Arriving in Almaty in the early morning, Transfer to the Hotel Otrar. Breakfast. Short walk around the park near the hotel for Greenish and Hume's Yellow-browed Warblers. Morning drive eastwards from Almaty to Charyn River and Red Canyon. The area is alive with Nightingales, Azure Tit. En route we will pass fertile agricultural lands; here European Bee-eaters, Rollers, Isabelline Wheatears, Lesser Grey Shrikes and Red-headed Buntings adorn telegraph poles and wires. We shall also stop to search for breeding Grey-necked and White-capped Buntings, Pied Wheatears and Long-legged Buzzards. Near the Charyn Red Canyon, we shall find huge numbers of exotic-plumaged Rose-coloured Starlings, breeding in colonies many thousands strong amongst wayside boulders. We shall also scan distant horizons for Demoiselle Cranes and Pallas's Sandgrouse. With luck we might see one of the Saker Falcons; despite decreasing numbers due to the demand from Middle Eastern falconers the species is regularly seen in this region. We are also likely to encounter our first mammals - rodents such as the abundant Great Gerbil, numerous sousliks, and perhaps some of the Goitered Gazelles that now roam the steppes in pitifully reduced numbers. The plant-life we encounter today will be that typical of the stone desert: such species as Nanophyton erinaceum, Convolvulus fruticosus and C. tragacanthoides, various species of Stipa, Caragana, Atemesia and Anabasis, and the endemic Limonium michelsonii.

Before breakfast. Looking for some of the breeding birds at the Charyn River valley as well as for the stone desert plants. Drive south, looking en route for such species as Saker Falcon, Lesser Kestrel, Desert & Isabelline Wheatears and Shore Larks, Pallas's Sandgrouse. This canyon is a deep gorge which has been carved over the millenia by the thundering Charyn River and home to such avian specialities as Mongolian Trumpeter Finch, Grey-necked Bunting and a variety of birds of prey. After lunch short drive to the nearby Charyn Yellow Canyon for birds of prey and a chance for Black Stork. Return to the campsite in late afternoon. We may see Golay Hare and Red Fox here whilst the ever present susliks will be keeping a wary eye open for the Long-legged Buzzards which frequent this area.

Return to Almaty. On the way back breaks at an artesian well where both Pallas's and Black-bellied Sandgrouse come to drink. We can expect other birds including Desert Finches but being at the desert-like landscape anything could drop in. Over Kokpek Pass. We can expect to find Golden, Booted, and perhaps Imperial Eagles as well as Griffon Vultures. Good area for Rock and White-capped Buntings, Chukar, Pied Wheatears and Blue Rock Thrushes, all of which breed on the hillslopes here. Almaty. Hotel Otrar. At leisure.Overnight.

Drive northwest to Taukum Desert. The fully equipped camp site will enable us to explore the nearby Ili River and Delta, home to such specialities as White-winged Woodpecker, the declining Eversmann's Stock Dove, Azure and Turkestan Tits. Houbara Bustards live nearby the camp site! Bimaculated and Short-toed Larks are singing overhead whilst streams of Black-bellied Sandgrouse undertake their regular morning flights to and from the few artesian wells dotted around the camp. Caspian and Greater Sand Plovers were also seen in this area. En route to the desert we stop at Lake Sorbulak on the Kurty River where thousands of Rose-coloured Starlings breed among boulders at the lake edge. The lake itself, actually a large reservoir, attracts both White and Dalmatian Pelicans, Great Egrets, Ruddy Shelducks and a wide range of more typical Eurasian wildfowl. Other species to look for here include White-tailed Eagle, Marsh Harrier, Caspian and Great Black-headed Gulls, Gull-billed, Black & Whiskered Terns, plus a good selection of waders which might include such migrants as Terek Sandpiper.

Drive northwest to Taukum Desert. The fully equipped camp site will enable us to explore the nearby Ili River and Delta, home to such specialities as White-winged Woodpecker, the declining Eversmann's Stock Dove, Azure and Turkestan Tits. Houbara Bustards live nearby the camp site! Bimaculated and Short-toed Larks are singing overhead whilst streams of Black-bellied Sandgrouse undertake their regular morning flights to and from the few artesian wells dotted around the camp. Caspian and Greater Sand Plovers were also seen in this area. En route to the desert we stop at Lake Sorbulak on the Kurty River where thousands of Rose-coloured Starlings breed among boulders at the lake edge. The lake itself, actually a large reservoir, attracts both White and Dalmatian Pelicans, Great Egrets, Ruddy Shelducks and a wide range of more typical Eurasian wildfowl. Other species to look for here include White-tailed Eagle, Marsh Harrier, Caspian and Great Black-headed Gulls, Gull-billed, Black & Whiskered Terns, plus a good selection of waders which might include such migrants as Terek Sandpiper.