Birding Mongolia

2012-01-20T22:09:00.000-08:00

Surprise below

Songino Khairkhan Uul

Text & photos © Andreas Buchheim

Ice-mushroom in the sewage stream,

below Songino Khairkhan Uul, Jan 2012

On 16 January I went to the riparian area below Songino Khairkhan Uul. By car it is about a 35-minute drive west from where I live. Icrossed the river by 9:30 am. Virtually the first passerine I saw wasflying towards me. This turned out to be a female Güldenstädt’sRedstart, most likely the one that was seen here recently(photo of the flying bird at the Mongolian Bird Watching Clubwebsite). This was a nice start despite the bad conditions. Anorth-easterly breeze was blowing all the city smog exactly to thearea (and beyond) where I wanted to watch birds. As the redstart wasnot approachable by any means I decided to scrutinize the woodlandand try my luck later the day. After a while I found a group of about50 Bohemian Waxwings,but photographing them was impossible, thanks to the aforementionedfacts. At about 11:00 am the wind changed to the opposite directionand soon I found myself birding in bright sunlight. A (the) flock ofAzure-winged Magpies was on show again, but—again—itwas on the other side of the river. During wintertime rivers don’tpose any problem to birdwatchers as they can be criss-crossed ad lib,simply because they are deeply frozen. But I was birding along thenever-freezing sewage stream (quite incredible that there is noappropriate waste-water treatment in the capital of Mongolia!) andthus it was impossible to get close enough to the magpies. So I wasdriving around looking for a nice place with lots of birds and when Ifound it, I waited. And waited. I waited even more for the birdscoming close enough to the car. After more than 45 minutes thewaxwings came back to the bushes to feed on the berries and I beganto take some shots.

Female Bohemian Waxwing,

below Songino Khairkhan Uul, Jan 2012

Bohemian Waxwing with berry,

below Songino Khairkhan Uul, Jan 2012

Bohemian Waxwing with frosty cap,

below Songino Khairkhan Uul, Jan 2012

Suddenly I heard familiar calls and soon 4 White-cheeked Starlingsjoined the waxwings. This species is very rare in winter in the country.

Three of the four White-cheeked Starlings,

below Songino Khairkhan Uul, Jan 2012

While I was photographing the starlings I heard other calls. Those Iknew from Europe: European Greenfinch. Was I dreamingor getting mad? Greenfinch? Here? Impossible! But, surprise,surprise: There was a flock of European Greenfinchesfeeding below the trees. The flock consisted of two males and threefemales and I could take some pictures. This species has beenrecorded just a few times in Mongolia and all sightings came from the west of the country.

Four of the five European Greenfinches,

below Songino Khairkhan Uul, Jan 2012

Male European Greenfinch,

below Songino Khairkhan Uul, Jan 2012

Female European Greenfinch,

below Songino Khairkhan Uul, Jan 2012

Another finch dropped to join the greenfinches. This was a maleCommon Chaffinch but he was too wary and I could obtainnot more than a poor record shot of this rather rare winter visitorto Mongolia.

Record-shot of the first-winter male Common Chaffinch,

below Songino Khairkhan Uul, Jan 2012

Female Güldenstädt’s Redstart,

below Songino Khairkhan Uul, Jan 2012

Male Güldenstädts Redstart,

below Songino Khairkhan Uul, Jan 2012

After this I tried on the redstart again, but the bird was notcooperating well. While I was waiting opposite its favoredfruiting-tree I got aware of a male Güldenstädt’sRedstart which was attending the very same tree every now andthen. The flocks of thrushes either had left the area or I just didnot find them. Nevertheless a few (less than 10) Red-throatedThrushes were still around. After 4 hours I went back home.

Red-throated Thrush,

below Songino Khairkhan Uul, Jan 2012

Bohemian Waxwing, dropping part one,

below Songino Khairkhan Uul, Jan 2012

Bohemian Waxwing, dropping part two,

below Songino Khairkhan Uul, Jan 2012

2012-01-15T06:33:00.000-08:00

BirdingMongolia in September 2011

part 2: GunGaluut Nature Reserve

text &photos © Axel Bräunlich

After myhalf-day trip to the UB ponds I met John McLoughlin, leader of a Bird Holidays tour, in the Grand Khaan Irish Pub in Ulaanbaatar. John hasbeen running autumn birding trips to Mongolia for several years now,and I can highly recommend these. He kindly offered me a lift to GunGaluut, and I ended up joining him and his small group for the nextfew days, visiting the marshes in the valley of the Kherlen River notfar east of UB, and also Jalman Meadows in the Khentii Mts.

We leftUB the next morning (on 4 September), heading east on the asphaltedmain road. After a rather uneventful drive (c. 3 hrs including a stopnear the main road where we saw 9 EurasianBlack Vultures) we eventually reachedGun Galuut,some 130 km from UB. This interesting little (c.20,000 ha)steppe–wetland nature reserve near the Kherlen has become animportant birdwatching destination during the last few years. It hasbeen featured here on Birding Mongoliaseveral times: A wonderful day at Gun Galuut by Abu, 27 August 2011;23 May 2009 by Abu; and May 2007 by Dan Mantle. See also additionaldata from 2010 given at the end of this post.

JuvenileBaikal Teal, Gun Galuut, Sept 2011

Theweather on the 4th was fine and dry, with a gentle breeze only. Afteroccupying our gers (yurts) at the Steppe Nomads Ger Camp we visitedthe Tsengiin Burd wetland, immediately to the south. Highlights inthis area of grazing marshes with many small ponds were a juvenileBaikal Teal,a flock of 7 adult White-naped Cranes,and a well-showing Eurasian Bittern.We spotted also several Siberian Marmotsand two Corsac Foxes.Later on we visited the “larger” lakes (theyare not really “large”:Lake Ikh Gun covers c. 60 hectares only), but we covered this areamuch better the next day. A Tolai Harewas at the ger camp.

EurasianBittern, Gun Galuut, Sept 2011

5 September2011 was another nice day, with a maximum temperature of 18°C(64°F). An early morning walk through the camp near the riverwith its few planted bushes produced 1 Yellow-browed and 11Dusky Warblers, 1 Taiga Flycatcher,1 Brown Shrike and aBlack-faced Bunting.After breakfast we visited the lakes, where we found as absolutehighlight for the trip two Siberian Cranesnear Lake Ayaga. We identified them as adult. However, seeAbu’s recent post(with good photos of the cranes!) were he explains why these verybirds (seen already on 22 August) are not fully adult.

A nice bonuswas a large (diameter including legs c. 7 cm) spider on the steppebetween the lakes:

WolfSpider (South Russian Tarantula)

Lycosasingoriensis

Over 400Demoiselle Craneswere on the move in the area, and in addition we found bothBar-headedand Swan Geeseand a host of waders and wildfowl. These included 5 LittleCurlews, Stejneger’sScoter and a EasternSpot-billed Duckamongst the large number of wildfowl present.

Whooper Swanparent, Gun Galuut, Sept 2011

WhooperSwan family, Gun Galuut, Sept 2011

In the lateafternoon a thunderstorm moved in, with rain, and freshening-up winds(Beaufort 5–6, max. 11 m/s).

After a stormy and rainynight the morning of 6 September was rather cold, 7.5°C (45.5°F)with high winds (Beaufort 7, max 14.2 m/s).

Thelakes held a similar array of birds but there was no sign of theprevious days Siberian Cranes. A new bird was a Northern Hobby.So we headed on to our next and final camp at Jalman Meadows. On theway (still very close to Gun Galuut) one can see the large coal minesof Baga Nuur, which provide fuel for Ulaanbaatar’spower plants (see previous post on air pollution in UB).

Open pit coal mine at BagaNuur

Species ListGun Galuut 4–6Sept 2011

Great Crested Grebe– Two birds on 5/6th.

Black-necked Grebe– 18 on 5th.

Slavonian Grebe –4 on Ikh Gun on 5th.

Great Cormorant –Only two birds present.

Grey Heron –Fairly common, with a count of 20 birds on the 5th.

Eurasian Spoonbill– A group of seven birds were on the marshes on 4–6th.

Eurasian Bittern –An interesting record of one feeding out in the open on the grazingmarshes on the afternoon of the 4th.

Whooper Swan –One family party with five young and two additional pairs.

Swan Goose –A flock of 52 birds were on the marshes on 4–6th.

Bar-headed Goose –9 birds, including juveniles, on 4–5th.

Ruddy Shelduck –At least 110 on the 5th.

Eastern Spot-billedDuck – One with Mallards and Northern Pintails on the 5th.

Eurasian Wigeon –Good numbers, with at least 150 on the lakes on 4–6th.

Gadwall –Just three birds on the marshes on the 4th.

Common Teal –Present in good numbers, with several 100s seen.

Mallard –Present in good numbers, several dozens seen.

Northern Pintail –A large count of c.650 birds in one flock near Ikh Gun on the 5th.

Garganey –Peak count of 20 on the 4th.

Baikal Teal –A single juvenile with Garganeys on the grazing marsh pools on the4th.

Northern Shoveler –Small numbers, with 32 counted on the 5th.

Common Pochard –A flock of at least 38 birds on one the large lake, Ikh Gun.

Tufted Duck –Seen every day during our three-day stay. 50+ seen.

(Asian) White-wingedScoter / Stejneger’s Scoter– An immature was with the diving duck flock on Ikh Gunon the 5th.

Common Goldeneye –Large numbers were feeding on Ikh Gun, where we counted c.150 birdson the 5th. Also, 30 on the grazing marshes on the 4th.

Smew – Tworedheads on Ikh Gun on the 5th.

Goosander– Aparty of four birds feeding on Ikh Gun on 5–6th.

Black-eared Kite –A a few recorded every day.

Eurasian Black Vulture– 5 on the 5th.

Western Marsh Harrier– A juvenile hunted the marshes on the 5th providing acomparison with the following species. The plumage was a uniform darkbrown with contrasting cream wing-covert patches.

Eastern Marsh Harrier– An adult male was seen well both in flight and on the groundon the 5th. An juvenile female was watched on the 6th. In contrastthis was a rather scruffy looking bird with heavy streaking to thehead and underparts.

