Khovd, early-MAY 2007 - A. Braunlich
A selection of observations from the last ten days (first observations in Khovd for this spring are marked with an asterisk*):

12 May: The Blackbird wasn’t at the university's green patch this morning. But the tiny site produced 1 Great Reed Warbler*, 4 Hume's Leaf Warblers and 1 Common Rosefinch! Near a small mountain at the edge of town 2 Grey-necked Buntings were spotted (species no. 202 for Khovd since late October 2005, but probably overlooked before - most likely breeding in these mountains).

11 May: After a few overcast, windy and cold days a very bright morning, with blue sky. The temperature at sunrise was minus 3˚C. I took a taxi and went to a plantation a little bit outside of town. A few hours birding there before work were absolutely fantastic: 7 Lesser Whitethroats*, 1 Arctic Warbler* singing, 1 Dusky Warbler*, c.40 Hume’s Leaf Warblers, 2 Blyth’s Reed Warblers* singing, 1 European Grasshopper Warbler* singing (species no. 201 for Khovd since late October 2005, and a personal first for my Mongolia list), 85 Ortolan Buntings, among them 2 male Eurasian Siskins (rare here this spring), >30 Tree Pipits, 1 Common Rosefinch* singing, 2 dark morph Booted Eagles, 1 Steppe Buzzard, and 4+2+2+1 Scaly Thrushes (last spring I saw here 8 in total only). Breeding birds present included 4 pairs of Black-eared Kite and 3 pairs of Eurasian Hobby. Along the river I saw 5 Goosanders (rare here), a few Grey Herons and 2 pairs of Demoiselle Crane. The Eurasian Blackbird was still in front of the university today (and could be shown to ten biology students). Two Paddyfield Warblers were in the same little green area.


Eurasian Hobby. Photo © A. Braunlich


Eurasian Starling. Photo © A. Braunlich


Goosander. Photo © A. Braunlich


Pin-tailed Snipe. Photo © A. Braunlich

10 May: The Eurasian Blackbird still present. The second Pin-tailed Snipe this spring, 61 Water Pipits, 8 Citrine Wagtails, 1 male Naumann's Thrush, 1 female Black-throated Thrush.


Masked Wagtail M. (alba) personat. Photo © A. Braunlich

Near the stadium in Khovd I found Mongolia's third European Pied Flycatcher. All Mongolian records have been photographically documented:

I. To the north-west of Khovd, 1 June 2006 (A. Buchheim et al.)
II. In Khovd town, 22 September 2006 (M. Gilbert, A. Braunlich et al.)
III. In Khovd town, 10 May 2007 (A. Braunlich)



European Pied Flycatcher, Khovd town, 10 May 2006.
Photos © A. Braunlich


European Pied Flycatcher, Khovd town, 22 September 2006.
Photo © A. Braunlich


European Pied Flycatcher, NW of Khovd, 1 June 2006.
Photo © T. Langenberg

9 May: A cold and very windy day. Highlight was the observation of Mongolia’s first documented Eurasian Blackbird (species no. 200 for Khovd since late October 2005).

8 May: 2 Stock Pigeons, a flock 26 Ortolan Buntings, Black-eared Kite roost with at least 220 birds (and several birds incubating), and 3 Paddyfield Warblers.

7 May: Still a flock (45) of Twite, 10 Ortolan Buntings, a very pale Eurasian Sparrowhawk (ssp?), 2 Oriental Turtle Doves* (S. o. meena), and a mixed flock of 2 male and one female Red-throated Thrushes, 1 Fieldfare and 1 male Naumann’s Thrush*, 1 Richard’s Pipit*. A total of 4 Mongolian Gulls with wing-tags was recorded from the edge of town (more info to follow). 1 Western Yellow Wagtail, ssp. Motacilla flava beema (migrant, the breeding ssp here is M. f. leucocephala).


Mongolian Gull. Photo © A. Braunlich


Western Yellow Wagtail, ssp. M. f. beema.
Photo © A. Braunlich

6 May (+ Kis Ferenc, K. Braunlich): 1 Scaly Thrush*, 1 Paddyfield Warbler, and 6 Hume’s Leaf Warblers.

5 May (+ Kis Ferenc from WWF Hungary): A late migrant Siberian Chiffchaff, 2 Daurian Jackdaws in first-winter plumage, and 1 Pintail Snipe* 1 (species no. 199 for Khovd since late October 2005).

3 May (observations together with Ulaanbaatar-based ornithologist Tseveenmyadag): 1 Song Thrush* (rare passage migrant here), a flock of 12 Tree Pipits, and 5 Ortolan Buntings.


Eastern Stonechat Saxicola (rubicola) maurus
Photo © A. Braunlich

early-MAY 2007, Tsetserleg, Khangai Mountains - K. Schleicher
Birdwatching was exciting during the past days at the wet steppe next to the airport. On every visit I saw new spring arrivals: 2 May: Wood Sandpiper, 8 May: Water Pipit, White Wagtail M. (alba) personata ('Masked Wagtail'), Garganey, Northern Shoveler, Tufted Duck, Common Redshank, Green Sandpiper, Common Snipe (courtship flight), Little Bunting; 9 May: Marsh Sandpiper; 10 May: Sand Martin and Long-toed Stint. The Northern Lapwings are already sitting on their nests on the tops of permafrost hillocks, but no eggs are layed yet. They are permanently busy attacking Northern Ravens. The highest number of Bar-headed Geese at this site was 21, the highest number of Demoiselle Cranes 25.


