Text © Michael Heiß
(1) Checking the situation at Besh Barmag, where
the construction of a new highway right next to the bird counting station led
to the cancellation of the count for autumn 2019.
(2) Which of the resident and near-endemic bird
species in the Greater Caucasus and Talysh Mountains can be found in the
non-breeding season?
(3) What is the autumn birding potential of the newly opened
Qizilagach National Park?
(4) Meeting kind persons.
(5) Having fun.
Our trip started on 6 November and finished on 23 November 2019
and followed the route Baku – Absheron National Park – Besh Barmag – Greater
Caucasus (Xinaliq, Laza) – Shirvan National Park – Qizilagach National Park –
Talysh Mountains including Zuvand upland – Gobustan – Besh Barmag – Baku.
Our first birding day on 6 November brought us to
the Absheron National Park. We camped outside and passed the entrance after the
park opened. In the morning hours we witnessed quite some migration of
passerines, mainly Chaffinches, Bramblings, Siskins, Linnets, Goldfinches, larks,
thrushes and pipits. Highlights among the local birds were 22 Greater
Flamingos, 7 Horned Grebes in the Caspian Sea, 6500 Coots in lagoons, 36 Grey
Plovers, 15 Kentish Plovers, 300 Dunlins, 15 Sanderlings, 1 Jack Snipe, 15
Slender-billed Gulls, 1 Peregrine, 1 Coal Tit out of range, 1 Bluethroat and 2
Red-breasted Flycatchers. We tried to check each of the about 30 Penduline Tits
carefully looking for rarer subspecies. We were lucky with at least
three caspius-Penduline Tits. They usually
breed in the northern Caspian region and were only once before observed in
Azerbaijan (October 2007 at Besh Barmag). As this record was not documented by
photographs the observed birds from Absheron can be considered as first records
for the country. Most of the remaining birds looked like the local
menzbieri-subspecies (similar appearence to the
nominate
pendulinus). Two rather tame
Desert Wheatears along the beach made this first birding day perfect (
https://ebird.org/checklist/S61219969). Heading
to Besh Barmag we picked up two counters, Tohar and Erik, from the Batumi
Raptor Count, who joined us for some days.
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| Absheron National Park is dominated by lagoons, beaches, mudflats and steppe © Michael Heiß |
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| Waders at the shoreline - the skyline of Baku in the background © Michael Heiß |
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| Migrating Sparrowhawk © Michael Heiß |
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| Red-breated Flycatcher © Christoph Himmel |
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| Tame Desert Wheatear © Christoph Himmel |
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| Hunting insects © Christoph Himmel |
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| Between our scopes © Michael Heiß |
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| Caspius-Penduline Tit with brown head instead of grey © Michael Heiß |
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| Grey is only visible in the nape © Michael Heiß |
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| Some individuals only with litte brown around they eye mask © Christoph Himmel |
From 7 to 9 November (
https://trektellen.nl/count/view/1533/20191107)
we visited Besh Barmag bottleneck and spent the nights in the Zarat
guesthouses. Another Dutch group was already there and we made the bird
migration counts together. The days were in general pretty slow. Maybe it was
too warm with about 20°C and southerly winds. Some highlights included single
Buff-bellied Pipits, a Pallid Harrier, Dalmatian Pelicans and Pygmy Cormorants.
In the afternoons we birded at Besh Barmag Mountain, where we found 60 Rock
Sparrows, 2 Western Rock Nuthatches and 2 Alpine Accentors (
https://ebird.org/checklist/S61759842).
In the Candy Cane Mountains a pair of Finch’s Wheatear showed well and a
perched Golden Eagle next to the road was another highlight (
https://ebird.org/checklist/S61759834).
The morning of 9 November was foggy with very low visibility, so we decided to
leave Besh Barmag early that day and drove to Xinaliq in the Greater Caucasus.
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| Road construction work close to the old counting station © Michael Heiß |
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| But many counters found their way to the spot despite no official bird migration count was organised © Michael Heiß |
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| Finch's Wheatear in the Candy Cane Mountains © Michael Heiß |
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Xızı Dağları is the official name for this colourful place ©
Michael Heiß |
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| One day fog was making bird counting at Besh Barmag impossible © Michael Heiß |
On 10 November we went up to the Qizilqaya
Mountain in the Shadagh National Park, where we found most of the local
specialities: 18 Caucasian Snowcocks, 1 Bearded Vulture, 11 Horned Larks, 2
Güldenstädt’s Redstarts, 3 White-winged Snowfinches, 6 Red-fronted Serins
besides the regular species (
https://ebird.org/checklist/S61323659).
