"Gulling" the East

part five: plantation of lords

text & photos by ABu

(links to part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4)

Forest Wagtail in poor light, Khalkhgol plantation

Eastern Mongolia, May 2016 © Andreas Buchheim

Forest Wagtail in better light, Khalkhgol plantation

Eastern Mongolia, May 2016 © Andreas Buchheim

singing (!) Forest Wagtail, Khalkhgol plantation

Eastern Mongolia, May 2016 © Andreas Buchheim

During the few days (26 to 29 May) in the Khalkhgol plantation I searched for rare species every day. I turned each and every warbler and did the same with flycatchers, but the big hit—that would be a national first like Blue-and-white Flycatcher or a second for the country like Eastern-crowned Warbler—was unfortunately not among them, or I just didn't find it. On my first walk I found several rare or kind of rare birds though ("teasers": see here): about the 5th record for Mongolia of Forest Wagtail (teaser 3), a female White-throated Rock Thrush (teaser 4) and a female Yellow-rumped Flycatcher (teaser 5). The light was very poor but luckily all three of them stayed for more than one day, enabling me to get better shots. Since this was already my second Forest Wagtail (see here for the other one, 2011), out of three visits to the Far East of Mongolia during spring, it seems that the species is not a real rarity and the singing bird suggests that they might even breed somewhere nearby. If not in Mongolia, which does not have the right habitat (?), then across the border.

Female White-throated Rock Thrush, Khalkhgol plantation

Eastern Mongolia, May 2016 © Andreas Buchheim

the same White-throated Rock Thrush, Khalkhgol plantation

Eastern Mongolia, May 2016 © Andreas Buchheim

The well-skulking White-throated Rock Thrush is likewise not often seen in the country but if, then it is mostly in the east. This female was not so approachable but as it couldn't hide away inside the degraded plantation that easily, I managed to get half-decent pictures.

And the Yellow-rumped Flycatcher? Since territorial males are recorded every now and then, it cannot be regarded as a rarity, at least in the east. There is a single record from UB even, but further west not a single individual has ever been seen. A few should be on show to those observers taking the effort traveling to eastern Mongolia during spring and summer. I photographed three individuals, all of which behaved a bit skittish, naturally!

2cy female Yellow-rumped Flycatcher, Khalkhgol plantation

Eastern Mongolia, May 2016 © Andreas Buchheim

2cy female Yellow-rumped Flycatcher, Khalkhgol plantation

Eastern Mongolia, May 2016 © Andreas Buchheim

2cy male Yellow-rumped Flycatcher, Khalkhgol plantation

Eastern Mongolia, May 2016 © Andreas Buchheim

2cy male Yellow-rumped Flycatcher, Khalkhgol plantation

Eastern Mongolia, May 2016 © Andreas Buchheim

ad male Yellow-rumped Flycatcher, Khalkhgol plantation

Eastern Mongolia, May 2016 © Andreas Buchheim

While I was on my walk through the plantation on 28 May I saw a bird in the air crossing a wide open space. It looked strange but fortunately it chose to land in the lonely dead tree (can a dead tree be lonely?) in front of me: it was a 2cy male Mugimaki Flycatcher. It decided to press on almost immediately so I got only a single shot (in much too harsh light). This species is recorded only very infrequently within Mongolia's boundaries although it might even breed in the taiga. It took me almost 30 visits over a period of 12 years to get it on my list. Surprising, indeed!

Two more species I got photographed that I would consider rare or more precisely: rarely seen follow. Eye-browed Thrush is one of them. Actually it is a regular migrant in small numbers but it also breeds in Gorkhi-Terelj National Park not far from UB. It is a rather shy thrush and thus quite often overlooked and, even more often, not photographed. During the storm a group of 8 foraged between the rows of bushes. They must have been quite exhausted to let me get that close.

2cy Mugimaki Flycatcher, Khalkhgol plantation

Eastern Mongolia, May 2016 © Andreas Buchheim

Eye-browed Thrush, Khalkhgol plantation

Eastern Mongolia, May 2016 © Andreas Buchheim

Eye-browed Thrush, Khalkhgol plantation

Eastern Mongolia, May 2016 © Andreas Buchheim

Eye-browed Thrush, Khalkhgol plantation

Eastern Mongolia, May 2016 © Andreas Buchheim

Eye-browed Thrush, Khalkhgol plantation

Eastern Mongolia, May 2016 © Andreas Buchheim

Eye-browed Thrush, Khalkhgol plantation

Eastern Mongolia, May 2016 © Andreas Buchheim

Eye-browed Thrush, Khalkhgol plantation

Eastern Mongolia, May 2016 © Andreas Buchheim

The other species was a common migrant and breeder in Asia but is now on the brink of extinction: Yellow-breasted Bunting. I saw 2 birds in the plantation and could take photos of a 2cy female. The other was an adult female. It is a pity that such a beautiful bird is still being caught in huge numbers in China, where it is called "rice bird" for a very obvious reason: they are eaten! Now it is really a rare sight in Mongolia, even on migration and you need a great deal of luck to find one during a spring trip. Only tiny "left-over" breeding population pockets are currently known. Wake up, neighbours, and stop eating them all up!