Hen Harrier –Single “ringtails” were encountered on the 4th and 6th.

Steppe Eagle –Seen on the 4th.

Upland Buzzard –One on the 5th.

Merlin – 1juvenile sheltered from the wind near the ger camp on the 6th.

Common Kestrel –Two on the 5th.

Northern Hobby –One on the 5th.

Saker Falcon –One hunting crickets on foot (!) close to the ger camp on the 4th.

Eurasian Coot –Seen only in small numbers on 4–6th.

“Eastern”Baillon’s Crake – 1 juv.and 4 pulli, extra posting about this observation will follow.

Demoiselle Crane –Common, with at least 440 passing trough on the 5th.

Siberian Crane –Two subadults on the marshes at Ayaga Lake on the 5th.

White-naped Crane –Seven adults cranes were present on Tsengiin Burd.

Pied Avocet –Two by the big lake on the 5th

Little Ringed Plover– At least two juv birds recorded.

Pacific Golden Plover– Good numbers, with a large flock of 80, mainly adults, on4–6th.

Grey Plover– One summer plumaged adult feeding on the flats on5–6th.

Northern Lapwing –over 300 on the grazing marsh on the 4th.

Common Snipe –max. 17 on the 5th.

Black-tailed Godwit– 300+ birds on different marshes on 4–6th.

Little Curlew –Up to five birds seen well on the marshes on 4–5th.

Eurasian Curlew–A group of three birds feeding around the lakeshore at Ikh Gun on the5th.

Spotted Redshank –Found in small numbers, 4–6th, with at least 22 birds on the5th.

Common Redshank –Several were seen on the marshes, both adults and juveniles.

Marsh Sandpiper –At least three at Lake Ayaga on the 5th.

Common Greenshank –Up to four on 5–6th.

Green Sandpiper –Up to five on the 5th

Wood Sandpiper –Up to 5 birds on 5–6th.

Common Sandpiper –Up to five birds on the 5th.

Little Stint –A party of five juv. on the 5th provided a nice comparison with thefollowing species.

Red-necked Stint –At least 12 juveniles on the 5th.

Temminck’s Stint– Two on the 5th.

Broad-billed Sandpiper– One juvenile on the 5th.

Curlew Sandpiper –13 juveniles on the 5th, six seen there the following day.

Ruff – Atleast fifty counted on the marshes on the 5th.

Red-necked Phalarope– Two fresh juveniles on the pools on the 5th.

Black-headed Gull –Seen daily, 4–6th, in small numbers.

Common Gull –At least four on the large lake, Ikh Gun, on 4–6th.

Mongolian Gull –Small numbers were present on the lakes on 4–6th.

Mongolian Lark –Surprisingly rare, with only two on the 4th.

juvenileMongolian Lark, Gun Galuut, Sept 2011

Asian Short-toed Lark– Seen in good numbers.

Eurasian Skylark –Small numbers seen only.

Richard’s Pipit– Six on the 7th.

Blyth’s Pipit– One at the river near the ger camp on the 5th.

Grey Wagtail –2 near the ger camp on the 4th and atotal over 25 on the5th.

White Wagtail –M. a. baicalensis, seenregularly, max. c. 30 at the ger camp on the 5th.

Citrine Wagtail –c. 10 at the ger camp on the 5th.

Eastern (Siberian)Stonechat – Two birds showed well on the marsh on the 4th.

Isabelline Wheatear– Three on the 5th.

Northern Wheatear –Seen in small numbers.

Pallas’sGrasshopper Warbler – One on the 4th.

Yellow-browed Warbler– One on the 5th.

Arctic Warbler –One on the 4th.

Dusky Warbler –11 at/near the ger camp on the 5th.

Taiga Flycatcher –One on the 5th.

Brown Shrike –One on the 5th.

Common Magpie–Small numbers seen daily.

Red-billed Chough –Commonly seen.

Carrion Crow –Commonly seen.

Common Raven –Commonly seen, including a flock of 8 on the 5th.

Eurasian Tree Sparrow– Commonly seen.

Rock Sparrow –At least 13 roosting in the ger camp on the 5th.

Common Reed Bunting– Several (minimum 6) were in the reedbeds on the smaller pondson the 5th. They appeared smaller than nominate Reed Buntings,heavily streaked below with bright rufous fringes to the flightfeathers and coverts. The calls were also different, a series ofbuzzing calls unlike the more frequently heard down-slurred “pssoo”.

Little Bunting –1 resting at the pools on the 5th.

Black-faced Bunting– 1 in the ger camp on the 4th.

ReedBunting, Gun Galuut, Sept 2011

Note: all photos abovewere digiscoped (hand-held) with a Canon Powershot S95 connected by aself-made adapter to a Swarowski ATS 80 HD scope with the zoom lens(20–60x) set at 30x.

Digiscopingwith Canon Powershot S95

throughSwarowski ATS 80 HD

PS. In 2010 we (see postGreat Knot: a new species for Mongolia) visited Lake Ikh Gun on ourway to Dornod, Mongolia’seasternmost province.

Watchingwaders, Gun Galuut, Jul 2010

Here’sthe
Bird list from 2 hours morning birding on 25 July 2010:

Slavonian Grebe –5 ad, breeding plumage

Great Crested Grebe– 2

Whooper Swan –8 ad., 6 juv.

Ruddy Shelduck –3 families (14, 8 and 5 birds)

Northern Pintail –2

Northern Shoveler –6

Eurasian Wigeon –2

Gadwall – 7

Common Pochard –10

Tufted Duck –13

Goldeneye –126

(Asian) White-wingedScoter / Stejneger’s Scoter – 1

Northern Hobby –1

Common Kestrel –2

Upland Buzzard –1

Eurasian Black Vulture– 1

Demoiselle Crane –51

Common Sandpiper –34

Green Sandpiper –1

Marsh Sandpiper –7

Sharp-tailedSandpiper – 7 ad., breedingplumage

Eurasian Curlew –1

Wood Sandpiper –8

Terek Sandpiper –8

Red-necked Stint –9

Long-toed Stint –1

Temminck’sStint – 1

Broad-billed Sandpiper– 2 ad., 1 juv.

Curlew Sandpiper –3 ad, breeding plumage

Pied Avocet –4 ad., 8 juv.

Little Ringed Plover –15

Ruddy Turnstone –14 ad, breeding plumage

Common Tern –5 ad.

Mongolian Gull –1 ad.

Black-headed Gull –3 juv.

Common Swift –4

Isabelline Wheatear– 1

Sand Martin –5

Eurasian Skylark –1

Mongolian Lark –5

Common Raven– 4

2011-12-27T15:01:00.001-08:00

StudyIdentifies Best Options to Improve Air Quality and Thus Reduce HealthImpacts in Ulaanbaatar, the Most Polluted City in the World inWintertime

Өвлийнулиралд дэлхийнхамгийн ихагаарын бохирдолтойхот болох Улаанбаатархотын агаарынчанарыг сайжруулж,агаарын бохирдлынхүний эрүүлмэндэд үзүүлэхсөрөг нөлөөллийгбагасгах оновчтойхувилбаруудыгсудалгаагааргаргасан байна

Ina recentpost on Birding Mongolia Abu mentioned not only some great birdsto be seen near Ulaanbaatar in winter, but also the thick smog whichis so typical for this city during the cold months. Although this isnot directly related to birds or birdwatching, the World Bank pressrelease is probably interesting for people living in Ulaanbaatar andits surroundings, and for everybody interested in Mongolian affairs.

linkto the WorldBank press release:

English

Монголхэл

2011-12-21T00:59:00.000-08:00

When minus25°C seem to be warm!

text andphotos © Andreas Buchheim

In themorning of the 17th December 2011 I looked in much disbelieve at mythermometer which hangs outside the west side of the building. What Isaw let me dress up with an additional layer of clothes: minus 36°C(-32.8°F). Anyway, Gankhujag P., Amarkhuu G. and Bolormunkh E.,all members of the Mongolian Bird Watching Club,picked me up soon, and we drove towards UB Ponds in the west of thecity. As we went we realized that the wind—actuallyonly a slight breeze—was coming fromthe east and thus was blowing all the smog of the world’s second most polluted city to our destination. Indeed, at the ponds,we could hardly see anything as not only the smog was thick but alsothe rising fog from the “warm” ponds—nowonder at these brisk temperatures. So we went on quickly to checkthe riparian forest remains below Songijno Khairkhan Uul where we hadseen nice birds previously (15 Jan 2011, 30 Jan 2011, 13 Feb 2011;Mongolian Bird Watching Club 22 Jan 2011, and where 600 Black-earedKites were present in Sept 2011). This time the species compositionwas a bit different there. Seed-eaters like EurasianBullfinch, Hawfinchand redpollswere all lacking, may be as a result of the 12–15cm thick snow-layer, quite a lot this early in winter.

Spring is inthe air:

male andjuvenile female (in front) Bohemian Waxwings,

belowSongijno Khairkhan Uul, Dec 2011

However, wesaw about 200 Bohemian Waxwings,two larger flocks of thrushes totalling c.40 individuals(Black-throatedand Red-throatedThrushesbeing the most numerous, but there were also few Naumann’sThrushesand even a single Fieldfare).The thrushes were taking advantage of the many fallen berries as didthe waxwings.

Too cold towalk on both legs:

femaleBlack-throated Thrush,

belowSongijno Khairkhan Uul, Dec 2011

FemaleBlack-throated Thrush,

belowSongijno Khairkhan Uul, Dec 2011

Record-shotof the Fieldfare,

belowSongijno Khairkhan Uul, Dec 2011

Apartfrom the fieldfare the best bird was certainly a female Güldenstädt’sRedstart (photo at the Mongolian Bird Watching Club Website). Like in summer, we found Azure-wingedMagpies (8 plus 3) and there were feweach of the other usual corvids.

After a whilewe travelled further west, and near the so-called UB Bird Plant(Шувуун фабрик),where chicken are bred and eggs are produced, we found a small flockof Eurasian Collared Doves. According to the information wegot from a local person we had asked, the doves had appeared for thefirst time during the previous winter. To our knowledge these 12birds represent the only (?) December record of the species inMongolia.

