Kazakhstan Birdtours

   Lake Alakol  

Lake Alakol is a 90km long brackish-water lake situated at the foot of part of the Dzungharian Mountains. The lake itself has both large and small islands plus areas of marsh and scrub. The mountains are easily reachable and the high valleys can be very good for birds.

The area where Kazakhstan Bird Tours stays is on the lake shore, by a lagoon of brackish water. Common Terns are abundant here, including the dark-billed longipennis race, as are Sand Martins. Other species found include the superb-looking Great Black-headed Gull, both Caspian Gull and Tern, Grey Heron and Terek Sandpiper plus European Bee-eaters and European and Oriental Turtle-doves. If you are lucky a Relict Gull might fly over – this is one of the best sites on the lake for them. Abundant around the houses are Black-headed Wagtails, Eurasian Tree Sparrows and Common Nighingales. We had Hoopoes nesting in one of our houses.

Lake Alakol with one of the larger islands in the distance	Sunset over the lagoon

Only minutes away from where we stay is a superb marsh, with grassland, reedbeds, open water and shingle and sandy shorelines. On arriving we can admire Paddyfield Warblers, Siberian Stonechats and singing male red-spotted Bluethroats, and listen to Common Quails, all with the backdrop of the beautiful Dzungharian Mountains.

Marsh with Dzungharian Mountains in the background	Male Bluethroat

The open water is the feeding ground for White-winged Terns, the shore home to Collared Pratincoles and Kentish Plovers. Garganey, Red-crested Pochards and Dalmatian Pelicans are easy to find and we see geniune wild Greylag Geese and maybe some Whooper Swans. Migrant waders include the eastern race of Eurasian Curlew, with a very long bill, Curlew and Wood Sandpipers and beautiful summer-plumaged Little Stints. Ruddy Shelduck, Pied Avocets and Black-winged Stilts are found here and Western Marsh Harriers hunt over the reeds.

This close marsh is by no means the only marsh in the area. Another close marsh gave us drumming Common Snipe, Great Reed Warbler, summer-plumaged Red and Black-necked Grebes. A marsh about an hour and a half drive away, worth the effort I assure you, added Richard's Pipit, a hunting male Palid Harrier that landed on a track near to us, Montagu's Harrier, Long-legged Buzzard, Isabelline Shrike and singing Cetti's and Barred Warblers. However, there is one target bird here, one that in 2004 we found quite easily. This marsh is the westernmost outpost of Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler and a singing male showed well for us. The area is also good for dragonflies, with many hundreds of individuals seen.

Male Pallid Harrier	Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler habitat

We also visit the nearby Dzungharian Mountains, mainly for edge-of-range Meadow Bunting - in 2004 we saw at least two pairs and a single. Also here we found Rock Bunting, Red-billed Chough, Red-fronted Serin, Rose-coloured Starling, White-throated Dipper and Pied Wheatear. Raptors are good here - we had superb views of an adult Eastern Imperial Eagle plus Monk Vulture, Lammergeier, Black Kite, Eurasian Hobby and Common Kestrel. A surprise find was a Black Stork soaring through the valley.

Valley up in the Dzungharian Mountains	The group raptor watching