Gobi - September-October birding highlights - D. Mantle

Although I was back in Australia for a few weeks at the end of September-early October I still managed to enjoy some migrants moving through parts of the Gobi this autumn. In August and parts of September I was still based in the north-central Gobi in an area with lots of grass cover and a few low bushes (which I hoped would hold a few migrants). Whilst Asian Brown Flycatchers were common migrants throughout August these were largely replaced by Taiga Flycatchers which occurred daily in September. The main highlights in early September were the regular Siberian Rubythroats with a max. count of 10 in one day. Olive-backed Pipit, Siberian Stonechat, Dusky Warbler, and Dark-throated Thrush were the other almost daily migrants whilst there were only a few records of Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler, Japanese Quail, Two-barred Greenish Warbler, Arctic Warbler, Eye-browed Thrush, White-crowned Penduline Tit, and Japanese Sparrowhawk and Oriental Honey-Buzzard.

Siberian Rubythroat. Photo © D. Mantle

After returning from my break in Australia I had one day in Ulaanbaatar where I saw Dark-throated Thrush (ruficollis), Dusky Thrush (naumanni) and Hawfinch in the local park. I was then sent to a new project in south-east Gobi (about 4 hours south of Sainshand and only 80km from the Chinese border). This area was easily the lowest altitude I had worked at in Mongolia, only 900-1000m above sea level. Again fairly typical sandy, stony Gobi Desert environments but at last there were a few trees along dry river courses and some decent areas of Saxaul. I didn’t spend much time in the Saxaul woods (too far from my camp) but I searched a group of 30 well spread trees along the nearest dry creek as often as possible. Common residents included a healthy population of Saxaul Sparrow (up to 20 birds in one flock), Steppe Grey Shrike ['Saxaul Grey Shrike', Lanius (meridionalis) pallidirostris] (although these birds now appear to have left), and Siberian Accentors which had arrived in low numbers (wintering or passing through).

Saxaul Sparrow. Photo © D. Mantle

Steppe Grey Shrike. Photo © D. Mantle

Mongolian Ground Jay have also proved to be much commoner in this region with small groups observed most days. Small numbers of Meadow and Pine Bunting and a single Short-toed Eagle were observed in the middle of October whilst Red-flanked Bluetail were seen daily (with a max of 3 birds) up to the 20th Oct.

Red-flanked Bluetail. Photo © D. Mantle

Red-flanked Bluetail. Photo © D. Mantle

A distinctly northern flavour to the migrants was obvious from this date on with Brambling, Siskin, Redpoll (flammea), Hen Harrier, Merlin being the main migrants recorded and singles of Rough-legged Buzzard, Northern Goshawk and a late Amur Falcon. Of course Rough-legged Buzzard could winter in the area. Another late migrant was a Barn Swallow on the 30th October.

Perhaps more exciting than the birds have been the mammals. All are quite wary but there seem to be healthy enough populations of several endangered large mammals. The Asian Wild Ass (Khulan) are particularly numerous. There must be thousands in the region as we have seen several groups containing at least 100 animals. Argali Sheep have also been seen a few times with a large male that we disturbed when driving over a ridge top being one of the real highlights of the year for me. Black-tailed Gazelles, Tolai Hare, and Fox are common on the more open plains but many of the smaller mammals have not been seen since the first snows a few weeks ago.


Khulan. Photo © D. Mantle

Khulan. Photo © D. Mantle

Khulan. Photo © D. Mantle

Pallas’s Rosefinch Carpodacus roseus

Some photos of this beautiful finch from western and central Mongolia:


Pallas’s Rosefinch. Khovd, 7 Oct 2007.
Photo © A. Braunlich


Pallas’s Rosefinch. Tsetserleg, 6 Nov 2007.
Photo © K. Schleicher


Pallas’s Rosefinch. Tsetserleg, 6 Nov 2007.
Photo © K. Schleicher

Fish caught by dipper

Igor asked in a comment on "Dipper catching fish. Khovd, 3 NOV 2007”:
"Is the fish Nemachelius (Barbatula) toni or something like?"

I asked Maurice Kottelat, specialist on the fishes of Mongolia about his opinion. Here's his answer:

“Axel,
From the photograph I can not objectively identify the fish, but from the locality and the raw appearance it is Barbatula compressirostris.
Best wishes
Maurice”

Maurice has published an authoritative book on the fishes of Mongolia:

Fishes of Mongolia
September 2006 (text from World Bank website):

Many development projects have an impact on the freshwaters of Mongolia, yet these ecosystems are poorly known. This report, funded by the Netherlands-Mongolia Trust Fund for Environmental Reform, provides an up-to-date, reliable and comprehensive list of Mongolian fish, which will be of fundamental importance for environmental impact assessments.

