The Third Wheel Chronicles; Chapter 3: Reeding Between the Lines

     Continuing on our adventures in Astana, we awoke on the 23rd of June hoping to catch a bus ride to Lake Tengiz, a rich bird hotspot 2 hours east of the capital and the location of Central Asian endemics like Black Lark and Sociable Lapwing in addition to the world's northernmost breeding colony of Greater Flamingos. However, we realized not for the last time that information given about Kazakhstan on the internet is meh at best and that a more reasonable timed bus had already left that would have given us plenty more time at the park before the latest bus's return at 5 pm. Deciding that only 2 hours at a place that was actually huge and probably confusing to navigate was not worth it, we instead set our sights on a lake just to the west of the city: Lake Taldykol. It seemed very close to the apartment, from google maps appeared to have nice trails around it, and in addition, a brief use of ebird revealed that someone reported - wait for it - Demoiselle Crane at the water body earlier during the month. Despite the online news reports about residents of Astana complaining about this apparent sewage pond's stench, we set out anyways and seriously, what's a little odor in comparison to the Demoiselle Crane?
      Very soon after we exited the city, we came across a small pond with decent bird diversity. I set up the scope and looked around, getting several life birds including the Great Crested Grebe, which we got killer views at 60x of.

A really cute Variable Toad

Common Sandpiper being really uncooperative but at least showing off its diagnostic features somewhat.

Loch Ness Monster

    It was then a bunch of walking until we reached the marshes closest to the lake. Along the way was a very fascinating wilderness-ish, with large expanses of undeveloped land with reeds and wildflowers right next to abundant construction and a busy road. The walk was less pleasant than what we expected from the Google Maps browsing but the wildlife made it bearable.

I hate saying this, but I have absolutely no idea what this wonderful low-growing plant is! It was growing quite abundantly all around the empty plains.

Eastern Dappled White (Euchloe ausonia) enjoying the unknown plant.

Some of the Flat Sea Holly (Eryngium planum), growing abundantly in gorgeous swaths of blue.

One of the many Siberian Stonechat I saw. This vocal female was especially curious / angry and allowed a good amount of pics to be taken.

Eurasian Marsh-harrier

Western Yellow Wagtail

Northern Wheatear, an Old World flycatcher with a most awesome migration pattern that will bring it  to sub-Saharan Africa in the winter. Even populations nesting in Alaska and northeastern Canada will travel to this end location, either doing what this bird will do in crossing the whole of Central Asia and the Middle East (Alaskan populations) or crossing the northern Atlantic and travelling down the coast of Europe and Africa (Canadian populations). 

Mute Swans. Apparently these large majestic birds are capable of causing serious harm to humans when defending their young. This family, however, seemed to not want anything to do with us and instead of showing aggression, peacefully swam away into the marsh thickets.

    We then came across the beginning of a trail leading into a large swath of Arundo reeds. Interestingly enough, the Russian Olive (Eleagnus angustifolia) was also growing within this swamp, creating a fascinating effect of 2 nasty invasives in California growing native and together in Kazakhstan. 

Siberian Stonechat male with the stark contrast of Astana behind him.

A Bluethroat, which, along with the Northern Wheatear (which also happens to be an Old World flycatcher), is one of the most coveted birds of the ABA area that are regular breeders. In the area of marsh closest to the lake, this species was pretty much everywhere, just not particularly cooperative as exhibited by this female individual.

Eurasian Kestrel hovering over the marsh

Black Kite

A beautiful male Bluethroat whose stunningly colored blue throat was really not captured well in this picture.

As I continued looking in the reeds for more birds, a small group of Chlidonias terns flew by. I really hoped to see a White-winged but only got Blacks. Not really a loss as the Black Tern is one of my favorite tern species. Pictured here is an adult molting into winter plumage and looking rather ratty. 

Common Pochard flyover

The Blue Globe Onion (Allium caeruleum), also known by the extremely flattering name of Blue-of-the-Heavens. And damn that is some mouthwatering blue.

    As we reached the end of the trail in the reeds, the separate trail leading up to the lake that was so apparent on Google Maps seemed to be nonexistent. After a bit of searching, however, Stuart and I did find an overgrown entrance. Wanting to see the lake and the potential birds there, the 2 of us beat on through the 7 foot tall grasses. Despite our efforts, after a grueling 20 minutes, the growth was far too thick to go on further. In addition, the trail was also turning into a channel of muddy water. Disappointed, we walked back to where Helen was napping. At least she enjoyed herself during this anticlimactic portion. 

    A final unpleasant surprise in the area was an opened condom package on the ground. Lovely.

Female Common Reed Bunting that allowed for a brief viewing before returning to its hidden world.

Male Common Hawker (Aeshna juncea) munching on another dragonfly (a bit hard to tell from the picture)

Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae)

Little Ringed-plover standing on tiptoes for some reason. Probably to look cute.

These little shorebirds were surprisingly hard to spot on the muddy edges of a marsh and if they weren't moving and I didn't know where to look, I probably would not have seen any. On another note, look at that bold yellow orbital ring!

     Although the first official birding day of the trip did not go as well as it could have, it still went amazingly, with a bunch of life birds and cool things seen. At least the area had no smell... Moral of the story: pretty much everything on the internet about Kazakhstan is wrong or outdated.

