Sea ​​Buckthorn thickets of Chilik river

Trip with Gennady Dyakin to sea ​​buckthorn thickets of Chilik river, where the mountain birds from the neighbour ridges Karash and Bokaidyn go down by the gorges in winter time. We started at 8 am, it was very cold. Weather forecast promised -19-20C in night, it looked like true. We drove by the concrete highway, now it is dry and alright. In the road side we saw two Upland Buzzards, one Eastern Buzzard, and White-tailed Sea-Eagle. The trip to east of Almaty usually means many birds of prey.

While we drove (about 140 km) sun rised, the wind became easy, so the walking in sea buckhorn thickets already became quite comfortable for us. Not agreeing before, we go birding in opposite directions, and didn't meet about next two hours. Birding in group is useful because the additional eyes, but in birding single Gennady found the preeminence - we will not have the same photos. Thouh we walked not far one from another we have diffrent not just number of birds but even stucture of species of birds. What did we see? Common in this point Eversmann's and Guldenstadt's Redstarts, Red-mantled and Long-tailed Rosefinches, Blackbirds and Black-throated Thrushes, Azure Tits, Great Tit, European Robins, and I noticed one White-browed Tit-Warbler. Birding in Chilik river is good because a bit of people in this spot, therefore we often take a good quality photos here. This visit there were not many birds, but many cattles, and it's cold too, I never seen the full frosen river before today.

After a lunch we go back by the Big Almaty channel (BAC) road. This road is nice bonus to the main birding, but as undependent birding it is good too. In winter time there are many Mistle Thrushes, Chuckars, Corn Buntings here, the flocks of Red-fronted Serins come down from mountains, and in last winter Kirill Tanayev and I recorded even flocks of Plain Mountain Finches here. In the silverberry trees we always have a chance to find wintering Siberian Birds such as Black-throated Thrushes, Hawfinches, Bohemian Waxwings. Of course birds of prey are always present here (Rogh-legged Buzzards, Merlins). Some birds of list we saw today, some of them even were photographed. Some we nice watched but couldn't take photos. One of the trouble of birding in frost is the temperature gap inside and outside of car. Today about 80 percent of shots was defective. We were should to stick a lot out of window and to pohotograph by series, hoping one of tens shot may be in focus. But generally birding was good.

1. Azure Tit

2. White-tailed Sea-Eagle

3. Upland Buzzard

4. Silverberry

5. Eversmann's Redstart

6. Red-mantled Rosefinch

7. sea buckthorn

8. European Robin

9. Blackbird

10. White-winged Woodpecker

11. Guldenstadt's Redstart

12. Long-tailed Rosefinch

13. Chukar in Silverberry tree

14. Chukars

15. Red-fronted Finch

16. Yellowhammer

17. female Merlin