Шинэ жилийн мэнд хүргье
painting © ABu
The team of BIRDING MONGOLIA
December 31, 2013
December 19, 2013
part nine:
Hangover Birding
text by ABu
Links to previous Mountain Birds 2012 on Birding Mongolia:
part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8
As our list of mountain birds was almost complete by now we could switch to fun birding at a slower pace. On 20 June we just made it down the hills to the small village of Buutsagaan. Here we were invited for dinner (by the family of our driver Banzai) and as always in Mongolia, there was more than enough food on the table. There was even more than food. This “more than food” lead to a big hangover the next day and gave us a late and lazy start. Shortly after having left the settlement we came across a group of Henderson’s Ground Jays and the photographers went off to get decent shots of this running bird. The first birds were quite flighty, though, but on our way to the lake we saw more individuals, totalling five birds, which is quite a lot given the fact that most of us slept on the way to the lake.
Desolate barren ground is the prime habitat for
Henderson’s Ground Jay, Buutsagaan, Jun 2012, © A. Schneider
Henderson’s Ground Jay hiding its bold plumage parts,
near Buutsagaan, Jun 2012, © T. Langenberg
Henderson’s Ground Jay, near Buutsagaan,
Jun 2012, © T. Langenberg
As we approached the lake on its western side we had several groups of Pallas’s Sandgrouse and literally the first bird we saw at the lake was a young Pallas’s Fish Eagle. At the southern shore the low water level (a record low!) had created two new islands which had emerged from the lake. These had been occupied by c. 600 pairs of Great Cormorants and were also used by about 750 pairs of Mongolian Gulls.
In the south of the lake is a small Saxaul forest where we quickly located a nest of Saxaul (Steppe/Asian Grey) Shrike (pallidirostris). We ringed the chicks and the female of the pair but hurried to leave the site because of the unpleasant abundance of mosquitoes.
Male Saxaul (Steppe Grey) Shrike,
Boon Tsagaan Nuur, Jun 2013, T. Langenberg
2cy female Saxaul Shrike, Boon Tsagaan Nuur,
Jun 2013, T. Langenberg & A. Buchheim
Saxaul Shrike chick, Boon Tsagaan Nuur,
Jun 2013, © K. Krätzel
Male Pallas’s Sandgrouse,
near Boon Tsagaan Nuur, Jun 2012, © T. Langenberg
Goyo Plant Cynomorium songaricum parasitizing Nitraria sp,
Boon Tsagaan Nuur, Jun 2012, © T. Langenberg
immature Pallas’s Fish Eagle,
Boon Tsagaan Nuur, Jun 2012, © A. Buchheim
All the former wetlands that could be found until a few years ago were dried up so we decided to stay overnight at the delta of the Baidrag Gol in the north-east corner of the lake. The river once was mighty but thanks to the mining and the long-lasting drought it is nowadays only ankle-deep. Nevertheless, there are some wet meadows left near the delta of the Baidrag Gol.
We went birding and among the almost 500 Black-headed Gulls we found an adult Relict Gull, quite “boring” now (see here). Unfortunately we failed in finding a Brown-headed Gull (a species recorded from here more or less regularly). Only three Pallas’s Gulls were logged and there was not much else.
As we went on a bit to get closer to the other Pallas’s Fish Eagles (one adult and some immatures, six eagles in total) we flushed a small whitish egret which was attending the livestock. This turned out to be an adult breeding-plumaged Eastern Cattle Egret. Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis (sensu lato) has recently been split into Western Cattle Egret B. ibis (sensu stricto) and Eastern Cattle Egret B. coromandus. There are about 10 records of cattle egret known from Mongolia, and they still have to be checked to find out if only Eastern Cattle Egret (with 2-3 proven records) are involved. (see R Ahmed 2011: Subspecific identification and status of Cattle Egret, 149-162. In Dutch Birding. Download PDF)
Adult breeding plumage Eastern Cattle Egret,
Boon Tsagaan Nuur, Jun 2013, © A. Buchheim
While we were celebrating this record (and keeping our level of alcohol!) three Black Storks arrived as did nine Eurasian Spoonbills. Cheers!
