База Делта

18. - 21.07.2014

Basa Delta is a tourist station for fishing, that is located in the middle of the Ili Delta in Kazakhstan. To get there one's have to beat a long journey. With the car you can almost get from Karaoy to Basa Delta. But the tourist station is located on an island, so the last 10 km you have to conquer by boat.
For me Basa Delta is the perfect place to do bird observations for my masterthesis.

Caspian Gull
Steppenmöwe
Larus cachinnans



Ето База Делта!
That's Basa Delta!



And next to Basa Delta a rich korean guy built his cottage.



Great Cormorant
Kormoran
Phalocrocorax carbo



Azim



Great White Pelican
Rosapelikan
Pelecanus onocrotalus

The most people, that come to Basa Delta want to spent their time with fishing. Mostly the visitors are men from Kazakhstan or Russia and they come with friends and some with lots of alcohol. But also some visitors bring their family. While the man goes fishing, the wife takes care of the kids at the small beach.

Barn Swallow
Rauchschwalbe
Hirundo rustica

The beams at the common house are used by the Barn Swallows for nesting. To assist the reproduction some wooden batten were installed to stabilze the nests.

Black Tern
Trauerseeschwalbe
Chlidonias niger






Great Crested Grebe
Haubentaucher
Podiceps cristatus



Red-crested Pochard
Kolbenente
Netta rufina



Great Cormorant
Kormoran
Phalocrocorax carbo






Carrion Crow
Rabenkrähe
Corvus corone

We are on a trip to take some pictures of the area with our drone. Therefore we need to get on some land. It's not easy with all the dense reed. But the motorboat can dig a path for us.

Azim, Niels, Jewgeni and Ruslan
(from left to right)
are busy with drone flying preparations.

Around the starting point of the drone we have to install four white and round yoghurt lits, each with a diameter of 20 cm. Those are arranged in a square with a distance of 20 meters. So on the pictures later we have a benchmark.
The preparation takes a while. But the flight is really quick, because the batteries of the drone only last for 15 minutes. This time the flight is over even faster, because we lost the drone. I can't see it anymore ... And than we know, the batteries are empty ...

Good luck finding the drone here ...
(Actually we found the drone! It landed in the water and had a short-circuit ...)



Western Marsh Harrier
Rohrweihe
Circus aeruginosus

For my bird recording, every morning I get up with sunrise and do observations. In every area where I stay and study, I have four plots with a size of 1 km². In there I inspect a path of three kilometers and record every bird I see and/or hear. That takes me three hours.
At my first observation round here in Basa Delta I have help from Jewgeni, an ornithologist who knows the local bird fauna quite well. He joins me to the morning observations and teaches me the bird voices and appearances.
Jewgeni also brought some nets to take a look at the birds more close. At the beginning I'm against catching birds, but after my first observation I also go for bird catching and taking photos. Those small brown and fast warbles are just too much for me ...

Cetti's Warbler
Seidensänger
Cettia cettia



Savi's Warbler and Moustached Warbler
Rohrschwirl und Mariskenrohrsänger
Locustrella luscinioides et Acrocephalus melanopogon









A Reed Bunting is stuck in the net ...
But Jewgeni always gets them out unscathed.



Common Reed Bunting
Rohrammer
Emberiza schoeniclus



Great Reed Warbler
Drosselrohrsänger
Acrocephalus arundinaceus



Paddyfield Warbler
Feldrohrsänger
Acrocephalus agricola






And another Common Reed Bunting, that is not so exhausted.






Azure Tit
Lasurmeise
Cyanistes cyanus

Before we're leaving Basa Delta, I have to take some pictures of the station.

I climbed the roof of the common house and have a nice view of the dock.






The old common house



Around that pond on the island I do my fourth observation in Basa Delta.









Water for the shower and the WC comes from the lake around the corner
and there are solar cells for hot water.



Niels and I also climb the water tower of the rich korean guy
to have a nice view of the Basa Delta station.



База Делта



Niels






Little bit scary ...






For my fourth morning observation I also use the tower as a viewpoint,
because the island is to small to walk three kilometers.



Koreans house



Niels at the water tower



Group picture before setting off with
the two kitchen ladys from Basa Delta, Ruslan, Azim, Jewgeni and me
(left and right, middle, middle right, down, middle left)



Somebody brings us back to our car by boat.



There is our Prado!



Holes of sandrats






Dried salty lake






That was taxing ...
I take a rest while the boys do some reed sampling.

Tomorrow we will go for more bird watching and reed sampling anyway (:

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