Kazakhstan - Birding Paradise

Arrival and meeting at the airport with the guide transfer by minibus to the guesthouse “Sunkar” in the Ile -Alatau Park. Birding in Ile-Alatau National Park.
Amongst the birds in this park are: ibis-bill inhabiting mountain rivers, hawks (saker falcon, pigeon hawk and barbary falcon), eagles of rocky high mountains (Himalayan griffon, bearded vulture, golden eagle, booted eagle and Egyptian vulture), rarely met sparrows (tit-warbler, great rosefinch and whistling thrush), as well as black stork. Overnight in the guest house. 

A second day of birding in the stonedeserts of Charyn Canyon region.
Breakfast and dinner in guest house, lunch we take with us in lunchboxes. 

Today we'll drive to another region, namely the Taukum desert, where we'll stay for three days. On the way we start the birding at Lake Sorbulak lake, then move on to Kanshengel . In this area we may encounter:  Black-bellied, Pintail & Pallas`s Sandgrouse Lesser Short-toed Lark, Desert Wheatear, Great Grey Shrike Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, Brown-necked Raven, Turkestan Tit, Saxaul Sparrow, Rufous Bush Robin, Desert Wheatear, Desert Warbler and most rare species - Short-toed Eagle & Pander`s Ground Jay. Some new species - Bluethroat, Isabelline Shrike, Eversmann`s Dove, White-winged Woodpecker - encounter in Turanga trees groves near Ili river.
We'll spend the night and dinner during these three days in traditional Kazakh yurts!

One more day of birding in the area surrounding Kanshengel, and a final night in the yurt.

This part our tour we'll spend in the Tien Shan mountains nearby the Big Almaty Lake, where'll we spend two nights in a observatorium/hotel.
We should observe the mountaintops well: maybe we'll sport Lammergeier, Stone Eagle and Himalayan Griffon Vulture. In these mountains we'll also look for a.o. Blue Whistling Trush, Brown Dipper and Eversmann's Redstart.
The surroundings of the observatoium consist of rocky slopes covered with juniper bushes. Many varietes live here, a.o. Himalyan Rubythroat, Black-throated Accentor, Red-mantled Rosefinch, White-winged Crossbill and Severtov's Tit-Warbler. From the high mountains we may hear the cry of the Himalayan Snowcock.
Visiting a Seismologic Station even higher in the mountains we may spot Brandt's Mountain-Finch, Brown Accentor, the rare Ibisbill and Altai Accentor.

After breakfast we leave the mountains and return to Almaty, birding on the way.
In Almaty we have leisure time. In the evening, at 18:00 hours, we board the modern and luxuruous 'Spanish Train' that will bring us to Astana within 12 hours.

Birdlife in this area is very rich and interesting. There are 321 species of birds here. Since 1976 the Tengiz-Korgaljin Lakes are listed in Ramsar Convention under 1a, 2a, 2c, and 3a criteria.
The vast water bodies, rich in forage, attract water and wetlands birds, which count here 112 species, which makes it 87% from 130 species that can be found in the whole of Kazakhstan. Key Species are
• Dalmatian Pelican (Pelecanus crispus)
• Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber).
• Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus)
• White-headed Duck ( Oxyura leucocephala)
• Pallid Harrier (Circus macrourus)
• White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla)
• Sociable Plover (Chettusia gregaria)
• Black –winged Pratincole ( Glareola nordmanni)
• Black-headed Gull (Larus ichthyoetus)
• White-winged Lark (Melanocorypha Leucoptera)
• Black Lark (Melanocorypha yeltoniensis 

Depending on the departure time of our plane to Almaty, we leave Kurgalzino and return to Astana to catch the flight to Almaty. Our birding tour in this vast country with her great variety in nature and birds has finished!
In Almaty we have leisure time, we can buy souvenirs and have a joint goodbey dinner. We spend the night in ***hotel Kazzhol.