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• Superb spring birding amid the wetlands, deserts and mountains of Central Asia • Turkestan Ground Jay, Asian Paradise Flycatcher, Blue Whistling Thrush • A host of other specialities from both the Western and Eastern Palearctic • White-tailed Lapwing, White-winged Woodpecker, White-throated Robin, Finsch’s Wheatear • Hume’s Lesser Whitethroat, Yellow-breasted and Rufous-naped Tits, White-capped Bunting • Packed with historical interest, too: Tashkent, Samarkand and the oasis city of Bukhara
Commencing our journey in Tashkent, we follow the route of the ancient Silk Road south to the fabled city of Samarkand, with its blue domes, impressive madrassahs and shimmering minarets. From here, it is only a short distance to the Zeravshan Hills. Forming a western extension to the mighty Tien Shan range, here we will search for White-throated Robin, Upcher’s and Eastern Orphean Warblers, Hume's Short-toed Lark, Finsch's and Variable Wheatears and Eastern Rock Nuthatch. If we are lucky again this year, we may also find the beautiful Asian Paradise Flycatcher, occurring here at the northwestern limit of its range.
Continuing on to the oasis city of Bukhara - considered by some to outshine Samarkand in its splendour - we enter the Kyzyl-kum Desert, home to many very special birds. Over the next two days we shall explore the deserts and marshes surrounding the city. On the outskirts, lakes and reedbeds form a mosaic of exciting wetlands, where elegant White-tailed Lapwings breed, along with Glossy Ibis, Pygmy Cormorant, Marbled Duck and a wealth of herons and egrets. Nearby, Collared Pratincoles and Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters hawk for insects, while Clamorous Reed Warblers sing from the denser reedbeds and Mйnйtries’s Warblers, Pied Bushchats and Long-tailed Shrikes inhabit the scrub and bushes.
The surrounding desert is home to one of the most exciting of all Central Asia’s endemic birds: the enigmatic Turkestan Ground Jay. Fortunately, they are fairly numerous here and we should have little difficulty in finding this most attractive corvid. While we are searching, we should also encounter restless Streaked Scrub, Asian Desert and Sykes’s Warblers, along with elegant Isabelline Wheatears and Southern Grey Shrikes.
Returning to Tashkent by air, our birding concludes amid the forested foothills of the western Tien Shan Mountains - home to a subtly different selection of birds than occur in neighbouring Kazakhstan. In these ‘softer’ hills, we will search for White-winged Woodpecker, Hume's Lesser Whitethroat, Blue Whistling Thrush and Turkestan, Yellow-breasted and Rufous-naped Tits, along with White-capped and Rock Buntings.
Central Asia offers a fabulous travel experience with outstanding birds, stunning scenery and a fine cultural heritage. |