Taiga Flycatcher. Photo © K. Schleicher

On 7 May at the rocky top of a mountain north of Tsetserleg (2400 m a.s.l.) I observed 10 Alpine Accentors. On the way down the valley in the larch forest a single Mistle Thrush was sitting on a branch.
On 11 May in the city park of Tsetserleg c.10 Taiga Flycatchers and 6 Little Buntings rested. One Little Bunting flew against an electric cable and fell to the ground, dead, just in front of me. For the third time I observed a White-backed Woodpecker, feeding on marrow.

Cinereous Vulture released in Thailand, not in Mongolia

A while ago a post (click here) appeared at Birding Mongolia, reporting on the planned release of a Cinereous Vulture in Mongolia. Here are the latest news on the project.

_________________

Dear all,

A Cinereous Vulture and four Himalayan Griffons have been released on a mountain in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand along Myanmar-Thailand border on 10 May 2007. The vultures had been found exhausted due to starvation in Thailand in January and have been rehabilitated since to gain strength.

The main reason for not being able to fly the Cinereous Vulture to Mongolia was that both China and South Korea refused the short transit to Ulaanbaatar, reasoning the Bird Flu situation in Thailand, even though this particular vulture has been tested twice in a period of two months and it was confirmed that it is free of the deadly virus by a WHO-certified National Institute of Animal Health Laboratory in Thailand.

All vultures have a yellow wing tag. The Cinereous Vulture is tagged with V1 on its right wing as well as fitted with a satellite telemetry unit. The Himalayan Griffons are tagged with V4, V5, V6 and V7 marks on the left wing. Click here to see photos at the Thai Raptor Group website (scroll down to the end of the page).

I would be grateful to receive sightings of the released vultures. Please submit sightings of them with the number on the wing tag (if visible) to fvetchk(at)ku.ac.th or trogon(at)gmail.com.

The release operation is part of Fly the Vulture Home Project, which is the cooperation of Bird Conservation Society of Thailand (BCST), Department of National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Kasetsart University's Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Mongolia's Wildlife Science and Conservation Center and Thai Raptor Group.

Cheers,
Chaiyan

Chaiyan Kasorndorkbua, DVM, PhD
Department of Veterinary Pathology
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
Kasetsart University
Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900, Thailand

First documented record of Eurasian Blackbird for Mongolia

by A. Braunlich

Today I was walking together with local birder S. Gantugs (biology teacher at Khovd University) when he discovered a female Eurasian Blackbird in a little fenced green area (about 20 trees and a small hedge) in front of the main university building. He immediately identified the bird (without binoculars). After a brief look I jumped into a passing taxi and drove home, getting my camera. It took a little while since the car ran out of petrol on the way back to the bird. However, the thrush was still there when I arrived, and I (marveled at by many students during their lunch break) was able to take a series of photos. After a while we had to abort observation due to a sand/dust storm hitting town, with strong winds continuing well into the afternoon and evening.



Eurasian Blackbird, Khovd town, 9 May 2007.
all photos © A. Braunlich

The thrush appeared rather large and heavy (compared to the Blackbirds I know from Germany), with a thick neck, long bill, long wings and long tail. It belonged most likely to the subspecies T. m. intermedius, which breeds in Kazakhstan in the Karatau, the Tien Shan, east to the Dzhungarskiy (Dzungarian) Alatau and the Altai (Wassink & Oreel 2007). Its breeding range most likely reaches the Russian part of the Altai (Koblik et al. 2006). Outside Kazakhstan it occurs as a breeding bird in Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and in western China in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Qinghai (Clement & Hathway 2000). Intermedius is said to be mostly sedentary (Clement & Hathway 2000, Wassink & Oreel 2007), but it has been recorded outside its breeding areas in NW Pakistan and E Afghanistan (Clement & Hathway 2000).

Eurasian Blackbird, Khovd town, 9 May 2007.

Other species present in the little green patch were several House Sparrows, a pair of Northern Wheatears, a female Common Redstart, a Hume’s Leaf Warbler and a Carrion Crow.


Eurasian Blackbird, Khovd town, 9 May 2007.

According to my knowledge there has been only one published record of Eurasian Blackbird Turdus merula for Mongolia: Feather remains were found 10 km west of Ulaanbaatar on “00.00.1990” (sic!), cited from Dawaa et al. (1994). The collected feathers have been lost, and with them the correct date (W.-D. Busching in lit. 2004). Without any supporting evidence this record can only be regarded as unproven and cannot be accepted. Thus the observation of the Khovd bird from today becomes the first document record of Eurasian Blackbird for Mongolia.

Eurasian Blackbird, Khovd town, 9 May 2007.