Birding the wet grasslands at Boon Tsagaan Nuur,
Jun 2013, © Armin Schneider
Near-adult Pallas’s Fish Eagle, Boon Tsagaan Nuur,
Jun 2013, © T. Langenberg
2cy Pallas’s Fish Eagle, Boon Tsagaan Nuur,
Jun 2013, © A. Buchheim
How to make a birder happy…
Bayankhongor, Jun 2012, © K. Krätzel
This guy also made us happy! Male Oriental Plover in
display flight, near Arvaikheer, Jun 2013, © T. Langenberg
Underside of the same Oriental Plover,
near Arvaikheer, Jun 2013, © T. Langenberg
Painting of the Khukh Nuur gull colony in a roadside
restaurant near Arvaikheer, Jun 2013, © K. Krätzel
The weather was a mixture of wind and rain, sometimes augmented by hail. More about the remaining few days of this trip will be reported on this site soon. Stay tuned!
Adverse weather in Jun 2013, near Arvaikheer, © Armin Schneider
December 18, 2013
One jay missing
text & photos by ABu
Sanzai Valley, Ulaanbaatar, Dec 2013
Siberian Jay was always on top of my wish list and on 6 December 2013 Huyagaa and Amarkhuu of the Mongolian Birdwatching Club and I went out to search just another time for this secret forest inhabitant. After a series of observations this fall, all about 28 km north of Ulaanbaatar (just follow the Selbe Gol upriver), it was clear that we would give it a try just where the others had seen and some even had photographed this species: Sanzai Valley.
The valley looked quite promising and the weather was fine: only minus 17°C when we started and a crystal clear sky. The temperature rose to an amazing PLUS 1°C! Lots of young trees were growing in a mixed forest of Siberian Pine, Siberian Larch and Siberian Spruce with some birch trees every now and then as well. We walked along a track which obviously had been used to carry illegally cut fuel wood out of this protected area (it partially in Gorkhi Tereldj National Park; anyway wood cutting is prohibited since a few years but without any law enforcement many people just ignore it, unfortunately). Only after some hours we came across the redtails and together with Eurasian Jay (brandtii) and Spotted Nutcracker we managed to see all of Mongolia’s three “jay species” in a single day! Really a jayday for us. A group of 5 Siberians was seen twice (if the second observation was of the same individuals) and we followed the busy birds for more than one hour. Unfortunately they were quite mobile and preferred to stay in the shade for most of the time.
“In the bag!”
Spotted Nutcracker in flight, Sanzai Valley,
Ulaanbaatar, Dec 2013
Spotted Nutcracker on Siberian Spruce,
Sanzai Valley, Ulaanbaatar, Dec 2013
Bird list (17 species):
Golden Eagle 1 adult soaring (!) above the valley
unidentified falcon A smallish falcon disappeared all too quick behind the forest.
Hazel Grouse 2 observations of singles flying off trees might well concern the same individual.
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker The male seen remained the only woodpecker for today.
Long-tailed Tit 3
Willow Tit Surprisingly rare, only very few seen.
Coal Tit 2
Great Tit 1
Eurasian Nuthatch 2
Eurasian Treecreeper 1
Eurasian Jay 4
Siberian Jay 5 (or 10?)
Spotted Nutcracker 5–10
Common Raven few
Eurasian Tree Sparrow One flock at the gate.
Common/Mealy Redpoll A flock of about 60.
Northern Bullfinch (cineracea: Baikal/Grey Bullfinch): 3 (if the female also was belonging to this taxon).
Siberian Jay on Siberian Pine, Sanzai Valley,
Ulaanbaatar, Dec 2013
Siberian Jay on Siberian Larch, Sanzai Valley,
Ulaanbaatar, Dec 2013
Siberian Jay taking off, Sanzai Valley,
Ulaanbaatar, Dec 2013
Siberian Jay, Sanzai Valley,
Ulaanbaatar, Dec 2013
BTW: The missing jay is Eurasian Jay as there is no photo of this species from this day.
December 5, 2013
part four:
Leaving the Khangai Mountain range
text & photos by Abu
links to previous Mr. Hodgson and the Gull Calls 2013 on Birding Mongolia: part 1, part 2, part 3
Our visit to Khukh Nuur was excellent again and this site will probably become a stake-out for a number of sought-after species soon. It not only supports a large population of Hodgson’s Bushchat (27 individuals caught, ringed, measured in 2013 alone!) but is also a reliable spot for seeing species like Altai Snowcock, Sushkin’s Asian Rosy Finch and many others.
