Kishi-Kaindy gorge of the Aksu-Zhabagly Reserve

My Groundhog Day starts from the singing of Blackbirds, then couple of Chaffinches appears, then Tits, Starlings come, and White-winged Woodpecker pounds the pole. New event is only displaying of Wood Pigeon to the Collared Dove.

Today is warm and cloudy. Our guided group visited the Kishi-Kaindy gorge of the Aksu-Zhabagly Reserve. Gorge on the side of track is the rare forest of high juniper-trees. Another side is more than half covered by rocks. The final destination of our rout is the waterfall. My own targets of this tracking are Black-breasted Tit and Tawny Owl. Both of them were found. The most popular today bird is Black-throated thrush which was hearable all the time, and some times visible in the junipers. Also we often saw the flocks of Waxwings. Other little passerines were observed by one at time, of latters we saw Tits, Blue-capped Redstarts, Black-throated Accentor, Red-rumped Rosefinch, Wrens. Waxwings, some of thrushes and Redstarts were catching insects in fly like Flycatchers and Bee-eaters. We mostly called birds to sound, I think without it our trip list could be shorter.

Birds of prey were flying either high or far at a distance to unmistakable identification but too far to take good photo. Furthermore weather was cloudy.

In the cordon we saw acacia rabinia without seeds, guessed by Great Rosefinches. Also we saw Ibexes, more than three hundreds animals in three herds. Significant record, but my greatest today success is Tawny Owl, though photos of it are very bad. The information about nesting of Owl in the house in cordon is already outdated. Recent years Owl didn’t nest here. Then we go to birch-tree forest because here Owl was hearable and feathers were found. But we found not perching on birch-tree male but female in the nest. Nest is located on the rock above the waterfall; the nest content is visible only from the another side of the gorge. My photo is bad but in Andrei’s photo Owl is well visible. So my goals were 100% achieved.

1. Long-legged Buzzard (Buteo rufinus)

2. Kshi-Kaindy Gorge

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4. Kshi-Kaindy Gorge

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6. Blue-capped Redstart (Phoenicurus caeruleocephalus)

7. Red-mantled Rosefinch (Carpodacus rhodochlamys)

8. Black-breasted Tit (Parus rufonuchalis)

9. Rock Bunting (Emberiza cia)

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14. Northern Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes)

15. Aibek and Vassily