One
pollution less
and a rushed twitch
and a rushed twitch
Text & Fotos © Andreas Buchheim
In
the morning of 12 February 2012, Huyagaa and Amarkhuu, both members
of the Mongolian Birdwatching Club picked me up. We were joined by
Megaa a little later and then went to the south side of Bogd Khaan
Uul to pay the famous Manzshir Monastery a visit. This has been
productive several times before (for example: click here)
and we hoped to see some nice forest species there.
As
we left the car 5 Eurasian Black Vultures crossed the valley
and near the parking-lot some corvids hoped for something to feed
upon.
Manzshir
Monastery, Feb 2012
Oriental
[Carrion] Crows searching
for some scraps
at
the parking lot, Manzshir Monastery, Feb 2012
Common
Magpie doing
likewise,
Manzshir
Monastery, Feb 2012
Further
up in the forest there were several flocks of Eurasian Tree
Sparrows loosely joined by Eurasian Siskins and a few
Common Crossbills. Some of the crossbills were in full song
already. Food supply for them is huge this winter and we saw several
groups of crossbills during our visit.
Today
I understood why they are called
Eurasian
TREE Sparrows,
Manzshir Monastery, Feb 2012
A
lot of cones were available this winter,
Manzshir
Monastery, Feb 2012
Male
Common Crossbill,
Manzshir
Monastery, Feb 2012
Coal
Tits were
also singing everywhere but the many Willow
Tits
we saw did only give their subsongs. Spotted
Nutcrackers
also showed kind of territorial behavior already and we saw a group
of 8 birds and another group of 3 birds while walking through the
forest. In contrast to this we encountered only one Eurasian
Jay.
Coal
Tit,
Manzshir Monastery, Feb 2012
Willow
Tit,
Manzshir Monastery, Feb 2012
The
valley viewed from the top of the rocks
(cf.
first pic of this post), Manzshir Monastery, Feb 2012
After
we found another big flock of Eurasian Siskins which was
loosely joined by 4 Siberian Accentors we went back to the
parking lot. On the way a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker—the
only woodpecker we saw there on this trip—crossed our path.
Striking
was the complete lack of redpolls of any kind. These had been
one of the most common birds around Ulaanbaatar during previous
winters. We saw them even in the steppe of Khustai Nuruu NP in huge
flocks, so huge that we joked about the big “redpollution”.
But this winter, despite many days out at different sites not a
single redpoll was recorded—thus there was one pollution less for the
area.
As
there was some time left we decided to see whether the European
Greenfinches (see here: click) would be around
and Amarkhuu offered to check for the Common Coot which was
found during the waterfowl-count a week before (members of the Mongolian Birdwatching Club counted among other birds: Mallard 63, Common Goldeneye 13, Ruddy Shelduck 223, Goosander 7, and impressively Bohemian Waxwing over 1000).
So
we rushed towards the area below Songino Khairkhan Uul where we spent
an hour or so. We could not find any greenfinches but saw 3
Azure-winged Magpies, a Naumann’s Thrush
(naumanni), a female Black-throated Thrush and a male
Red-throated x Black-throated Thrush hybrid.
At
the UB Ponds we quickly relocated the coot among the
Mallards, Common Goldeneyes, Goosanders and
Ruddy Shelducks and went back home after a very nice day of
birding. Thanx guys for your enjoyable companionship!
Male
Red-throated x Black-throated Thrush hybrid,
below
Songino Khairkhan Uul, Feb 2012
Male
Red-throated x Black-throated Thrush hybrid
in
flight showing its betraying reddish tail,
below
Songino Khairkhan Uul, Feb 2012
2 comments:
Hi Abu and Axel,
northward, i.e. in Irkutsk Region and around, there is also very little number of Redpoll during a whole winter. The most part of local colleagues and me myself still did not even see a single redpoll since October!
Igor
I see You have still winter... Did I guess well?
Birds in Mongolia are very similar to Polish and other European birds. It is something new for me. I like also birdwathing, but I can do it only in the park or in the village.
Greetings for You from Poland.
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