I had been hearing tales of the Silk Road for the last thirty odd years, in fact probably 35 years because that is how long my friend Steve Rooke has been leading trips there. Enough was enough and this May I found myself booked on a Wings tour of Central Asia to Uzbekestan and Khazakestan for three weeks, the leader was Steve.
Reading the pre tour notes prepared me for lots of travel and some hugely sought after birds and sights. Top of my list for birds were Ibisbill and White-browed Tit-Warbler (or Severtzov's Tit-Warbler which I prefer) , the cities of Samarkand and Bukhara, a Cosmic Ray Station and the Tien Shan mountains. Genghis Karn and Marco Polo step aside ! I was boarding the flight from Stansted to Tashkent via Istanbul with much excitement.
Arriving in the Uzbek capital at 5am in the morning the afternoon was spent resting and readying for the first proper days birding. The mountains beckoned.
Wednesday 6 May
We left the hotel early morning on the Golden Road to Samarkand accompanied by flocks of Rose-coloured Starlings, Indian House Sparrows, Common Mynas and White Storks. A few stops and Pied Bushchat, Black Storks, Glossy Ibis, Masked Wagtail added while some roadside pools gave us our first White-tailed Lapwings, Lesser Grey Shrike and Blue-cheeked Bee-eater.
The local people took a friendly interest in our group but were somewhat bemused by our reason for being in their country.
We headed up the mountain after a police check point delayed us for a half hour with beaurocracy and encountered our first Vultures, Griffon, Egyptian and Cinnerous. A Walnut Grove was one stop and here we saw Yellow-breasted and Turkestan Tit, Paradise Flycatchers, Oriental Turtle Dove and numerous Greenish Warblers.
We continued up towards the Turkestain Mountain Range and arrived at the Zomin Plateau, just shy of 2500 meters which recently featured in "Race across the world" I recognised the hotel and tent that the teams visited.
Our quarry here was Blyth's Rosefinch and while the views were a bit distant we did briefly see a male and female. Rufous-naped Tit was the second speciality which performed closer and I was particularly impressed with this as it looked far better in the field than in the bird guides.
Bordering so close to Tajikistan there was a military presence and we were approached by officials who were not used to seeing a bunch of tourists looking at bushes and trees !
Thursday 7 May
A revisit to yesterday's Zomin Plateau and we eventually got some good views of a female Blyth's Rosefinch, Blue-capped Redstart, Rock Buntings, Siberean Stonechats and Rock Bunting all before breakfast.
Following breakfast we headed towards Samarkand with a few more stops on the road down yielding Grey-headed Goldfinch and White-capped Rock Bunting.
A revist to the Walnut Grove and here we spent time searching for a bird not previously seen in this area but the habitat looked perfect. After some 30 minutes of searching we heard it call but it was really elusive. The call was loud and the bird was near, in fact there were two birds calling. Finally we managed decent views of a Rusty-tailed Flycatcher it avoided my attempts to photograph it.
Driving down the gorge and suddenly there a shadow overcast the coach - the scream of Lammergeier brought screaching tyres and a scramble off the coach as quick as we witnessed in the whole tour. And more surprisingly it made three low level passes giving us brilliant views of this magnificant of vultures.
Our afternoon was spent looking around the Registan in Samarkand, the historic public square in the city. It is famed for its ensemble of three madrasa - Islamic schools. The sheer beauty and impact of the intricate tiling was overwhelming and my iphone captured hundreds of photographs of which a few are below.
Alpine Swifts wheeled and screaming over the Registan just adding to the atmosphere.
Friday 8 May
We were in the hills south of Samarkand in the Zeravshan National Park and Steve took us to a delightful valley where we saw the first of many Red-headed Buntings. It was alive with the song of this spectacular bird. In the UK it was, until fairly recently a Category D bird due to the long history of escaped birds as it was a commonly kept cage bird. But the ban on legal importation saw a dramatic decline in sightings and it is now classified as a Category A bird (you can count it if you keep lists, which I don't) . We saw these birds here in the company of Long-tailed Shrikes, Skye's Warbler and Masked Wagtail all with a similar migratory pattern.
Here there were Blyth's Reed Warblers, Greenish Warblers, Hume's Lesser Whitethroats and a particular favourite of mine Upcher's Warbler. Whilst waiting for this to show we encountered Eastern Rock Nuthatch, Eastern Olivaceous Warbler and Orphean Warbler.
Several more stops in little valleys added Crested larks, Tawny Pipit, Blue Rock Thrush and Red-rumped Swallows passing through. A search for Hume's Short-toed Lark finally met with success and whilst flighty we were able to get good enough views to clinch the identification. These valleys were visited by locals enjoying a lunch while collectiing wonderfully scented herbs.
Reptiles were about ! Here an Eastern Sand Boa. It's a complicated taxonomy and still not completely straight forward as far as I can see, but this is one of only two Sand Boa species/subspecies in Uzbekestan
Our third stop was in search of White-throated Robin having drawn a blank at the last two sites. After a careful walk on a hillside track we heard a male singing. A female was also close by but was much more elusive.
Our final target was Finch's Wheatear. This was a challenge for me as by now my bad back was really playing up and it was a long uphill walk, but it was in search of Finch's Wheatear which I hadn't seen for ages so downing more painkillers I headed up the hillside.
The great thing about the terrain we were in were the numerous rocks which provided me with many perching places and allowed me to sit down to relieve the trapped nerve in my spine. After a while in came a female and an immature bird.
Saturday 9 May
Still in Samarkand and an early start to walk alongside a canal.
The day was warming up and we were treated to Night Herons, Bluethroat, the ever present Blyth's Reed Warblers and Greenish Warblers plus a roosting Eagle Owl.
An afternoon visit to the Street of Tombs or the Shah-i-Zinda, an awe inspiring necropolis, a 200 metre long corridor featuring 11 centuries-old mausoleums. Vibrant blue mosiacs and intricately carved terracotta was a blast to the senses.
Next up Bukara and the Desert Camp......................