The report finds a total of 76 fish species are reliably recorded in Mongolia's waters, five of which may be new to science. Five species are often reported as being present in Mongolia, but are in fact only presumed to exist and should be deleted from the Mongolian faunal lists.

Four other species are introduced species that have not been sighted for years and presumably did not become established, while further two are introduced species that have become established. Nine species are known from immediately adjacent waters in China and Russia and might be present, either as permanent ihabitants or vagrant individuals.

The work is based on a review of the existing literature, interviews with local and international experts, examination of material preserved in natural history museums and research institutes in Beijing, Wuhan, St. Petersburg, Berlin Stockholm, and Paris, and supplementary fieldwork in western and central Mongolia.

The author, Maurice Kottelat, has applied his unparalleled knowledge of the fish of the region to write this critical analysis.

The full report (2.1MB, PDF) can be downloaded here.

Dipper catching fish. Khovd, 3 NOV 2007 - A.Braunlich, A. Laurie

At the edge of town we have a small stream which doesn’t freeze over in winter. From November onwards White-throated Dippers Cinclus cinclus take up winter territories here. I have recorded up to eight birds along a few hundred metres last winter.

White-throated Dipper. Photo © A. Braunlich

White-throated Dipper catching fish. Photo © A. Braunlich

Today Andrew and I checked the stream, and found three dippers, the first I have seen here this season. It is well known that dippers can catch small fish up to 5–6 (8) cm in length, especially in autumn and winter. However, this behaviour has probably not often been photographically documented, and certainly not from Mongolia. While two of the birds today were quite shy and difficult to observe one landed in front of us and caught a fish! Compared to the tarsus length I estimate the fish to be c.6 cm long. The dipper shook its prey in a kingfisher-like manner (out of focus photo below), lost it (already dead?), caught it again and swallowed it head first finally. What a sight!

White-throated Dipper killing fish. Photo © A. Braunlich

White-throated Dipper with fish. Photo © A. Braunlich

White-throated Dipper with fish. Photo © A. Braunlich

The bird belongs to the leucogaster-group of the Central Asian mountains which is characterized by several morphs. White-throated Dippers in the Altai Mts. and other areas of northern Mongolia (Khangai, Khentii) have the highest diversity in morphs.

Other birds near the stream include one Desert Wheatear, one Northern Wheatear, 2 Masked Wagtails, and a lonely single Northern Lapwing. A flock of c.190 Hill Pigeons flying over the valley was the largest number I have seen here in two years.

Masked Wagtail. Photo © A. Braunlich

Other observations

Great Spotted Woodpecker in its winter territory.

Photo © A. Braunlich

I the afternoon I checked briefly the plantation near the airport and the trees behind the stadium. A late migrant (compared to last autumn) was a Common Reed Bunting (last bird last autumn 19 Oct). Further notable birds were 2 Fieldfares, a flock of 9 Daurian Partridges, c.35 Spotted Great Rosefinches (large number!) and 2 Redwings. The latter observation is only my second record of Redwing in Khovd after one on 19 Oct 2006.

Spotted Great Rosefinch. Photo © A. Braunlich

On 31 October I found fresh plucking remains (flight feathers) of a Carrion Crow and a very large pellet (125x45mm) nearby. The only species being capable of this could be an Eurasian Eagle Owl. Comments are welcome!


Eurasian Eagle Owl pellet. Photo © A. Braunlich

Autumn and early winter around Tsetserleg, Arhangai province

- K. Schleicher

Daurian Redstart. Photo © K. Schleicher

Night temperatures have regularly been below 10 degree Celsius since two weeks and day temperatures seldom above zero in Tsetserleg in the Khangai Mountains of central Mongolia. During my last bird walks into the birch scrubs north of Tsetserleg at the end of October I found the typical winter bird community which I already noticed a year ago: Godlewski’s Bunting, Pine Bunting, Long-tailed Rosefinch, Willow Tit, Tree Sparrow, Great Tit, Brown Accentor, Siberian Accentor and Chinese Beautiful Rosefinch.


Siberian Accentor. Photo © K. Schleicher


Eurasian Tree Sparrow. Photo © K. Schleicher

In the city park of Tsetserleg Azure Tits are common since 29 September and White- backed Woodpeckers have started visiting the city sometimes, like they did last winter.

On a walk in the wet steppe near the airport on 29 October I noticed mainly Corvidae like Common Magpie, Red-billed Chough, Northern Raven, and Carrion Crow.

Northern Raven. Photo © K. Schleicher

Wet steppe south of Tsetserleg. Photo © K. Schleicher

15 Ruddy Shelducks rested at the last remaining open water of the small river and Horned Larks congregated in flocks of 20 to 40 birds.