We checked thearea around the Bird Plant but could not find any furtherindividuals.

2 of the 12Eurasian Collared Doves,

UB BirdPlant, Dec 2011

Frequentlyused Eurasian Tree Sparrow toilet,

UB BirdPlant, Dec 2011

Further downthe river (see here and here) we combed the degraded riparianforest and found a female Black, a female Lesser Spottedand a male White-backed Woodpecker, all busily foraging.Here the sun was shining and we felt its power. The temperature hadrisen considerably and after the very cold start, temperatures evenas low as minus 25°C (-13°F) seemed quite comfortable. Twoflocks of Long-tailed Tits were each accompanied by Azureand Great Tits and, high up in a willow-tree, was an oldnest of Crowned Penduline Tit. This will be something of thepast soon: A great many people were seen cutting fuel wood.

Female BlackWoodpecker,

beyond UB Bird Plant, Dec 2011

It was afantastic day out, with great companions. By the time (17:00h) Iarrived back home the temperature had fallen already to minus 28°C(-18.4°F). This trip was sponsored by the Wildlife Science andConservation Center of Mongolia (WSCC).

Thank youguys very much for brighten up this dimly lit day!

2011-12-14T08:48:00.000-08:00

2012International Wild Equid Conference

Dear Colleagues:

Registration and abstractsubmission is now open for the 2012 International Wild EquidConference,18-22 September, in Vienna, Austria, at: click here.

Early registration andabstract submission deadline:

June 15, 2012

The International WildEquid Conference is a rare opportunity for scientists, managers, andwildlife professionals throughout the world to present their work,share ideas, inspire each other, and form working collaborationstoward improved conservation and management of our wild equids. Thedynamic scientific program includes contributed presentations,outstanding keynote addresses, and interactive forums, as well as aspecial 20th Anniversary event commemorating 20 years of Przewalski'shorse re-introduction in Mongolia and a mid-conference field trip toLake Neusiedl National Park!

Feel free to contact uswith any questions, suggestions for workshops and discussion grouptopics, or to be removed from this mail list. Wide distribution ofthis information to interested colleagues is appreciated.

See you in Vienna!

your conferencecoordinators,

Petra Kaczensky, ResearchInstitute of Wildlife Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine,Vienna, Austria

Jason Ransom, USGS FortCollins Science Center,
Colorado, USA

2011-12-07T02:07:00.000-08:00

Not onlybirds: “Breathtaking” Nest

A nest full offossilized dinosaur babies hasbeen discovered in Mongolia, and the find has palaeontologistsre-examining styles of parental care among the ancient reptiles. Read more...

2011-12-01T05:33:00.000-08:00

2011 MONGOLIA

WILD BIRD PHOTO CONTEST

Recently the 2011 Mongolia Wild BirdPhoto Contest was announced here: click here for more info.

Please enter the contest, the deadlineis December, 15th.

See the first entries here: click

2011-11-30T01:29:00.000-08:00

A wonderful day at GunGaluut

text & photos © Andreas Buchheim

Just prior my return toEurope I had the opportunity to visit Gun Galuut Nature Reserve forthe first time. Brian, who had organized transport, came along in themorning of 27 August to pick us up. After my family and I had madeourselves comfortable the 2-hour journey to the east began.

We first stopped at one ofthe small lakes to check for water birds. These lakes, the biggestbeing Ikh Gun Nuur, are unfortunately not part of the reserve but hadreceived a bigger fame since Siberian (White) Cranes are knownto over-summer here. The cranes are not seen every year and in 2011no cranes had been reported yet, so we were both much surprised andmuch delighted to see two of them walking slowly as they foraged inthe wet meadows. Both birds were immature which was quite obvious onone (some rusty colored areas on the neck) but less so on the moreadvanced bird. This one easily could be mistaken for an adult as thefew juvenile brownish wing-coverts that were remaining could be seenonly if it stretched or ruffled its wings. The ranger told us thatshe had not seen them but we were wondering for how long those birdscould have gone undetected as we had found them outside the warden’s‘home range’. And indeed, they had been seen before: TheBelgian birdwatcher Rik de Jaegher had taken pictures of the two on 22 August already.

This is the moreadult-like Siberian Crane,

Aug 2011, lakes west ofGun Galuut

Siberian Cranes,Aug 2011, lakes west of Gun Galuut

Other birds we saw at thelakes were: a flock of 20 Eurasian and 3 Far EasternCurlews plus another flock of about 20 Eurasians wascoming in. There were 7 Eurasian Spoonbills, a Grey-tailedTattler, about 100 Mongolian Gulls, a group of 7 juvenileRed-necked Phalaropes, about 600 Eastern Black-tailedGodwits, 5 Little Curlews, 15 Ruffs, only 1Black-winged Stilt, 2 Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, andapprox. 10 Black-necked Grebes.

Flock of EurasianCurlews, Aug 2011, lakes west of Gun Galuut

2nd calendar year EurasianSpoonbill,

Aug2011, lakes west of Gun Galuut

The majority of the morethan 1200 ducks present was Eurasian Teals and we failed tofind any rarer one among them. The species list was completed by theusual set of waders, cranes and raptors but not a single passerinewas seen around the lakes.

Juvenile Little Curlew and juvenile Eastern

Black-tailed Godwit, Aug 2011, lakes west ofGun Galuut

Juvenile Red-neckedPhalarope, Aug 2011,

lakes west of Gun Galuut

Juvenile Red-neckedPhalarope (different bird),

Aug 2011, lakes west ofGun Galuut

After lunch at the well-runger-camp we went down to the river to look for migrants. It turnedout that migration was not yet in full swing and that finding the fewbirds within the bushes was quite time-consuming. Apart from a bigflock of Eurasian Magpies we saw only 3 Pied Wheatears,2 Brown Shrikes, a single Mongolian Lark, 2Yellow-browed Warblers, few Dusky Warblers, 3 Pallas’sGrasshopper Warblers and a Black-faced Bunting.Nevertheless it was a great day out. Thanx Brian for inviting us!

Pied Wheatear, Aug2011, Gun Galuut

Pied Wheatear(different bird), Aug 2011, Gun Galuut

Eurasian Magpie,Aug 2011, Gun Galuut

2011-11-28T06:32:00.000-08:00

MongolianBar-headed Goose

returning the 4thconsecutive winter

to same site in India

Bar-headedGeese, Paradgaon Lake, Nov 2011.

©Avinash Londhe

At Paradgaon Lake inNagpur District, Maharashtra, central India, Avinash Londhe and TarunBalpande recorded a Bar-headed Goose on 24 November 2011,which had been marked in Mongolia several years ago. The goose wasamong a flock of about 300 birds that has arrived at the lake, some30 km from Nagpur. It has been spotted here first in 2008 and hasbeen seen every year since at this site. Over 800 Bar-headed Geesewinter at Paradgaon and Saiki lakes on Umred road every year.

Theneck-collared goose, Paradgaon Lake, Nov 2011.

©Avinash Londhe

Read the full story here. Please report sightings of colour-marked waterfowl, info here.

2011-11-27T08:31:00.000-08:00

Highlightsof 3 weeks lush birding

text & photos (allvultures from eastern Khangai)

The following notes weretaken during a lush-birding trip during which I accompanied BarbaraPieper and Ludger Pöpel from Germany whereas I myself wasaccompanied by my family.

Himalayan Griffon

adult Himalayan Griffon

On 18 June 2011 we drove tothe Baldan Bereiven Monastery in Khentij aimag. On the way we sawonly common birds and we made a brief stop at Khangal nuur. This lakehad been dry for some time but this year there was water and life hadreturned. A pair of White-naped Crane was breeding and there wereabout 15 pairs of Pied Avocet, sharing a small island with 10 pairsof Common Tern and a pair of Demoiselle Crane. Although 30Black-winged Stilts were present as well there were no signs ofbreeding. At the monastery, which itself is worth a visit, we onlysaw resident birds but it was nice to have a Big-Five-Day withBearded Vulture and Eurasian Black Vulture, Eastern Imperial, Golden,White-tailed and Steppe Eagles all seen from our camp on 19 June(yes, it is 6 species, but the Big 5 are among them!). On our wayback to the capital we stayed at a large patch of forest which lookedquite promising. But in the evening of 20 June it started raining andthis continued for 40 hours without a break! So we were justcommuting between our tents and the car and did not see anynoteworthy birds. In the end we gave up to wait and on 22 June wedrove back to UB. Because of the rain had caused a flood we had totake a detour. This brought us to a small dam where three 2cySiberian White Cranes were found. This discovery led to the longesttwitch in Mongolia ever.

Eurasian Black Vulture

Of course, we tried our luckon the Azure-winged Magpies below Songino Khairkhan uul. This time itwas only a matter of minutes until we found them and the same appliesto Azure Tit on 23 June. A Twite was staying at the supposed breedingsite of the magpies as well.

Himalayan Griffon

The next day we went on andarrived at Tsagaan nuur, some 200 km west of UB. Wader migration hadcommenced as shown by a flock of Northern Lapwing (accompanied by 2Common Starlings on 25th), a Broad-billed Sandpiper, a TerekSandpiper and 160 Wood Sandpipers. Spotted Crakes were calling duringthe night.

Himalayan Griffon

From 25 to 26 June we campedon the western shores of Ogii Nuur which had a record low waterlevel. Nevertheless we had some nice birds: 3 male Falcated Ducks, astunning male Baikal Teal on 25th and 3 Pallas’s Fish Eagles on26th. The same day we counted 1300 Swan Geese, 15 of them sportingneck-collars.

Himalayan Griffon

After visiting Mongolia’sformer capital, Kharkhorin, we drove along the Orchon River to thewaterfall (with 3 Himalayan Griffons on 27th at a carcass on theriverbank) and then arrived at Shireet davaa (davaa = pass) on 28th.Unfortunately the weather was bad—to be polite—and wecould not descend to Naimen nuur (“eight lakes”) as theroad was soaked and the clouds low. Anyway w enjoyed to see a pair ofAltai Accentors in the rain. We spent the night 29th/30th atShargaljuut Hot Springs and saw another Himalayan Griffon there.