Taxonomic note
The subspecies T. m. maximus, mandarinus, intermedius, and sowerbyi are probably best regarded as an incipient species, Eastern Blackbird Turdus mandarinus (Clement & Hathway 2000). However, intermedius is often still treated as subspecies of T. merula, for example in the Handbook of the Birds of the World and in Rasmussen & Anderton (2005).

Literature

Clement, P. & Hathway, R. 2000. Thrushes. London: Christopher Helm (A&C Black).
Dawaa, N., Busching, W.-D., Sumijaa, D., Bold, A. & Samijaa, R. 1994. [Comented Checklist of Birds and Mammals of Mongolia. Part 1: Birds.] Kothen, Germany: Naumann-Museum. (In German.)
Koblik, E. A., Red’kin, Ya., A. & Arkhipov, V. Yu. 2006. [Checklist of the Birds of the Russian Federation]. Moscow: KMK Scientific Press. (In Russian, with an English introduction.)
Rasmussen, P. C. & Anderton, J. C. 2005. Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide. Vols. 1 and 2. Washington, D.C.: Smithonian Institution and Barcelona: Lynx Edicions.
Wassink, A. & Oreel, G. J. 2007. The Birds of Kazakhstan. De Cocksdrop Texel, The Netherlands: Published by Arend Wassink.

Gobi / Shinejinst update, 20 APR - 6 MAY - D. Mantle
The 20th of April was an exciting day for me. I saw my first Pallas’s Sandgrouse. I was actually a little surprised that it had taken me almost two months to see one but I guess they find slightly more hospitable areas during the winter. Our basin is very open to the cold westerly winds and has been snow covered as often as not till now. Today there was a really violent dust storm and it was as the winds were dying down that two Pallas’s Sandgrouse raced over the camp. The typical sandgrouse bubbling call was what alerted me to look up. Five minutes later the first Dark-throated Thrush of the spring (a first winter ruficollis) sought shelter behind some cabins. Small numbers of both ruficollis and atrogularis where seen until the end of the month (none so far in May). I have subsequently seen sandgrouse every few days in our valley and they were common in less grazed habitat an hour to the north.

Pallas’s Sandgrouse. Photo © D. Mantle

Birds of prey have become more apparent in the area with Steppe Eagles being seen every couple of days, Cinereous Vultures daily, one record of Himalayan Griffon Vulture (2 with Cinereous Vulture on the 26th April), Lesser Kestrel, Golden Eagle, Upland Buzzard, Black-eared Kite (first record - 21st April) and Eurasian Sparrowhawk (3rd May).

Further migrants included an unexpected Chaffinch which hung around for three days (21-24th April), Water Pipit (daily from the 21st), continued arrivals and breeding of the four local wheatears, Black Redstart (phoenicuroides - resident from the 28th April), Demoiselle Crane (9 circled north on the 1st May), the second Citrine Wagtail of the spring at the exact same water sump as the first (5th May) and finally my first Mongolian hirundines – Barn Swallow (3rd May) and Sand Martin (6th May). The 6th also provided a major highlight in the form of a fine Hodgsons (White-throated) Bushchat and two Ruddy Shelducks on a metre square patch of ice melt.

Red-throated Thrush. Photo © D. Mantle

Other recent area ticks included two Daurian Jackdaws that saw out yet another sand storm around camp on the 27th April and several Mongolian Finches.

1/2 MAY 2007, Khovd - A. Braunlich
1 May: A group of four Demoiselle Cranes resting at the river were new local arrivals. The first two Northern House Martins inspected their breeding sites at our apartment block. Other species seen today for the first time this spring are: 1 male Siberian Stonechat, 1 Ortolan Bunting, and 1 Northern Hobby. A male Linnet at the river was a nice bonus, the species breeds in Mongolia only in the west. The local Black-eared Kite roost held a least 190 birds.
2 May: The warm weather and the (rare) rain last night brought several new arrivals: 5 Tree Pipits, 6 Green Sandpipers, 1 Hume’s Leaf Warbler, and c.20 Paddyfield Warblers in town. An immature Steppe Eagle soared over the river, and a mixed flock of 5 Twite and 7 Ortolan Buntings was a rather unusual sight.

late-APR 2007, Khovd - A. Braunlich
It is always a “pain” to leave one’s local spot, even for a short time. I have been in Ulaanbaatar for a week – and of course, I was nervous, wondering what I might miss back home in Khovd. On 22 Apr, the day before I came back, some snow fell in and around town (see photo from 23 Apr).


Khovd town, 23 April 2007. Photo © A. Braunlich

Here are some noteworthy observations from the last week of April: 23 Apr: A relatively small area (c.5 ha) held 23 Pied Wheatears, 20 Black Redstarts, 24 Northern Wheatears, and a flock 9 Lesser Short-toed Larks (common breeder in the region, but rare at my local spot). 25 Apr: A loose flock of 90 Masked Wagtails, 15 Water Pipits, and 1 Citrine Wagtail rested at some muddy puddles near the river, the first Barn Swallow and the first Common Redstart were seen, and in a little grove of poplars I spotted 2 male and 3 female Red-throated Thrushes (the largest group of this species I have seen here so far – it is greatly outnumbered by Black-throated Thrush). 26 Apr: The first Common Cuckoo was calling in town (obs. by Gantulga, member of a WWF-sponsored anti-poaching unit). 3 Common Redshanks (species no. 198 for Khovd since late October 2005) were resting in a wet meadow at the edge of town. The same site held c.60 Water Pipits, c.30 Masked Wagtails, and 8 Citrine Wagtails. Sand Martins had arrived at one of the local breeding colonies, c.10 were spotted. An adult male Peregrine wasn’t left in peace by locally breeding Carrion Crows which were mobbing him constantly.

late-APR 2007, Tsetserleg - K. Schleicher
New spring arrivals in and around Tsetserleg. In the city 18 Apr: 1 House Martin. The water level at the wet steppe next to airport increased and the small ponds attracted some new bird species. 25 Apr: 1 Demoiselle Crane, 28 April: 1 Grey Heron, 3 Northern Pintails, 8 Eurasian Wigeons, 2 Common Gulls. The number of resting Bar-headed Geese rose to 8. At the Tamir river (the ice has completely disappeared by now) 29 Apr: one pair Little Ringed Plovers, 1 pair Goosanders. In willow/birch scrub 30 Apr: 1 male Daurian Redstart.

28 APR 2007, SW-side Khar Us Nuur, c.40 km ESE from Khovd
- K. & A. Braunlich
The ice which still covered large parts of Khar Us Nuur (Khar Us Lake) about two weeks ago (see photo; the visible shoreline is about 20 km long) has completely melted away. Despite strong (and warm) wind 56 spp were logged today.


Ice breaking up at southern Khar Us Nuur, 16 April.
Photo © A. Braunlich

The southern part of Khar Us Nuur consists of a reedbed-island zone, measuring c.17 x 8-11 km. This huge wetland is very difficult to overlook and hundreds of waterfowl seen here today (16 species; the commonest species being Red-headed Pochard) are only a tiny fraction of the overall number which may reach many thousands during this time of the year.


The reedbed-island zone of southern Khar Us Nuur, c.17 km across.
© Google Earth

The lake is important for the globally threatened White-headed Duck, being the easternmost breeding site for the species world-wide. Today 9 males and 6 females were seen. The large congregations of ducks, shelducks and geese attracted an adult Golden Eagle, a species breeding in the nearby mountains. First observations for the spring included 4 pairs of Demoiselle Crane, 3 Black-winged Stilts, a flock of 7 Caspian Terns resting in the mixed colony of Pallas’s and Mongolian Gulls, 33 Eurasian Spoonbills, 1 Black-necked Grebe, >10 Western Marsh Harriers, and 1 Grey Plover. Among the dozens of Common Redshanks, Kentish Plovers and Avocets feeding along the muddy shoreline several Greater and Lesser Sandplovers (the latter of the northern subspecies group mongolus/stegmanni) were spotted. Passerines were more difficult to find due to the strong wind. Of interest were two loose groups of Desert Wheatears, totaling c.40 birds.


Reed dwellers at Khar Us Nuur. Photo © A. Braunlich

Important Bird Areas in Mongolia



If the degradation and loss of natural ecosystems in Asia are to be halted, and the essential services and products they provide are to be maintained, it is vital that the negative impacts of economic development on biodiversity are mitigated, and that proactive measures are taken to conserve the region’s highest priority sites. The Important Bird Area (IBA) Programme of BirdLife International is a contribution towards these goals. The programme aims to identify and protect a network of critical sites for the world’s birds. It began in Europe in 1985, and was adopted as a global initiative by BirdLife International in 1994. In Mongolia, work on an IBA inventory began in 1999. Results were published in 2004 in the milestone publication Important Bird Areas in Asia: Key Sites for Conservation.

The Asian IBA Programme has five long-term objectives: (i) to provide a basis for the development of national conservation strategies and protected areas programmes; (ii) to highlight areas that should be safeguarded through wise land-use planning, national policies and regulations, and the grant-giving and lending programmes of international banks and development agencies; (iii) to provide a focus for the conservation efforts of civil society, including national and regional NGO networks; (iv) to highlight sites that are threatened or inadequately protected, so that urgent remedial measures can be taken; and (v) to guide the implementation of global conservation conventions and migratory bird agreements.

A workshop "Towards the identification and safeguarding of important areas of natural habitat in Monglia" was held in Ulaanbaatar from 19 to 20 April 2007. The workshop was organized in recognition of Mongolia's global importance for biodiversity and its rich natural habitats, and the increasing need to conserve these resources alongside Mongolia's economic development. The workshop was organized by BirdLife International and the Wildlife Science and Conservation Center, on behalf of the Ministry of Nature and Environment and The World Bank, and with the support of the National University of Mongolia, the Institute of Biology of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences, WWF Mongolia and the Wildlife Conservation Society Mongolia Programme Office.



During the two-day workshop about 40 specialists from Mongolia, Japan, Hong Kong, Germany, the UK and the USA discussed options for the protection of IBA, threats and pressures on IBA and how to mitigate them, and compiled new information on existing and potential new IBA. A new Mongolian IBA inventory was drafted. In addition to the 41 existing IBA, 37 potential new IBA were identified.


The 41 existing IBA in Mongolia.


37 potential new IBA were identified during the workshop.

For further information and contributions to the IBA Programme in Mongolia please contact Mr. Nyambayar Batbayar from the Wildlife Science and Conservation Center in Ulaanbaatar. E-mail: bnyamba@magicnet.mn

mid-APR 2007, Tsetserleg - K. Schleicher
On 15 April I observed for the second time a White-backed Woodpecker which was pecking at the inside of a cracked bone in the city park of Tsetserleg (compare pictures from 29 March). After the woodpecker finished searching for food I examined the bone. There was fresh marrow in it with traces of the woodpecker’s bill, proving that the woodpecker(s) are specialised in feeding on marrow.

New spring arrivals around Tsetserleg were: 12 Apr 1 Booted Eagle (dark morph). Last year Booted Eagle bred successfully in mountain forest two kilometres north of Tsetserleg. 13 Apr 1 Pied Wheatear (singing) and Black Redstart (ssp. P. o. phoenicuroides; singing). 14 Apr 2 Mongolian Gulls resting on the ice of Tamir river. 15 Apr, at the wet area adjacent to the airport: 2 Eurasian Rooks, 2 Citrine Wagtails, 4 Common Starlings, 12 Mallards, 2 Bar-headed Geese, and 1 male Common Teal.



Booted Eagle. Photos © K. Schleicher

I have to withdraw the record of 31 Eurasian Jackdaws from 9 April. A closer look through the telescope on 15 April revealed that at the same site only Daurian Jackdaws in first-winter plumage were present. Their number had increased to c.1,500. I had mistaken these dark birds for Eurasian Jackdaws.

Comment by Axel:
“Daurian Jackdaw has three distinct plumages: juveniles and adults are pied, while first-years are largely black. The variation in head streaking of first-years, often mentioned as a key separation feature from Eurasian Jackdaw, is related to time of year. One consequence of that may be that first-winter Daurian Jackdaws are often confused with Eurasian Jackdaws.

First-winter Daurian Jackdaws which lack streaking on the ear-coverts closely resemble juvenile Eurasian Jackdaw. They are, however, readily separable from first-winter and adult Eurasian Jackdaw by their lack of a pale grey nape. In addition, first-winter Daurian Jackdaw has a glossy back throat which contrasts with the sooty-black upper breast. Furthermore, the iris colour is always dark in Daurian Jackdaw, but ranges between light grey and white in Eurasian Jackdaw. This last difference is diagnostic at all ages, except for recently fledged juvenile Eurasian Jackdaws, which have dark irides.”
from: Leader, P. J. 2003. Identification of Daurian Jackdaw. British Birds 96: 520 - 523

I checked several Daurian Jackdaws flocks, often consisting of hundreds of birds, in Ulaanbaatar on 16/17 April 2007. The percentage of adult birds in these groups was mostly 1-2% only; the majority were birds in first-winter plumage.


Daurian Jackdaw, adult. Ulaanbaatar, 16 April 2007.
Photo © A. Braunlich


Daurian Jackdaws, first-winter plumage.
Ulaanbaatar 16 April 2007. Photo © A. Braunlich

(I was contacted by Daniel Mantle, a keen birder who is based in the Gobi for some time. Although birdlife at his barren local spot is rather sparse early in the year we can expect some exiting observations from him. Axel.) Here is his first post:

MAR to mid-APR 2007, Gobi near Shinejinst - D. Mantle
I will be in Mongolia for at least this year. I am working as a contract geologist and will be based near Shinejinst (south-central Mongolia, c.4 hours south of Bayangkhongor). I am pretty much confined to the small basin I am working in and the immediate surrounds. In March the birding in the area was extremely sparse. There are no trees or even shrubs/bushes in the area and certainly no surface water (well at least not at this time of year). The only vegetation in the basin is grass (or what is left after the livestock has been at it) and a very low (5 cm) growing lavender-scented herb/shrub on a few of the hills. I only saw about ten species in the basin in the whole of March. Horned Lark and Northern Raven were the only regular species but their were days when I would spend up to 12 hours outside and see only one or two birds. There are a few spots where I am guaranteed flocks of up to 50 Horned Larks but other parts of the basin were utterly birdless. The highlights in March were stunning views of Lammergeier, Long-legged Buzzard, Pere David's Snowfinch, and Hill Pigeon (if that can be considered a highlight).


Isabelline Wheatear. Photo © D. Mantle

Now migrants have started to move through in the last week or so. In Shinejinst the first definite migrant was a Citrine Wagtail (5/4/2007) that landed briefly at a well we had dug for our drilling operations. This bird cheered me up no end as I was becoming a little disconsolate about my birding opportunities in such a barren area. It was a stunning breeding male and a bird that I have only ever seen twice before in the UK and France. The next day a Steppe Eagle (6/4/07) moved north but this could easily have been a local bird moving over but a Black Vulture and a Common Buzzard also moving north along the same ridge line the following day had me thinking these birds may be early migrants. The only regular bird of prey in the area is very pale Upland Buzzard that I see every few days. I also heard my first White Wagtail flying over this day (7/04/07). This bird was soon followed by more White Wagtails (mostly personata and a few baicalensis) over the following days. Having seen no wheatears before the 9th of April, all four local species (Isabelline, Northern, Desert, and Pied in decreasing abundance) turned up that day. I am outside working for most of the day so am pretty sure there were no wheatears before this date. Within a few days there were Isabelline Wheatears across the basin and they have now begun displaying (at least I presume it is a display - hovering in a perfectly still position in mid air, often with a piece of grass in their bill). The Isabelline Wheatears are abundant across the highly grazed flat central portion of the basin and also in the surrounding low ridges but the Desert and Pied Wheatears are rarely far from the hilly edges. The first Hoopoe flew over our camp on the morning of the 15th, the day after a violent and prolonged dust storm that shutdown all drilling operations. I awoke on the morning of the 16th to see that a fresh fall of snow had covered the basin but several new birds had also arrived over night. A beautiful male Lesser Kestrel was resting on a soil heap from the well and Lesser (Asian) Short-toed Lark, a Twite, and 3 Rock Sparrows had joined the foraging flocks of Horned Larks (these new species to my area list may only have been locally displaced birds due to the overnight snowfall). To be honest, I have never spent so much time in an area of such low diversity. This isn't a complaint, I think the area is spectacular and the birds and now some of the mammals I am seeing are great but a few bushes or trees to pull in a few more migrants wouldn't go astray.

(Two winters ago in Khovd I had one of my "local patch walks" when I managed to see zero individuals of zero species… Winter birding in Mongolia can be tough! Axel.)

19 MAR 2007, Ulaanbaatar city beauty - A. Braunlich
I am for a few days in the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar, attending an Important Bird Area workshop (info will follow). Today, on the way to the venue I heard the song of a Long-tailed Rosefinch penetrating the traffic noise in a very busy street. During the last years I have seen now several times this species in downtown Ulaanbaatar, even singing in backyards which were almost devoid of bushes or trees. But more easily they can be found at the edge of Ulaanbaatar along the willow-fringed Tuul river, or in the Nairamdal Park in town.

Long-tailed Rosefinch. Photo © A. Braunlich

Photos
BTW, I am taking the photos posted on Birding Mongolia with a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30, an 8 Mega pixel camera with a fixed 12x optical zoom Leica lens and a 1.7x tele conversion lens.

15 APR 2007, SW-side Khar Us Nuur, c.40 km ESE from Khovd
- K. & A. Braunlich
7˚C, overcast, 50 species logged, incl. 10 species of duck. More than 80% of Khar us nuur (the Mongolian word “nuur” means lake) remain covered by ice. However, the first shorebirds defied the arctic conditions and were feeding along the partly ice-free shoreline: 26 Pied Avocets, c.30 Kentish Plovers, 1 Little Ringed Plover, 2 Common Redshanks, and >50 Northern Lapwings. At an island which holds a gull colony since many years c.220 very vocal Great Black-headed Gulls gathered together with Mongolian Gulls Larus (vegae) mongolicus. 2 Common Sand Martins and 2 Common House Martins were early arrivals. A beautiful male Lesser Kestrel rested on the ground in the desert steppe adjacent to the lake, and a pair was seen in mountains nearby.

14 APR 2007, Khovd - A. Braunlich
New species today, seen for the first time this spring were 1 Bar-headed Goose, 3 Eurasian Crag Martins, and 2 Yellowhammers. Wheatears (all four species) arrived in numbers, and Water Pipits were very common along the river (>90 logged).

13 APR 2007, Khovd - A. Braunlich
In the afternoon we got the second rain shower of the year. It is unbelievable that air can smell this fresh – after many months of treating our lungs with dust and the smoke from the yurts. About 80% of the c.30,000 people in the town of Khovd live in yurts.


Our house (the apartment block in the centre of the photo)
is surrounded by the traditional white Mongolian yurts.
The plots are separated from each other by wooden fences.
Photo from autumn 2006 © Axel Braunlich

A walk along the river after the skies cleared up was quite successful, with 36 species logged, including 8 new for the year (marked with an *): 3 Whooper Swans*, 16 Water Pipits, 6 Citrine Wagtails, 1 Grey Wagtail*, 45 Masked Wagtails, 13 Siberian Chiffchaffs, 2 Bluethroats*, 1 Hoopoe*, 1 Stock Dove*, 2 Western Jackdaws*, and 58 Black-throated Thrushes. Behind the stadium a little wheatear-party took place, with 1 male Pied, 1 male Isabelline (singing), 3 males and one female Northern and 3 males Desert Wheatears* in an area of c.2 hectares. A dark morph Booted Eagle* resting nearby was – as always – mobbed by Carrion Crows. The local Black-eared Kite roost has increased to c.250 birds.

The Birds of Kazakhstan will be published in the 2nd week of April 2007

Kazakhstan is a huge (with 2.7 million square kilometres about 1.7 times the size of Mongolia) and diverse country, stretching from Europe almost to Mongolia. The two countries don’t share a common border, but are separated by a c.40 km long stretch of the Chinese-Russian border in the Altai. The easternmost point of Kazakhstan is c.340 km WNW from Khovd. The number of bird species recorded in Kazakhstan and Mongolia is rather similar (498/c.470).

