Mongolia May 2014

There has always been something about Mongolia which has fascinated me from childhood - whether it's the stories of the Mongol empire being the largest Empire ever in the world or the marauding hoards of Mongols led by Ghengis Khan causing havoc over the vast open plains, whatever had held my fascination encouraged me to choose this as a destination for this trip after Gary Howard and I discussed this last year and agreed we should go.

Our Aeroflot flights via Moscow to Ulan Bator passed uneventfully and fairly quickly, although not helped  with a lack of entertainment on the smaller planes in the Aeroflot fleet, arriving at 6am. Mongolia has a population of only 3 million, half of which are in the rapidly expanding Capital of Ulan Bator.

This trip covered a vast area of Mongolia, firstly flying South from Ulan Bator to Dalanzadgdad, then heading West across the Gobi Desert and Steppes to the Altai Mountains, then heading North and East through the Khangai Mountains back to Ulan Bator before again heading East to the Khentii Mountains which is the southern-most edge of the Russian Taiga forest.

We spent 2 nights in Yurts and 13 nights in tents in altitude ranging from around 1500m up to 3300m. The Gobi desert reached daytime temperatures of 40c and in the mountains we had night time
temperatures of -5c in the tents. The weather ranged from blue skies to heavy rain, heavy snow, gale force winds, sandstorms, mudstorms, mist and fog, frost and ice...... not much was missing in the weather extremes, but it added to the sense that this place is unique.

I hope this report gives a taste of what I experienced although I doubt whether the pictures will quite capture the full extent of the stunning scenery and vastness of the horizons.

Saturday 24th May - Ulan Bator

After arrival we were transported to our hotel for the night in the centre of the city, The Balangol, and given a couple of hours to freshen up. (Our first bird of the trip was a Red-billed Chough as we drove out of the airport). Late morning we headed out to the edge of the City along the Tuul river, which is in a flat basin where the main river winds through a stony bed with lots of scrub.

The weather was quite cold and it had started to rain heavily, but we managed to find our main targets which were Azure Tit and White-crowned Penduline Tit, the latter only giving brief views and the former being rather drenched, we very much hoped to get drier views of both later on the trip. A pair of Goosander were on the river and a Lesser-Spotted Woodpecker was cowering from the rain with a Baikal Wagtail by the edge of the river and a Black-faced Bunting in the scrub. We tried to dry out a little with some lunch in the bus then went to a Larch wooded hill valley, where it was still cold but the rain had stopped.

This proved quite productive, Willow Tits and Olive-backed Pipits seemed plentiful in the wood with singing Pine Bunting and Meadow Buntings in the open areas. The first of many Common Cuckoos we were to encounter and we spent a while trying to track down a calling woodpecker before eventually a Grey-headed Woodpecker gave in to us.  Other birds seen were Black (Cinereous)Vulture, Himalayan Griffon Vulture, Booted Eagle, Eurasian Hobby, Common Redstart, Taiga Flycatcher, Two-barred Warbler and plenty of Black-eared Kites. So a successful end to a first day.

View from hotel over Ulan Bator

A soggy Azure Tit

an equally soggy Lesser-spotted Woodpecker

Wooded Valley view back to City

Pine bunting (in a pine !)

Common Redstart

Sunday 25th May - to the Gobi

We left the Ulan Bator hotel early in the morning with clear skies and headed back to the airport for a 6.40am flight South to Dalanzadgdad, arriving around 8.30am. If there was a town nearby then we didn't see it as the airport was the only building in the desert landscape.

Outside the airport building the few bushes provided shelter for Brown Shrike, Isabelline Wheatears and a 3 Common Rosefinch, then we loaded up into our Russian built buses and headed West, where the tarmac ended after a few hundred metres and we were on dirt track and due not to see tarmac again for 2 weeks.  We spent the next 3 hours journeying towards our Ger (Yurt) camp stopping at frequent intervals for the birds and trying to take in the vastness of the landscape.

Our first brief stop produced Asian Short-toed Larks with more Isabelline Wheatears, then views of 4 flying Pallas's Sandgrouse which landed distantly for views we hoped to improve on. Not much further on the bird of the day was finding a pair of Oriental Plovers. A bird high on the list for the whole trip and what we didn't know is that this would be our only sighting, but such a pleasure as the male was performing his aerial display flights and both birds gave decent views for an extended period. We saw more Asian Short toed Larks and plenty of Horned Larks, a Saker Falcon and a Black Vulture before arriving at our Ger camp for lunch.