Migrants noticed this year but not in autumn 2006 around Tsetserleg were a Great Grey Shrike on 14 October, 11 White-crowned Penduline Tits on 17 September, and an Eurasian Collared Dove on 11 October.


Eurasian Collared Dove. Photo © K. Schleicher

The last observation of a Black-eared Kite was on 19 September (last year 6 of October; but interestingly in Khovd, western Mongolia as late as 18 October 2007, per A. Braunlich) and of a Booted Eagle on 22 September (last in Khovd: 21 September 2007).

Bibliography Global Climate Change and Birds

A bibliography and a link list on global climate change and birds has just been published online by Partners in Flight - U.S.

Khovd, 30 Oct 2007 - A. Braunlich, A. Laurie

We visited a plantation in the afternoon for a couple of hours and saw 19 species – a typical result for this time of the year. Most numerous were Eurasian Tree Sparrow (c.80), Meadow Bunting (c.60), Long-tailed Rosefinch (c.30), and 106 Red-billed Chough (flying high in small flocks, to a roost?). The latter is a new local maximum, though Choughs are more common in the higher parts of the Altai. Noteworthy were also 1 Godlewski’s Bunting and 1 Stock Pigeon. Predators present in the plantation included 1 Great Grey Shrike, 2 Common Kestrels, 2 Eurasian Sparrowhawks, and 1 Merlin.


Grey Bullfinch. Photo © A. Braunlich

A new local record was a male Grey Bullfinch or Baikal Bullfinch Pyrrhula pyrrhula cineracea which is sometimes, for example often in Russian literature in the Handbook of the Birds of the Western Palaearctic, treated as a species of its own right, P. cineracea. Previous observations (3) of male bullfinches during the last two years here in Khovd referred to ‘Northern’ Bullfinch P. p. pyrrhula.


Grey Bullfinch. Photo © A. Braunlich

Grey Bullfinch is said to be common in the Kazakh Altai (more info) and for example in in spruce-fir forests of the Sayan Mts immediately to the north of western Mongolia.

OSME Regional List


The Ornithological Society of the Middle East, the Caucasus and Central Asia (OSME) has published the consultation draft OSME Regional List on their website, providing a definitive list of bird species that have been recorded in the OSME Region. The list, downloadable as PDF, is in tabular format, with notes on distribution, including in Central Asia (=Middle Asia, i.e. Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan), thus reaching almost to Mongolia’s western border.

Winter gets its grip on western Mongolia
… Khomiin tal, end OCT 07 - A. Braunlich

On 25 October I went to Khomiin tal (the Mongolian word ‘tal’ means steppe), the buffer zone of Khar Us Nuur National Park. When leaving Khovd it snowed, though the snow didn’t last long. On 26 October I walked around Baga nuur, a salt lake with a surface area of c.600 hectares (max. extension 3.5 x 2.2 km) – a major wetland in Khomiin tal. By this time of the year waterbird numbers have diminished considerably. I counted 272 Ruddy Shelducks and 170 Common Shelducks, plus a few dozen Mallards and Northern Pintails. The few waders left consisted of 5 Pacific Golden Plovers, 2 Northern Lapwings, and 4 Kentish Plovers. Predators present were 1 Golden Eagle, 1 White-tailed Eagle, and 1 Saker. In total I logged 20 species only, including 83 Mongolian Larks, several Lapland Buntings, and a Desert Wheatear.

A count of Pallas’s Sandrouse coming to drink to Baga nuur in the morning of 28 October resulted in 536 birds only. The site maximum this autumn was almost 10,000 one morning!


Baga nuur. In the background the Altai Mts. Photo © A. Braunlich


Desert Wheatear. Photo © A. Braunlich

In the night temperature dropped to c.-15 deg C, and on 27 October it never rose above -5 deg C. Although a strong wind was blowing a walk along the bushes at the Zavkhan gol (c.70% of the river frozen) yielded in 18 species – for this site and with such weather not to bad at all. Most birds were hiding in the bushes, the most abundant species being Twite and Long-tailed Rosefinch. A Black-throated Thrush and a Little Bunting were rather retiring.


Zavkhan gol at Khomiin tal. Photo © A. Braunlich


Male Long-tailed Rosefinch. Photo © A. Braunlich

Female Long-tailed Rosefinch. Photo © A. Braunlich

Bushes along the river. Photo © A. Braunlich

A late Little Bunting in hiding. Photo © A. Braunlich


An important food resource: Sea Buckthorn. Photo © A. Braunlich

On the way back to Khovd a small flock of geese - a family of 2 adult and 3 juvenile Greater White-fronted Geese and a single Bean Goose - at a river was a nice bonus.

Greater White-fronted Geese and Bean Goose (right). Photo © A. Braunlich

The survey was funded by The Przewalski Horse Association, TAKH.

