by Todd Katzner
August 11, 2003
Page 3 : June 2 - To Karamendy
On Tuesday morning we load up Evgeny’s little red LADA Niva four-wheel drive and head down the road from Kostanay to Karamendy (Karamendy was formerly named “Dokuchaevka” for Dokuchaev, a famous Russian agronomist; the name was recently changed in part of an attempt to shed vestiges of Russian and Soviet control of Kazakhstan). On the road we see numerous birds that most bird-watchers would consider “life birds”—species they have never seen before. Included among these are Pallid, Montagu’s and Marsh Harriers (a different species than the Marsh Harrier found in the United States), Demoiselle Cranes, Black Lark, Lesser Kestrel, and Sociable Plover. One of the most spectacular things we saw was a prey pass from a male marsh harrier to a female. The male comes in low over the nest with freshly caught food; the female, seeing him coming in, flies off the nest to meet him. Once below the male, he drops the food item and she, seeing this, turns sideways or completely upside down, catches what he drops, and heads back to the nest. All this takes place in about five seconds and, in this case, it all occurred directly above the road, 100-250 yards in front of our vehicle.
Once in Karamendy, we get to Evgeny’s house there, unloaded our things from the car and immediately went to the police station. In Kazakhstan, when foreigners arrive at their final destinations, they are required to register with the local police. We do that and then head back to the house, where we cook some dinner and prepare for tomorrow’s trip to the field. The most intensive part of this is making wing tags—we are wing-tagging eagle chicks for studies of eagle populations.
Next Page : June 4 - Naurzum Forest
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