2cy Yellow-breasted Bunting, Khalkhgol plantation

Eastern Mongolia, May 2016 © Andreas Buchheim

2cy Yellow-breasted Bunting, Khalkhgol plantation

Eastern Mongolia, May 2016 © Andreas Buchheim

I saw only two other rarer birds, actually it was only one that I saw alive: on 26 May found a bunch of oriole feathers under a bush, but they were only those small bright yellow body feathers that gave no clue to which oriole species had been killed. Black-naped Oriole is the more likely species, though.

On 28 May an adult Striated Heron flew down river but disappeared too quickly. They breed in very low numbers in the Far East of Mongolia. This time I could not find more rarities and did not even see a single Chinese Grey Shrike, a species that has bred in the plantation, but not this year.

We headed back to the west on 29 May but this part of the journey will be covered in the next post.

“Gulling” the East

text and photos by ABu

part two

(link to part 1)

Right from the beginning of my visits to Mongolia, ringing (banding) gulls, especially Mongolian Gulls, has been my prime motive and this year’s first expedition was meant to be entirely devoted to wing-tag adult Mongolian Gulls. I had chosen to visit two colonies in the east of the country. Both colonies had been found during the famous “Swamprunner Tour 2014”.

We started on 20 May and hoped to reach to first colony by evening the same day. For several reasons, among them heavy traffic between UB and Nalaikh (the next bigger city to the east), we did not make it that far and camped on the banks of the Kherlen River a little east of the town formerly called Öndörkhaan, which has been renamed “Chinggis City” recently. It was very windy and we had only 15°C (59°F). During the fading light I walked around the camp and photographed some of the few birds around. A late Hen Harrier was noteworthy but bird of the day was doubtlessly a 2cy male Siberian Thrush. Unfortunately it was quite elusive and I could not even take a record shot. Teaser 1 of the first part was photographed on this evening and another photograph of this 2cy male Taiga Flycatcher can be seen below. Before we left after a cold (-2°C/28.4°F) and windy night I digitally got some more Taiga Flycatchers.

2cy male Taiga Flycatcher (teaser 1)

Eastern Mongolia, May 2016, © Andreas Buchheim

Adult male Taiga Flycatcher

Eastern Mongolia, May 2016, © Andreas Buchheim

Female Taiga Flycatcher

Eastern Mongolia, May 2016, © Andreas Buchheim

Portrait of the same female Taiga Flycatcher

Eastern Mongolia, May 2016, © Andreas Buchheim

Female Taiga Flycatcher

Eastern Mongolia, May 2016, © Andreas Buchheim

Then we went on to the colony, but when we arrived we had to learn that planning ahead is rather difficult in this country: The lake was dry and no gulls around (180 breeding pairs two years ago). This led us to press on and we reached our regular camp ground near Choibalsan by the afternoon of 21 May. As it was impossible to set up mist nets, thanks to the strong winds (this spring was extremely windy and cold, even for Mongolian standards!), I went for birding. Under these windy conditions it is not easy to find birds within the bushes that grow along the river. Every twig, every leaf is moving and catching an unusual movement (which ideally should be a bird, but sometimes is just a falling leaf or a butterfly) was a real challenge. Just before it got dark I found a male Mugimaki Flycatcher which posed for the teaser picture number 2. All the pictures I took that day were more or less blurred and I hoped that the bird would give me another chance the next day. Birds don’t move during unfavorable conditions like strong headwinds and if they have problems to feed (not many insects available when it is cold). So luckily the bird still was around the next day (22 May). The thick cloud cover didn’t help in photographing it well but at least I got some half decent shots. It was mostly feeding out in the steppe and not within the bushes which helped to keep track on it.

