Central Asia: Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan

6th - 21st May 2025

Georgia and Armenia extension: 29th April - 5th May 2025

Leader: Martin Kennewell

Caucasus pre-tour extension: Georgia and Armenia for Kruper's Nuthatch, Caucasian and Caspian Snowcocks, Levant Sparrowhawk, Semi-collared Flycatcher, Armenian Gull, White-throated Robin, Upcher's Warbler, Finsch's Wheatear, Radde's Accentor, lorenzii Mountain Chiffchaff and Caucasian Grouse. Contact us for details.

The Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan lie on the historic Silk Road, an ancient trade route. The tour takes in a wonderful diversity of dramatic habitats, ranging from vast steppe grasslands, through desert, to bird-filled lakes and wetlands and rising through deciduous and coniferous forest to the snow-capped peaks of the Tien Shan Mountains. Bird diversity is equally exciting and there’s a very exciting range of Central Asian specialities on offer. We begin in Uzbekistan for the very special Turkestan Ground Jay, in the Kyzyl Kum Desert. Continuing on a more traditional Kazakhstan route we will seek out desirable specialities like Black and White-winged Larks, Pallas’s Sandgrouse, Eversmann’s and Blue-capped Redstarts, Fire-fronted Serin, Saxaul Sparrow, Black-throated and Altai Accentors, White-winged Woodpecker, White-crowned Penduline-tit, Azure Tit, Yellow-eyed Dove, Ibisbill and Himalayan Snowcock. Increasingly rare breeders like Sociable Lapwing, Caspian Plover and Macqueen’s Bustard will be appreciated, while the wetlands are likely to produce interesting migrants alongside nesting Pallas’s Gull and Black-winged Pratincoles.

‍Day 1:
International arrivals into Tashkent International Airport (TAS), Uzbekistan. Night in Tashkent.

‍Day 2:
A day with a difference, as we leave after breakfast to head south, pressed against the Tajikistan border is the edge of the rocky, juniper-lined slopes of the very western end of the Pamir mountains. We visit the little-known Zaamin National Park, where we have much of the day here. During the drive we pass roadside nesting European Rollers, Lesser Grey Shrike, Indian Golden Oriole and other open country species, with a chance of Upcher’s Warbler too. Once at the park, birding the open slopes our primary target is Blyth’s Rosefinch, a range-restricted, very difficult, localised species for the world birder, with much of its range in Tajikistan and northern Pakistan. In addition, we have a chance of a whole suite of raptors, Rufous-naped Tit, flavipectus Azure Tit, Cetti’s Warbler, Hume’s Whitethroat, Blue-capped Redstart, White-winged Grosbeak, and White-capped and Rock Buntings. Night in Zaamin.

‍Day 3:
We have the morning in-and-around Zaamin once again. What we do exactly over the course of the morning will depend on our previous afternoon success. Whatever we choose to do, we’ll eventually partially retrace our steps, then west to Samarkand, with packed lunch. Enjoying the rolling grasslands along the way, with the Bee-eaters and Rollers dotting the roadside wires as we go along. 

We’ll put down our binoculars for the afternoon and enjoy the historic city. Samarkand, on the Silk Road was founded over 2,500 years ago and was the capital of the empire of Sogdiana. Alexander the Great, who took the city in 329 BC, wrote that “everything I have heard about the beauty of Marakanda is true, except that it is more beautiful than I could imagine”. Later Samarkand became the capital of the great Mongol conqueror Timur, the centre of an empire that stretched from the Euphrates to the Ganges. Unlike Tashkent, its great rival, which was completely rebuilt after the disastrous 1966 earthquake, Samarkand still possesses many visible reminders of its long and wonderful but turbulent history. The skyline of the city is punctuated by the huge domes and minarets of its mosques, tombs and religious schools, in particular the stunningly beautiful Registan complex, the enormous and as yet only partly restored mosque of Bibi Khanum and Timur’s mausoleum, the Gur Emir, of which we’ll visit these during the afternoon – birding wise, expect superlative views of Alpine Swifts! Night in Samarkand.