Himalayan Griffon

It was our intention tocontinue then from Bayankhongor to Tsetserleg via the mountains butthe road was reported to be “difficult”. Severalrain-caused landslides had added some extra difficulties and thus weturned east in Bayankhongor. From 1 to 4 July we spent the days atMongol Els, part of Elsen Tasarkhai dunes and Khogno Khaan Mountainnearby. There is a marshy area north of the main road and TakhiltNuur even has some reeds. Before we reached this popular weekendholiday destination—it can be reached from UB in a day—wehad several vulture groups with 26 Himalayan Griffons and 75 EurasianBlack Vultures in total.

Himalayan Griffons and Black Vultures

Himalayan Griffons and a Black Vulture

Near Takhilt Nuur there is acolony of Grey Herons (with 10 occupied nests) but the bushes did nothave a single shrike! Instead Eurasian Nightjar, Saker Falcon, LesserKestrel, Crested Lark and Northern Little Owl were found to breed. Onthe lake we saw a Black-throated Loon, a Horned Grebe and there were15 families of Bar-headed Goose plus a pair of White-naped Crane witha newly hatched chick. At the mountain we saw just another HimalayanGriffon, some nests of Eurasian Black Vultures and a Bearded Vulture.

Our last site before wereturned to Ulaanbaatar was Khustai Nuruu National Park (in rain on 4July). Birdwatching was hard work in the heavy rain but we weredelighted to see the horses and—even much more celebrated—aWolf.

The last bird to bementioned in this post is an immature Greater Spotted Eagle at the UBPonds on 7 July.

2011-11-19T04:16:00.000-08:00

Scarce & rarelyphotographed Mongolian birds #2

Solitary Snipe Gallinago solitaria

by Axel Bräunlich

Solitary Snipe,Naiman nuur, Sept 2011. © Els Harinck

Recently I received a very goodphotograph of a Solitary Snipe, taken in the Khangai Mountainsof Mongolia. The photographer, Els Harinck, wrote:

Naiman Nuur lies in the Hangayn(Hangai) mountains. The snipe was photographed Sept 16th, 2011 in thevalley, out of the Naiman Nuur, between Shiireet Davaa and Uyanga.The early snow of the days before started smelting, little streamsstarted to flow between icy banks. And there it was, secretly flownfrom somewhere and landed behind my back. Due to a miracle I noticedand was close enough to photograph it.

The snipe’s habitatat Naiman nuur,

Sept 2011. © ElsHarinck

During my three-year stay in westernMongolia I recorded Solitary Snipe three times only:

1) One at an open stretch of water atMankhan village, c. 75 km SE of Khovd town on 14 January 2006;

2) One resting behind the stadium inKhovd on 14 September 2006. About this second bird: I was on a lateafternoon walk through one of the plantations at the edge of Khovdtown when I noticed some movement in the high grass. I saw a birdwalking away from me and managed to take one photo before itdisappeared in the dense vegetation. I was only able to tell that itwas a snipe, but which one? Then came the owner of the plantation(who had generously granted me permission to enter his land), and Iwas distracted. After a chat it was becoming too dark to continuebirding. When I checked the (very poor) photo at home I was verysurprised to find out that the bird in the plantation was a SolitarySnipe, the third species of snipe I had seen at this site (Commonand Swinhoe’s Snipe seen before; and later PintailSnipe and Eurasian Woodcock found there, too).

Solitary Snipe(poor record shot),

Khovd, Sept 2006. ©Axel Bräunlich

3) One flushed from a vegetation-freegravel spit (quite unusual habitat for the species) at Airag nuur on13 May 2007.

from Ernst, S. 2003. Gallinagosolitaria Hodgson, 1831 - Einsiedlerbekassine. In: Martens, J.,Eck, S. & Sun Yue-Hua, eds: Atlas der Verbreitungpalaearktischer Vögel, 20. Berlin:Erwin-Stresemann-Gesellsch. für palaearktische Avifaunistik:

“The breedingdistribution of Solitary Snipe is still insufficiently known. Thecore area is situated in the high-altitude mountains [breeding sitesat 1350–2600 m] of southern Siberia and runs from the RussianAltai to the Sayan chains, to Lake Baikal and to Sochondo Mt. in theChita area of Buryatia. ... In Mongolia, where breeding of theSolitary Snipe was recorded only once on Munku-Sardyk in the easternSayans [N of Lake Khövsgöl], further breeding localitiesare to be supposed in the Tarbagatai, Khangai and Khentei Mts. ...most of the birds are believed to migrate to distant winter quarters.Individuals from the western populations (G. s. solitaria) fly ...southwards into Mongolia and to W China ... The birds roost andhibernate singly (thus the name) or in small groups of two to threeindividuals at small, not freezing water courses (often these are hotsprings) in the foothills as well as in protected high-altitudevalleys...”

The Russianornithologist Kozlova (1932–1933. The Birds of South-WestTransbaikalia, Northern Mongolia and Central Gobi. Ibis 13) wrote “Inwinter (from September up to the middle of May) it is very common inthe Tola [Tuul] River valley, keeping to places with open water.”

This is todayprobably not the case any more, since the species hasn’t beenseen on several winter trips (see for example here) to open areas ofthe Tuul gol in recent winters.

2011-11-18T03:19:00.000-08:00

2011 MONGOLIA

WILD BIRD PHOTO CONTEST

Hello everybody,

We are cordially inviting you toparticipate in the 2011 Mongolia Wild Bird Photo Contest. Itis an annual event to encourage and engage more Mongolian people toparticipate in nature and bird conservation activities. The contestis organized by the Wildlife Science and Conservation Center of Mongolia and the Mongolian Bird Watching Club, and we welcome supportersand sponsors for future events.

Last year, a total of 26 people from 8countries participated in the contest and they sent us over 90 photosof 65 species, which were all photographed in Mongolia. Please visitour website for the 2010 contest and enjoy thephotos.

The winning photo 2010

Participation is open to everyone butbird photographs must be taken in Mongolia. Images of eggs and chicksare prohibited. People may be depicted in the photo.

Please, submit your wild bird photos to:info at wscc.org.mn by December 15th, 2011. 1-3 photo(s) may besubmitted by per person. Photos may not exceed 10MB in file size.Accepted file types are .jpg, .gif, and png. Along with your photo(s)you must provide us, the date and location of photo(s) taken, andtitle of your bird photo(s). Also you must provide your name, emailaddress, and phone number so we can contact you when needed.

One photo will be selected as thewinner and will receive a grand prize and certificate, and two othercontestants will receive certificates, special prizes, and eachfrontrunner will receive the book “Important Bird Areas inMongolia”. Winners will be notified via email and posted atWSCC and MBWC websites. The winning photos and special selectionswill be posted on these websites as well.

You will retain all rights to anyphotograph you submit. But, by entering the contest, you grant toWSCC and MBWC royalty-free license to reproduce, distribute, publiclydisplay and publicly perform the photographs you submit in any typeof media for bird and their habitat conservation, and the right touse your name in promotions and other publications related to yourphotos.

Looking forward to see yourparticipation

Wildlife Science and ConservationCenter of Mongolia

and

Mongolian Bird Watching Club

2011-11-17T03:07:00.000-08:00

Mongolia’sGobi nomads
fear desert mega-mine - video

Thesouthern Gobi desert in Mongolia was one of the world's last greatwildernesses with its cold desert of vast plains and wide roamingherds. Today it is the centre of the planet's greatest resource boom.But this has started to have a detrimental effect on nomadcommunities, as Jonathan Watts reports

JonathanWatts and Ken Macfarlane

guardian.co.uk,Monday 7 November 2011

2011-11-16T09:35:00.000-08:00

Arecord 15 Snow Leopards

joinMongolia study

From Panthera.org:

Thejoint Panthera-Snow Leopard Trust research project based in Mongoliahas broken another record with the collaring of our 15th snow leopard(the equivalent number of cats collared through all other snowleopard research projects combined).

Severalweeks ago, Panthera’s scientists collared a new, healthy maleestimated to be around 1.5 years old, who weighed in at 30 kg (asurprisingly heavy weight for a snow leopard of his age). Aftermonitoring the movements of this snow leopard, and those of Khashaa(an older female snow leopard also included in the study), Panthera’sscientists confirmed that our newest snow leopard is one of Khashaa’stwo cubs!

Videoof Khashaa and Cubs

Acamera trap video taken last Summer in Mongolia’s TostMountains of ‘Khashaa’ with several of her cubs beforeshe was fixed with a GPS collar in September 2010. ©Panthera.org

Readmore in the Panthera Newsletter – Nov 2011, Issue 29

2011-11-15T07:40:00.000-08:00

Birdingtour to Khövsgöl nuur and

Ogiinuur in summer 2011

textand photos © ThomasHallfarth

westernshore of Khövsgöl nuur, July 2011

From10 to 29 July 2011 we made a magnificent birding trip to Khövsgölnuur in the northern part of Mongolia. Together with my wife Jana andmy son Max as well as my friends Jens Voigt and Kersten Hänel wewent from UB via Orkhon gol, the Selenge valley and Erkhel nuur toKhövsgöl nuur.

Duringthe journey we made some very nice observations. In the Orkhon golvalley some Chestnut-eared Buntings and Long-tailedRosefinches were singing and feeding. It was our only localitywhere we found three singing Dusky Warblers.

Long-tailedRosefinch,Orkhon gol, July 2011

Inthe poplar forests and willow brush and in the groves of Selenge golvalley we saw two White-backed Woodpeckers and some breedingLesser Kestrels.

Thecolourful Selenge gol valley, July 2011

White-backedWoodpecker,Selenge gol, July 2011

LesserKestrel,Selenge gol, July 2011

Aflock of more than 30 Azure Tits included one hybrid with a“black-caped tit” (species?).

black-cappedhybrid Azure x ??? Tit

Selengegol, July 2011

black-cappedhybrid Azure x ??? Tit

detail,July 2011

Around15 White-throated Needletails hunted above the riparianforest. On a small woody island at Selenge gol two Fieldfaresattacked some Common Magpies and Azure-winged Magpies;perhaps it was a breeding pair? Other interesting species were BootedEagle, Eurasian Scops Owl, Oriental Turtle Dove and Long-tailedTit.

