Birding
Mongolia in September 2011
part
1: UB Ponds
–
by Axel
Bräunlich
In
August I decided at very short notice to spend all of September in
Mongolia. Right after my arrival I joined Amarkhuu and Bolormunkh of
the Wildlife Science and Conservation Center of Mongolia (WSCC) on a
brief (14:40–16:40 h) visit to the “famous” UB
Ponds on 3 September 2011. Thanks guys for transport and
company!
Abu
mentioned 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: I
found that these ponds are always worth a brief visit (at least 2 hrs
at the site needed), especially since they are very easily reached
from downtown UB (in less than one hour)!
UB
Ponds and the Tuul River, c. 13 km WSW from the city
centre
(Sukhbaatar Square), 9 Sept 2011. © A. Bräunlich
After
checking the ponds (highlights: Swan Geese, Baillon’s
Crake) we stopped briefly at the foot of Songino Khairkhan Uul,
bordering the Tuul River. Impressive were at least 600 (and probably
more!) Black-eared Kites gathering in the area over the
mountain and the floodplain, apparently heading to roost in the
gallery forest of the Tuul River. The largest concentration of this
species I’ve ever seen in the UB area!
In
total we logged 42 species during 2 hours of birding:
Great
Crested Grebe – 6
Swan
Goose – 6
Ruddy
Shelduck – c.20
Whooper
Swan – 2 ad + 6 juv.
Gadwall
– c. 30, incl. not fully-grown juv.
Mallard
– c. 30, incl. female + 9 pulli
Tufted
Duck – c. 80, incl. several
families
Common
Goldeneye – 8
Common
Teal – c. 60
Northern
Shoveler – 1
Grey
Heron – 95
Eurasian
Kestrel – 1 male (near airport)
Saker
– 2
Booted
Eagle – 2 dark morph
Western
Marsh Harrier – 2 juv.
Black-eared
Kite – c. 600 Songino Khairkhan
Uul/Tuul
Baillion’s
Crake – 1
Demoiselle
Crane – 21
Common
Snipe – 8
Black-tailed
Godwit – 2 juv.
Spotted
Redshank – a flock of 22 juv.
Green
Sandpiper – 1
Common
Greenshank – 1
Mongolian
Gull – 3
Black-headed
Gull – 4 juv., one 1stW
Hoopoe
– 2 Songino Khairkhan/Tuul
Common
Magpie – dozens
Carrion
Crow + Daurian
Jackdaw – mixed flock of c. 600
between the ponds and downtown UB, flying towards Bogd Uul.
Red-billed
Chough – flock of c. 80
Northern
Raven – 10+
Great
Tit 4 – Songino Khairkhan/Tuul
White-crowned
Penduline Tit – 13 juv.
Barn
Swallow 2 – Songino
Khairkhan/Tuul
Two-barred
Warbler – 2 Songino
Khairkhan/Tuul
Brown
Flycatcher 1 – Songino
Khairkhan/Tuul
Eurasian
Tree Sparrow – common, largest
flock c. 60 at the ponds
Grey
Wagtail – 2 Songino
Khairkhan/Tuul
Citrine
Wagtail – 2 juv.
White
Wagtail – c. 10
Richard’s
Pipit – 2
Olive-backed
Pipit – 1 ponds, 4 Songino
Khairkhan/Tuul
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