The species list is quite similar to spring birding in this area and finding these Caucasian specialities is probably year-round possible.
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| View from Qizilqaya Mountain in Shadagh National Park © Christoph Himmel |
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| Caucasian Snowcocks can be observed in good numbers © Christoph Himmel |
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| Some flew by very close © Christoph Himmel |
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| Young Bearded Vulture. Impressive bird species with 2.8 m wingspan © Christoph Himmel |
On our way from Xinaliq to Laza on 11 November we
had a very productive roadside stop at the Gudiyalchay river canyon with 1
Bearded Vulture, 2 Wallcreepers, 25 Ring Ouzels, 2 Güldenstädt’s Redstarts
(first time recorded down here), 8 Bullfinches, 14 Red-fronted
Serins and 4 Rock Buntings. Near Cek village a party of 18 Grey Partridges was
another delight (
https://ebird.org/checklist/S61354298).
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| Güldenstädt's Redstart - Always a pleasure to meet this high mountain species © Georg Rüppel |
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| Ring Ouzel © Christoph Himmel |
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| Grey Partrige © Michael Heiß |
Arriving in Laza around noon, we spent the
afternoon birding around the entrance of the Shadagh National Park. Weather was
still sunny and warm and we encountered 1 Bearded Vulture, 1 Cinereous Vulture,
2 Griffon Vultures, 2 Golden Eagles, 20 Red-billed Choughs, 5 Alpine Choughs, 2
Ring Ouzels, 4 Alpine Accentors, a huge flock of 180 Caucasian Twites mixed
with about 30 Red-fronted Serins (
https://ebird.org/checklist/S61356792).
Pretty enjoyable.
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| View into the Shadagh National Park from Laza village © Michael Heiß |
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| Elvin birding around Laza village © Michael Heiß |
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| Alpine Accentor © Christoph Himmel |
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| Caucasian Twites mixed with Red-fronted Serins © Christoph Himmel |
On 12 November we left Laza early in the morning
and drove back to Baku. Here we dropped Erik and Tohar and replaced them by
Leyla. Leyla joined all kinds of birding activities in the past few years, like
the Besh Barmag Bird Migration Count and also guided birding trips. An
introducing guest blog can be read on the website of the Ornithological Society
of the Middle East:
https://www.osme.org/2019/03/i-love-nature-7/.
Our next stop were the fish ponds near the
entrance of the Shirvan National Park. The ponds were dried out, so almost no
birds around despite a juvenile Isabelline Shrike and a male Finch’s Wheatear (
https://ebird.org/checklist/S61387651).
We entered the Shirvan National Park in the late afternoon. In the shrubs near
the entrance we saw 2 Black Francolins and the first flocks of Goitered
Gazelle. We spent the evening at the ‘lake house’ enjoying the sunset and many
birds that flew to roost into the reed beds around the lake. We noticed 252
Magpies, 28200 Rooks, Hooded Crows and Jackdaws, 3000 Starlings, 50 Marsh
Harriers and 5 Hen Harriers. After dusk around 10 Great Bitterns, 1 Little
Bittern and 3 Black-crowned Night Herons were heard calling from the dark night
sky. A Barn Owl hunted around the building (
https://ebird.org/checklist/S61390824).
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| Our only Isabelline Shrike during the trip at the Shirvan fish ponds © Michael Heiß |
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| We saw hundreds of Goitered Gazelles in Shirvan National Park. Great conservation effort to save this species © Michael Heiß |
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| Black Francolin is common as well © Christoph Himmel |
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| Observing from the 'lake house' in Shirvan National Park © Michael Heiß |
On the next day we found 4 Marbled Ducks, 1
Dalmatian Pelican and 1 Grey-headed Swamphen among other waterfowl at the
Flamingo Lake in Shirvan National Park. The reed beds were filled with Cetti’s
Warbler, Bearded Tits and a few Penduline Tits (
https://ebird.org/checklist/S61411534).
We drove further south in the afternoon.
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| Watch your steps - Lebetine Viper in the steppes © Michael Heiß |
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| Male Goitered Gazelle © Michael Heiß |
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| Long-legged Buzzard preying on a snake © Christoph Himmel |
On 14 November we birded outside of the northern
part of the Qizilagach National Park. Fishponds, lagoons and other wetlands
were pretty dry, so we could not find much.
Further south we checked Lake Mahmudchala, where
we found plenty of waterfowl and waders including 4800 Northern Shovelers, 100
Mallards, 100 Pintails, 11’100 Teals, 2 Marbled Ducks, 280 Greater Flamingos,
40 Pied Avocets, 100 Northern Lapwings, 11 White-tailed Lapwings, 50 Marsh
Sandpipers, 2 Black-tailed Godwits and so on (
https://ebird.org/checklist/S61437559).
