part six:

Bayan and Tsagaan Nuur

text & photos by ABu (© A. Buchheim)

links to previous Mr. Hodgson and the Gull Calls 2013 on Birding Mongolia:
part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5


Brian had “ordered” to add two more species on his bird list: Asian Dowitcher and Relict Gull. To stop at the IBA Dashinchilen Bayan Nuur aka Tsagaan Nuur was therefore mandatory, although only the dowitcher, but not the gull, breeds there. Again, there was a higher water level than in the year before (see here; mountainbirds part eleven), so we could not erect out mistnet at the standard site. Instead, we concentrated on birding from the early evening of 8 June to the early morning of the next day. Soon after our arrival we went down to the water’s edge where we easily found a pair of Asian Dowitchers. So only Relict Gull remained on our “to do list”. We parted: Brian, Patrick and Zegi went further down the lake while I chose to cross the very wet meadows. It turned out that this was the better option as I found 4 Relict Gulls among 50 Black-headed Gulls. All of the latter were in their 2cy. Unfortunately, I could not connect with Brian until we met in the camp and in the evening we could not find the gulls again. Brian will have to come back to Mongolia once more for an up-cleaning visit.

Pair of Asian Dowitcher

Dashinchilen Bayan Nuur, Jun 2013

3cy Relict Gull

Dashinchilen Bayan Nuur, Jun 2013

2cy Eurasian Spoonbills

Dashinchilen Bayan Nuur, Jun 2013

The lake was full of birds and we counted some species:

Mallard 400
Gadwall 110
Northern Shoveler 250
Northern Pintail 130
Garganey 80
Common Teal 70
Common Pochard 150
Pied Avocet 400
Black-winged Stilt 80
Eurasian Spoonbill 27 (only 3 adults in this flock)

Pied Avocet

Dashinchilen Bayan Nuur, Jun 2013

Black-winged Stilt

Dashinchilen Bayan Nuur, Jun 2013

The story will end with birds and pictures from the area below Songino Khairkhan Uul near UB, so keep on checking…!