Well... resurrecting what's left -- the second attempt of that post :-)
Where did I start.. ah yes, with animals, plants and that stuff! One of the main attractions of the trip has been the wild tulips! I'm still sorry for the botanics group, that there was always some pressure on them regarding time. Cause there's always too little time and too much interesting plants... here.. and over there... and on the top of that hill, and while standing on top, well you can imagine, also behind that hill, and there - a flower again! And so on.
It's only fair to say, if you replace "plant" with "lizard" and "flower" with "snake", it's the same for fieldherpetology. And if you replace snake with bird and lizard with bird you get the idea of a birding-trip. ..and there are stories, just tales, that people got totally lost, cause they were so much engrossed into the plants.. and bugs.. and lizards... ;-)
So, with the warmer weather, the flowers started blooming again, and looots of tulips amongst them! The upper ones were clicked in Kazakhstan, the lower in Kyrgyzstan.
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Of course, not only plantey-stuff was coming out to get some sun, also my beloved critters (well, likely another case of very one-sided-affection..)!
The animal's adaption to the continental climate is just amazing. Below minus five degrees in the morning -- what do you hear? Frogs (Rana ridibundus)! Ok, they did a little cheating, cause they were sitting in a pond "powered by" a thermal spring. So that's cool, but you can also observe this in Austria close to Villach.
So, apart from that cheating frogs, again, below minus 5 during night, close to 6°C plus at around 10 o'clock morning, and the first Phrynocephalus agamas are sitting outside! You could pick them up with two fingers, cause there were, well, a little cold, but still, they were basking outside! And not only one, but several. Of those (P. helioscopus) for now no pictures, but here also something very common, the steppe agama (Trapelus sanguinolentus/agilis) and the single Eremias grammica (Reticulate Racerunner; cool name for that guy i would say) observed. Other specimen of Eremias species were more common.
Aaand, always veeery cool, a camel spider!
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Some short words, or better a small pic, concerning crucial equipment: Selfmade lightweight snakehook (a.k.a. coat hanger; never used but aaalways at hand, even in the night.. and while munching through snow... and on the toilet...), camera (obviously in use every now and then), vodka (that one was two for the price of one; also in use every now and then...), and the holy Svensson. That picture also represents the standard sitting position and gives a little clue about the space available in the "zoology-bus".
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Another major highlight in Kazakhstan has been a riding-game (i think it's called Kokbar), where two teams of riders play for the control of a goat carcass... without helmet... and (the rest of) a goat with around 30+ kilogram.. often one-handed, or, if twohanded, with the rein between the teeth... riding full speed like hell.
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We were something like the surprise-fanclub for both of the teams :-)
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Below, that's one of the main tourist location for locals as well as foreigners -- the Scharyn-Canyon. And it has lots of those bloody huge Great Gerbils (Rhombomys opimus; opimus means ~wonderful). Unfortunately this one was hiding it's main attraction, the tail.
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The one and only bus, the two core-members of the birding group (a bit disoriented due to the lack of bird), left below a graveyard with influences of different cultures (mainly islamic and russian-orthodox if i remember right), and the leading lady/professor of the botanics group, likely soon to be recaptured by leading guy of zoology due to average distance > 7 hills to the rest of the group members ;-)
...and at last, those two signs, mounted as they were in an, at the moment, empty hostel for children, i don't know why, they really gave me weird feelings in the stomach.
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...driver remember, they are waiting for you at home!