Big Almaty Lake. Ile Alatau National Park.

This year second trip to Big Almaty Lake. We went by group with Vladilen Karasyov and Javier Pierda. The first birds we saw is the pair of Solitary Snipes. Snipes are timid birds and don't posture to watchers. I went a little along small mountain river to them, but snow was a lot and therefore to pursue them was not so simply. As usually there was a lot of White-bellied and Brown Dippers. Totally today I saw, probably, not less than 20 Dippers. There where in mountains there is a water, there necessarily there will be Dippers. Also Wallcreepers flew. But as today we observed birds by group, that we didn't have free time to observe Wallcreepers. Still onto binoculars saw Brown Accentors. Accentors were fed under fir-trees and on juniper bushes. As a whole birds was a little. We followed almost each bird. In the top part of lake, there where river disgorge into the lake, there is a small ice-hole. On this ice-hole not only Dippers were fed but Mallards also. Totally seventeen Mallards winter on the lake. Scared ducks did not depart aside but roamed and again sat down onto the same ice-hole. It is possible to tell that it is unusual fact that Mallards winter at height mountain lake about 2500 meters above sea level. Other birds were Magpies, Carrion Crows, Goldcrests, Coal Tits.

1. Solitary Snipe (Gallinago solitaria)

2. Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos)

3. Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos)