Birding
Mongolia in September 2011
part 2: Gun
Galuut Nature Reserve
text &
photos © Axel Bräunlich
After my
half-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 has
been running autumn birding trips to Mongolia for several years now,
and I can highly recommend these. He kindly offered me a lift to Gun
Galuut, and I ended up joining him and his small group for the next
few days, visiting the marshes in the valley of the Kherlen River not
far east of UB, and also Jalman Meadows in the Khentii Mts.
We left
UB the next morning (on 4 September), heading east on the asphalted
main road. After a rather uneventful drive (c. 3 hrs including a stop
near the main road where we saw 9 Eurasian
Black Vultures) we eventually reached
Gun Galuut,
some 130 km from UB. This interesting little (c.20,000 ha)
steppe–wetland nature reserve near the Kherlen has become an
important birdwatching destination during the last few years. It has
been featured here on Birding Mongolia
several 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 additional
data from 2010 given at the end of this post.
Juvenile
Baikal Teal, Gun Galuut, Sept 2011
The
weather on the 4th was fine and dry, with a gentle breeze only. After
occupying our gers (yurts) at the Steppe Nomads Ger Camp we visited
the Tsengiin Burd wetland, immediately to the south. Highlights in
this area of grazing marshes with many small ponds were a juvenile
Baikal Teal,
a flock of 7 adult White-naped Cranes,
and a well-showing Eurasian Bittern.
We spotted also several Siberian Marmots
and two Corsac Foxes.
Later on we visited the “larger” lakes (they
are not really “large”:
Lake Ikh Gun covers c. 60 hectares only), but we covered this area
much better the next day. A Tolai Hare
was at the ger camp.
Eurasian
Bittern, Gun Galuut, Sept 2011
5 September
2011 was another nice day, with a maximum temperature of 18°C
(64°F). An early morning walk through the camp near the river
with its few planted bushes produced 1 Yellow-browed and 11
Dusky Warblers, 1 Taiga Flycatcher,
1 Brown Shrike and a
Black-faced Bunting.
After breakfast we visited the lakes, where we found as absolute
highlight for the trip two Siberian Cranes
near Lake Ayaga. We identified them as adult. However, see
Abu’s recent post
(with good photos of the cranes!) were he explains why these very
birds (seen already on 22 August) are not fully adult.
A nice bonus
was a large (diameter including legs c. 7 cm) spider on the steppe
between the lakes:
Wolf
Spider (South Russian Tarantula)
Lycosa
singoriensis
Over 400
Demoiselle Cranes
were on the move in the area, and in addition we found both
Bar-headed
and Swan Geese
and a host of waders and wildfowl. These included 5 Little
Curlews, Stejneger’s
Scoter and a Eastern
Spot-billed Duck
amongst the large number of wildfowl present.
Whooper Swan
parent, Gun Galuut, Sept 2011
Whooper
Swan family, Gun Galuut, Sept 2011
In the late
afternoon a thunderstorm moved in, with rain, and freshening-up winds
(Beaufort 5–6, max. 11 m/s).
After a stormy and rainy
night the morning of 6 September was rather cold, 7.5°C (45.5°F)
with high winds (Beaufort 7, max 14.2 m/s).
The
lakes held a similar array of birds but there was no sign of the
previous days Siberian Cranes. A new bird was a Northern Hobby.
So we headed on to our next and final camp at Jalman Meadows. On the
way (still very close to Gun Galuut) one can see the large coal mines
of Baga Nuur, which provide fuel for Ulaanbaatar’s
power plants (see previous post on air pollution in UB).
Open pit coal mine at Baga
Nuur
Species List
Gun Galuut 4–6
Sept 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 grazing
marshes 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-billed
Duck – 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 the
4th.
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-winged
Scoter / Stejneger’s Scoter
– An immature was with the diving duck flock on Ikh Gun
on the 5th.
Common Goldeneye –
Large numbers were feeding on Ikh Gun, where we counted c.150 birds
on the 5th. Also, 30 on the grazing marshes on the 4th.
Smew – Two
redheads on Ikh Gun on the 5th.
Goosander– A
party 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 a
comparison with the following species. The plumage was a uniform dark
brown with contrasting cream wing-covert patches.
Eastern Marsh Harrier
– An adult male was seen well both in flight and on the ground
on the 5th. An juvenile female was watched on the 6th. In contrast
this was a rather scruffy looking bird with heavy streaking to the
head 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 – 1
juvenile 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, on
4–6th.
Grey Plover
– One summer plumaged adult feeding on the flats on
5–6th.
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 the
5th.
Spotted Redshank –
Found in small numbers, 4–6th, with at least 22 birds on the
5th.
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 the
following 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 – At
least 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.
juvenile
Mongolian Lark, Gun Galuut, Sept 2011
juvenile
Mongolian 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 a total over 25 on the
5th.
White Wagtail –
M. a. baicalensis, seen
regularly, 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’s
Grasshopper 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 ponds
on the 5th. They appeared smaller than nominate Reed Buntings,
heavily streaked below with bright rufous fringes to the flight
feathers and coverts. The calls were also different, a series of
buzzing 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.
Reed
Bunting, Gun Galuut, Sept 2011
Note: all photos above
were digiscoped (hand-held) with a Canon Powershot S95 connected by a
self-made adapter to a Swarowski ATS 80 HD scope with the zoom lens
(20–60x) set at 30x.
Digiscoping
with Canon Powershot S95
through
Swarowski ATS 80 HD
Watching
waders, Gun Galuut, Jul 2010
© J.
Dierschke
Here’s
the
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-winged
Scoter / 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-tailed
Sandpiper – 7 ad., breeding
plumage
Eurasian Curlew –
1
Wood Sandpiper –
8
Terek Sandpiper –
8
Red-necked Stint –
9
Long-toed Stint –
1
Temminck’s
Stint – 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
