Back in May I was given the opportunity to embark upon a work trip to survey for birds in Central Asia's largest country, Kazakhstan. This was a real privilege to work on a special project that has given me the experience of a life time. I was complied by Alex Poole colleague at WSP and a top bloke and a top ecologist, despite being a Villa fan.
On reflection the one thing that was most notable about the trip was the difference in habitat types and how vast and distinct they were, so I thought I would lay this blog post out by each classification of habitat and the species observed within each one.
Steppe Eagle: TThis Kazakhstan Steppe is such an incredible sight spanning the horizon like the grasslands of Africa or the prairies of North America. However, here they aredominated by Boehmer's cat's-tail, narrow-leaved meadow-grass, northern bedstraw, lupine clover, tuberous Jerusalem sage, and Artemisia latifolia.
The Steppe eagle is entirely migratory, probably migrating in greater numbers than any other Eagle in the world. Autumn migrations take the raptors to wintering grounds in nearby Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, but also as far away as India, Africa, and the Middle East. The birds start to return to their breeding grounds in February. Many studies corroborate that Steppe eagles generally migrate lesser distances as they age.
Long-legged Buzzard: I was surprised how green the Steppe actually was, doing the research and looking at google maps and arial imagery the whole of this area looked bleak, brown, dry and uninspiring.
Demoiselle Crane: One of my main target birds I was really hoping to see, was the Demoiselle crane. We had a trio fly low over the road one morning and landed in the field with about a dozen or so other birds, not far from the our car it gave us a really good opportunity to see them up close.
Found primarily in open spaces with a wide range of visibility, there can be found living in upland areas, unlike most other cranes which can be found in wetland habitat. This crane species enjoys space and solitude, therefore their habitats vary from semi-arid savannas, grasslands, and Steppes, to high plateaus.
Black Kite: We traveled further into the Steep looking for bustards and sand grouse spotting more Steppe eagles, white-winged larks, cranes and bee-eaters.
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Tawny Pipit: There are not that many pipit species at this time of year on the Steppe so the only one we saw while while out surveying was the Tawny.
White-winged Lark: Along our survey route we found a large reservoir with ands we thought we would pull over and take look, hoping to find some waders. Instead we had a flock of European bee-eaters flying through.
Black Lark: These striking large larks are one of the iconic birds of the steppes of Kazakhstan they are found in grassy steppe, particularly in areas interspersed with scattered shrubbery or wet patches.
It was Alex who first spotted one of the trip in a wet area that we were scanning for waders and sandgrouse. The birds were pretty flighty and wasn't allowing us to approach too close.
Marsh Harrier: Post-Soviet fire and grazing regimes have govern the abundance of a key ecosystems on the steppe. Intensive grazing and fire patterns across the Steppes have changed dramatically over the past decades due to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and Kazakhstan is now a global fire hotspot.
Savi's Warbler: We surveys a huge river system and delta area which is one of the largest remaining natural deltas and inland lake in Central Asia. These vast wetlands provides a rich variety of habitats supporting a range of threatened species.
These wet areas were fantastic places, Alex and I spent a lot of time birding here, focusing on our target species and areas that of importance to the project.
Black-winged Pratincole: The Kazakh steppe, also known as the Kirghiz steppe, is itself one of the largest dry steppe regions on the planet, covering approximately 804,500 square kilometres and extending more than 2,200 kilometres from north of the Caspian Sea east to the Altai Mountains.
Caspian Plover: We were thrilled to see this stately plover with a gentle, dovelike expression. Breeding male is stunning, with a white face and belly separated by a broad chestnut patch across the chest. Breeding female is plainer brown, and has a warm rusty-brown patch across the chest. One of our main target birds.
The whole trip was amazing, thrilling, exciting a real life experience, one full of birding memories and good laughs.
Black-eared Wheatear: So to read more and see more images, please click on this link below or see the Holiday and Trip Reports at the bottom of this blog.
