Almaty. Republic Square.

Day is rather overcast. The weddings are quite a bit, birds are present. In the bushes I saw Warblers, mostly Common and Lesser Whitethroats but I twice saw also juvenile Barred Warblers. In different sides of Square I watched two Turkestan Shrikes, one of them was calm juvenile, another one was very shy adult male. I noticed the latter in my last visit, in first time I noticed only reddish tail, then a long time it hid in the bushes but finally left it and I could to watch Shrike but from a far. I was lucky because I could identify bird. Also I watch the flock of Stonechats, seven birds, all are females and juveniles, no one adult male. All birds were in the locations of Cornus sanguinea berries of which will be the main food for birds even until the end of December when birds finish to eat all of food in Square. The berries of hawthorn are ripen too, but I didn’t see birds eating it.

1. Turkestan Shrike (Lanius phoenicuroides)

2. Common Whitethroat (Sylvia communis)

3. Lesser Whitethroat (Sylvia curruca)

4. Common Stonechat (Saxicola torquata)

5. Common Stonechat (Saxicola torquata)

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