A wander around the camp buildings and fence was surprisingly productive as migrant birds will use any bit of small scrub or shelter when crossing the vast barren landscapes of the Gobi and amongst the Horned Larks and Isabelline Wheatears we found Dusky Thrush, White-cheeked Starling, Siberian Rubythroat, Hoopoe, Taiga Flycatcher, Northern Wheatear and Brown Shrike.

In the afternoon we went to a mountainous valley called Yolyn Am in the Gurvansaykhan National Park. White-winged Snowfinches greeted us in the car park and a short distance into the valley we saw both Brown Accentor and Kozlov's Accentor (the later being the only Mongolian endemic bird). A male Siberian Blue Robin worked its way up a sheltered hill and the edge of a frozen lake had a smart male Citrine Wagtail and a small group of Twite. Further down the valley we saw Black Redstart, Dusky Warbler, Black-faced Bunting, Little Bunting and close views of a Chinese Beautiful Rosefinch. The skies were full of raptors with Himalayan and European Griffon Vultures, , Lammergeier, Golden Eagle, Black Vulture and Saker Falcon. A couple of people saw a Wallcreeper before it vanished. The wind picked up as we walked back to the vehicles with a Rock Sparrow being the only other addition to the list.

We returned to the Ger camp for a beer and our first night under the stars.

Arriving at Dalanzadgdad

Desert view

Follow that bus !



male Oriental Plover

Pair of Oriental Plover

Brown Shrike at the Ger camp

Valley at Yolyn Am

male Citrine Wagtail

Chinese Beautiful Rosefinch

immature Himalayan Griffon Vulture

Dusky Warbler

Little Bunting

Ger Camp No 1

View from the camp

Inside the Ger

 

Monday 26th May - Mountains, Deserts and Sandstorms

We were up early and headed back to the Yolyn Am area at 6am in clear blue skies and no wind seeing an Upland Buzzard on route. Our main target of the morning was the Altai Snowcock, found on the highest peaks only. Our buses parked as far up the hillside as they could and the rest of the way was on foot, we climbed up to around 2,600m and the views were incredible. We managed distant scope views of Ibex and the local wild mountain sheep called Argali, but the birds were more difficult. Along with the ubiquitous Isabelline Wheatears and Horned Larks, a good find was a Red-throated Thrush and slightly more unexpected was a migrating Eversmann's Redstart which did not hang around at the peak of the mountain but flew straight through. A Saker Falcon hunted over the peaks but our continuous scanning for Snowcock didn't produce the hoped for birds. On our descent we saw more Twite, Brown Accentors and 3 Koslov's Accentors.

We then returned to the same Yolyn Am valley as yesterday afternoon, with many of the same species being seen although the highlight was definitely a pair of Wallcreepers which spent several minutes being scoped in and out of the rock crevices before disappearing. We headed back to the Ger camp to pack the buses and depart noticing that the wind had again picked up strongly and the horizon was slowly disappearing behind what appeared to be low cloud.

The rest of the afternoon was a long long drive across the desert to our next camp near Khongeryn Els arriving not long before sunset. The weather on route was at times horrendous with strong winds and sandstorms which gave zero visibility forcing the buses to stop and turn away from the winds to protect the engines. At one point the sand had combined with rain to produce a mudstorm covering the vehicles. All probably to be expected in the  Gobi desert although a little unnerving if you haven't experienced this before.

The Ger Camp



On the way up from the buses with the view unfolding

View from the top

Gary not seeing Snowcocks

.. and down again

Koslov's Accentor

Brown Accentor

Twite

Isabelline Wheatear

Black Redstart

Olive-backed Pipit

White-winged Snowfinch

Saker Falcon

An approaching Sandstorm

Sandstorm outside the bus.

Tuesday 27th May - Desert Camping

Unlike yesterday's wild weather we awoke this morning to a calm with clear blue skies and at first light travelled around 10kms in search of our target bird, the very localised Saxual Sparrow. On the sand dune edge there is an area of scrub known as Saxual scrub, a scattering of head high bushes with limited leaf. as soon as we arrived in the area we found a group of these Sparrows, active in establishing territories and generally acting like sparrows. We spent quite a while watching their activity and also saw Steppe Grey Shrike, Isabelline Shrike, Desert Wheatear more Asian Short-toed Larks, Ruddy Shelduck and small groups of fly-by Pallas's Sandgrouse. We went back to the camp for breakfast and to pack the buses, a small number of Mongolian Finch were gathering around a leaky pipe.