SiberianChiffchaff andAzureTit,Selenge Gol, July 2011

Ourmain aim, Khövsgöl nuur, is Mongolia’s largestfreshwater lake and coincidentally its second largest lake by area.It is 1,645 m above sea level, 136 km long and over 260 m deep. It isthe second-most voluminous freshwater lake in Asia, and holds almost70% of Mongolia’s fresh water and an impressive 0.4% of all thefresh water in the world! The water is cold and absolutely clear withonly few waterfowl on it. It is surrounded by taiga forest (mainlylarch), low willow brush and colourful meadows. High mountain rangeslocated on the western side of Khövsgöl nuur. Directlyalongside the west shore some lagoons with a lot of waterfowl arelocated here. In the area around the Khövsgöl nuur we’veseen or heard some nice species like Black-throated Diver, BeardedVulture, White-tailed and Imperial Eagle, Osprey,Ural Owl, Smew, Red-breasted Merganser, White-backed Woodpecker,Wryneck, Brown Shrike, Red-flanked Bluetail, Asian and TaigaFlycatcher, Two-barred Warbler, Hume’s Leaf Warbler and onhigher altitudes Plain Mountain Finch and White-wingedSnowfinch.

easternshore Khövsgöl nuur, July 2011

juvenileHume’s Leaf Warbler, Khövsgöl Nuur, July 2011

Two-barredWarbler,Khövsgöl Nuur, July 2011

Duringthe return journey to UB a lot of waders rested at the shore of thesaline lake Erkhel nuur (c. 70 km SSW of the southern end of Khövsgölnuur), among them about 20 Long-toed Stints, some Sharp-tailedSandpipers and one Grey-tailed Tattler.

Sharp-tailedSandpiper,Erkhel Nuur, July 2011

At30 July 2011, when Jens and Kersten were flying home, I started withmy family the second part of our holiday trip to the lake Ogii nuur,some 300 km west of UB. On the way we visited other good birdingplaces, for instance Tuul Gol near the village Lun Sum with niceobservations of Swinhoe’s Snipe, a single Grey-tailedTattler as well as a feeding Isabelline Shrike.

Swinhoe’sSnipe,Tuul gol near

Lunsum, July 2011

AsianLesser Short-toed Lark,Tuul gol

nearLun sum, July 2011

Alsothe saline lakes between the villages Dashchilen sum and Bayanuur sumaccommodated a lot of birds, for example Pacific Golden Ploverand two singing Baillon’s Crakes.

LittleOwl,bridge over Orkhon gol

nearOgii Nuur, July 2011.

AtOgii nuur single Terek Sandpiper, Spoonbill and GreatEgret were roosting. In addition we saw c. 1,500 Swan Geesand a triplet of “Pallas’s birds”, notably asingle immature Pallas’s Fish Eagle as well as severalPallas’s Gulls and Pallas’s Buntings.

Thunderstormnear Ogii nuur, July 2011

IsabellineWheatear,Ogii nuur, July 2011

Pallas’sBunting,Ogii nuur, July 2011

Ourtrip ended on 5 August 2011. We flew home with more than 190 birdspecies “in our package”!

2011-11-11T05:09:00.000-08:00

Volunteersringers wanted

BaikalNature Reserve, Siberia

Birdtrapping and ringing is one of the most interesting trends inornithology. Many countries are engaged in the ringing of birds forscientific purposes. In Siberia a trap for birds had been operated inthe Baikal Reserve from 1976 to 1992. During this time with its helpabout 22,000 birds of 124 species were caught.

Themass ringing of the passerines in the Baikal region had beensuspended during the last 15 years. The Baikal Nature Reserve withthe participation of the Irkutsk State Academy of Agricultureinitiated the restoration of the trap in 2011.

Theentrance width of the trap is 30 m, its height is 10 m, and theoverall length of the trap is 50 m – this is an analogue of thetrap located at the famous Ornithological station “Fringilla”in the Curonian Spit at the Baltic Sea Coast. At Baikal NatureReserve there are some certain problems that could hamper the normaloperation of the ringing station in the reserve, one of which is thelack of people who are able and willing to work with birds. Birdtrapping and ringing are planned from April to November 2012. We areasking for volunteer-ornithologists organizations in Russia and inother countries to assist in the bird ringing, the biometricprocessing of the birds, and common works associated with the runningof the station. In assisting in the capture and ringing of birds, youwill not only contribute to the study of migratory birds at the lake,but also get the opportunity to become acquainted with the birds andthe unique nature of the Baikal region. Volunteers will be providedwith the accommodation at the station free of charge.

Thestation is situated in the south-eastern part of Lake Baikal, 30 kmfrom the village of Tankhoi, and just 50 m from the shore of thelake.

Locationof the ringing station (green dot)

Forall questions contact: Yuri Anisimov, scientist of the BaikalReserve: janisimov at gmail.com; skype: janisimov or VictorSalovarov, head of the Department of Applied Ecology and Tourism:zoothera at mail.ru; www.baikalbirds.ectur.net

2011-11-10T06:11:00.000-08:00

BirdingMongolia in September 2011

part1: UB Ponds – by AxelBräunlich

InAugust I decided at very short notice to spend all of September inMongolia. Right after my arrival I joined Amarkhuu and Bolormunkh ofthe Wildlife Science and Conservation Center of Mongolia (WSCC) on abrief (14:40–16:40 h) visit to the “famous” UBPonds on 3 September 2011. Thanks guys for transport andcompany!

Abumentioned in one of his recent posts “...UB-Ponds where wefound 3 singing Yellow-breasted Buntings. Apart from a maraudingstray-dog, ... we did not see anything else noteworthy.”But even when there are no “exceptional” birds around: Ifound that these ponds are always worth a brief visit (at least 2 hrsat the site needed), especially since they are very easily reachedfrom downtown UB (in less than one hour)!

UBPonds and the Tuul River, c. 13 km WSW from the city

centre(Sukhbaatar Square), 9 Sept 2011. © A. Bräunlich

Afterchecking the ponds (highlights: Swan Geese, Baillon’sCrake) we stopped briefly at the foot of Songino Khairkhan Uul,bordering the Tuul River. Impressive were at least 600 (and probablymore!) Black-eared Kites gathering in the area over themountain and the floodplain, apparently heading to roost in thegallery forest of the Tuul River. The largest concentration of thisspecies I’ve ever seen in the UB area!

Intotal we logged 42 species during 2 hours of birding:

GreatCrested Grebe – 6

SwanGoose – 6

RuddyShelduck – c.20

WhooperSwan – 2 ad + 6 juv.

Gadwall– c. 30, incl. not fully-grown juv.

Mallard– c. 30, incl. female + 9 pulli

TuftedDuck – c. 80, incl. severalfamilies

CommonGoldeneye – 8

CommonTeal – c. 60

NorthernShoveler – 1

GreyHeron – 95

EurasianKestrel – 1 male (near airport)

Saker– 2

BootedEagle – 2 dark morph

WesternMarsh Harrier – 2 juv.

Black-earedKite – c. 600 Songino KhairkhanUul/Tuul

Baillion’sCrake – 1

DemoiselleCrane – 21

CommonSnipe – 8

Black-tailedGodwit – 2 juv.

SpottedRedshank – a flock of 22 juv.

GreenSandpiper – 1

CommonGreenshank – 1

MongolianGull – 3

Black-headedGull – 4 juv., one 1stW

Hoopoe– 2 Songino Khairkhan/Tuul

CommonMagpie – dozens

CarrionCrow + DaurianJackdaw – mixed flock of c. 600between the ponds and downtown UB, flying towards Bogd Uul.

Red-billedChough – flock of c. 80

NorthernRaven – 10+

GreatTit 4 – Songino Khairkhan/Tuul

White-crownedPenduline Tit – 13 juv.

BarnSwallow 2 – SonginoKhairkhan/Tuul

Two-barredWarbler – 2 SonginoKhairkhan/Tuul

BrownFlycatcher 1 – SonginoKhairkhan/Tuul

EurasianTree Sparrow – common, largestflock c. 60 at the ponds

GreyWagtail – 2 SonginoKhairkhan/Tuul

CitrineWagtail – 2 juv.

WhiteWagtail – c. 10

Richard’sPipit – 2

Olive-backedPipit – 1 ponds, 4 SonginoKhairkhan/Tuul

2011-11-07T07:52:00.000-08:00

Mongoliahosts an unique range of ecosystems from the taiga to the desert, andits large areas of more or less unspoiled nature attract theattention of the national and international conservation community.Despite the vast dimensions of the country, shifts in agriculturalmethods, deployment of pesticides, unsustainable forest management,mining, illegal hunting and pest control, human-caused fires and hugeinfrastructure projects have triggered increasingly pronouncedchanges in the Mongolian ecosystems. The impact of global land useand climate change puts new threats to Mongolian biodiversity andalso poses new questions to the scientific community.

Mongolianand German scientists, together with colleagues from other countries,have strongly contributed to a better knowledge of the fauna andflora of Central Asia. Commemorating the 50th anniversary of thejoint “Mongolian-German Biological Expeditions” it is nowtime to look back at the achievements that were made, andsimultaneously envisage those new cooperations that are needed toface the new challenges.

TheMartin-Luther-University of Halle, in conjunction with theFranckeschen Stiftungen of Halle, has a long tradition in theexploration of Siberia and Central Asia. Several well known explorersof the 18th century were once associated with the University ofHalle, among them Georg Wilhelm Steller and Peter Simon Pallas. Thesespecial relationships to Central Asia have continued until today. TheUniversity of Halle, in cooperation with other leading biodiversityinstitutions of Germany, therefore invites you to an internationalsymposium on “Biodiversity Research in Mongolia”,celebrating 50 years of cooperation between Germany and Mongolia inthis field. The meeting is to be held end of March 2012.

