BIRDING MONGOLIA

First Birding 2015

text & photos by Abu

Ice-art at the sewage stream. UB, Jan 2015

Unbelievably, it took me until 3 January to finally go birding, he he. Together with Nyambayar, Huyagaa and Amarkhuu, I went out to find a good spot, ideally filled with birds. This was in preparation for the Birdwatcher’s Weekend on 10 and 11 January to which already more than 90 individuals have signed in. This is an as impressive as well as unexpected high number and we hoped to find a spot with good numbers of birds!

Our search started in the area below Songino Khairkhan Uul at about 9:30 in the morning. It was quite chilly still, about minus 22°C (minus 7.6°F) and the wind had blown all the city smog down there.

After that we headed for the Medical Botanical Garden a few km west of Songino village. Here, a small plantation of Sea Buckthorn attracted more than a hundred Bohemian Waxwings which were quite approachable. We also checked a patch of riparian forest west of what is called “UB bird plant” and finally tried to check out the UB Ponds. Thanks to seemingly uncontrolled and excessive occupation of the land we could not make it there before it got too late.

I have included some appetizing shots here, nothing special, though. For the waxwings and redpolls you may also check these posts (Bohemian Rhapsody, redpoll ID).

Male White-backed Woodpecker

below Songino Khairkhan Uul, UB, Jan 2015

Male White-backed Woodpecker

below Songino Khairkhan Uul, UB, Jan 2015

Bird List (32 species)

Ruddy Shelduck - c10
Common Pochard - 1 male was an addition to my UB winter list
Common Goldeneye - 8 on the sewage stream
Daurian Partridge 1 - flushed at the Med. Bot. Gardens
Common Kestrel - 2
Rock Dove - present
Eurasian Collared Dove - 2 near the “bird plant”
White-backed Woodpecker - 2
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker - 2
Mongolian Horned Lark - several hundred in the field around Med. Bot. Gardens
Mongolian Lark - several hundred in the fields