Rose-Ann
@athena42
Licensed volunteer bat wrangler and rehabber with Bat Rescue Berkshire, Lancs CCC supporter living in Reading, traveller
@themerl.bsky.social This is your bat visitor, after an initial feed - a very underweight juvenile female soprano pipistrelle. I suspect she’s been trapped in the museum for a few days, fingers crossed she makes it
St Mary’s, Silchester, a stop on latest stage of our attempt to walk the #CaminoIngles or St James Way from Reading to Southampton. Claret 21 from home to Reading, lime 2 to Mortimer, then train back from Bramley. Won’t be able to do more for the time being as the first baby bat came in today!
@bylinetimes.bsky.social the subscription options on your website make no sense - I’m trying to buy a print + digital subscription as a gift which doesn’t seem to be an option?
More alpine flowers, round Big Almaty Lake at 2500m asl - Primula matthioli brotheri, or Himalayan bell primrose; Anemonastrum protractum; Rhodiola kirilowii; Trollius dschungaricus #tienshan #kazakhstan #wildflowers #alpineflowers
Some of the amazing flowers in the Zailiiskiy Alatau NP I’ve tried to identify, first round the abandoned Kosmostantsiya research station at 3330m asl - Allium atrosanguineum, Callianthemum alatavicum, Erigeron aurantiacus & Tulipa heterophylla #tienshan #kazakhstan #wildflowers #alpineflowers
Some typical birds of the sandy or rocky deserts in southern Kazakhstan - Isabelline wheatear, red-headed bunting, Turkestan shrike, calandra lark #BirdsSeenIn2026
Sadly a curtailed cold, wet final day in low cloud in the Tien Shan above Almaty. But several good birds, including brown accentor & grey-headed goldfinch and a welcome coffee & hot soup break at the Alpen Rose! #BirdsSeenIn2026 #Kazakhstan
All unoccupied & completely derelict since the end of the USSR. I think it was more of a research station but it’s called Kosmostantsia on the map. Baikonur, the Russian-owned spaceport, is over 1000km WNW from here
Good views of a couple of mammals today - a Turkestan red pika (related to rabbits & hares) and lots of grey marmots #kazakhstan #TienShan
Long day in Tien Shan mountains above Almaty today - weather forecast for tomorrow not promising so tried to cram in as much as possible. Walked part way round Big Almaty Lake (reservoir) & had special permission to drive all the way up to abandoned Russian space station near Kyrgyzstan border
A trio of new redstarts today in the #Kazakhstan #TienShan - Eversmann’s (or rufous backed), blue-capped & Guldenstadt’s (or white-winged). Didn’t get a photo of the latter (too busy photographing the interesting alpine flowers) #BirdsSeenin2026
Best food of the trip at Chungzha guest house in Uyghur region of SE Kazakhstan - substantial soup, momo-type dumplings filled with meat & greens with refreshing veggie salad
Spent more than an hour sitting watching birds coming in to a waterhole in Sugaty Plain - sandgrouse (black-bellied & Pallas’s), rock sparrow, Mongolian finch plus various larks, wheatears #BirdsSeenin2026 #Kazakhstan
Today was rosy starling day - a colony of 100s nesting in a cemetery, then lots of tight flocks in a valley in the foothills of the Tien Shan, culminating in 1000s nesting in rocks below the road #BirdsSeenin2026 #Kazakhstan
5am start today to make the most of the relatively cool early morning. Inevitably it was cloudy all day, which combined with being at higher elevations meant we never overheated. Some amazing scenery in Charyn gorge, its various tributaries & the northern foothills of the Tien Shan #Kazakhstan
Drove east from Almaty yesterday, sun even fiercer than before. Plenty of trees & agriculture, with views of snowy Tien Shan then drier again, rocky rather than sandy, as we drove across the Sugaty Plain towards & beyond Charyn Gorge. Could imagine a Silk Road caravan passing the same way
Some other creatures seen in & around Taukum desert, Kazakhstan - Horsefield’s tortoise, patterned snake, desert agama & some species of blister beetle
Drove further north in the Taukum desert yesterday towards Lake Baikhash. Turanga forest interesting habitat - relict desert poplars, brittle with cracked bark & fallen limbs provide valuable cavities for hole-nesting birds like white-winged woodpecker, saxaul sparrow, azure tit & this hoopoe
Our camp in the Taukum desert, Kazakhstan. Surprising numbers of birds, especially calandra & short-toed larks which start singing before dawn at 4pm. But target bird is Caspian plover - this is female with chick (male is stunning but photos not sharp) & a couple of greater sand plovers
Didn’t go inside the mosque (the biggest in Central Asia) - didn’t feel welcome (poorly signposted, understandably not really a tourist destination, all women expected to put on hooded cape (was perfectly modestly dressed already, men wearing similar didn’t have to))
Loved these stylised sculptures of nomadic Kazakh people along Nurzhol Boulevard #Astana #Kazakhstan
Chance to see a bit of the city today before we fly down to Almaty - saw all target birds in 2 days, our flight changed to evening & windy wet weather. City planned from 1990s to become capital, population increased 5-fold, still developing - cranes & new buildings everywhere #Astana #Kazakhstan
Another day out on the steppe, some good waders, including Temminck’s & little stints, Terek & curlew sandpipers, plus a close but well hidden bittern #kazakhstan
Interesting mix of Asian & European species on the steppes west of Astana - Black lark, white-winged lark, black-necked grebe, eastern imperial eagle #birdsseenin2026 #kazakhstan #steppebirding
Long day out on Central Asia steppe, west of Astana. Warm, dusty & a bit fly-ridden (mostly small non-biting lake flies). Lots of birds, especially on the endorheic lakes - 100s of red-necked phalarope, Pallas’ gull, little stint, plus white-winged & black larks, pallid harrier, red-footed falcon.
A bonus afternoon birding as we came out a day early - very warm but we got plenty of good birds including azure tit, booted, paddyfield & Blyth’s reed warblers. Hotel is in Astana city so we saw some of the modern architecture including the Baiterek observation tower, a symbol of the new capital
Interesting primula seen in Mishmi Hills, Arunachal Pradesh - possible Primula lacerata or Primula longistamina?? Have posted on iNaturalist hoping for an expert opinion from @inaturalist.bsky.social community…