Nevertheless we left for the forest near Terchijn Tsagaan Nuur. While driving through the mountains on 4 June we came across more Güldenstädt’s Redstarts, Himalayan Griffons and even saw a Corsac aka Steppe Fox.
Corsac, Khangai Mts, Jun 2013
Himalayan Griffon, Khangai Mts, Jun 2013
Himalayan Griffon, Khangai Mts, Jun 2013
In the night we heard an Ural Owl calling from the slope above our camp and in the morning several Eurasian Wrynecks, Pine Buntings, Olive-backed Pipits, Hume’s Leaf Warblers and Red-throated Thrushes were obvious inhabitants of the larch forest. Patrick found a 2cy Red-flanked Bluetail and got it sound recorded.
Hume’s Leaf Warbler, near Terchijn Tsagaan Nuur, Jun 2013
Male Pine Bunting, near Terchijn Tsagaan Nuur, Jun 2013
Olive-backed Pipit, near Terchijn Tsagaan Nuur, Jun 2013
After breakfast we went on and checked several flocks of waterfowl but we could not find any of the “elevated” species. In the early afternoon we arrived at Tsetserleg where we pitched the tents in the valley above—and it turned out that this valley also has a pair of Ural Owl. Other standard birds here were Godlewski’s Bunting, Common Rock Thrush, Pied Wheatear, Taiga Flycatcher, Brown Shrike and White-backed Woodpecker.
Male Brown Shrike, Tsetserleg, Jun 2013
On 7 June we drove to Ogij Nuur via Khakhorin.
More about the birds of Ogij Nuur next in this theatre—keep checking Birding Mongolia!
BeDeMon at the UB Ponds
text & photos by Abu
UB Ponds in August 2013
On 9 August 2013 I was picked up by Amarkhuu of the Mongolian Birdwatching Club and we then teamed up with Luc and Hilde, two birdwatchers from Belgium. Our destination was the area commonly known as UB Ponds aka The Green Pond. This is an area which has been frequently featured in this blog (see, for example, here or here or here) and it lays within the city limits along the Tuul Gol. There are many ponds located around the main pond (that’s the one which is connected to the sewage stream and hence lives up to its name, becoming green during the summer, thanks to the rich nutrition). We arrived there after a short drive and started birding.
The ponds were full of duck families, most of them were Tufted Ducks, but we also saw several female Common Pochards and Gadwalls guarding their respective chicks and sometimes also the chicks of others! There was a family of Swan Goose as well plus some additional adults in moult. This species has been breeding in UB for three years in a row now. The two rarest duck species were Northern Pintail and Common Goldeneye, thus there was no real rarity among the ducks. Wader migration had started but most of the snipes we flushed we had to leave unidentified (we identified 3 Common Snipes and the other 10 or so were either Pintail or Swinhoe’s Snipes). Other waders around were Common Sandpiper (1 heard only), Wood Sandpiper (15), Green Sandpiper (2 or 3), Common Redshank (the local breeders), Spotted Redshank (8), Black-winged Stilts (local breeders) and Eastern Black-tailed Godwits (5). We walked around the main pond by following the rail track and soon found a group of White-crowned Penduline Tits and a family of Demoiselle Cranes and about 120 Grey Herons.
West of the main pond is a kind of wet bushland and this is the site where the globally threatened (Vulnerable) Yellow-breasted Bunting breeds and we headed there to check them out. Here, the water is not polluted by sewage and rich in other life (not only algae). Most obvious now were hundreds of dragonflies and damselflies, many of them oviposting already. I took a bunch of pictures but had to leave most IDs open. I could just guess (qualified comments are most welcome!). Another nice species, but also not a bird, we found to be quite common in the bogs, was Spiranthes amoena, a tiny species of orchid.
Spiranthes amoena, UB Ponds, Aug 2013
Male Black Darter Sympetrum danae, UB Ponds, Aug 2013
Common Darter S. striolatum, UB Ponds, Aug 2013
Common Darter, same individual as above.