Afirst cooperation agreement was signed by the Academy of Sciences ofthe GDR and Mongolia in 1962, following an initiative of the formerInstitute of Crop Plant Research in Gatersleben, Germany. Employeesof the University of Halle were asked to join the first large-scaleexpedition, leading to a cooperation contract between theuniversities of Halle and Ulaanbaatar in 1967. Since then thecooperation proved to be very successful, not only in terms ofscientific output but also with respect to education and teachingprograms on both sides: more than 70 Mongolian scientists received adegree from Halle University. These graduates are now found in thetop positions in Mongolia. The expedition members published more than300 scientific papers, enhancing our knowledge on the ecosystems ofCentral Asia extremely. German scientists had a leading role in theestablishment of large protected areas in Central Asia. Thecooperation was joined by additional German universities (i.e.Göttingen, Greifswald, Hamburg, Marburg, Osnabrück, Kassel)research institutes, and free-lance scientists after 1990, which weregenerously supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische/ Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the German Science Foundation(DFG) and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

Thesymposium is therefore also thought to be a scientific-strategic aswell as political strategic event which we would like using tostrengthen our communal partnerships, projects and collegialfriendships for the next decade, with the aim of understanding theMongolian ecosystems even better and conserving these unique habitatsfor future generations.

Formore information and Call for Papers(oral talks/posters;deadlinefor submission of abstracts [in English]: 31 December 2011) pleasedownload the 1^st Circular.

Downloads:

1stCircular International Symposium in Halle/Saale 25-29 March 2012“Biodiversity Research in Mongolia (PDF, 642 kb)

applicationform symposium (Word, 27 kb)

applicationform hotel (Word, 27 kb)

2011-11-04T02:22:00.000-07:00

2011update:

waterbirdcolor marking activity in Mongolia

Dearall,

This isan update of the waterbird marking activity carried out in Mongoliajointly by the Wildlife Science and Conservation Center of Mongolia(WSCC) and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences (MAS) in 2011. Theproject is an important part of the major effort to learn about themigration of waterbirds in Mongolia and to understand highlypathogenic avian influenza virus prevalence in wild birds and diseasetransmission among waterfowl populations in Mongolia. Since 2006,when the WSCC–MAS team started the color marking project, atotal of 48 Swan Geese, 398 Bar-headed Geese and 181Whooper Swans have been captured and color-marked in Mongolia.We hope that these color marked birds will help us to betterunderstand and learn about wild bird migration, stopover sites,population connectivity, and the preferred wintering grounds forthese species. Additional information on our activities on waterbirdresearch and avian influenza surveillance can be found here.

In 2011,the project focused on western Mongolian lakes and wetlands. The workwas carried out at a stationary field camp at Terkhiin Tsagaan LakeNational Park in Arkhangai Province, and mobile survey operationsthat covered Arkhangai, Zavkhan, Bulgan, Uvs, Bayan-Olgii, Khovd, andBayankhongor aimags (provinces). This year we have successfullycaptured and marked 101 Whooper Swans, 2 Mute Swans,and 117 Bar-headed Geese. The swans were marked with blue neckcollars with a four digit letter-number code and the Bar-headed Geesehave green neck collars with a three digit letter-number code.

Allcaptured birds were sampled for avian influenza. The samples will beanalyzed in a laboratory in USA.

Theproject was implemented by the Wildlife Science and ConservationCenter and the Institute of Biology of the Mongolian Academy ofSciences with the generous financial support from the Food andAgricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the UnitedStates Department of Agriculture (USDA).

We wouldlike to ask again colleagues in the Asia region to watch out forswans and geese with neck collars. All resightings should be directedto Nyambayar Batbayar at WSCC of Mongolia by email. Last year, wereceived many exciting resightings from colleagues in stopover andwintering grounds in India, China, Russia, and Korea. I hope we willcontinue to receive more resightings from you in the future. Thankyou very much for your support in advance.

Regards,

NyambayarBatbayar

WildlifeScience and Conservation Center of Mongolia

UndramPlaza, Office 404

BayanzurkhDistrict

Ulaanbaatar210351

Mongolia

Mobile:+976-99257886

Tel:+976-70157886

email:nyambayar at wscc.org.mn

web:www.wscc.org.mn

2011-11-01T08:51:00.000-07:00

SomeEastern Specialities and More - Tour 2011

Part 9: TheFinal Days

After ourreturn to Ulaanbaatar we spent a day, 12 June, at the UB-Ponds wherewe found 3 singing Yellow-breasted Buntings. Apart from amarauding stray-dog, which had 5 puppies to feed, we did not seeanything else noteworthy.

UB Ponds inJune 2011. © M. Putze

Maraudingdog, much to the dislike of the breeding waders,

UB Ponds, Jun2011. © M. Putze

From 13 to 15June we visited the south side of Bogd Khan Uul and put our tents atthe upper edge of the larch-forest above Manzshir Khiid where we hadthe occasional rain-showers. Best bird was a Black-naped Oriolewhich could not be digitally captured. We found two tree-nests ofSaker Falcons just 500 apart and saw some forest birds.

Forest patchon the south-facing slope of

Bogd KhaanUul, Jun 2011. © M. Putze

SakerFalcon, Manzhir Khiid, Jun 2011. © M. Putze

Female PineBunting, Manzhir Khiid, Jun 2011. © M. Putze

Hybrid Hillx Rock Pigeon, a very much Hill Pigeon-like bird...

ManzhirKhiid, Jun 2011. © M. Putze

...which wasonly obvious when the spread tail was seen

The last thingwe tried was finding again Azure-winged Magpies below SongijnoKhairkhan Uul on 16 June. This time it was not easy to find them andwe only saw two, presumably a pair which behaved rather secretlygiving rise to our suspicion that they bred nearby.

In summary thistrip was really successful and the number of lifers was 3, 14, 15, 55and 97 respectively. To our surprise, we could not find some specieslike Mandarin Duck, Oriental Pratincole, Mugimaki Flycatcher andRufous-tailed Robin in Mongolia’s Far East. [remark by Axel: Ihaven't heard of anyone who has seen Rufous-tailed Robin in Mongolia.If you have: Please email me!]

EasternYellow Wagtail of the subspecies taivana,

Texts parts1–9: by Andreas Buchheim

A big THANK YOU to Abu for the 9-part trip report including his outstanding photos,and to him and his team for finding all the goddies. Special thanksalso to Matze for adding so many high-quality images! Axel

2011-10-25T06:37:00.000-07:00

SomeEastern Specialities and More - Tour 2011

Part 8:Lightning strikes thrice [for the third time]

On our way tothe famous Ikh Nart Nature Reserve (see also here and here), arguablythe best place in Mongolia to see Argali (wild sheep), westayed overnight (4 to 5 June) in a rocky valley near the small cityof Matad. There we saw 2 Eurasian Collared Doves and in thevalley we welcomed migrants such as Dark-sided and AsianBrown Flycatchers. The resident Horned Larks had finishedtheir first brood, but summer visitors like Blyth’s Pipitwere in full display all day.

Matzeflushed an Eagle Owl butthe next day we continued our trip westwards and camped west ofSukhbataar Sum where our camp was inspected by an EuropeanNightjar and a displaying OrientalPlover.

On 6 June,while having lunch near Ichchet Sum, in a landscape full of rocks,Matze could take pictures of the local breeders there.

After havinglost track a few times that day, mainly thanks to the manymining-related roads, we arrived at our target site in the eveningwhere we camped outside the reserve boundaries as my companions –all Germans – were not agreeing with one of the Ikh Nartresearch camp rules.

On 7 June Zegiand I explored the valley below the research camp for the first time– and that immediately payed off: In the lower part an allblack bird, slightly larger than one of the larger thrushes, landedon a branch and it was identified as Hair-crested Drongo,another first for Mongolia!

Hair-crestedDrongo Dicrurus hottentottus –

first record for Mongolia

Thisbeautifully shiny drongo is widely distributed in South-east Asia,but its only migratory subspecies brevirostris has turned upmuch further to the north. So an overshooting bird like this onecould have been expected (we had rather expected, if at all, to seeBlack Drongo which had been seen in record numbers the year before). ID of this species is straightforward once its tail shapeand the hair-like feathers are seen.

The drongoremained in the valley at least until we left (11 June, but stayedpossibly even longer) and was also seen by all members of theresearch team.

Other specieswe saw at the reserve were Eurasian Collared Dove and severalmigrants: Thick-billed Warbler, Common Rosefinch,Hawfinch, Eurasian Siskin, Pallas’sGrasshopper Warbler, Two-barred Greenish, Pallas’s,Arctic and Yellow-browed Warblers, Little Bunting,Dark-sided and Asian Brown Flycatchers and a femaleSiberian Blue Robin.

On 11 June wearrived back at our flat in the capital. More about our finalbirdwatching will be posted in a few days – so please visitthis site again!

2011-10-20T11:28:00.000-07:00

Some Eastern Specialities and More - Tour 2011

Part 7: Two attacks and the smell of the gazelle

30 May was quite rainy but we were determined to try for the parrotbills at Ikh Tashgai Nuur again. We refilled our car (not only with fresh beer, of course) and went there.

Not much space left in our car after refuelling with

After having pitched the tents at the same site we went into the reeds to look for them again. This time it took us only 10 minutes to find a pair of these birds and we were very sorry for our two friends who did not have the time to stay with us. Actually they might have not even been in Choibalsan by then.

Northern Parrotbill, Ikh Tashgai Nuur,

First attack: In the drizzle the sand martins hunted very low and one was caught in front of us by another songbird: a male Isabelline Shrike captured a hapless martin and after a short fight it ate the bird’s brain, and just this. Nothing more. After its short meal it left to preen and this gave us the opportunity to see whether our ID was right and in fact, it was a Common Sand Martin.

Dead Common Sand Martin, Ikh Tashgai Nuur,

On the last day of May we witnessed another attack: this time a female Eastern Marsh Harrier had put its eyes on a 2nd-calender year Chinese Pond Heron. It had grabbed the pond heron already when we got aware of the situation. The pond heron, armed with a powerful beak and striking ability, was fighting back as good as it could and succeeded after a while. Great show!