Male Mugimaki Flycatcher (teaser 2)

Eastern Mongolia, May 2016, © Andreas Buchheim

Male Mugimaki Flycatcher (teaser 2)

Eastern Mongolia, May 2016, © Andreas Buchheim

Male Mugimaki Flycatcher (teaser 2)

Eastern Mongolia, May 2016, © Andreas Buchheim

A pair of “Stoliczka’s” White-crowned Penduline Tits was busily building their nest. I only could take some picture of the male which still did not show the dark band across its nape. Only if seen from behind this area looked dark (see lowermost penduline tit picture). The pale tips to these feathers have to wear off so early in spring almost no male shows this dark band. Other birds along the river were 3 Eastern Spotbills and several Siberian Blue Robins. Generally there were not many birds around (or they were too good in hiding).

The water level of the river was about 1 m below what I think could be the average and it was quite murky, so we went into the city to bunker drinking water. There I saw more Siberian Blue Robins and two adult Siberian Thrushes in the (inaccessible so no pictures) gardens.

Male White-crowned Penduline Tit

Eastern Mongolia, May 2016, © Andreas Buchheim

Male White-crowned Penduline Tit

Eastern Mongolia, May 2016, © Andreas Buchheim

Male White-crowned Penduline Tit

Eastern Mongolia, May 2016, © Andreas Buchheim

2cy male Daurian Redstart

Eastern Mongolia, May 2016, © Andreas Buchheim

2cy male Siberian Blue Robin

Eastern Mongolia, May 2016, © Andreas Buchheim

The same Siberian Blue Robin from behind

Eastern Mongolia, May 2016, © Andreas Buchheim

Pair of Eastern Spotbills

Eastern Mongolia, May 2016, © Andreas Buchheim

We then went on toward Buir Nuur and arrived at the second of the chosen gull colonies in the late afternoon after a rather eventless journey through the steppes of Menengijn Tal. Only hundreds of larks and very few migrants like Isabelline Shrikes and an Eastern Buzzard were around. A colony of Pied Avocet consisted of c100 pairs. Three Whimbrels flew over so I could not identify the subspecies they belonged to. And then… more next so come back!

Pied Avocett colony

Eastern Mongolia, Mai 2016, © Andreas Buchheim

“Gulling” the East

text and photos by ABu

Recently I returned from a gull ringing trip to the eastern part of Mongolia. Since I was leaving for the north of the country very soon after I just put together some "teasers" of a few of the non-gulls I saw. More on these will be reported on the blog later, so check again!

teaser 1. Eastern Mongolia, May 2016.

teaser 2. Eastern Mongolia, May 2016.

teaser 3. Eastern Mongolia, May 2016.

teaser 4. Eastern Mongolia, May 2016.

teaser 5. Eastern Mongolia, May 2016.

part 16:

Ikh Tashgai

text by Kirsten Krätzel

( links to previous posts:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 ,12, 13, 14, 15 )

Ikh Tashgai Camp

Jun 2014 © K. Krätzel

After we passed a surprising wide agricultural area we arrived at our next main birding destination on 9 June: the lakes and swamps of Ikh Tashgai! For the first night we camped at one of the more open salt lakes in the northeast of the site. This held a good selection of waders (Common Redshank, many Marsh Sandpipers, breeding and chick-attending Pied Avocets, breeding Black-winged Stilts, Little Ringed and Kentish Plovers, 2 Pacific Golden Plovers, c50 Northern Lapwings, 5 Red-necked Stints, c100 Eastern Black-tailed Godwits, 1 Far Eastern Curlew), ducks (2 Mergansers, c50 Common Goldeneyes, and >100 Common Pochards and Tufted Ducks, a minimum of 5 Falcated Ducks, at least 10 Eurasian Wigeons and the set of ducks was completed by Gadwall, Eurasian Teal, Garganey, Northern Shoveler and 11 Asian White-winged Scoters). Terns were represented by Gull-billed and White-winged Terns. Further on these salt lakes we saw Swan Geese and Whooper Swans while Eastern Marsh Harrier cruised around. Then there were the lots of larks and pipits but all those had not been our target species.

Far Eastern Curlew

Ikh Tashgai, Jun 2014 © M. Putze

2 male Falcated Ducks

Ikh Tashgai, Jun 2014 © M. Putze

From our campsite we made several walks through a swampy depression towards the main lake with its vast reed vegetation. We had opted for Ochre-rumped Bunting aka Japanese (Reed) Bunting and found them in the boggy meadows surrounding the freshwater lake. They were singing and we counted six territories. Other reed buntings breed here as well: Mongolian Reed Bunting aka Pallas’s Reed Bunting breeds in the stands of what we-for obvious reasons-call “toilet grass” (livestock does not like this hard grass hence in the flat steppe, the tussocks of this species remain quite long and can be much welcomed at certain times, its scientific name is Achnatherum splendens) and the more Common Reed Buntings reside in the reeds proper. While walking around we flushed the one or the other Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler from the ground but the real surprise came in the morning: amazingly, many of them were singing quite in the open everywhere around us.