We left camp and spent the rest of the day journeying, As well as the incredible scenery we managed a couple of birding stops.  At this point we had acquired our 'Kitchen truck' (It transported all the equipment and doubled as a kitchen as the next 10 nights were to be spent camping - it was big and sounded like a Panzer tank and struggled up hills) . A group of Vultures feeding on a young Camel carcass held Himalayan Griffon, European Griffon and Black Vulture and whilst watching these we found an Asian Desert Warbler. Further along the journey in a rocky valley we found some smart Pied Wheatear. Our journey at time was slow as some of the vehicles had problems with over-heating, which eventually meant that we set up camp after 9pm some distance short of where originally intended approximately 70km east of Orog Nuur but the tents went up without a problem the kitchen truck served up a good meal and the night was still and mild.

Ger Camp No 2

View from the camp

Dune scene

Looking for Saxual Sparrows

A Saxual Sparrow

 

The Sparrows displaying in a Saxual Bush !

 

Pallas's Sandgrouse in flight

Mongolian Finch at the Ger Camp

Wouldn't be a Desert without Camels.

the Dune strip stretched for around 150kms

The tallest dune was 400m high and c2km wide

Himalayan Griffon Vulture

Black Vulture, European Griffon and Raven

Al Fresco lunch in the Gobi

Obviously stopped for important provisions - Ghengis Khan beer.

Long road to somewhere

First night under canvas - my tent was 3rd from left.

Wednesday 28th May - A Lake and Mountain top

Up before dawn and on our way quickly towards a Lake at Orog Nuur arriving there around 8.30am - The area is so vast that these lakes are invisible until you get close and even then from a distance they are hardly noticeable, but then close up they are vast expanses of shallow water.

One of the key bird targets on these series of lakes we were to encounter over the next few days was the Relict Gull, listed as vulnerable by birdlife international it is known to breed on these lakes around Mongolia, but can be very mobile.

Having driven for 2 days across desert where birds of any description were at a premium, the lakeside by comparison held an abundance. As we approached the Lake within a few km's we saw more Pallas's Sandgrouse. Then we went for a walk along the lake shore for a few hours. The local wild form of Greylag Geese were on the shore and Gull-billed and Common Terns on the shoreline along with Kentish Plovers and Temmincks Stints. A large flock of Eurasian Spoonbill was quite distant although small groups of birds gave a closer fly-past. A few Richards Pipits were in the grass along with Asian Short-Toed Larks, Eurasian Skylarks and Common Snipe. A single Bar-headed Gosoe dropped in and Demoiselle Cranes flew past along with Caspian Terns and Mongolian Gull. A pair of Whooper Swans and 7 Swan Geese were on the far bank along with several more common duck species. So with no Relict Gulls around, we lunched amidst a flock of Mongolian Sheep and then spent the afternoon heading up towards our camp on the mountain at Ikh Bogd Uul.

The journey unfortunately was hampered by overheating vehicles, as we steadily climbed upwards through a very hot gorge, the unplanned stops here did produce more Pied Wheatear, Black Redstart, Common Rock Thrush and a pair of Chukkar, but none of the hoped-for Buntings. We eventually arrived at our mountain campsite at 2600m a little hot and bothered but soon calmed down as a couple of pairs of Pere Davids Snowfinches were very close to where the tents were being set up.



A Viper was close to the tents this morning

First lake at Orog Nuur

Truly wild Greylag Geese ?

Kentish Plover

Demoiselle Crane

Spoonbill

Lunch with the Sheep

Mountain Scenery

Pere David's Snowfinch

Our mountain campsite at Ikh Bogd Uul

Thursday 29th May - Mountain top birding to lakeside camping.

The main reason for struggling up to our camp at 2600m, was to put us in position for this morning where we needed to journey further up the mountain at first light to the summit around 3300m to look for our target birds.

Even though it was cold at this height, we wrapped up enough and there was still clear skies which warmed the day up fairly quickly.

The morning turned out to be a great success, not long after pitching out of the buses we had 2 distant Altai Snowcocks in the scope - The views were largely silhouettes but at least we had found the birds.

More Brown Accentors and Horned Larks  were on the rocky slopes, then we had sight of a male Hodgson's Buschat and pair of Altai Accentors. A male Guldenstadts Redstart also put in an appearance but proved pretty elusive throughout the morning. We also found 4 Brandts Mountain Finches. and several Water Pipits We spent the next couple of hours trying to get better views of these birds especially the Buschat, which had paired up with a a female, but kept their distance. A Lammergeier also flew over for good measure.