UB Ponds, Aug 2013
UB Ponds, Aug 2013
Suddenly a very small bird tried to escape from us on its feet. At first glance it looked like a quail but it was way too small. This tiny ball of feathers was indeed a chick of one of the pairs of Yellow-breasted Buntings and Amarkhuu could not resist in picking it up for a closer inspection. We also had some strange Yellow Wagtails and few Long-tailed Rosefinches, the latter also breeding in the bushes here. The bush land is already under threat from land reclamation and it is to be feared that the only known UB breeding population of Yellow-breasted Bunting will be wiped out soon!
Portrait of the Yellow-breasted Bunting chick,
UB Ponds, Aug 2013
Yellow-breasted Bunting chick, UB Ponds, Aug 2013
Yellow-breasted Bunting chick, UB Ponds, Aug 2013
With an Arctic Warbler on show and a juvenile Common Whitethroat in the bushes it was clear that also songbirds were on the move already, although we could not find any other migrants and also there were no raptors to be seen. On the way back to the car we saw a Common Tern (many just fledged chicks and their parents hanging around) chasing a Demoiselle Crane. Apparently this tern has to improve its ID skills... After that we went back to the city centre. Always nice to be out for birdwatching!
Juvenile Common Whitethroat,
UB Ponds, Aug 2013
Demoiselle Crane, UB Ponds, Aug 2013
Demoiselle Crane, UB Ponds, Aug 2013
November 2, 2013
part three:
This Khukh Nuur again...
text by ABu
Links to previous Mr. Hodgson and the Gull Calls 2013 on Birding Mongolia: part 1, part 2
Adult Saker Falcon, near Khukh Nuur,
Bayankhongor, May 2013, © A. Buchheim
Khukh Nuur during/in/behind a snow shower,
Bayankhongor, May 2013, © A. Buchheim
Our arrival at Khukh Nuur in Bayakhongor aimag (province) was graced with another Saker Falcon on 31 May. Very soon after we were in the centre of a heavy snow shower which showed us that we were high up in the mountains. Several other showers followed until nightfall but the snow melted away very quickly. We chose to camp at exactly the same spot near the gull colony as the Mountainbirds 2012 Group did last year (see here).
Our camp (red circle) near the gull island in the last light,
Khukh Nuur, Bayankhongor, Jun 2013, © P. Franke
Despite the many approaching snow showers I climbed up half of the slope to see what was around and with ease I found several Asian Rosy Finches (sushkini) and then even a pair of Hodgson’s Bushchat, the latter not far from our camp. In fact, later we found that there were even two pairs around. Because hard winds were driving the snow I hadn’t taken my camera (anyway the light was fading already) and I had to take shelter every now and then. Nevertheless, it was a kind of relief to see the aforementioned species, ready to be bagged by my friends the next day.
Indeed, the next morning everybody was out for the bushcats, the rosy finches and also for Altai Snowcocks. For me that meant I had to wait for my companions to return before we could start to catch the gulls. From the camp I saw that Patrick was very close to a group of six snowcocks which I could hear from the distance (about 1 km away). The rosy finches came down to the lake shore where they took advantage of the mass emergence of flies (as did other birds like Citrine Wagtail, Brown Accentor and Northern Wheatear). While sitting in our camp, with a cup of tea in my hand, I managed to see all three target species (the bushchats were at the same spot still and were also spotted from the camp).
Female Asian Rosy Finch, Khukh Nuur,
Bayankhongor, Jun 2013, © A. Buchheim
Male Asian Rosy Finch (sushkini), Khukh Nuur,
Bayankhongor, Jun 2013, © A. Buchheim
Brown Accentor, Khukh Nuur, Bayankhongor,
Jun 2013, © A. Buchheim
58 adult Mongolian Gulls were captured and processed which kept us busy for two days. With 115 gulls tagged this year the grand total stands now at almost 950 (tagged in 10 colonies across Mongolia plus in one colony at Lake Baikal, Russia), so watch out! See also here for reporting wing-tagged gulls. We invested two more days to explore this pristine alpine region and by doing so we found a third pair of bushchat. Unfortunately, last year’s territory was not occupied and all the chats we saw were not bearing rings until we caught and ringed one of the males that resided above our camp on 4 June, the day we left the lake.