‍Day 4:
To the south of Samarkand is the Zeravshan mountains, an outlier of the Tien Shan. Here, at the Takhtakoracha pass, we bird bushy meadows and scrub at reasonable on the valley slopes to the south of the city, concentrating on finding such special birds as Hume’s Short-toed Lark, White-throated Robin, Finsch’s Wheatear, Upcher’s and Eastern Orphean Warblers, Hume’s Whitethroat, Eastern Rock Nuthatch and Red-headed and White-capped Bunting. There is quite a lot of overlap here with birds likely in Armenia (namely, White-throated Robin, Finsch’s Wheatear, Upcher’s Warbler and Eastern Rock Nuthatch).
Additional species we may well encounter include Egyptian Vulture, Eurasian and Himalayan Griffon, Long-legged Buzzard, Cetti’s, Eastern Olivaceous, and Greenish Warblers, Pied Wheatear, Blue and Rufous-tailed Rock-thrushes, Indian Golden Oriole, Red-tailed (or Turkestan) Shrike (split from Isabelline, and breeding only in Central Asia to Iran), Lesser Grey Shrike, Rock Sparrow, and Grey-capped Goldfinch.

After lunch around the pass, we head west, with some late afternoon birding along an irrigation canal, where Menetries’s Warbler, Eastern Olivaceous Warbler and White-tailed Lapwing are all possible, in addition, it can be a great oasis for migrants. There is also an outside chance in the desert scrub of Scrub-warbler, and even Macqueen’s Bustards are occasionally seen here. Night in Bukhara.
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‍Day 5:
Predawn departure as we head into the Kyzyl Kum desert in our 4WD vehicles for the morning. We will likely see our first Turkestan Ground-jay at some point during the early morning. Our reason for being here is simple, the highly-desirable Turkestan Ground Jay. Wandering around the tamarisk and saxaul desert, other species possible include Scrub-warbler, pallidirostris Great Grey Shrike, Sykes’s Warbler and halimodendri Lesser Whitethroat, while migrants tend to pop up anywhere.
In addition, the desert is great for herps, with several toad-headed agama possible, Reticulated Racerunner and an outside chance of Desert Monitor too. After lunch at a roadside restaurant, that can be a haven for migrant warblers, we’ll return to Bukhara for an afternoon to visit the historic sites, and so different from Samarkand.
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Bukhara was one of the great trading cities of the ancient Silk Road, and in the afternoon we explore the old city with a cultural guide. It is one of the best examples of well-preserved Islamic cities of Central Asia of the 10th to 17th centuries, with an urban fabric that has remained largely intact, brimming with mosques, madrassas, bazaars and caravanserais. This ancient Persian city served as a major centre of Islamic culture for centuries and was a major cultural centre of the Caliphate in the 8th century. With the exception of a few important vestiges from before the Mongol invasions of Genghis Khan in 1220 and Temur in 1370, the old town bears witness to the urbanism and architecture of the Sheibani period of Uzbek rule, from the early 16th century onwards. The citadel, rebuilt in the 16th century, has marked the civic centre of the town since its earliest days to the present. Monuments of particular interest include the famous tomb of Ismail Samani, a masterpiece of 10th-century Muslim architecture, and a large number of 17th-century madrasas. Night in Bukhara.
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‍Day 6:
An early start to the day, as we take the impressively comfortable and efficient high-speed train from Bukhara back to Tashkent. After an hour wandering around the pleasant Tashkent Botanical Gardens, and lunch, we’ll head to the airport for an international flight across into Kazakhstan to Almaty International Airport. From airport we head east, to the town of Bayseit for the night.

