Teskensu. Almaty oblast.

Trip with Gennady Dyakin to the former fish ponds to watch the migrating shorebirds. On the road we noticed the first Black Kite in this year, and the flying Ruddy Shelducks when we closed to ponds. The first ponds were mostly under the ice but there were the patches of open water. Here on the open sandbank we watched 6-7 Common Redshanks, 2 Masked Wagtails, 15-20 Common Teals, 2 Mallards; on the ice 15-20 Cormorants, 2 Caspian Gulls and several Black-headed Gulls rested; one unidentified Harrier flew by.

The fish ponds more likely didn't work last several years, some ponds are dry and grown by djida-trees (russian olives), other ones are full water and grown by reeds. In djida thickets and near them we watched Crested Larks (4-5 birds), Long-tailed Rosefinches, one Rock Bunting, and many Magpies, Carrion Crows, Greenfinches, Black-throated Thrushes. Raptors were one Long-legged Buzzard and one Rough-legged Buzzard only. On the open pond which is also mostly ice-covered we watched many water birds: Great White Egrets (3 birds), pair of Greylag Geese, some hundred Ducks (Wigeons, Teals, Gadwalls, Pintails, Common Pochards, Tufted Ducks, Ferruginous Ducks, pair of Common Shelducks, Mallads, and also Gulls, Hooded Crows and one Goshawk.

Along the ponds there are the line of little lakes; driving along these lakes we watched about 7-10 Long-tailed Rosefinches, White Egrets, flock of Lapwings (about 40 birds), female Hen Harrier, Eagle (probably Steppe Eagle). On the largest of these lakes we watched 5 Little Grebes, Shovelers, Cormorants in breeding plumage, Pintails (about one dozen birds), Wigeons, one Tufted Duck, and Gulls of course (including one Great Black-headed Gull), and in the djida thickets one Evesmann's Redstart.

Then we drove to Kapchagai reservoir and back. The reservoir was ice-covered, there were not any bird on the coast-line, on the rare roadside thickets we watched Rock Buntings (twice), Masked Wagtails (pair), Tree Sparrows, Black-throated Thrushes, flying by flock of Laowings, Pied Wheatears (7-8 birds), one Isabelline Wheatear, Eversmann's Redstarts (5-6 birds), flock of Linnets, Larks (Calandra Larks, Crested Larks, and Skylarks), Steppe Grey Shrike, Corn Bunting, Rough-legged Buzzard and Turkestan Shrike.

1. Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis)

2. Great White Egret (Egretta alba)

3. Crested Lark (Galerida cristata)

4. Rock Bunting (Emberiza cia)

5. Masked Wagtail (Motacilla personata)

6. Great Cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo)

7. Long-tailed Rosefinch (Uragus sibiricus)