Kazakhstan birdwatching - Day I

At the sort of last moment notice I joined my dad on a trip to Kazakhstan, with a travel agancy specializing on birdwatching holidays. I was the last of a group of 20 or so, which I met on the airport in Istanbul. Together we flew to Almaty and landed at 4:45 am. There we met the local travel agency owner Anara and her sister Akmaral and our ornithologist guide, Askar.
The time difference and arrival time caused that we simply skipped a night and sleep, and went straight for a breakfast and to Sorbulak lakes full of birds. We heard Warblers, saw an Azure Tit, several waterbirds, grebes, waders, and ducks, out of which the most notable to us were White-headed Ducks.

White-headed Ducks (Oxyura leucocephala)

From there we went straight to Lake Sorbulak, where there was also a colony of Rosy Starlings, with males trying to attract the attention of some pretty ladies, displaying and singing on the rocks. A great sight!

Rosy Starlings (Sturnus roseus)

At the big lake we could see gulls, terns, both local species of pelicans, some waders and much more. We went past a farm where a lot of Black Kites gathered. We stayed and watched other birds, too and made our first encounter with ever present Isabelline Wheatear and a Hoopoe.

 Isabelline Wheatear (Oenanthe isabellina)

We then had to drive for about 120 km to Kanschengel. We drove through a completely flat landscape of steppe or perhaps semidesert, a very dry and monotone place, to a watersource where not only birds, but also herds of cows and horses, or occassional camel gather. We were always looking out from our busses to spot any birds and when Askar or anyone noticed somehting interesting, we stopped, hopped out with our binocular and watched intently. Mostly birds of prey today. We left at dusk.
The light was slowly fading when we arrived to a small, but rare watersource. We saw both the Calandra Lark and Bimaculated Lark and as a proper wader-lover, I was looking around for any wader I could possibly find near the mud. And I was successful, four or so Greater Sand Plovers appeared and let us watch them for a while. We were also on a lookout for Lesser Sand Plovers, but none appeared. We, however, also saw one of the main target species in this place - Black-bellied Sandgrouse.

 Greater Sand Plover (Charadrius leschenaultii)

 Then we went to a campsite the travel agency supposedly prepared for us in a meantime. We turned from the main road to a path through nowhere, through the barren land. We were driving for an unreasonably long time considering the land was the same no matter how far we drove. Until suddenly, a group of yellow tents appeared on a completely random spot in the desert. Very unexpected. We had tents and camp beds with sleeping bags. No toilet though. The only way was to go far enough veiled in the darkness. Unless you walked for a few kilometers, it was impossible to dissappear beyond the horizon.

 Path through the wasteland

I was veeery tired, without sleep for nearly two days, so I did not join the group in drinking and talking in the middle of the camp. I could not fall asleep because of that, however, which was a pity, because after the "party" ended, a snoring concert ensued from all around....

 Our campsite

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