2cy male Hodgson’s Bushchat, Khukh Nuur,
Bayankhongor, Jun 2013, © A. Buchheim
Same bird and Zegi, Khukh Nuur,
Bayankhongor, Jun 2013, © A. Buchheim
Female Hodgson’s Bushchat, Khukh Nuur,
Bayankhongor, Jun 2013, © A. Buchheim
The resident species performed well but we also found some migrants: there was a Common Coot on the lake on 31 May, a small flock of Ortolan Buntings, 7 migrating (?) Demoiselle Cranes on 1 June, 1 adult and a 2cy Black-crowned Night Heron (a rare migrant and exceptional breeder in Mongolia) were flushed from the bushes on 2 June, a single Dunlin was near the camp the same day, about 10 very elusive Pallas’s Grasshopper Warblers successfully avoided being photographed on 3 June when we also logged a pair of Red-crested Pochard, 5 Pied Avocets, 1 Siberian Chiffchaff and a Two-barred Greenish Warbler. On 4 June we had 3 Common and a single White-winged Tern. Another noteworthy bird was the singing Common Nightjar on 2 June.
Adult Black-crowned Night Heron, Khukh Nuur,
Bayankhongor, Jun 2013, © A. Buchheim
Siberian Marmot, Khukh Nuur,
Bayankhongor, June 2013, © A. Buchheim
Siberian Marmot enjoying the sun, Khukh Nuur,
Bayankhongor, Jun 2013, © A. Buchheim
Remains of an Altai Snowcock in the hand
of tribal-photographer-costume-wearing Abu, Khukh Nuur,
Bayankhongor, Jun 2013, © P. Franke
The Altai Snowcocks were recorded daily in the rocky parts of the slope not far from the camp but occasionally they ventured out into the more grassy areas. Patrick was taking a lot of sound recordings and while he was leaning against a larger rock one morning, a snowcock came around the corner and he could literally have caught it with his hand. He was too baffled to do this, unfortunately. Presumably, the snowcock was at least as baffled as he was!
Group of four Altai Snowcocks, Khukh Nuur,
Bayankhongor, Jun 2013, © A. Buchheim
Calling Altai Snowcock, Khukh Nuur,
Bayankhongor, Jun 2013, © A. Buchheim
This Altai Snowcock landed on the rock below me,
Khukh Nuur, Bayankhongor, Jun 2013, © A. Buchheim
Altai Snowcock, Khukh Nuur, Bayankhongor,
June 2013, © A. Buchheim
Although both species of Mongolian Lagopus occur at Khukh Nuur it again proved impossible to get Willow Grouse photographed. They always flew off too early and landed well out of sight in “their” bushland. In contrast to that, the Rock Ptarmigans could only try to hide behind rocks and this made it easier to follow and photograph them. While the females were already wearing the summer dress all males were still in complete winter plumage.
Female Rock Ptarmigan, Khukh Nuur,
Bayankhongor, Jun 2013, © A. Buchheim
Male Rock Ptarmigan, Khukh Nuur,
Bayankhongor, Jun 2013, © A. Buchheim
Several pairs of Stejneger’s Stonechats were found, some even within the territories of the bushchat and telling the females apart is not always straightforward. Of the three species of redstarts that breed around the lake we failed to find Eversmann’s. The other two species, Black and Güldenstädt’s Redstarts were even recorded near our camp.
Male Stejneger’s Stonchat, Khukh Nuur,
Bayankhongor, Jun 2013, © A. Buchheim
Male Güldenstädt’s Redstart, Khukh Nuur,
Bayankhongor, Jun 2013, © P. Franke
Other resident species seen were Merlin, Saker Falcon, Bearded Vulture, Golden Eagle, Alpine and Altai Accentors, Whooper Swan and Brown Shrike.
Bearded Vulture, Khukh Nuur,
Bayankhongor, Jun 2013, © P. Franke
Black-throated Diver/Arctic Loon, Khukh Nuur,
Bayankhongor, Jun 2013, © A. Buchheim
Sunset at Khukh Nuur, Bayankhongor,
June 2013, © P. Franke
There's more to come, so stay tuned!
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