TL;DR: Birded outside of Astana, good day bad information

Life Is Great

    Back from 19 days filled with cool wildlife, being relentlessly pestered by the couple I was parasitizing / third wheeling upon, cool wildlife, somewhat janky living conditions (with the *thankful* exception of internet access), and cool wildlife, I was ready to take a nice long break from getting outside before sunrise and looking for more cool wildlife. And by a nice long break from getting outside before sunrise and looking for more cool wildlife, I mean getting outside before sunrise and looking for more cool wildlife.
    Two days after my return, on the 6th of July, helped a bit by my jetlag, I woke up and got outside before the sunrise to look for wildlife. With the start of fall migration, the first of the shorebirds were moving south, consisting mostly of Wilson's Phalaropes, dowitchers, and the smaller peeps. And with the start of giant flocks of shorebirds, it was the start of another season of fruitlessly scanning said giant flocks for that one rarity mixed in, hoping for eternal glory given by a first county record of Red-necked Stint or the cheers of adoring fans over a distant blurry picture just barely showing the diagnostic characteristics of a Spotted Redshank. Not really though.

Part of a gorgeous sunrise at good old Salt Pond A2E

A2E also had my first sightings of this year's California Gull progeny who had grown up while I was out of the country. Although these are essentially fully grown and definitely not as cute as the fuzz balls they were as they hatched, it was still nice seeing that that there was success in this species, unlike the Heermann's Gull, which apparently failed this year due to El Niño's effect in the Gulf of California.

More cute baby birds this time. One of the few (4) species of waders that actually nest in the county: the Black-necked Stilt. 

I was greeted at Alviso by, as I had expected, giant flocks of shorebirds. Here are some Wilson's Phalarope.

Here are a few more Wilson's Phalarope. There were also several thousand more just outside this frame and in other areas of the park.

Gorgeous skies

In addition to the magnificent flocks of phalaropes, there were also these huge swarms of gnats swirling over the saltmarsh

More gnats with a feeding Barn Swallow acrobatically swooping through

Pseudasopia phoezalis, a lovely pyralid that was a pleasant surprise on my tripod.

Juvenile Black-necked Stilt just by the boardwalk. A beautiful state of plumage it's in right now, with the iridescent-black wings contrasting strikingly with the pure white front in addition to the lovely chestnut edges on the back and mantle feathers.

Killdeer chick at the Sunnyvale WPCP

7/12/15

    Apparently people can be jetlagged for periods of time longer than a week! Such was the case for Helen and Stuart, who continued waking up at 5 am in California time. Fortunately, this worked out in my favor as Stuart offered to take us birding on the morning of the 12th. A mooched car ride is always a ride to take, so, of course I happily agreed. We decided a morning hike slow walk at Calero Reservoir County Park would be nice and so, our adventure began.

Widow Skimmer (Libellula luctuosa), always nice to see perched.

Some delightful Funnel Web Spider

Hello there. Newly fledged birds like this Western Bluebird are always so great to see with their curious attitudes (little guy flew over and landed on the post) and awkward plumage.

Look at that fleshy gape! Also, this picture was uncropped, showing how close that sucker was.

    While we continued walking on the trail, Stuart pointed out at a large flying bird which I managed to miss at first. Turned out to be the oh-so-mainstream patriotic Bald Eagle.

Pathetically enough, I must admit that this is my first Bald Eagle of California...

My second Bald Eagle of California came flying overhead a few minutes later.

Some unidentified member of Heliothinae.

Unidentified Crab Spider species waiting patiently for an insect to land on this Tarweed blossom.

Double-crested Cormorant chilling with Red-eared Slider and Mallards (behind the rock). #squad

7/14/15

    Exactly two years prior to this date, I was poking around Palo Alto with a friend on a boring summer's day. It just happened so that on that day, I would see a Belted Kingfisher sitting on a telephone wire. I was astounded to be in the presence of a majestic hunter I knew, but previously thought only fished in pristine rivers much farther away from civilization. All of a sudden, birds seemed to become more accessible and my lifelong fascination with them rose to a new level. Later that day, I set up my ebird account (which I just happened to learn about a few days prior from my friend Samuel Bressler) and entered my first checklist.

    Fast forward two years, and although I still do not at all consider myself to be a "great" birder, I do believe that I have risen slightly out of mediocrity and continue to improve every day. Additionally, I have gained so many unforgettable experiences in diverse locations ranging from offshore California waters to deciduous forest of Upstate New York to roadside steppe in Kazakhstan. Seriously, I'm so unbelievably lucky to first of all, just live in the Bay Area, for (in addition to many other things) its great wildlife as well as to have been able to travel so much and to have met such amazing people along the way. 

    Anyways, that was my little rant thing and long story short: happy 2 year bird anniversary to me! 

    On the 14th, I again got up before the sunrise and biked out to Alviso in attempt to find something awesome to celebrate this special date. At 5:40 am while still biking out of residential Palo Alto towards Shoreline, I saw my first memorable animal of the day, with a super cute Striped Skunk running across the road (too quick for pictures). 

Sunrise at Shoreline

Birding takes you to water treatment plants and makes you realize how beautiful they are (sometimes).

Young California Gulls at the Alviso levee breeding colonies

Meh composition but seriously the day was beautiful.

More reflections and shit. It's really great to be alive.

Not everyday that I get to be this up close and personal with a Wilson's Phalarope. Good luck to this bird as it continues it epic journey south towards some high mountain lake in the Andes. Say hi to the Andean Lapwing for me.

As I passed through the Sunnyvale Baylands on the way home, I noticed a couple Red Saddlebags flying around, a life dragonfly! This normally southern species has apparently been making a large northward push in 2015, with individuals even reaching Oregon for the first time ever. In addition to this beautiful insect, I also saw several Wandering Gliders, another highly migratory odonate species.   

    Although I didn't see any new birds, the day was still a great day to be out with gorgeous everything. Hopefully my third full year of birding will be filled with these times. Anyways, thanks for reading and enjoy life and love nature!