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Bird Bath


2013-01-16| Vladimir Shefer

The day was quite windy, but warm. It is 0 degrees C. Light dusting of snow. There is a road twenty meters away from the window. The road has not been cleaned for a while now and the heating hatches seem to be as holes in the snnow. I see the birds gather around one of these "wells". There is a little puddle on top of one of the metal hatches. Now it's all clear. Today is the bath day for the birdies. Great tits, sparrow, bullfinches. The cars passing by disturb the birds from time to time. But birds don't fly away. A second later they are back to frolicking in the water. The sparrows are especially insistent. There is not much water on the hatch so the birds try to pick up the water with the wings and splash it on top of the body. The bullfinches are more serious. They wade in the water and drink. The water is better to quench the thirst than the snow


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comments:
2013-01-15. Исабеков Аскар:

Здорово, Владимир. Очень интересно читать Ваши наблюдения.


2013-01-15. Белялов Олег:

Четыре вида купаются


2013-01-16. Шефер Владимир:

Здесь как раз попался в кадр домовой воробей за которым я гонялся несколько дней.



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rare birds records


Great Snipe (Gallinago media)

© Vasilii Bastaev
2026-05-08
Karakol lake, Mangystau

The second record of a rare migratory species this season.


Great Snipe (Gallinago media)

© Qanatbek Kenzhegulov
2026-04-14
Aktau, Mangystau region

A rare passage species in Kazakhstan. The most recent photographic record in the country was made on 21 April 2022 in the Suzak District of Turkestan Region (Martin Grienenberger; see the website gallery). In Mangystau Region, only two records supported by photographic evidence are known from recent decades of the 21st century: 20–24 May 2009 in the Kenderli area (Neve et al., 2010) and the present observation.


Northern Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes)

© Alexandr Fedulin
2026-03-30

A new species for the Teniz-Korgalzhinsky region. The first photographic confirmation on the website for the Kazakh Uplands. Recorded on March 28 and 30 in different parts of the village.


Northern Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula)

© Margarita Davydova
2021-04-02
First president's park, Almaty

The first photo recording of a Northern Bullfinch in Almaty on the website is a rare sighting for a region where they were previously observed during wintering in the mid-20th century and have now become only occasionally encountered.

more rarities...

unidentified birds


2026-06-02

Bassel Abi Jummaa: booted eagle (Hieraaetus pennatus)

2026-06-02

Bassel Abi Jummaa: Mostly a sedge warbler Anna . (Acro schoenobaenus )

2026-06-02

Bassel Abi Jummaa: OK great . Thanks Anna

more unidentified birds...