We returned to camp very pleased with the morning and then reversed yesterdays journey and headed back down to the south-west corner of the Lake at Orog nuur to set up camp and walk along a different section of the lake shore. We added Hill pigeon to our list on the way down through the rocky gorge, but still none of the hoped-for buntings..

The afternoon also proved quite productive walking for a couple of km's along the lakeshore as we had distantly picked up 2 White-naped Cranes landing in a field some distance away. Both Demoiselle and Common Cranes were in nearby fields, a Marsh Harrier quartered a reedbed, more Kenitsh plover, Redshank, Snipe and Lapwing displayed over the marshy fields, Red Crested Pochard and good numbers of Garganey flew from small pools, Pale Martin and Crested Lark were on the field edges with Western Yellow Wagtail and Citrine Wagtails. We managed to get a little closer to the White-naped Cranes although kept a distance so as not to disturb them, they surely have to be the most attractive species of Crane. A Desert Wheatear was also seen on the walk back to camp.

Altai Accentor

Looks slightly grumpy

Hodgsons Buschat

Brown Accentor

View at the Summit

Common Crane

Demoiselle Crane

Garganey

White-naped Cranes

White-naped Cranes in display mode

Common Crane

Desert Wheatear

Camping with the sheep

Friday 30th May - From lake to lake

A prompt departure from the camp this morning at 6.30am saw us drive around Orug Nuur and start heading north firstly stopping at a bushy area to the north west of the lake. We had seen quite a few small groups of Pallas's Sandgrouse as we drove through more desert scrub although none being particularly co-operative for the camera.

 

A track-side stop had us scanning over a bushy area with Upland Buzzard, Isabelline and Steppe Grey Shrike, Hoopoe and Rosy Starling and then views of our target bird the very localised Henderson's Ground Jay. A smart and unique bird although keeping their distance allowing good views through the scope, we counted 7 birds in total in this area.

 

We travelled further north stopping briefly at a small town (Bogd) where a quick view over the local river produced Little ringed Plover, Bar-headed Goose, Citrine Wagtail, Amur Wagtail, Siberian Rubythroat and Hill Pigeon.

 

We arrived at our next lake, Lake Hombooj, where we would camp for the night, just before lunch.  We had a short walk before lunch on the near side of the lake then after lunch a longer walk to the far side. This lake proved extremely productive for waders and waterfowl and although we didn't see a Relict Gull or Pallas's Fish Eagle the list of birds was great and it was fantastic to see good numbers of birds which rarely appear in the UK.

 

Both White-naped Crane and Demoiselle Crane were present with large numbers of Spoonbill, Several Whooper Swans with broods of cygnets, Ruddy Shelduck, Common Shelduck, large numbers of common Pochard, Shoveler, Pintail, Wigeon, Gadwall, Teal, Garganey, Tufted Duck, Goldeneye, Horned Grebe, a Ferruginous Duck and a Long-tailed Duck.

 

Terns were represented by Common, Little and White-winged Terns and then there were the waders with Little Stint, Temmincks Stint, 4 or 5 Long-toed Stints, Curlew Sandpipers, Dunlin, over 20 Broad-billed Sandpipers, Greater Sandplover, Kentish Plover, Pacific Golden Plover, Marsh Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Ruff and Pallas's Sangrouse. The whole thing was quite a spectacle and made for a very enjoyable afternoon.

 

before leaving Orog Nuur in the morning

Pallas's Sandgrouse - the view was normally their rear ends !





looking back over Lake Orog Nuur

slightly distant Henderson's Ground Jay

Kentish Plover

White-winged Tern

White-winged Tern

Spoonbills, Avocets and other waders (and cows) Lake Hombooj

 

Spoonbills in formation

More waders - Black-winged Stilts, Pacific Golden Plover, Kentish Plover, Curlew Sandpipers

Pallas's Sandgrouse

Long-toed Stints

Long-toed Stint

Saturday 31st May - Pallas's Day

 

Up early, as was the norm, and a walk around the nearside of the lake before we packed and left around 10.45. We were still after the Relict Gull and Pallas's Fish eagle which is known to frequent this lake but again both were to no avail.

 

We started with many of the same birds as yesterday with White-naped Crane, Demoiselle Crane and the same duck species with Common Redshank and Snipe displaying along our route, the first reedy area had a female Pallas's Reed Bunting and further along in the grassy hummocks we flushed a Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler, these skulking birds act like mice on the ground scurrying through the undergrowth almost invisible and mostly only giving partial views, there were probably 3 or 4 birds in the area and at least one had the courtesy of showing itself. Several Pallas's Sandgrouse were flying to the waters edge to drink and a Siberian Stonechat and Dusky Warbler were in the scrub along with an Oriental Turtle Dove. Despite yesterday's wader haul we managed to add Asian Dowitcher, Black-tailed Godwit, Sanderling and Grey Plover to the list. Our attention was caught by some gulls flying in which turned out to be Pallas's Gull.