2 cy Chinese Pond Heron after the attack by

Eastern Marsh Harrier, Ikh Tashgai Nuur,

Also on show still were 1 White-naped, 74 Common and 12 Hooded Cranes. The first day of June was devoted to songbirds. We counted 3 male (2 adults and 1 presumed 2nd-calendar year) and 2 female Ochre-rumped Buntings, saw the 2 parrotbills again (at the same spot, so presumably the same). The reed also hosted reed warblers (Oriental, Black-browed and Paddyfield), albeit still in quite low densities. 4 Relict Gulls migrated north and a female Yellow-throated Bunting should have been also a migrant. A hybrid duck was spotted and turned out to be a Common Pochard x Ferruginous Duck cross.

Presumed 2cy male Ochre-rumped Bunting,

Hybrid Ferruginous Duck x Common Pochard with

South of the lake there are some hills and from a distance they looked very promising. After having seen the parrotbills we had no reason to stay any longer and on 2 June we drove to the hills which are partly covered by woods, thus looking like bush land or savanna. It is a beautiful spot but the downside were the many dead Mongolian Gazelles that were rotting everywhere making birdwatching a bit smelly. We speculated that foot ‘n’ mouth disease had taken a tall toll during the winter. Death from starvation—always a possibility in Mongolia—was regarded as unlikely as the hills had been not grazed by livestock for long (shown by the growth of the bushes). Before we had chosen our campsite we found a ruin with 20 pairs of red-bellied Barn Swallow (tytleri), 10 pairs of White-cheeked Starling, 2 pairs of Hoopoe and a singing Eurasian Collared Dove. We stayed here until 4 June.

From our camp we overlooked a reed bed and after a scan a Northern Parrotbill was seen. This reed bed held also Black-browed and Oriental Reed Warblers as well as Pallas’s Grasshopper Warblers, Reed Buntings and Baillon’s Crakes. Our direct neighbours (breeding there) were Yellow-breasted Bunting (2 pairs), Lesser Whitethroat (not mapped in the Sylvia-book), Long-tailed Rosefinch, Japanese Quail, Black-faced Bunting and Siberian Rubythroat, but no sign of Isabelline Wheatear.

Yellow-breasted Bunting, S of Ikh Tashgai Nuur,

Zegi found a nest of Chinese Grey Shrike on 3 June when also two male Great Bustards flew across, we saw another female Yellow-throated Bunting and had a flock of 3 White-cheeked and 3 Daurian Starlings.

Photographing the nest of Chinese Grey Shrike,

Chinese Grey Shrike. The nest was amazingly well filled

And the adults were very busy, adult Chinese Grey Shrike,

Between 4 and 6 June we travelled to the famous Ikh Nart Nature Reserve via Matad and Baruun Urt and what we saw there will be reported soon.

2011-08-24T07:58:00.000-07:00

Some Eastern Specialities and More - Tour 2011

Part 6: Good times at Buir Nuur

Just before we reached the small village of Buir we stopped at a shallow lagoon which was full of birds. It was quite windy this day, 26 May, but most of the birds were in “our” corner. So we erected our tents and went to the shore for a check. 20 Asian Dowitchers were feeding among a flock of 100 Eastern Black-tailed Godwits. Also busily foraging were single Terek and Broad-billed Sandpipers. We spotted 5 Whiskered Terns in a carrousel of White-winged Terns. Birds were commuting to another spot which we checked as well. This was the “Great Knot Lagoon” but either the water level or the exposure to the wind or both was not suitable for mass-congregation and thus there were only few Avocets and Black-winged Stilts.

Next morning we found an Australian-flagged Red-necked Stint but as not many birds remained at the lagoon we left for the delta. After our registration at the border station we checked (by several scopes and for about 1.5 h) the reeds for the parrotbill but despite our efforts we did not find any.

We had expected to see Purple Heron here but apparently they hadn’t arrived yet. Basically we saw only Reed Buntings plus hundreds (not thousands as reported in previous years, so possibly declined) Great Cormorants. Noteworthy were 3 Chinese Pond Herons, 2 Great Egrets, a Greater Spotted Eagle and a bird which we regarded as an escapee: Common Myna.

As lunch we had Amur Carp Hemibarbus labeo and in the afternoon we paid the watch-tower-lagoon a visit. Another Chinese Pond Heron was walking slowly through the shallows here while the 9 Asian Dowitchers were much more agile. Our only Sharp-tailed Sandpiper was roosting on the beach and the first Eastern Yellow-Wagtail of the subspecies taivana was seen. All of us used the opportunity to watch a stunning bathing male Yellow-rumped Flycatcher.

We slept above the huge Sand Martin cliff and treated ourselves a bath in the lake (nice sandy beach but very shallow water).

The huge colony of Common Sand Martin stretches along the shore for about 3.8 km (Alfons measured it by GPS) and we calculated that there should be about 15,200 to 22,800 breeding pairs, depending on which correction factor was applied. Anyway we had no idea whether anyone ever has studied Sand Martin in Asia and thus we took the correction factors which are used for European Sand Martin colonies. So there were well over 30,000 birds attending this colony. We could check only a mere of 120 individuals thoroughly (on 27 May). Indeed, all turned out to be Common Sand Martin and we assumed that not a single Pale Martin is breeding at this site. (comment by Axel: on 7 August 2010 we estimated at the same site c. 70,000 nest holes along 2 km, but only 80 martins present).

Matze above the Sand Martin cliff, Buir Nuur,

Seawatching did not yield any good birds and after lunch we drove to the south-west corner of the lake where we stayed until 30 May (on the way the only leucopsis White Wagtail was seen). Another Buff-bellied Pipit dropped down beside us on 27 May, but flew off quickly, while the 11 Bewick’s Swans did not. 3 taivana were present on 28 May, yet another male Yellow-rumped Flycatcher was logged and 2 "far-eastern" Little Stints tried to hide among the Red-necks, but without success.

Red-necked Stint: “Mmmmmmh, which one should
I take first? Cannot decide. I’d better become vegetarian
and try that yellow thing…” Buir Nuur, May 2011. © M. Putze

Never leave your cup unattended.

While checking the many Red-necked Stints (we estimated that about 2000 were using the enormous amount of available bio-mass) for leg flags (4 flagged individuals seen) we suddenly spotted a Forest Wagtail on 29 May, a second record for Mongolia, but it was very shy and only a record-shot could be obtained. The first record of this nicely patterned species was at the famous Gobi Camp (Juulchin 1) near Dalanzadgad on 14 June 2000.

Record shot of Mongolia’s second Forest Wagtail.

On the same day Purple Heron arrived. 4 adult Relict Gulls flew past our camp on 30 May. That day Alfons and Manfred headed back to UB and virtually the last bird we saw together was a nice male Oriental Plover.

“Bye bye guys”! Manfred, Lkhagvaa and Alfons (left to right)

The others went back to Ikh Tashgai Nuur to give the parrotbills another try. More about this coming soon.

2011-08-17T01:43:00.000-07:00

Some Eastern Specialities and More - Tour 2011

Part 5: Lightning strikes twice!

What a day at the river that was. We all were very happy! Our first First for the trip was in the bag. Could this be topped? Yes!

On the next day, 23 May, when we just had finished our breakfast, some calls unknown to us could be heard coming from the willows (admittedly, no one of us is an expert on all the calls of Mongolian birds!). I got up first from the table and went to the spot. After a little search I found a phyllosc, and I immediately shouted “coronatus, a first for Mongolia!”.

Eastern Crowned Warbler Phylloscopus coronatus

First record for Mongolia

After the initial ID the bird was watched by most of us (except for Matze, who preferred to continue cleaning his camera stuff...) but could not be photographed as it ventured all too quick through the bushes and then disappeared. By sheer fluke Matze also got to see this bird (if it was the same), even better: he photographed it in the afternoon.

Monotypic species that breeds in SE Russia in Amurland & Ussuriland,

NE & C China in N & E Manchuria and in W Sichuan, S Sakhalin, Korea

and Japan; non-breeding S Myanmar E to S Laos and S to Sumatra & Java.

By this time the bird was singing its simple song not far from the first site. It was identified only later, when the pics were shown to the group. Fantastic: two Firsts for Mongolia within two days and at the very same spot and luckily both almost perfectly documented (except that we did neither record calls nor songs). We had some extra beers that evening (actually we started well before eve…).

Of course, we saw other birds at this far-eastern Mongolian river, too. Common Pheasant called frequently and there was a pair of Yellow-rumped Flycatchers above the camp.

An Oriental Turtle Dove was incubating its full clutch in its flimsy nest on an elm tree while we had several flocks of migrating Eurasian Siskin, all on either 22 or 23 May.

The next day, 24 May, brought us a Phylloscopus "fall in spring" (the previous night had been cloudy). This morning the bushes were full of birds. But of course not only phylloscs were present in larger numbers. Already before sunrise we heard a calling Grey Nightjar (newly arrived during the night) and in the early morning a Grey-headed Lapwing flew to the north. Best bird was probably a Pale-legged Leaf Warbler, but also Radde’s Warbler, Tristram’s Bunting, Siberian Blue Robin and Red-flanked Bluetail had arrived. The majority of the warblers were Pallas’s and Yellow-browed Warblers, though.

At noon we headed towards the north and – after having seen a beautiful adult male Pied Harrier (the only one during the entire trip!) – pitched the tents near the plantation at Khalkhgol Sum. The plantation is as run down as the village itself. The fence is broken many times and cattle browse down the remaining trees. Other trees have been cut. Still there is a warden who claims to be on duty, but seemingly he has his own idea of being on duty!

At our campsite we saw a Yellow-browed Bunting, another Yellow-throated Bunting (this time a female), several Chestnut Buntings, a male Tristram’s Bunting, a pair of Eyebrowed Thrushes, about 20 Siberian Blue Robins, a Red-flanked Bluetail, a Bluethroat and 15 Oriental Greenfinches, just to mention the rarer ones.

Male Siberian Blue Robin, 2nd calendar year

Female Siberian Rubythroat, 2nd calendar year

Observations were a bit hampered because a dust-storm had hit the area in the afternoon but died off until nightfall. Here as well, Grey Nightjar was singing in the night.

