Mongolian ringed Bar-headed Goose in India
Mongolian ringed Whooper Swans in China

Dear readers of Birding Mongolia, dear friends,

I wish all of you a Happy New Year and all the best for 2008, including many fantastic observations!

Just at the begin of the new year we received some exciting news of wildfowl ringed in Mongolia. Read below and follow the links for photos.

Many greetings from Bangkok,

Axel
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From the mailinglist Oriental Birding:

Dear all, A very Happy New Year to you all.

This year has started on a positive note for understanding more about bird migration routes in Asia. A Bar-headed Goose Anser indicus caught and marked with a neck collar in Mongolia was photographed by M. Niranjan in Somnathpur, Karnataka, India (Latitude: 12 deg 16' 0 N, Longitude: 76 deg 52' 60 E) and a photo is uploaded here.

This the probably the first evidence of migration of the Bar-headed Goose from Mongolia to India, previous ringing and satellite telemetry work demonstrated migration between disconnected breeding populations in Qinghai Lake in northwest China and southern Tibetan as well as in Kyrgyzstan. There is information on migration of ducks and Greylag Goose Anser anser between India and Mongolia. The Bar-headed Goose was marked by a team lead by Martin Gilbert of the Wildlife Conservation Society and he writes:

Judging from the photo, the bird is a male tagged with the collar E6. He was caught on 19 July 2007 in the Darkhad Valley in the northern Mongolian aimag of Hovsgol (N: 99.41078, E: 51.19736). He was one of 50 Bar-headed Geese we fitted with collars in July, and is the first for which we have received resighting information. Based on the information given, the bird has travelled a direct line distance of ~4,780 km! I am attaching a couple of images that might be of interest to the photographer including one of the bird himself at capture, a map indicating the area of capture, and direct line track between the two. [The image has been uploaded on http://www.indianaturewatch.net/displayimage.php?id=34412] I'd be grateful if you could pass them onto him and am also including a GAINS fact sheet for general information. Congratulations to the photographer and WCS for this information. More information has been uploaded on a website Birds, birdwatching and conservation in Mongolia — by Axel Braunlich http://birdsmongolia.blogspot.com/2007/08/alert-colour-marking-of-swans-and-geese.html

Best wishes,

Taej Taej Mundkur, PhD
Deputy Wildlife Coordinator for Avian Influenza Infectious Disease Group / EMPRES Animal Health Service, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, Rome, ITALY 00100. email: taej.mundkur at fao.org

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Dear Taej and friends,

18 of the Mongolian banded Whooper Swans were recorded in China: Five birds at the Yellow River Delta of Shandong Province, and 13 birds at Sanmenxia Reservoir in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, Henan Province. Here and here are the photos of the banded swans, all taken by birdwatchers in China.

It is encouraging to see more and more Chinese citizens take part in birdwatching and care about bird conservation.

Best wishes,

Simba Chan
Senior Conservation Officer
BirdLife International, Asia Division