Day 7:
We have the day in the Sogety and Kokpek area. Visiting a variety of habitats today, from Ash-groves, flat open plains, rocky hillsides and scrubby gullies the bird diversity will reflect that. Our targets today will include Grey-necked, White-capped, Rock and Meadow Buntings, Hume’s Whitethroat, Pied, Northern, Isabelline and Desert Wheatears and White-crowned Penduline-tit. Though greatly decreased in number, this area offers our best chance for Saker Falcon, while Lesser Kestrel is also possible. Visiting a water source will give us a chance of Mongolian Finch and Pallas’s Sandgrouse, with the latter also possible in the rocky desert when we go in search of Asian Desert Warbler, Greater Short-toed Lark and Horned Lark. Mammal-wise, Goitered Gazelle and Great Gerbil are both likely. Night at Bayseit.

Day 8:
Our morning will be dictated by our previous day – we can spend much of the morning in the area once again, or move in as we head northwest to the edge of the Taukum Desert. Leaving the desert, the roadside poppy fields will be full of aerial singing Calandra Lark, while visiting a large lake will undoubtably be fringed with frantically feeding shorebirds on their northward bound migration, and both Dalmatian and Great White Pelicans. A smaller, reed-fringed pool could hold White-headed Duck too. How much time we spend birding along the way depends on our time, as we pass along the same road two days later.
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Heading off-road, we arrive at our well-appointed Yurt Camp, we’re here for two nights. In the late afternoon we’ll drive through the parched landscape in search of Caspian Plover, that breed in this area, along with larger numbers of Greater Sandplover. Other likely species are Turkestan Short-toed (part of the carve-up of Lesser and Asian Short-toed Larks), Calandra Larks, along with Isabelline and Desert Wheatears, pallidirostris Great Grey and Turkestan Shrikes,Brown-necked Raven, while Black-bellied Sandgrouse are numerous, we have a chance of the rarer Pin-tailed and Pallas’s too. There is also an outside chance of Macqueen’s Bustard (finding these birds here is now extremely unlikely, sadly), which are still present in tiny numbers in the general area.
Evening spotlighting near camp should produce Great Jerboas (the easiest of the 10 species of jerboa found in the Taukum to identify), Frog-eyed Gecko, Long-eared Hedgehog, and Corsac Fox. Night at the Yurt Camp in the Taukum Desert.
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Day 9:
During our day in the Taukum Desert we will begin by birding in the unique Turanga woodland where we should encounter such specialties as Saxaul Sparrow, White-winged Woodpecker, Azure Tit, Sykes’s Warbler and Yellow-eyed Dove, we’ve also encountered Oriental Honeybuzzard passing overhead.
Next is birding the myriad of wetlands along the Ile River – unfortunately due to droughts and pumping vast quantities of water away from the wetlands for mining, the wetlands are a shadow of its former glory, so we’ll only visit only remaining spots that look suitable for birding. One reason for birding this area, once dominated by phragmites is for the little-known, odd-looking ssaposhnikowi Black-headed Penduline-tit (which appears more similar to Eurasian than nominate Black-headed!), though with the drying up of the wetlands, and a dominance of willow, White-crowned Penduline-tit has largely taken over in the area.

Returning to camp in the afternoon, we drive and bird around the parched landscape in search of Caspian Plover, that breed in this area, along with larger numbers of Greater Sandplover. Other likely species are Turkestan Short-toed (part of the carve-up of Lesser and Asian Short-toed Larks), Calandra Larks, along with Isabelline and Desert Wheatears, pallidirostris Great Grey and Turkestan Shrikes, Brown-necked Raven and Asian Desert Warbler, while Black-bellied Sandgrouse are numerous, we have a chance of the rarer Pin-tailed and Pallas’s too. Night at the Yurt Camp in the Taukum Desert.

Day 10:
Today, we will look at what species we’re after and decide where best to spend the morning. Whether around camp once more, for more plovers, and migrants around a waterhole. Leaving the desert, the roadside poppy fields will be full of aerial singing Calandra Lark, while visit a large lake will undoubtably be fringed with frantically feeding shorebirds on their northward bound migration, and both Dalmatian and Great White Pelicans. A smaller, reed-fringed pool could hold White-headed Duck too, along with White-crowned Penduline-tit. Eventually, we arrive at Almaty Gorge. What we do during the afternoon entirely depends on our arrival time – let’s see! Night at Almaty.

