Trip to Akkol lake.

Today is cloudy, morning is even misty. Significant wind is almost all the day.

Zhabagly – Chokpak. Morning is again started from the songs of different birds and drumming of Wood pecker. In addition to yesterday birds we saw Wood Pigeion and two Yellow-brested Tits. Tits very active came to the sound but light was a bit to take photo. Yellow-breated and Hybrid Tits also were observed later in the roadside thickets in Chokpak Pass. Also here we saw the large (perhaps more than one hundred birds) mixed flock of Chaffinches and Bramblings, and we saw the Jackdaws building the nests.

Ters-Ashybulak. When we arrived to reservoir in the mist we saw Greylag and White-fronted Geese, Great grey Shrike, Sparrowhawk and Little Bustards. Further the significant records during the road to Akkol lake are two Black Redstarts near Karakemer and Pygmy Cormorants in the lake near 27th station.

Akkol lake is located to westward from Taraz city and very large, the birds on the another side of lake are not visible even in binoculars. On the plain reed coast of the lake we watched by the spotting scope the White-fronted Geese, Herons and White-tailed Sea-Eagle. We didn’t approach to them but moved to the rocky coast of the lake. The birding on the rocks was not effective, but Andrei found two Eagle-Owls; male rested in the niche, but female was on the nest which was the simple shallow hole with 3 white ball-shaped eggs. Both male and female flew away when we approached (it’s not strange to go away when 10 humans with large cameras approached to you). In the rock we saw Long-legged Buzzard too, and Vassily further found the nest with 2 eggs. Also here we watched couple of Chuckar Partridge, Pied Wheatears and Black Redstart.

1. Eastern Buzzard (Buteo japonicus)

2. Black-throated Thrush (Turdus atrogularis)

3. Yellow-breasted Tit (Parus flavipectus)

4. Hybrid Tit (Parus bokharensis x major)

5. Little Bustards (Tetrax tetrax)

6. Greater White-fronted Geese (Anser albifrons)

7. Great Grey Shrike (Lanius excubitor)

8. Turkestan Black Redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros phoenicuroides)

9. Tulip

10. Akkol lake

11. Tulip

12. Pied Wheatear (Oenanthe pleschanka)

13. Pallas's Gull (Larus ichthyaetus)

14. Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus)

15.

16. Chukar Partridge (Alectoris chukar)

17. Eurasian Eagle-Owl (Bubo bubo)

18. Nest of Eurasian Eagle-Owl (Bubo bubo)

19. Evgeny Belousov

20. Desert Wheatear (Oenanthe deserti salina)