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| Dinner time - bread, cheese, ketchup © Michael Heiß |
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| Lake Mahmudchala crowded with waterfowl © Michael Heiß |
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| Camping near Masalli in the 'Shikra forest' © Michael Heiß |
We camped the night near Masalli and the next
morning on 15 November we checked different lagoons and coastal habitats around
Liman, Narimanabad and Baliqcilar. We saw 685 Little Grebes, 66 Little
Bustards, 500 Pied Avocets, 18 Grey Plovers, 450 Dunlins, 85, Little Stints, 2
Jack Snipes, 122 Slender-billed Gulls, 3 Pallas’s Gulls, 1 Short-eared Owl, 2
Merlins, 8
coutellii-Water Pipits and
12 Buff-bellied Pipits (
https://ebird.org/checklist/S61461297).
Entering the Qizilagach National Park was easy, but due to missing
infrastructure like bird hides or hiking trails we soon left the park. The
ongoing construction activities, however, looked promising for next year.
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| One out of 12 Buff-bellied Pipits at the Caspian Sea coast near Narimanabad © Michael Heiß |
From 16 to 19 November we visited the Talysh
Mountains in southern Azerbaijan. We stayed in the Tebessüm resort, which is
located within the unique and impressive Talysh forest. Here we were also
enjoying delicious breakfast and dinner for an affordable price. In the
mountains we wanted to check the possibilities to find the enigmatic Caspian
Tit. This species was recently rediscovered in this region and is always a
highlight during spring birding trips. Nobody knows what they are doing in the
non-breeding season. So, subsequently, our first birding day in the Talysh
Mountains brought us right to Mastail near Lerik, where this species is known
from the breeding season. We left the car in the village and walked up a steep
muddy hill. Weather was freezing cold with snow showers here and there. Just
outside the village we were lucky to find our first pair of Caspian Tits
feeding on seeds of an
Acer-tree. We
saw them quite well and were happy to find them so quickly. As the day has just
started we continued the hike up the hill and found 4 more Caspian Tits in the
forested areas. Very nice. Here we also heard a distant Black Woodpecker and a
nearby Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (
https://ebird.org/checklist/S61484130).
Thrushes accompanied us the whole day in the mountains, but we could not find
any Black-throated Thrushes, which was our next target species in the Talysh
Mountains. According to old Russian literature, this species is a common
wintering species in the Talysh Mountains, but was recently rarely seen in
Azerbaijan. In the last 20 years just four records are available (1 diurnal and
1 nocturnal migrant from Besh Barmag bottleneck, 1 observation from Gobustan and
another from Masalli in winter 2006).
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| Autumn colours and snow gave a brilliant scenery for searching Caspian Tits © Michael Heiß |
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| The muddy paths were little less brilliant © Michael Heiß |
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| Outskirts of Mastail © Leyla Muslim |
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| Autumn colours in the Talysh Mountains © Leyla Muslim |
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| Scanning for Caspian Tit © Leyla Muslim |
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| The place where Caspian Tits can be observed in spring © Michael Heiß |
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| We found six Caspian Tits in this area © Michael Heiß |
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| Cute bird © Christoph Himmel |
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| Shepherd in steep terrain © Michael Heiß |
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| Degraded forest is the preferred habitat for Caspian Tits © Michael Heiß |
We decided to drive to Mistan in the Zuvand upland
close to the Iranian border. In spring time this place is excellent for
White-throated Robins, Radde’s Accentor or Crimson-winged Finch, but probably
no birder visited this place during winter time in recent years. We quickly
found the year-round resident species like a big flock of 25 Chukars, several
Ring Ouzels here and there, Western Rock Nuthatches and a flock of 20
Red-fronted Serins. Further up the slope we heard strange thrush-like calls,
which turned out to come from a
Black-throated Thrush beautifully sitting on white
frost covered branches. Few more birds hided in other bushes and we finally
counted 5 individuals. What a great discovery! (
https://ebird.org/checklist/S61759786).
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| Mountains near Mistan in Zuvand upland © Michael Heiß |
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| Black-throated Thrush between in shrubs between the rocks © Michael Heiß |
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| Young Black-throated Thrush © Michael Heiß |
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| Western Rock Nuthatch © Michael Heiß |
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| Rocky landscape near Mistan © Michael Heiß |
Around noon we checked the riparian forests in the
Zuvand upland, but could only find the regular species: Green Woodpecker,
Syrian Woodpecker, tits, Robins, Dunnock and Yellowhammers with no Pine
Buntings between them. Surprisingly, we flushed a Woodcock. Overhead we saw 1
Imperial Eagle, 1 Cinereous Vulture and 1 Golden Eagle (
https://ebird.org/checklist/S61514087).