 

We departed this excellent lake with a long cross-desert journey to our final lake destination at Boon Tsaagan Nuur which would take several hours.

 

We had a couple of stops at small towns for provisions, firstly at Jinst, where a small scrubby square in the town proved to be a migrant trap where we found, Asian Brown flycatcher, Dark-sided Flycatcher, Taiga Flycatcher, Brown Shrike, Eye-browed Thrush, Siberian Rubythroat, Common Rosefinch and a Pallas's Warbler.

 

A second stop at a very hot Baatsaagan at first seemed unproductive with just a Dusky Warbler but a few small bushes held another Siberian Rubythroat a Siskin and a Thick-billed Warbler.

 

Approaching the lake a stop to wait for our kitchen truck and we were lucky to find 2 Pallas's Fish Eagles perched on small bushes. The explorer 'Pallas' had 7 birds named after him and with the Fish Eagle we had seen 6 of these in one day, only missing out on the Pallas's Rosefinch, 

 

We arrived to set up camp near the lake and had just enough time to walk to the lake edge where large numbers of Pallas's Gulls and Mongolian Gulls were gathering with over 50 Caspian Terns and a Lesser Sandplover was new for the list.

 

The wind had started to pick up but we were in for a particularly windy night.

 

 

female Pallas's Reed Bunting

This would be considered a normal view of a Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler

This would be considered unusually co-operative

Pallas's Sandgrouse

Displaying Common Snipe

Camp at Lake Hombooj

Siberian Rubythroat at Jinst

Dark-sided Flycatcher at Jinst

Camp at Lake Boon Tsaagan Nuur

The kitchen truck

 

Sunday 1st June - Windy

 

It was so windy early in the morning and the sand was so strongly blowing in our direction that we confined ourselves to the tents for the first few hours, a stranded Daurian Redstart tried to take refuge under our buses but other than that it was a birdless start to the day.

 

When we thought the wind had relented slightly, we walked to the river creek that ran down to the Lake but soon gave up as it started blowing strongly again we had found a couple of Black Storks and more Pallas's Fish Eagles along with Pallas's Gulls, Mongolian Gulls  and Caspian Terns . It wasn't until early afternoon that we ventured out and took the buses to visit another part of the lake, where we were hoping we might find enough gulls to search for the Relict Gull which had eluded us so far. The plan seemed fairly simple, about 8kms should be about 20 minutes.

. However,  10 minutes into the journey our bus got stranded in a river. The attempts by the other 2 buses to pull us out failed, including another bus getting stuck but was pulled free by bus 3 ! so one of the buses had to return to camp to fetch the Kitchen Truck which eventually dragged us out although we had long departed the vehicle and waded to safety as the techniques for removal seemed a little haphazard .

 

We arrived at the new lake shoreline about an hour and a half after we left camp and started scanning the groups of birds that were congregating. An Asian Dowitcher and Pacific Golden Plover were on the shore, but the Gulls held nothing new. We returned to camp late afternoon with the weather having settled down and immediately walked down to the lake shore where the river enters the lake as a good gathering of Gulls and shorebirds were there. A Dalmatian Pelican was on the shore and a couple of Whiskered Terns flew along the shoreline. Our diligent scanning through the gulls and terns only found a Heuglin's Gull but no Relict Gulls. We walked back to the camp seeing our first Mongolian Larks of the trip but a little concerned we were running out of opportunity for the Relict Gull.

 

Our bus was stuck in the river

 

Landscape from the camp



Monday 2 June - From Lake to Mountain again

 

 Our task this morning was simple - to find a Relict Gull or face the prospect of not seeing one at all on the trip . We were up at  5am as usual and walking down to the Lake shore. The weather was kind to us and there was a large gathering of birds including no less than 5 Pallas's Fish Eagles. Plenty of Pallas's Gulls were giving fine views and we started scanning the gull flock on the lake shore and sure enough before long we were looking at a fine adult Relict Gull, it flew to a more distant part of the shore but had joined up with more adult Relict Gulls - 8 in total. It was part joy and part relief - The gulls themselves are very reminiscent of Mediterranean Gulls and actually the Pallas's Gulls are probably much smarter to look at, but it was some joy and not a little relief that we had connected with them.

