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During the two days spent out in the steppe in Kazakhstan I couldn’t help but notice the sheer number of flowers that dotted the grassy steppe.  It seemed that anywhere one looked some kind of flower, whether it was an iris, a tulip, or something else, was blooming.  So when we were on our way [...]

So back to before the previous Kazakhstan post we go, just to confuse the heck out of you and make it impossible to keep track of what happened when.  Well, actually, I guess it might not be the best idea to intentionally try to confuse you, dear reader (unless I were a postmodern novelist in [...]

After our relatively short trip from Astana to the Korgalzhyn State Nature Reserve made long by we birders insisting that we stop for every good bird*, we arrived at the headquarters of the park where a bunch of cabins, some larger buildings, and the outhouses are clustered by the lakeshore.  Once we dropped our gear [...]

After a filling breakfast our motley crew was issued the Swarovski scopes and tripods that would be ours to use for the next several days in Kazakhstan.  The new magnesium telescopes were lightweight and sturdy, the new 25-50X wide angle eyepiece allowed for a larger field of view without diminishing the quality of said view, [...]