Birding trip May 2014 - Day 1

This trip report is about the birding/nature trip by Marnix ter Beek (loves nature in general), Rene Meek (loves big birds, snow leopard, and nature) and Albert Meek (birds, dragonflies, butterflies and nature in general) from The Netherlands, together with our Kazakh friends Madina Dyussebayeva (who organized the tip), Askar Isabekov and Vassiliy Fedorenko (best guides and friends we could wish during this trip). Albert’s wife is from Kazakhstan and has visited Kazakhstan many times before, had been birding with Askar and Madina before on few day trips .
After arriving to Almaty in the middle of the night we were welcomed by Albert's in-laws where we had a short rest at their place. In the morning we did a Almaty city trip in less than 2 hours visiting the green Bazaar and Park Panfilov. After we prepared our luggage and camera's and went off to the agreed place to meet with our Kazakh friends. When we arrived our friends were already waiting and after some introductions we packed all luggage and equipment in the 2 jeeps that would be our transportation for the following days.
The destination for the first day was Sorbulak Lake. On our way we stopped to look for the nest of White-crowned Penduline tits along the Kaskelen river. Marnix and Rene did find an abandoned nest, but we did not see any Penduline tits. A little exploration along the river did gave us views of Blyth reed warbler, female Rosefinch and the first Spotted flycatchers. Along the road to Sorbulak Askar spotted a Shikra on pole along the road, a bird that Albert did not photograph yet. Although it was sitting for quite some time, Albert did not manage to take a picture, since his lens was still set to MF, when he eventually found the source of the trouble, the Shikra had flown away.
Along the shores of Sorbulak there were less birds than expected, but we overall we saw many interesting birds like Terek sandpipers, Little- and Temminck stints and different waterfowl. After some driving along the shore, there was a lot of excitement from our guides when they spotted 2 Mongolian Sandplovers, a rare vagrant in Kazakhstan, which was not seen since about 2 years. They were not too shy, and all managed to get great shots of these birds.
We stopped for a fantastic lunch, and explored the fields a bit by foot, looking for birds and butterflies. A marsh harries was hunting close by and we spotted also a Whimbrel. Herds of horses were around us, making it a wonderful place for lunch. After lunch we explored Sobulak Lake a bit more, observed the Dalmatian- and Great White Pelicans on their breeding island. Just after the dam, where we got nice shots of Rollers, a kestrel and some Siberian Stonechats, we saw more shorebirds. Among them were spotted redshanks and black-winged stilts.
Around 4 o’clock in the afternoon we left Lake Sorbulak to visit a nesting place of a black stork along the river Kurtti. While driving through the field we could nicely observe a pair Bee-eaters, where the male was catching some insects and offering these to the female. Eventually we arrived to the river, with a high rocks next to it. After a steep descend we found the black stork on the nest. Vassiliy went further to explore the area, and looking for nest of the Eagle-owl. We decided to have diner at this place, and while Madina was preparing the meal, we explored the area on our own. We found the first Red-headed buntings and Kalandra Larks .
After diner, we left the place to go to our campsite in the Kanshengel desert. After a pretty long drive, we arrived to our campsite in the dark. While entering the road, we did see a Svertzov´s Jerboa and decided to chase it a bit with the card. The Jerboa was very quick, making quite high jumps for such a small animal but eventually sat quietly in the lights of the car, giving us the opportunity to make some pictures. Eventually we arrived to our campsite, where Madina arranged that we can sleep in a small house on some beds. Marnix and Rene managed to buy a few cold beers, which we enjoyed before we all slept very well after our first long day of our birding trip.

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