 

We returned to camp and packed up to leave on another long journey north and west into the Khangai mountains.

 

We stopped at a small town called Bayanhongor for provisions and lunched at a nearby stream with Common Cuckoo and Black Stork on view and then we called briefly at a Buddhist Monestary at Er Den Gsogt (most of these old buildings were destroyed during the Russian ownership of Outer Mongolia). Large flocks of Daurian Jackdaws were seen near the roaming livestock - a much smarter looking bird than it's European cousin.

 

As the route climbed into the Khangai mountains the scenery changed again and we had more views of Lammergeier on a nest, Steppe Eagle and a Merlin.

 

We arrived late in the day around 8pm at our chosen camp in the mountains at Sayayn Davaa at 2700m which was the highest point on the trip  we had set up the tents and we were in for a particularly cold night.

 

Pacific Swift

Pallas's Gull

Bar- Headed Geese landing

Swan Geese

Monastery at Er Den Gsogt

As we entered the Khangai Mountains

More Scenery changes

 

Demoiselle Cranes

 

Black Stork

 

Juvenile Lammergeier on nest with Chough looking on

 

Steppe Eagle

 

Getting ready for a cold night with a cold beer

 

Yak dung produced good fuel for the camp fire

 Tuesday 3rd June - Morning mountains then Mostly travel

 

 We awoke to more stunning scenery in the valley we had camped in and we spent a short while scanning the nearby mountain tops when before too long a single Altai Snowcock was seen then another. These birds gave much needed satisfying and prolonged views through the scopes after the rather silhouetted pair earlier in the trip. We walked a short distance in the nearest valley where a pair of Pallas's Reed Buntings were in the scrub with more Brown Accentors and Siberian Stonechat. A pair of Daurian Partridge were picked up on the hillside and a singing Hume's Warbler was on the lower slopes. A wandering Lammergeier was seen just before we left the site. Further down the valley overlooking a still frozen lake , Steppe Eagle, Cinereous Vultures and a Golden Eagle were seen along with the sight of a baby Yak which had just been born being escorted by it's mother across the lake. The afterbirth appear to be what was attracting the vultures.

 

We journeyed further walked up a valley with a larch covered hillside. Calling Common Rosefinch and Two-barred Warblers were first seen then a pair of very active Eversmann's Redstarts. The male being a particularly attractive bird, a shame it eluded the camera but was a much better view than our earlier migrating individual .

 

We continued the journey in the buses via the Lammergeier nest of the previous day where our timing was impeccable an adult bird returned with prey for the youngster. We carried on bumping around in the bus until a very late lunch stop at a mountain pass, which was quite cool and breezy with rain showers visibly approaching. The stop was good for birds with Common Rock Thrush, Guldenstadts Redstart our only Alpine Accentors of the trip and brief views of very flighty Asian Rosy Finches.

 

Our journeying carried on for the whole afternoon and we eventually stopped at a riverside sheep field near Tongorogin Pass, much earlier than intended, as it was deemed we wouldn't make our target destination before nightfall.

 

Looking up to where we saw the Snowcocks

Back to the Campsite at 2700m

The mountain meadows were covered with an abundance of alpine-type flowers

Pallas's Reed Bunting

 



Lammergeier

Yak-on-ice with newborn

Several of the high lakes were still frozen

Daurian Jackdaws

Adult Lammergeir

Returning food to the nest

A riverside setting

Although there seemed to be a queue for the toilet tent.

Wednesday 4th June - a bit of snow and another lake

The night was another cold one and we woke to rain although the temperature dropped and by the time we left camp the snow was fairly heavy. We had timed this pretty well as our journey today saw us leave the mountain range and the snow looked pretty set to stay for while.

The morning journey was as usual bumpy and adventurous with a couple of steep hills to climb, although the snow meant that we didn't have any birding stops until we reached a waterfall late morning. This site was potentially good for a roosting European Eagle Owl in the river gorge although our searching of likely crevices proved fruitless no doubt any large Owl worth his salt was well tucked away. A displaying Blyth's Pipit was a small consolation but we walked out to the waterfall and back in the snow before journeying onwards.

A stop to wait for our kitchen truck to catch up produced more Mongolian Larks and a surprise sighting of a pair of Pere Davids Snowfinches. We then definitely descended altitude and the weather cleared to blue skies as we arrived at Sangiyn Dalay Nuur Lake to camp for the night.

