After the awful dump at Besh Barmag we drove via Quba into the Greater Caucasus in order to see a much nicer landscape. Our plan was to reach Xinaliq regardless the possible snow cover or expected cold temperatures high up in the mountains. Nobody of us has ever been there in winter, so we were pretty excited.
The first kilometres offered us brilliant views of the Caucasian winter, but we missed the birds along the road in the lower forested altitudes. We saw mainly Blackbirds, Mistle Thrushes and three Goshawks.
Above the tree layer we had a spectacular sighting of a Lammergeier that was circling above a canyon at about 1.500 m asl. At the same location we observed 35 Red-billed Choughs, 1 Ring Ouzel, some European Goldfinches and a surprising Great Grey Shrike. As it was already late we drove down to our hotel where we spent the night.
The next morning started with freezing cold -6°C and a calling Black Woodpecker. We headed further to the ancient village Xinaliq. Along the road we saw two beautiful Horned Larks and our first birding stop in the village Cek produced great views of a Wallcreeper and 4 Alpine Accentors. Along the river we saw several White-throated Dippers.
The asphalted road led us further to Xinaliq and arriving there we were happy that we had no trouble with snow and the sun warmed us with about +6°C. The weather conditions above 2.000 m asl were much more comfortable than in the lowland. A little hike up to 3.000 m asl produced more sightings of Lammergeiers, Griffon Vultures, Horned Larks, 27 Chukars, 42 Alpine and about 220 Red-billed Choughs. We also observed the spectacular hunting of up to 3 Golden Eagles preying on Caucasian Snowcocks at Qizil Qaya.
After a long day we left Xinaliq in the evening and had once again a comfortable night in our hotel.
The following day we drove down to Qusar, where we checked orchards and arable land for some wintering species. Besides the common species we were really happy to see two quite tame Red-fronted Serins. Until these two individuals, we had only disappointing observations of this species. Another big disappointment was that we had no observation of Pine Buntings, which was one of the highlights from our last winter birding trip. Near Qusar, we saw about 120 Yellowhammers and checked each individual carefully. At least 5 individuals showed features of both species and we logged them as possible hybrids Emberiza citrinella x leucocephalos. Another birding stop in the lowland forests of Samur-Yalama produced as a new species for the trip: a single Middle Spotted Woodpecker.
We are a small group of birders regularly vistiting Azerbaijan. In this blog we will post news about birding activities between the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea.
Working in Azerbaijan for years, we had numerous first records and could update the status of many species. But as hardly any western birders visited the country yet, every trip is still exciting and produces new fascinating observations. We hope that in the future more birdwatchers will visit this great hotspot of biodiversity and join our community.
Send us your data! If you go birding in Azerbaijan, we are interested in your observations. An online data base is available now. For more information and if you need tips for organising a successful tour, please contact us at birdingaze "at" yahoo.com.
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Swedish birds & nature tour operator AviFauna did a successful tour in Azerbaijan 6-14 May, planned and lead by Tomas Haraldsson together with Kai Gauger. In the group were 12 Swedes, one Dane and three German birders and the logistics and arrangements were co-ordinated together with travel agency Caspian Tour. It was a rather fast-paced trip aimed at seeing the exclusive species for the region and also with the last three nights spent in the autonomous republic of Nakhchivan. Very happy and satisfied at seeing all the target birds and some 220 species in total during 7 field days.
In Shirvan Nationalpark we had a great selection of steppe birds as usual but with the flamingo lake pretty empty of birds. Hundreds of Rose-coloured Starlings in flocks, some 4.000 White-winged Black Terns on the sky, lots of Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters, Menetries Warblers and the other "locals".
In Machmud Chala wetlands two female White-headed Ducks surprised us, one of the unexpected species for the trip. In Masalli we found the Shikras on breeding site but only giving short views however a pair soaring above our lunch was nice :)
Unfortunately it was a little rainy in Kizil Agach. On the Caspian coast and its bird-rich lagoons were hundreds of waders including 6 Terek Sandpipers, 17 Broad-billed Sandpipers, 2 White-tailed Lapwings, an adult Great Black-headed Gull and lots of other wetland stuff, truly an exciting area.
Gobustan rock art site producd the usual Pied, Eastern Black-eared and Finsch´s Wheatears and also a likely hybrid Pied/Eastern Black-eared, Rock Nuthatches, Woodchat Shrikes and more. A Steppe Eagle was heading north.
We had a short stop Besh Barmag but still some nice raptor migration. Within just one hour we saw Lesser Spotted Eagle 2, Steppe Eagle 3, Pallid Harrier 2, Montagues Harrier 13, Marsh Harrier and Hobby and also the local Black Vultures and Black Kites.
In Xinaliq we had a nice hike with perfect weather and saw 6 White-winged (Güldenstädts) Redstarts, 10 Caucasian Snowcocks, Lammergeiers, Alpine Accentor, Red-fronted Serins and lots of other stuff. On lower altitudes there were many Green Warblers and several Semi-collared Flycatchers at our lodging Nazli Bulaq.
In Laza there were about a dozen displaying Caucasian Black Grouse right above our homestay in the village. During the morning also several Wallcreepers, Mountain Chiffchaff, Green Warbler, Caucasian Snowcock, 5 Lammergeiers and a lot more was seen. A bit unsatisfying was a short fly-by of two Great Rosefinches.
Nakhchivan was very exciting birding with species similar to easternmost Turkey. Several sites with Persian Wheatear, Pale Rock Sparrow, Upchers Warbler, Eastern Rock Nuthatch, Trumpeter Finch, See see Partridge and Grey-necked Bunting. Bimaculated Lark and Desert Finch both at breeding site, also 3 Mongolian Finches likely so. During our two full days also several records of Booted and Golden Eagle, Lammergeier, Rufous Bush Chat, Armenian Gulls, White-throated Robin and in the driest semi-desert also Black-bellied Sandgrouse. High up at 2200m at Batabat we saw the Raddes Accentor. For many of us the bird of the trip!
Videos of birds and birding from the trip can be seen at Tomas' Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/Tomas06560656/videos