part four:

Downhill the western
slopes of the Altai

text by ABu in collaboration with Kirsten Krätzel

part one: click here
part two: click here
part three: click here

In the morning of 10 June 2012 we went uphill for a 6h high altitude walk around the camp. After having reached the higher plateau at 3400 m a.s.l. we started birdwatching. Actually we had to look very hard for birds as there were only few of them. But then we were found by a bird. An adult Bearded Vulture aka Lammergeier, the latter a very misleading name, came over to check us out (we then decided to move, just to show him that we are not yet dead!).

Adult Bearded Vulture close up, Mongolian Altai,

Jun 2012, © T. Langenberg

High Altai habitat, Jun 2012, © T. Langenberg

Although the habitat looked extremely good for Eurasian Dotterel we were not able to find one. Instead we ended up (though it wasn’t that bad) with excellent observations of a pair of Rock Ptarmigan, about 4 Güldenstädt’s Redstarts, 1 or 2 Himalayan Griffons and about 20 Brandt’s Mountain Finches, the latter spread out over the plateau in pairs or small groups. Many of the mountain finches were feeding on the remaining snow fields.

Male Rock Ptarmigan, Mongolian Altai,

Jun 2012, © T. Langenberg

Displaying male Rock Ptarmigan, Mongolian Altai,

Jun 2012, © A. Buchheim

The accompanying female Rock Ptarmigan,

Mongolian Altai, Jun 2012, © T. Langenberg

High altitude rock with a beetle,

Mongolian Altai, Jun 2012, © A. Buchheim

Male Brandt’s Mountain Finch,

Mongolian Altai, Jun 2012, © A. Buchheim

Brandt’s Mountain Finch,
presumed female (or a young male?),

Mongolian Altai, Jun 2012, © A. Buchheim

After a very good lunch (thank you very much for cooking so well the entire trip, Javzaa!), we headed down for Khovdijn Bulgan. Again, we basically followed a stream, this time the Bodonzijn Gol. It was a very beautiful landscape with the partially tree-fringed river as our companion. Along the stream we saw birds like Golden Eagles, Common Sandpipers, Water Pipits (blakistoni), hundreds of Rosy Starlings, more Rock Ptarmigans, White-winged Snowfinches, Himalayan Griffons, Eurasian Black and Bearded Vultures and Grey Wagtails from our minibuses. We took a pass to get into the valley of the Uenzijn Gol. As we got lower it got gradually dryer as well and we chose to camp in a rather narrow part of the valley at about 2100 m a.s.l. Before we even had started to pitch our tents a Wallcreeper flew from one side of the valley to the other. It was watched well and we also heard the songs of two Sulphur-bellied Warblers, just another bird from the wish list. Unfortunately it was quite dark by then and nobody got to see any of the two.

Camp in the Uenzijn Gol Valley, Mongolian Altai,

Jun 2012, © J. Langenberg

Wallcreeper high above the valley,

Mongolian Altai, Jun 2012, © T. Langenberg

On the next morning (11 Jun) we checked the slopes for Siberian Ibex and found about 13 of them on the higher slopes (very far away!). More admired than the repeated observations of the (or another) Wallcreeper were the brilliant views of several Sulphur-bellied Warblers and a number Plain Mountain Finches which we found after a while near our camp. We wondered whether Water Pipit (blakistoni) could be the main host species for Common Cuckoo here.

Sulphur-bellied Warbler, Mongolian Altai,

Jun 2012, © T. Langenberg

Not so plain Plain Mountain Finch,

Mongolian Altai, Jun 2012, © K. Krätzel

Male Common Cuckoo, Mongolian Altai,

Jun 2012, © A. Schneider

As we were aiming for the village (or is it considered to be a town?) of Bulgan we had to leave the mountains and on the way downhill we came across more mountain birds: Rock Sparrow, Crag Martin, Common Rock Thrush (common), Altai Falcon, again Himalayan Griffon, Grey-necked Buntings, and in a dryer part we had some Siberian Ibexes near the road.

Climbing Siberian Ibex, Mongolian Altai,

Jun 2012, © A. Buchheim

Climbing minibus, Mongolian Altai,

Jun 2012, © A. Schneider

Male Common Rock Thrush, Mongolian Altai,

Jun 2012, © A. Buchheim

Crag Martin, Mongolian Altai,

Jun 2012, © T. Langenberg

In the lower part of the Uenzijn Gol we had already some lowland species like a pair of nest-building White-crowned Penduline Tits, singing Greenish and Hume’s Warblers and Common Rosefinches. Finally down in the arid zone we moved to the west and arrived in Bulgan in the afternoon.

Common Rosefinch, Mongolian Altai,

Jun 2012, © A. Buchheim

What we found there will be reported on this site next!