We walked to the lake edge and again found the lake teeming with birds. Large numbers of Whooper Swans, both Common Cranes and Demoiselle Cranes, Ruddy and Common Shelduck. 6 Stejnegers Scoters, a male Falcated Duck, large numbers of Common Goldeneye, Black-throated Diver an Eastern Marsh Harrier flew over, several Upland Buzzards around the lake shore . White winged Terns and a Gull -billed Tern and a large number of Horned Larks and Mongolian Larks between our camp and the lake shore.

With the clear skies and a cold front still present we had probably the coldest night of the trip with temperatures in the tents recording -5c and the fly sheets in the morning were hard with ice - but we were all fine !.

looking for birds in the morning was difficult !

Orkhon Waterfall

Walking back in the snow

Our merry band of bus drivers !

Thursday 5th June - from Lake to horses

We emerged from our frozen tents eager to warm up and went for a walk along the lake shore, seeing many of the birds we saw the previous evening including the Stejnegers Scoters and Falcated Duck, in addition Black-necked and Horned Grebes, Citrine Wagtails, Marsh Sandpipers.

Our camp was packed and we departed the lake shore and had soon completely left any sign of the Khangai mountains behind us. A lunch stop in some rocky outcrops produced Pied Wheatear a Thick-billed Warbler, Dusky warbler, Rock Sparrows and plenty of Pacific Swifts then a roadside stop to fix the kitchen truck added Greater Short-toed Lark.

Our stop for the night was at the Hustai National park and as we approached we saw a smart male Amur Falcon. The park is famous for its wild Przewalski's Horses, which originally were known as Tokii, but were thought to have died out as a breed but were re-introduced from a rescued stock and specifically reared in a breeding program in Europe before re-introduction.

Our trip into the park in the evening saw several of these horses along with Red Deer and more Amur Falcons and Blyth's Pipits.

Frozen Tents in the morning

Whooper Swans

Bar-headed Goose

Mongolian Lark

The morning warmed up

More vast plains

Przewalski's Horses

Ouch !

Campsite just by the Hustai park entrance

Friday 6th June - Back to the city

We had a quick morning excursion into the Park again, seeing more horses and Red Deer and more Amur Falcons, Lesser Kestrel, Golden Eagle and a Little Owl.

We returned to Ulan Bator and to tarmac roads ! driving through more of this developing and sprawling city and at lunchtime returned to the Tuul River bushy area to try for better views of the species we saw on day one. This was successful as both the Azure Tit and White-crowned Penduline Tit gave good views along with Common Rosefinch and more unexpectedly Long-tailed Rosefinch.

We returned to the Balangol Hotel through the Ulan Bator rush hour, where the red carpet unfortunately wasn't for us smelly birders but the All-Asian Wrestling Finals. However the hot showers and proper mattresses were a welcome change. We said goodbye to 2 of the party today before we carried on to the Khentii mountains tomorrow.

female Amur Falcon

Lesser Kestrel

Black-eared Kite

White-crowned Penduline Tit

White-crowned Penduline Tit

Azure Tit

Common Rosefinch

Long-tailed Rosefinch

Hotel-room view of Ulan Bator

Saturday 7th June - Back to Mountains

Out of the city again at 8am and first stop was Ghenghis Khan - or at least the vast monument to the individual some way out of the city. We then carried on towards Gun Galat, where there was a Lake and a marshy area to overlook for lunch. The lake seemed quite birdy with more Stejnegers Scoters, Black-necked Grebe, White-winged Terns, Garganey and Marsh Sandpipers being the more interesting species and the marsh held both Demoiselle and White-naped Cranes, 3 Black Stork and a Hobby flew over.

We continued our journey into the Khentii Mountains and found our campsite for the next 3 nights near Tereji. We settled down and saw Black Vulture, Japanese Buzzard, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Black-Eared Kite and plenty of Pacific Swifts and the local race of the Eurasian House Martins. We made a late evening journey through several rivers to a valley where Swinhoes Snipe have been known to breed, but apart from several Pine Buntings there was no sign of any Snipe so we returned to our camp in the dark.

Bloke on a horse

Ghengis Khan

our camp for 3 nights  - very pleasant

The marsh where we had lunch

A Cow

The buses still had a habit of getting stuck

Sunday 8th June - wandering around woods

The principal reason for visiting this area of the Khentiiy mountains is to try and see the Black-billed Capercaillie. Even though Capercaillie are the size of a large turkey they are particularly shy species and quite difficult to find, so we had two and a half days in the area to focus on trying to get views of this elusive bird. This morning we set off to the Larch forests near the snipe valley we were in last night. Our buses managed to drive us close to the forest edge and we set up through the forest.

The first wood did not hold any signs of Capercaillie, but we had good views of a Ural Owl in flight
and a Red-throated Thrush was in full song at the top of a pine before descending to the forest floor.

A second patch of woodland started with a a calling Wryneck and a Lesser Whitethroat with a distinctively different song to those in the UK. I managed to catch a glimpse of a Capercaillie in flight , but the view was so brief and unsatisfactory and I was the only one of the group that saw the bird ,that it remained an un-tickable view, but it least it gave some hope that we were searching in the right area. We exited the wood, seeing a Booted Eagle, and were to be driven to different area but the buses again got stuck, so we re-entered the same patch of wood for a longer walk but despite efforts we only saw Pallas's Warbler, Taiga Flycatcher and more Willow Tits.

The afternoon we went to  an area called Woodpecker Valley. A flat area with deciduous trees with a parkland type feel with lots of dead wood looking as if there were many woodpeckers around, but apart from a calling Wryneck we neither saw nor heard a woodpecker. We did see Pine Bunting. Two-barred Warbler, the white-headed race of Long-tailed Tit and a single call from a hidden Scops Owl.

We returned to camp and decided again to look for Snipe, again with the same result. We hope that tomorrow would prove a more productive day.

Chipmunk in the Woods

Pallas's Warbler

Local race of Lesser Whitethroat

There's always at least one troublemaker on a trip !

Monday 9th June - Mountain climbing

Given that we'd failed in our attempts to get sightings of the Capercaillie yesterday, today's only option was to hike up the mountain behind the camp where the decent area of vegetation was at the top of the mountain. Our camp was around 1600m and the top of the mountain was around 2200m.
The weather was kind to us as it was a clear day and we set off at 5am from camp on foot. The climb was nearly all within the woods and at times it was fairly steep but largely just a long steady progression uphill. We encountered some familiar species on-route with Willow tits and Nutchatch a bonus was a Black Woodpecker, but as with a lot of these Larch woods, birds a fairly thin on the ground. We tried for Chinese Bush Warbler in a couple of open habitats but concluded the birds were not present. After about 3 hours we arrived in the area of suitable habitat for the Capercaillie and we spread ourselves out in a line about 50m across and walked slowly cross sectioning large areas.
After 2 hours of doing this a Black-billed Capercaillie was sighted on the ground and we managed to watch the bird for a very short time walk very slowly between the trees before inconceivably it just disappeared on us. Not all of the party had seen the bird so we were continuing our diligence to find more as we started to slowly descend through the area. After another brief flight view of a bird we had more success when 3 Siberian Jays were found. This forest is on the very southern edge of the Russian Taiga forest and species such as the Siberian Jay would be a the limit of their range. It was even more surprising shortly afterwards when we encountered a small tit flock and I looked at a bird expecting it to be a Willow Tit but it was a Siberian Tit, which frustratingly disappeared for a  few anxious minutes but then showed itself to the whole group. Again another bird infrequently recorded in this part. We then managed to get a decent flight view of a male Black-billed Capercaillie so relief as the whole group had managed to see the bird.

We carried on our descent and got back to camp at 2.30pm all a little tired but elated the long walk had been successful and we didn't have to repeat it the next morning, we had further Black Woodpecker sighting next to the camp but the raptor spectacle we'd had on the first afternoon did not reoccur. So we settled for a special Mongolian Barbecue meal cooked on the open fire which was great.

going up into the Larch Forest

Capercaillie habitat.

Siberian Jay

Siberian Jay

and again

A slightly hidden Siberian Tit

Black Woodpecker

A honeymoon Yurt perhaps ?

This is a view to the top of the mountain where we walked

Preparing the Mongolian Barbecue

Tuesday 10th June - Back to the  City

Our final morning out in the field and we went to 2 sites firstly to try for Yellow Breasted Bunting in a marshy valley and then again to the woodpecker site (without the woodpeckers). There were lots of Pine Buntings on offer with Common Rosefinch, Black-faced bunting a singing Siberian Rubythroat, Steppe Eagle and Daurian Jackdaws but no sign of a Yellow Breasted Bunting and in the woodpecker site we did at least see 2 Lesser spotted Woodpeckers and a smart male Daurian Redstart.

That was it for the birds. We arrived back in UB late afternoon and had a decent last dinner out before an early flight in the morning via Moscow back to the UK . In all a fantastic trip with c220 birds recorded amazing scenery and experiences.

A low mist on our final morning

Singing Pine Bunting

Daurian Redstart