Tuul Gol, 2 September 2016

text & photos by ABu

Inside the vegetation—as dark as it gets!

Tuul Gol, UB, September 2016

Lots of view-blocking twigs and leaves, too…

Tuul Gol, UB, September 2016

presumed Long-leafed False Tamarisk Myricaria longifolia

Heteropappus hispidus (?)

Tuul Gol, UB, September 2016

Algae. Tuul Gol, UB, September 2016

I went out this day to get more photos of the penduline tits and immediately on my arrival at the river it was obvious that more birds, mostly buntings, were around. Once again, it turned out that most of the birds outsmarted me with ease. For 5.5 hours I crawled (sometimes) through the near impenetrable vegetation in pursuit of birds. At my early start it was only plus 5°C (41°F) which is obvious in the pictures of the fluffy (presumed) Stejneger’s Stonechat. Many leaves had turned into the brighter autumn colours but not many of them had been dropped. The plant (is it indeed a False Tamarisk, Myricaria?) on which the penduline tits preferred to search for food had turn dark orange. Some flowers, such as the presumed Heteropappus hispidus (?), were on full show still! At some stretches of the river algae were still growing. Usually these slimy algae indicate lots of organic input but this species, I believe, does not. It grows very patchily and normally the waste-water indicating algae grow everywhere.

With the now higher vegetation available, the Eurasian Red Squirrel, which is not red at all in this country, had returned. I found two but could “capture” only the young individual with my camera. Birds were, as already mentioned, much more difficult, but a few I got get a grip on, see yourself.
All pictures shown here had been taken with a handheld digital camera.

Eurasian Red Squirrel Sciurus vulgaris altaicus

Tuul Gol, UB, September 2016

Bird List (41 species)

Mallard 9
Goosander 1 female
Great Cormorant 2 juv.
Black-eared Kite 5, only 1 juv.
Booted Eagle 1
Common Kestrel 1
Green Sandpiper 2
Common Snipe 1
Hoopoe 1
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker 2

presumed Stejneger’s Stonechat

Tuul Gol, UB, September 2016

presumed Stejneger’s Stonechat

Tuul Gol, UB, September 2016

presumed Stejneger’s Stonechat

Tuul Gol, UB, September 2016

Richard’s Pipit 3
Olive-backed Pipit c.25
Grey Wagtail 4
White Wagtail 2, taxon/taxa unclear
presumed Stejneger’s Stonechat 6
presumed Siberian Whitethroat 2
Pallas’s Warbler 2
Yellow-browed Warbler c.20
Hume’s Warbler 1
Arctic Warbler c.40
Two-barred Greenish Warbler 4
Dusky Warbler c.70
Taiga Flycatcher c.30
Eurasian Tree Sparrow c.150
Azure Tit c.40
Great Tit 5
Long-tailed Tit 3
presumed Stoliczka’s White-crowned Tit c.40

White-crowned Penduline Tit

Tuul Gol, UB, September 2016

White-crowned Penduline Tit

Tuul Gol, UB, September 2016

White-crowned Penduline Tit

Tuul Gol, UB, September 2016

White-crowned Penduline Tit

Tuul Gol, UB, September 2016

Brandt’s Jay 1
Northern Raven 2
Eurasian Magpie c.10
Red-billed Chough c.25
Oriental Crow c.15
Brown Shrike 1
Isabelline Shrike 2
Common Rosefinch 6
Long-tailed Rosefinch c.20
Pine Bunting c.30
Little Bunting c.50
Black-faced Bunting c.10
Pallas’s (Reed) Bunting 8, taxon/taxa unclear

Little Bunting

Tuul Gol, UB, September 2016

Old oxbow lake

Tuul Gol, UB, September 2016