GUIDED BY THE CHICKEN BOOK

Our enthusiastic homestay host Rahman speaks Khinaliq’s village language as a mother tongue, and English is understandably low on his list of lingual priorities. Our bird guide immediately becomes known as The Chicken Book. He is a shepherd, a man of the land who lives and breathes his local wildlife. He takes us onto the roof of his mud-and-stone home and points towards a section of the cloud-swirl peaks. “Hul-eeeet!” he cries, and we grin as the penny drops. Caucasian Snowcock! We hike to 3,000m and immediately we hear their strange curlew-like sounds. Climbing a little further, we’re overjoyed to catch a small group in flight, and as they circle back low, we feel the down-draught of their wings. Late the following afternoon, a lone male patrols his rocky domain, calling and showing off that snowy vent, striking facial patterning and striped flanks before settling down for the night out of view.