Altai Republic

Birding Altai

The Altai republic is located in south central Russia in the southwest of Siberia being one of Russia’s most attractive birding places. It covers 92600 km2 making it just a little part of the gigantic Siberian landmass which covers no less than 13.100.000 km2! The highest peak in the Altai Mountains is mount Belukha with 4506m. The republic is covered with Siberian Taiga, steppe zones and semi-deserts. Having a temperate continental climate with relatively short and hot summers and long and cold winters. The best time to plan your birding visit is end of May or during the entire month of June. Starting in Barnaul or NovosibirskAs the Altai republic has no major airport you are need to start in one of the larger cities north of Altai, such as Barnaul or Novosibirsk. This is absolutely no bad thing as you can stray into the rich south Siberian farmlands holding yet another set of interesting species to the WP birder. In the surroundings of Barnaul, which is the closest of the two cities to Altai, you may find several interesting habitats near the Ob river. Wetlands, marshes and Birch forests are located in the vicinity of this mighty river. Good species are Spotted Eagle, Sykes’s Wagtail, White-backed Woodpecker, Lanceolated Warbler, Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler, Red-footed Falcon and White-tailed Eagles.

Birding the taigaTwo large rivers, the Katun and Biya, flow through this beautiful land. Originating in the mountains the junction of the two rivers eventually forms the Ob River, one of Siberia’s largest rivers. Holding both western and eastern Palearctic species a trip into this region can be very fruitful in the right period of time. Several Siberian gems as Siberian Rubythroat, Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler and Yellow-breasted Bunting occur widely and are not difficult to find. Birding the taiga forests is a must do for every serious birder one time in their life. A true heaven with Thrushes, Flycatchers and many Warbler species. Black-throated Thrush is not rare and his loud call gives him away rather fast. White’s Thrush is a difficult to see species, a true skulker!, but present by it’s call, a mechanical second-long whistle with pauses of 5-10 seconds. A long list of Flycatchers and Warbler house the famous Siberian taiga forests: Spotted-, Taiga- and Dark-sided Flycatcher, White-browed-, Hume’s, Greenish-, Dusky- and Radde’s Warbler. The last two warblers being definitely the hardest to catch as they are situated on their most western range occurring more commonly to the east (Baikal and further). The forests holds naturally more to the eye speaking species such as, Crested Honey Buzzard, Ural Owl, Oriental Cuckoo, Pintail Snipe, Olive-backed Pipit, Brown Shrike, Red-flanked Bluetail, Eversmann’s Redstart, Siberian Tit, Black-throated Accentor and Pine Bunting! Almost all species mentioned earlier can be found around the Seminsk pass where a hotel is also present. Roads are good and hostels or guesthouses are available. Don’t expect to much from the accommodations as most places offer double-bedded rooms with shared facilities.

Altai MountainsThe high mountain zones are difficult to access and a good car with four-wheel drive capacities is definitely needed. These extra efforts could be rewarded with Altai Snowcock, Pallas’s Rosefinch and Altai Accentor. The illustrious ‘Altai Falcon’, closely related to both Saker and Gyr Falcon (Fox and Patapov 2001; Eastham and Nicholls 2002; ERWD 2006), occurs but like with all large Falcons the amounts are low. Next to good birding the views are simple stunning – the slopes have not been affected by the large forestry industry giving the Altai a very green appearance when looking from top of a mountain peak. The Steppe and semi-desertsThe steppe and semi-desert zones in the south bordering Mongolia hold yet another range of mouth-watering species. Upland Buzzard, Steppe Eagle, Eastern Imperial Eagle, Lesser Kestrel, Heuglins Gull, Demoiselle Crane, Pied Wheatear, Bar-headed Goose, Fork-tailed Swift, Azure Tit and the hard to find Père David’s Snowfinch are all present. You need a special border permit to be birding south of Kosh Agash. Not many people birded the region, which is quite surprisingly considering the good connection with Moscow and the amount of desired species that can be seen in a rather short period of time. When visiting the area it is advised to hook up with a local birdtour operator as they know the best spots and else you have a good chance spending many hours in registration offices, fighting with only Russian speaking officials, to receive the right papers and stamps. As you need to register yourself in every large place during your visit which takes some organisational skills.