain view. Askar determined them to be Booted Warblers (Iduna caligata).
Red-headed Bunting (Emberiza bruniceps)
We were able to walk around for nearly 45 minutes or so, which gave us a good opportunity to try and take pictures of many species. However, Askar was lost in is passion and literally got lost from our sight. We had to wait for him for a good while.
Booted Warbler (Iduna caligata)
We made one more stop nearby. I wanted to use a toilet and went further away into the bushes. When I got inside I heard a bird singing really close. After a while I saw it moving really like 3 meters away from me, where the bush was dense. I took my binaculars to try and see what it was. I saw a blue patch on its chest with a red smaller oval. It was a Bluethroat (Luscinia svecica palliogularis)! I was the only one to see it along with another lady who later even took a picture of it. Too bad I didn't have a camera!
Corn buntings (Emberiza calandra)
We were then nearing the Altyn Emel National Park. It was a stony dry wasteland with few oasis of water and green. It is a home to The Turkmenian kulan (Equus hemionus kulan), also known as Transcaspian wild ass and a Goitered Gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa). Unfortunately we saw neither of those even after driving for quite some distance.
Altyn Emel NP
We occassionaly made a stop near one of those oasis of a historical spot where, and now I forgot - maybe Genghis Khan? - was with his army long ago. There were a few rare song birds here and there, but they were hard to find and weren't too numerous. We saw a Common Pheasant, though
Altyn Emel is a dry rocky wasteland
And then we approached the main reason of our and many other tourist's journey again - the Singing Dunes. And there it was, rising up out of nowhere, suddenly there appeared a mountain of fine grained sand that can be up to 300 m tall.
The Singing Dune and me
We stopped and had time to go explore. We decided to climb it up. Going up in the fine sand wasn't really an incredibly easy task. It was rather hard especially under the mercilessly burning sun. I really felt like I was in the Sahara desert. The best trail to chose to climb up was on the ridge. When we stepped slightly sideways, the sand would collapse and fall down.
Sand Dunes
Up on the top a whole group of us met. After a while, our driver decided to come up, too, in his flip flops (not sure how he actually did that). He was the bravest of us all and tried to slide down the sand slope on his butt, which could also produse the rumbling sounds the sand dune can emit.
Cimbing up
He jumped in the sand, however, didn't get too far until he stopped. He tried paddling with his hands, but to no avail. We did heard some noise the sand made, but his journey down wasn't too far. In fact, he stopped so high up that he decided the easier way would be to climb back up and go down normally with us.
View from the dune
No one else tried as we saw sliding down wasn't actually that easy and above all would make the sand go... everywhere. We took a look to all sides as there was quite a nice view from up above. We saw many lakes or marshes not too far away. Wow, there would be quite a few birds, I was sure!
Climing birdwatchers
The way down wasn't too easy for me, either. I did not drink much and it was sickeningly hot, so I was getting... sick. I just went down as fast as I could and found myself a shade and a water to drink. I did slide down the last part of the dune - on my feet, though. And the dune did sing for me :)
View from the highest and very long sand dune
Our way back was rather uneventful, except for us being able to see and some also take pictures of the Goitered Gazelle! The rest of the day was spent travelling to the Tian Shan mountains.
Dad and I on the Singing Dune
No comments:
Post a Comment