Days 11-12:
We have two full days in the glorious high-altitude landscape of the high Tien Shan Mountains, hoping to find an array of alpine specialists; we primarily focus on three different altitudes and habitats. In the upper alpine zone, there is an old Soviet observatory in a lovely open area of flower-covered alpine meadows above 3,200m, with a 360-degree backdrop of steep alpine peaks. Here, Himalayan Snowcock, Altai and Brown Accentors, Güldenstädt’s Redstart, Plain Mountain Finches, and Lammergeier are possible. Slightly lower, in the scrub and juniper-covered slopes, Sulphur-bellied Warbler, Black-throated Accentor, Red-mantled Rosefinch, White-winged Grosbeak, Fire-fronted Serin, Himalayan Rubythroat, and the dainty Severtzov’sTit-Warbler await us.
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Finally, lower down near Big Almaty Lake the wide, braided, stony river beds are home to the unique Ibisbill. While the surrounding conifer forests we will hope to find Brown and White-throated Dippers, and Blue Whistling-thrush along the fast-flowing mountain streams. In the open patches of mature, mixed deciduous and coniferous forest Greenish and Hume's Warblers are common and Spotted Nutcracker is usually around, while bigger targets include Eversmann’s and Blue-capped Redstarts, Black-throated Accentor and Eurasian Three-toed Woodpecker. Nights at Almaty.

Day 13:
After breakfast, we fly north to the capital, Nur Sultan, previously known as Astana. An area of wetland interspersed with reedbeds not far from the airport will be our first introduction to the steppe wetlands, where Paddyfield, Booted, and Eurasian Grasshopper Warblers, Bluethroat, Citrine Wagtail and breeding Fieldfare are present. Then,we drive westwards into the heart of steppe country, making a whole afternoon of stops on the way, which should include our first looks at Pallid Harrier, Demoiselle Crane, Red-footed Falcon, Bluethroat, PaddyfieldWarbler, while Black Lark should be song-flighting by the roadside as we get further into the steppe, and we keep our eyes peeled for Sociable Lapwing, as this area is actually the most likely area for us to find them. Night at Korgalzhyn,

Day 14:
A full day in-and-around Korgalzhyn State Nature Reserve. This vast area comprises of a myriad of small and large wetlands – some reef-ringed, some mud-lined, and steppe area – much of which is old farmland that has gone wild once more. Traditionally, home to roving packs of Wolves and nomadic herds of Saiga, we still have a chance of both, albeit in critically small numbers nowadays. However, it is the birds that are the real attraction for us, as a major migration route but with some excellent breeding specialities. Our main targets here are nesting groups of the globally Critically Endangered Sociable Lapwing, both Black and White-winged Larks which are both confined to the Central Asian steppes.

However, it’s the sheer number of breeding and passage birds that make the area so captivating. Black-winged Pratincoles and White-winged Terns in glorious breeding plumage, while migrant waders such as Red-necked Phalaropes (sometimes in flocks of thousands), Spotted Redshank, Terek Sandpiper, and Ruff in their breeding finery. These enumerable wetlands and lakes should also produce breeding Dalmatian Pelican, Great Bittern, genuinely wild Mute Swan among the more numerous Whooper Swans, Red-necked Grebe and breeding colonies of Pallas’s Gulls, while the reed-fringes host a variety of passerines, from warblers to Bluethroats. The damp, grassy steppe hosts elegant Demoiselle Cranes while scattered scrub should hold Booted Warbler, Pallid and Montague’s Harriers and acrobatic Red-footed Falcons. Night at Korgalzhyn.

Day 15:
Much of the morning on the steppe once again, returning to our guesthouse for lunch and check-out. From here, we return to Astana, birding along the way once again, before arriving at our hotel for a farewell dinner. Night in Astana.
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Day 16:
Departures from Astana International Airport (NQZ).