Male Ochre-rumped Bunting

Ikh Tashgai, Jun 2014 © T. Langenberg

Female Ochre-rumped Bunting

Ikh Tashgai, Jun 2014 © T. Langenberg

Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler

Ikh Tashgai, Jun 2014 © T. Langenberg

Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler

Ikh Tashgai, Jun 2014 © M. Putze

Common Cuckoo

Ikh Tashgai, Jun 2014 © M. Putze

In the reeds and sedges there were also many Eastern Yellow Wagtails (here macronyx or alike) and Citrine Wagtails. We more than double-checked the reeds of which some stood c4 m tall! Bearded Tits/Reedlings and several species of reed warblers (few Paddyfield, lots of both, Black-browed and Oriental) were easily bagged but we were after another species and-bang-there it was: Japanese Marsh Warbler!

Bearded Reedling

Ikh Tashgai, Jun 2014 © A. Buchheim

Black-browed Reed Warbler

Ikh Tashgai, Jun 2014 © M. Putze

2cy Eastern Marsh Harrier

Ikh Tashgai, Jun 2014 © M. Putze

Male Citrine Wagtail

Ikh Tashgai, Jun 2014 © M. Putze

As our first Japanese Marsh Warblers (also called Japanese Swamp Warbler or Marsh Grassbird; Locustella pryeri or Megalurus pryeri) were discovered on the far side of the big reed, we decided to camp closer to the reeds at the central lake the next day. So after we had enjoyed the obligatory “goat in the churn” of the trip here (хорхог as it is called in Mongolian is a traditional Mongolian dish which consists mainly of-you would have guessed it-meat, but originally sheep meat is used for this; we always use goat meat, not only because it has less fat but also because of the still rising number of desertification-promoting goats in the country; the good side is that one needs lots of alcohol to digest all that meat), we set of for the change.

The realization of this, to change the camp location, took us some time because several detour loops of driving had been necessary.

Detouring in Ikh Tashgai, Jun 2014

Finally we found a dry camp site at the western edge of the reed lake where we spent the next two nights till 12 June. From here we just had to cross a small muddy stream to reach the part of reeds where up to ten (or even more) singing Japanese Marsh Warblers had their territories. A nice find of this little-known and near-threatened species.

Khorkhog

Ikh Tashgai, Jun 2014 © A. Schneider

Eye of Japanese Marsh Warbler (groupshot!)

Ikh Tashgai, Jun 2014 © T. Langenberg

Japanese Marsh Warbler

Ikh Tashgai, Jun 2014 © A. Buchheim

Japanese Marsh Warbler

Ikh Tashgai, Jun 2014 © M. Putze

Japanese Marsh Warbler

Ikh Tashgai, Jun 2014 © T. Langenberg

At night, Brown-eared Rails aka Eastern Water Rail were calling close to the tents and we also logged Grey Heron, Great Egret, several Great Bitterns, Eurasian Spoonbill, quite many families of Greylag Goose. Further on show were Common Coot, Common Moorhen, 1 Baillon’s Crake, >50 Demoiselle Cranes and a flyby Great Bustard.

The “Eastern” Little Grebe might well still have been on migration as certainly were a Pallas’s Warbler, 2 Two-barred Greenish Warbler and several Arctic Warblers of which the warblers had interrupted their migration to stopover in the “toilet grass”.

Record shot “Eastern” Little Grebe

Ikh Tashgai, Jun 2014 © A. Buchheim

Record shot Red-crowned Cranes

Ikh Tashgai, Jun 2014 © M. Putze

Record shot Red-crowned Cranes

Ikh Tashgai, Jun 2014 © M. Putze

On the last day, 11 June, Armin discovered a pair of “white” cranes but as they were very far away he could not identify them at first sight. Sönke reacted quickest on Armin’s radio call and confirmed them as non-adult Red-crowned Cranes. So we all rushed to see them. Unfortunately they were quite shy and soon flew off only to land within a thick and far-away reed bed not to be seen again. Instead we discovered a pair of White-naped Crane (only). We finally had to leave this productive area despite one of our target species, Northern Parrotbill, had eluded us and we headed back towards UB. This will be reported next, so stay with us!