Kazakh steppes

Kazakh steppes

The final days of the Rockjumper tour I was leading were spent in the steppes and wetlands around Nursultan (until recently Astana…). Together with our sharp-eyed local guide Andrey, we birded one day west of the city, and another day south. Birding was fantastic, with non-stop action both in quality and in numbers. Insect load […]

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Rusty-tailed Flycatcher near Samarkand

Rusty-tailed Flycatcher near Samarkand

This morning our Rockjumper tour went up to the mountains south of Samarkand. We had a fantastic morning around Takhta-Karacha mountain pass, at about 1700 m. We saw so many wonderful birds, including Eastern Rock Nuthatch, Irania, Upcher’s Warbler, Indian Paradise flycatcher, Red-headed and White-capped Buntings, ‘vittata’ Pied Wheatear, Lammergeier, Grey-headed Goldfinch, Hume’s Lesser Short-toed […]

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