On 25 May the bushes at our campsite still were full of migrants (and residents). We saw our only White-vented Needletail this day and another Grey-headed Lapwing on the other side of the river. Two-barred Greenish Warbler had arrived, a Relict Gull in its nice breeding dress was seen and Matze and Uli found a pair of Yellow-throated Buntings plus a male Yellow-rumped Flycatcher one kilometre from the camp. A single Chinese Pond Heron visited a small wetland and the plantation had a singing Eurasian Collared Dove.

Almost all migrants left the area over night, but we had Black-browed Reed Warbler and a male Yellow-rumped “Flyc” in the morning. On 26 May we checked the plantation before noon. This produced 4 Eurasian Collared Doves and a female Yellow-throated Bunting but no Chinese Grey Shrike was found.

2nd calendar year male Yellow-rumped Flycatcher

The guys after checking the plantation

We went on to the famous Buir Nuur where we got a nice second record for the country. This will be posted next.

2011-08-15T12:15:00.000-07:00

Mongolia at the 2011 British Birdwatching Fair

On Saturday, 20 August 2011 at 16:30, at the lecture Marquee 2 of the Birdfair in Rutland, central England, Balazs Szigeti will give a talk Birding and wildlife watching in Mongolia:

“The land of vast steppe grasslands, nomadic horsemen and yurts, where once Genghis Khan ruled his vast Mongol empire. From the endless Gobi desert to the slopes of the Altai Mountains covered with beautiful evergreen forests, this country provides unspoilt scenery, stunning landscapes and a mouth watering array of species .”

I will be at the Birdfair all three days, hope to see you there!

Axel, Birding Mongolia

2011-08-10T01:33:00.000-07:00

Some Eastern Specialities and More - Tour 2011

Part 4: When bad luck turns – the 1st first record

“No way to Numrog” said the officer in the afternoon of 22 May. We were in the featureless village of Sumber, which does not even have a public bath house and could not get further south than this. “The fire-risk is too high because of the dry and high grass” we were informed. Obviously we had to adjust our plans and skip Mongolia’s easternmost point. This was quickly done during lunch (and after having seen the first Japanese Sparrowhawk of the trip and a singing Eurasian Collared Dove, among others).

Pair of White-cheeked Starling (male left),

Thus we drove up the Khalkh River for a few kilometres and camped at an overgrown oxbow-lake. The riparian vegetation was somehow run-down with no bigger trees left. Just the usual willow bushes, which are at most 8 m high. On the slope there were some dwarf elm trees and there was even reed, albeit a much degraded version of it.

The old nests of Eurasian Magpie were still occupied by Daurian Jackdaw, but Amur Falcons were sitting close by just waiting for the jackdaws to fledge and give way.

The Exodus of the new generation had started…
eagerly awaited by the next occupants,

After having made ourselves comfortable our attention was drawn to the distress-call of Azure-winged Magpie. Two of them had some trouble and we found that the reason for this was a pair of Northern Sparrowhawk. We checked the situation a bit and there was a nest, still without eggs, and this belonged to the sparrowhawks.

Very slim Azure-winged Magpie,

But as we searched in the bushes a small brown bird ran up the hill and disappeared. So, what was this? A rail (or crake)? Yes, everybody agreed on this. But had it been really all brown? Soon our interested was focused totally on that brown bird. We relocated the bird after a lot of effort and it turned out to be a Mongolia’s First.

Obscured view of the brown thing…

Band-bellied Crake Porzana paykullii

First record for Mongolia

The Band-bellied Crake was seen daily (from May, 22nd – 24th , we left the camp on the latter date) at the oxbow lake near our camp, just 14 km north of Sumber Sum. It was seen by all members of the crew and was fully documented by photographs, of which only a few are published here and now.

Band-bellied Crake is a migratory species which breeds in the Russian Far East and NE China (possibly also North Korea) and winters in SE Asia. The close proximity of its breeding grounds and its migratory behavior made it a likely candidate for vagrancy to Mongolia (A. Bräunlich pers. comm.). Our bird was giving territorial calls and it would not come as a big surprise if the species would even breed in suitable habitat (we saw it in its preferred habitat!) in Mongolia. A thorough ornithological exploration of Mongolia’s Far East is long overdue!

2011-08-04T16:08:00.000-07:00

Some Eastern Specialities and More - Tour 2011

Part three: Ikh Tashgai Nuur

Ikh Tashgai Nuur: the breeding habitat of Mongolian Pallas’s Bunting is in the foreground, the background is occupied by Reed Bunting and the area in between is the home of Ochre-rumped Bunting, May 2011, © M. Putze

Two species in particular make Ikh Tshgai Nuur most interesting for visiting birdwatchers. One is Ochre-rumped Bunting (also called Japanese Reed Bunting). The only known territories in Mongolia can be found here. The other species is Reed (or Northern) Parrotbill, which can be seen in Mongolia only at Ikh Tashgai Nuur and at the Khalkhgol Delta (in the north-east corner of Buir Nuur), but the delta is off limits for foreign birdwatchers. Apart from the afore mentioned delta, Ikh Tashgai Nuur remains apparently the only (!) lake in the east with sufficient reeds. They grow up to an impressive height of 4 metres, but most of the reeds are not that high. As everywhere in Mongolia, grazing is a problem. Low scale grazing has been proven as beneficial for reed-species like Bearded Tit and bitterns, as it increases the number of micro-habitats. Unfortunately, the east has not received enough rain during the last decade and now the combination of drought and heavy grazing poses the greatest threat to any stand of Phragmites (not only here but in the whole country). Habitat destruction like this will lead to the extinction of all reed-specialists if the process cannot be halted.

ABu trying to get close to the Ochre-rumped Bunting

Female Reed Bunting, Ikh Tashgai Nuur,

We found the sought-after bunting directly near our camp on 19 May. A male had taken residency in the wet grassland bordering the reed bed. It was singing from atop the tussocks, but appeared but very shy. Other noteworthy birds logged were a single resting Little Curlew, 20 Bewick’s Swans (outnumbering their bigger cousins by 4!) and a flock of cranes. It consisted mostly of Common Crane (180) but there were also 2 White-naped and 14 Hooded Cranes.

Common and Hooded Cranes at Ikh Tashgai Nuur,

During the next days – we stayed at Ikh Tashgai Nuur until 22 May – we searched for the Parrotbill, but we couldn't find any. Instead we saw many Bearded Tits and Reed Buntings. Reed warblers had not arrived yet - thus it was no fun to birdwatch the reeds. Luckily we saw some other birds of interest like a Lesser White-fronted Goose (less than 10 records in Mongolia) and a migrating Eurasian Collared Dove on 20th, 2 migrating Buff-bellied Pipit on 21st (plus one the next day) and a 2cy Black-crowned Night Heron on 22nd.

Quite nice to see also were 9 pairs of Falcated Duck on the lake. The migration of waders and terns set on and we had some bigger flocks of migrating Spotted Redshank, Whimbrel, Little Curlew and White-winged Tern.

In the reeds was a night-roost of wagtails, with Citrine, Grey and Eastern Yellow Wagtails present, the latter being the most numerous.

Eastern Yellow Wagtail macronyx during display-flight,

Some of the smaller lakes in the region were already dry

and covered by a salt-layer which sometimes was blown

We were very disappointed when we left Ikh Tashgai on May, 22nd as we hadn’t found the Parrotbill. But there was hope: We were driving to the village of Sumber to get our permit to another birding hotspot: Numrog, the most southeastern part of Mongolia. Yet there was another big disappointment waiting for us…

To be continued!

2011-07-31T02:17:00.000-07:00

Some Eastern Specialities and More - Tour 2011

Part two: Going east to Ikh Tashgai Nuur

On 15 May we drove to the east until it got late. Our first camp was on the shores of Gurmijn Nuur near the city of Bayan Ovoo. Virtually the first birds we saw there were two adult Relict Gulls which had been foraging on the shore. They flew out to the middle of the lake but returned next morning.

We checked the waterfowl in the fading light until it got too dark. Best birds we could find were a pair of Falcated Duck, and seeing 150 Stejneger's Scoters was also impressive. On the shore we had a White Wagtail of the subspecies M. a. ocularis and waders were on the move as demonstrated by incoming flocks (from the south) of Pied Avocet and Common Greenshank. We checked the lake again next morning and found the first “goodie”: a drake Greater Scaup, a species that has been recorded in Mongolia probably less than 10 times before!

In the afternoon of 17 May we arrived in Choibalsan, the only larger city in the east.

Here we camped at the Kherlen River which has some higher vegetation. Brambling and Eurasian Siskin were still around, while Amur Falcon, Pallas’s Warbler and Taiga Flycatcher had arrived already. We remained at the spot another day (song of White’s Thrush in the early morning) and had a flock of migrating Pacific Golden Plover, and in the evening loads (= several hundred) of Yellow Wagtails came in to sleep in the willows.

4 guys being impressed by Uli (count the beer cans!),

On 18 May we moved on eastwards. The area east of Choibalsan is very flat and treeless but during a brief stop at the border police barracks (we needed to register there as we were entering the sensitive region along the Chinese border) Manfred spotted an unfamiliar bunting. This turned out to be our first Yellow-throated Bunting for the trip, a stunning male. As it had lightly damaged plumage we thought it would be our only observation of this species, which was regarded as accidental. So we asked for permission to take pictures, which was kindly granted. Very likely, these are the first photos ever of this species taken in Mongolia!

Male Yellow-throated Bunting, Menengijn Tal border station,

Male Yellow-throated Bunting in flight, Menengijn Tal

Although we had expected to see large numbers of Mongolian Gazelle during our cruise through Menengijn Tal, the biggest group was just over 200 individuals. Apparently many had left these plains. This was rather surprising as the region seemed to be not overgrazed at all (almost no people live in Menengijn Tal).

Nevertheless, finding a good reed bed (it was the beginning of songbird-migration!) was our task for today so we drove along the chain of lakes south of the plains. Unfortunately they all had dried up and no reed beds were left. So we ended up at a dry lake (already quite close to Ikh Tashgai Nuur) which had much degraded reeds. Here we spent the night.

Much degraded reeds and its degraders, west of

On May, 19th we finally arrived at birder’s heaven: Ikh Tashgai Nuur. Whether we found our “sought-afters” or not will be reported next… so stay tuned!