Big Almaty Lake. Ile-Alatau National Park.

Day is sunny, quite warm and very windy. On the road I beheld one Red-mantled Rosefinch and one Guldenstadt's Redstart. The lake is already whole frozen but the empty and outflow rivers are almost without ice. The birds were a little probably through the strong wind. At first I beheld only Carrion Crows (which number was a strange little), single Magpies, and the nimble flock of the Red-fronted Serins flew here and there and opposing the wind yet pecked up the seeds from the grass. Later on the ice-hole I saw one White-bellied Dipper and one Wallcreeper.

Further on the gorge from time to time the Brown Accentors streaked in the spruce forest. On the ice-hole of mouth of Ozernaya river the Mallard Ducks winter as on last year. Today I have accounted 14 Mallards. The Ducks fed not in river's mouth but some upwards. There is no place to fly out in mountains therefore the casual flashed Mallards having roamed over lake again come back to the ice-hole. Having walked a little upwards the river I several times have observed Dippers (four White-bellied and one Brown). In one place the river approaches close to spruce forest; in these spruces there is not abundance but quite a lot of birds. First the Blue Whistling Thrush flown from the river to the spruce was evident. The Brown Accentors were certainly most of all; the rest were Goldcrests, Songar Tits and two Rosefinches (one male and one female). Probably they were the Red-mantled Rosefinches; but firstly watching the birds by the binocular very difficult correctly to estimate the size of a bird; and secondly the male has seemed some lighter than the dirty-pink male of Red-mantled Rosefinch.

At afternoon the wind was slightly down. I twice have seen single Thrushes; once the flying out Fieldfare and once the Mistle Thrush which arriving has sat on the spruce top. Some time I have sat near the lake's outflow; at afternoon time the birds never happen a lot, but someone nevertheless was observed by me. Three White-bellied Dippers looked for the food in the almost stagnant water, and even floated in it. The Eversmann's Redstart once occurred. It fed in slowly current channels too. Redstart behaved very carefully, I waited its approach long time but it did not close to me.

1. Red-fronted Serin (Serinus pusillus)

2. Red-fronted Serin (Serinus pusillus)

3. Wallcreeper (Tichodroma muraria)

4. Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos)

5. Eurasian Dipper (Cinclus cinclus leucogaster)

6. Eversmann's Redstart (Phoenicurus erythronotus)