For anyone interested in the bird fauna of the Altai-Sayan Ecoregion (to which western Mongolia belongs) the new book will be an important reference.

The Birds of Kazakhstan
by Arend Wassink and Gerald J Oreel

This full-colour book brings together invaluable information on status, habitats, distribution and migration on the birds of Kazakhstan, packed into 288 pages.

All 498 species recorded in Kazakhstan (up to early 2007) are covered, and more than 900 maps and graphs give their breeding and temporal distribution. The text, including the introductory chapters, is further illustrated by maps, watercolour paintings and many photographs.

The Birds of Kazakhstan is an essential reference for anyone with an interest in the avifauna of Kazakhstan and Central Asia.

For more information (including ordering instructions), see www.birdsofkazakhstan.com

11 APR 2007, Khovd - A. Braunlich
A light shower yesterday afternoon was the first rain in Khovd since last autumn. Today it was rather warm (15˚C) and the first green grass emerged (at least 1 mm visible!). A very early Turkestan Shrike Lanius (isabellinus) phoenicuroides rested behind the stadium (last year’s first observation was on May, 10th!). Other notable sightings of migrants included 9 Black Redstarts (of the red-bellied ssp. Phoenicurus ochruros phoenicuroides), 5 (incl. 2 sing.) Siberian Chiffchaffs, 23 Black-throated Thrushes, one hybrid Black-throated x Red-throated Thrush, and a flock of 8 Bramblings.


Hill Pigeon. Photo © A. Braunlich

early APR 2007, Tsetserleg - K. Schleicher
First records of spring arrivals around Tsetserleg (for comparison in brackets first observations from Khovd, which is c.730 km to the WNW from Tsetserleg; obs. A. Braunlich): 5 Apr: one Black-throated Thrush (28 Feb); 7 Apr: one female Common Chaffinch (30 Mar), one singing Isabelline Wheatear (7 Apr); 9 Apr: one singing Northern Wheatear (8 Apr), and at a wet area with a creek next to the airport: 8 (6 in courtship flight) Northern Lapwings (1 Apr), 3 White Wagtails M. a. baicalensis, 2 singing Eurasian Skylarks (24 Mar). Species which also have been observed, but not as first records for the year are 44 Ruddy Shelducks, and a flock of 72 Eurasian Jackdaws and 2 Daurian Jackdaws.

The first Hill Pigeon clutch (2 eggs) was in the loft of my apartment on 3 Apr. Black-eared Kites are common by now and can be watched circling in pairs over their nesting trees.

During the last two weeks I had several times the chance to observe Chinese Beautiful Rosefinches Carpodacus (pulcherrimus) davidianus in birch/willow scrub. The highest number was 12-15 (with only 2 males in the flock) on 29 March.


Male Chinese Beautiful Rosefinch. Photo © K. Schleicher


Female Chinese Beautiful Rosefinch. Photo © K. Schleicher

Waterbird Population Estimates - 4th edition available online

One of the criteria to identify Important Bird Areas (IBA) for congregatory birds is "The site is known or thought to hold, on a regular basis, >/= 1% of a biogeographic population of a congregatory waterbird species". In order to use this criterion, it is necessary to have estimates of 1% of the population of each species. And here you can find them:

It is over three months since the book Waterbird Population Estimates - fourth edition was distributed. The publication is now available for download on the Wetlands International website via the following link:
http://www.wetlands.org/event.aspx?id=318e62d4-b171-4f99-b77f-fda289041f6a
The download includes all the tables, in Excel spreadsheet format, together with the introductory chapters as a PDF file. The size of the zipped file for download is 1.7 MB. Before you download the file you will need to complete a simple registration procedure.

First record of Desert Finch for Mongolia - A. Braunlich

When checking a flock of Twite in a poplar plantation in Khovd today, I discovered a larger, plain brown finch among them. I immediately identified it as DESERT FINCH Rhodospiza obsoleta by its sandy-brown plumage, the thick black bill and the pink/white markings in the wing. After taking a few photos it flew away. I relocated it a while later, then resting together with Eurasian Tree Sparrows at the edge of a road. Pale lores and dark brown, pale edged tertials confirmed that the bird is an adult female in breeding plumage. (Males have black lores and tertials; non-breeding birds have black-tipped pale beaks.)

Desert Finch breeds in SE Turkey and the Middle East trough Iran, Afghanistan, N Pakistan, and in Middle/Central Asia from the SE Caspian east through the foothills of the Tian Shan to the western Kunlun Shan in the south and discontinuously in the north through W Xinjiang, N Qinghai and Gansu to the Gobi Desert, Inner Mongolia. A claim of three observations from different areas in Mongolia in August 2001, listed in an unpublished trip report (copy in my library) would seem best regarded as unproven given the lack of any comments and lack of substantiating evidence.

The observation today would constitute the first confirmed record of Desert Finch for Mongolia if accepted. (Desert Finch is species no. 197 for Khovd since late October 2005. And a great bird to become species no. 350 on my personal Mongolia list!).