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| Slow birding in the riparian forest of Zuvand upland © Michael Heiß |
We then tried a steep muddy and partly frozen
track in south-eastern direction. We were glad to have a 4WD car, but even with
this machine, we were sliding here and there and it was very precarious at times
to keep control of the car, which was driving right next to the steep gradient
of the mountain ridge. Breaks don’t work on ice when you drive down the hill.
Amazing experience! Nevertheless, along the ridge we found an area, which was
well covered by bushes. In these we found a mixed flock of thrushes, which was
dominated by another
20 Black-throated Thrushes! Several flocks of Chukars,
totalling 40 individuals, and 5 Red-fronted Serins were other highlights of
this spot (
https://ebird.org/checklist/S61515280).
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| 20 more Black-throated Thrushes at another location © Michael Heiß |
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| View through the Talysh Mountains near Hezovi © Michael Heiß |
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| Well deserved dinner at the Tebessüm resort after a fantastic birding day © Michael Heiß |
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| Always use 4WD cars for the dangerous roads © Michael Heiß |
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| Rock Bunting in Zuvand upland © Christoph Himmel |
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| Monididagh village © Michael Heiß |
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| Tebessüm resort in autumn © Michael Heiß |
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| Nice place to eat something in summer time © Michael Heiß |
In the morning of 19 November we birded the forest
around the Tebessüm resort and got good views of the poelzami-Woodpecker (
https://ebird.org/checklist/S61573597).
On the same day we left the Talysh Mountains and headed north. A stop at the
Gobustan petroglyphs site produced nothing special, but nice species anyway in
this rocky habitat: 8 Chukars, 3 Red-bill Choughs, 25 Western Rock Nuthatches,
3 Finch’s Wheatears, 11 Rock Sparrows, 20 Red-fronted Serins and 3 Rock
Buntings besides more regular species (
https://ebird.org/checklist/S61576014).
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| Birding and culture at the Gobustan petroglyphes © Michael Heiß |
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| Even if you are not interested in culture...© Michael Heiß |
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| ...the birds here are pretty confident like this Western Rock Nuthatch © Christoph Himmel |
In the evening we arrived again in Zarat and
conducted bird migration counts at Besh Barmag from 20 to 23 November. Weather
was really an issue in these days. The 20 November was still ok with not too
much rain, but a cold northerly wind. We already missed our shelter from last
year, but as an improvement we were equipped with a nice samovar that offered
us hot tea whenever needed. However, bird migration was fine on 20 November.
Most passerines already passed through resulting in rather low numbers logged.
Especially, Starlings, Rooks and larks migrated in manageable numbers.
Highlights for this day were 601 migrating Dalmatian Pelicans, 227 Marsh
Harriers and 75 Pallas’s Gulls (
https://trektellen.nl/count/view/1533/20191120).
On 21 November temperature dropped to a maximum of
6°C and rain poured the entire day. We still missed the shelter. Due to the bad
weather, bird migration was low, but we observed about 10’000 migrating ducks,
86 Dalmatian Pelicans and the first
two Waxwings for the counting spot was
still ok (
https://trektellen.nl/count/view/1533/20191121).
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| Dalmatian Pelicans overhead © Michael Heiß |
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| Migrating Dalmatian Pelicans with single White Pelicans © Michael Heiß |
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| Ruddy Shelducks in snow shower © Michael Heiß |
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| No shelter for the observers at Besh Barmag in 2019, but we found a proper alternative © Michael Heiß |
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| Freezing cold temperatures on our last morning in the field © Michael Heiß |
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| Snow-covered Besh Barmag © Michael Heiß |
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| Chris, Leyla and our friend Samovar © Michael Heiß |
The 23 November was still cold, but at least the
sun was shining. The snow-covered foothills gave a picturesque scenery. We
counted only little more than three hours (
https://trektellen.nl/count/view/1533/20191123)
before we packed our stuff to spend our last evening in Baku.
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| https://azercay.az © Christoph Himmel |
Thank you Micha for the great report and wonderful photos.
AntwortenLöschenGreat reading and great pics! Will go back in late april early May 2020.
AntwortenLöschenSame rout as you probably.
Cheers, LPS
Fantastic trip and great photos.
AntwortenLöschenWe saw caspius Penduline Tits at Besh Barmag, with photos on 4th Nov
https://ebird.org/checklist/S61172578
Regards
Andy