Desert Finch, 8 April 2007 Khovd. Photos © A. Braunlich

7 APR 2007, Khovd – A. Braunlich
During a WWF office outing c.5 km to the north of Khovd town (just at the perimeter of what I call would call "my local spot”) I saw six species for the first time this year: A pair of Black Storks at their nest in a cliff (occupied since many years), a flock of 15 Common Black-headed Gulls (migrating NE; one of the very few species which can be seen actively migrating here), 1 male Black Redstart, 2 Isabelline Wheatears, 2 male Pied Wheatears, and two Siberian Chiffchaffs. Impressive: The extension of the ice-cover on the river (see photos).


Grey Heron on the rocks. Photo © A. Braunlich





Buyant gol north of Khovd today.
…and in May 2006. Photos © A. Braunlich

6 APR 2007, Khovd - K. & A. Braunlich
Unfortunately I got the bug this week and had to watch birds rather on Planet Earth than somewhere outside – which is a shame, since I must have missed several arrival dates… It was very warm today (here, above 15 Celsius in early April is VERY warm!). The main stream of the Buyant gol, the fast flowing river on the west side of town, is still completely frozen. But branches are beginning to melt, and there are some open puddles. The sky above Khovd, which was so long dominated by wintering crovids has been definitely taken over by Mongolian Gulls (77 today) and Black-eared Kites (c.150) by now. A two-hour walk in the afternoon resulted in no less 29 species in total and ten new species for this spring: 6 Greylag Geese (species no. 196 for Khovd since late Oct 05) flying east, 3 Mallards, 1 Eurasian Wigeon, and 2 Eurasian Teals (for any larger waterfowl numbers one must drive c.40 km to Khar Us Nuur National Park), 1 Great Black-headed Gull, 1 Grey Heron, 2 Eurasian Sparrowhawks, 1 Steppe Buzzard (but one already seen here by Valdemar Holmgren on 1 April), 14 Citrine Wagtails (11 superb males!), and a flock of 8 Water Pipits. The latter two species were resting in plantations which are flooded by the owners/keepers these days (but there is neither green grass nor any green leaves or flowers to see yet). Other species today include 1 Upland Buzzard, 1 male Eversmann’s Redstart, 6 Black-throated Thrush and 4 Masked Wagtails.

2 APR 2007, Khovd – A. Braunlich
A short late afternoon walk, overcast, +5˚C. Today’s highlight was a Mistle Thrush, species no. 195 for Khovd since late October 2005, and species no. 349 on my personal Mongolia list! 2 male Guldenstadt’s Redstarts, 7 Evermann’s Redstarts, 1 Red-throated and 7 Black-throated Thrushes, 2 Long-eared Owls, and 3 Black-throated Accentors were resting in the poplar plantations near the river. The roost of Black-eared Kites is building up, with 112 birds counted at the edge of town at dusk.

Long-eared Owl. Photo © A. Braunlich

29 MAR 2007, Tsetserleg - K. Schleicher
In the small city park of Tsetserleg a male White-backed Woodpecker was exploring cracked bones. The bird moved straight from one to the next and examined three different bones within five minutes. After looking inside...

it rolled its body sideways on the ground in order to pick at the inside of the bones.


Photos © K. Schleicher

The woodpecker seemed to be used to this kind of food search. It cannot be ruled out that it has got accustomed to feed on marrow or arthropods this way. Bones scattered all over the city are not unusual. Tsetserleg has many street dogs which crack bones of slaughter remains.

As a new spring arrival a Black-eared Kite was seen flying over town today.

Early spring at Khar Us Nuur National Park

After the fierce Mongolian winter (temperatures drop regularly well below minus 30˚C) the dry, cold and windy spring is always a crucial time for the nomads living in and near Khar Us Nuur National Park in the Great Lakes Basin in western Mongolia. WWF Mongolia has been supporting the national park and the local people since more than 10 years. For more information about Khar Us Nuur National Park: click here.

Whirlwinds are common in spring. Photo © A. Braunlich

Spring in the steppe can be a tough time for kids.

Photo © A. Braunlich

On Saturday (31 March) I went with my colleagues from the WWF Altai-Sayan Field Office in Khovd to the southern part of the national park to talk with rangers about a new checkpoint. After our visit some time was left for birding. Although the 1500-square kilometer lake is still >99% frozen (there’s an ice cover well into April, see photo from April last year) a few waterbirds arrived already: 3 Great Egrets, 1 Grey Heron, 5 Ruddy Shelducks, c.50 Greylag Geese, 78 Mongolian Gulls, 2 Tufted Ducks, and c. 60 dabbling ducks (to far away to be identified). Other species seen included 100s of Horned Larks (all of the white-faced local subspecies E. a. brandti), c. 30 Rock Sparrows feeding among Horned Larks, 2 Lapland Buntings, 8 Hen Harriers, 1 Little Owl, 1 Peregrine Falcon, 1 migrant Reed Bunting (thin-billed, as opposed to the thick-billed resident subspecies), many Bearded Tits, and several singing Lesser Short-toed Larks (every year the earliest singers in the park).

Horsemen crossing the completely frozen

Khar Us Nuur, 9 April 2006. Photo © A. Braunlich