So what is Ramsar?

A very good and informative essay on the Ramsar Convention (‘The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, especially as Waterfowl Habitat’) was just posted to the excellent blog 10,000 Birds. To read it click here.

Mongolian Journal of Biological Sciences

A new issue of the Mongolian Journal of Biological Sciences is now available.

The Mongolian Journal of Biological Sciences is the official journal of the Faculty of Biology, National University of Mongolia. It is a peer reviewed journal and publishes original papers on all aspects of the biological sciences. In addition review-type articles, book reviews, short communications and reports of scientific meetings are also welcome. The journal was developed to highlight research in Mongolia and by Mongolians. There are no restrictions on author and geographic region; the journal is published in English with abstracts in Mongolian.

Contents of Volume 4, Issue 2:

Wehrden, H., Wesche, K. and Tungalog, R.. Plant communities of the Great Gobi Strictly Protected Area, Mongolia. 3-18.

Walzer, C., Kaczensky, P., Ganbaatar, O., Lengger, J., Enkhsaikhan, N. amd Lkhagvasuren, D. Capture and anaesthesia of wild Mongolian equids - the Przewalski's horse (Equus ferus przewalskii) and khulan (E. hemionus). 19-30.

Townsend, S. E. Burrow cluster as a sampling unit: An approach to estimate marmot activity in the Eastern steppe of Mongolia. 31-36.

Townsend, S. E. and Zahler, P. Mongolian marmot crisis: Status of the Siberian marmot in the Eastern steppe. 37-46.

Oyungerel, Sh. And Purev, D. Mineral elements in a succulent plant species, Orostachys spinosa L. (Crassulaceae). 45-52.

Badamtstetseg, S., Badamkhand, D., Sukhdolgor, J. and Baigalmaa, Ts. Biologically active substances in buckwheat (Fagopyrum tataricum L.) cultivated in Mongolia. 53-56.

Boldgiv, B. and Goulden, C. E. An international workshop on Lake Hovsgol area ecosystem modelling. 57-62.

Urgamal, M. Taxonomy of the genus Cnidium Cusson ex Juss. (Umbelliferae Juss.) in Mongolia. 63-66.

Issues of the journal can be bought in Ulaanbaatar at Biobeers, from the Steppe Forward Programme office, or by contacting the Editor-in-chief Dr. B. Bayartogtokh (bayartogtokh at num.edu.mn). All submissions should be sent to Dr. Bayartogtokh. Details about past issues of the journal and instructions to authors can be found on the journal page at www.steppeforward.com/journal.htm

from Mongolia’s neighbour: China Bird Report

People who are interested in the avifauna and birdwatching in Chinese Mainland may notice that China Ornithological Society published its annual bird report since 2004. Now we already have three volumes, report 2003-2005. The forthcoming China Bird Report 2006 will be published in early December this year. China Bird Report has become an important issue for up-to-date bird records in China and contributing the valuable information for bird conservation.

With the increasing requests of China Bird Report from foreign birdwatchers and researchers, there is a more convenient channel to purchase China Bird Report now. NHBS Environment Bookstore will help us to distribute our report series through internet.

You could make your order through this webpage http://www.nhbs.com/title.php?tefno=153158.

It only displays the 2005 report online, the report 2003-2004 and the forthcoming 2006 issue will be available soon. At the same time, we encourage foreign birdwatchers to contribute your 2007 reports from Mainland China. People whose records are included in the final publication will be acknowledged, and they will also receive a complimentary copy for reference. You records in the format of Excel, Word or PDF etc. should be contributed to chinesewildbird at hotmail.com. Many Thanks!

Good birding!

Liu Yang

Editor-in-chief

Searching in Birding Mongolia

I don’t want to build in a search engine into Birding Mongolia – the site already takes quite a bit time to load (at least with my not-to-fast Internet connection here in western Mongolia) – and it shouldn’t be slowed down even more.

But one can search through Google within Birding Mongolia. For example, if you want to know postings where Dusky Warbler appeared enter the following in the search field of Google:

"Dusky Warbler" site:http://birdsmongolia.blogspot.com/

For more info on web searching read Advance Web Searching at Surfbirds.

Black Stork Migration

Dear colleague,

Maybe you followed our web page about Black Stork migration in Asia www.rozhlas.cz/odysea/angl. Unfortunately it is not showing the current trip yet. If you are still interested in new results - here are recent movements:

Stork "Marko" from Taats River (central Mongolia, the only one we have at the moment) flies again south (red line). We hope that a battery (tag employed in 2006) is still able to cover the full trip. On 12th October he was near the mountains of the Tibet plateau and in the night of 16/17th October he was at a probably very important stopover site in a valley of Huang Ho River where all our storks have been stopping.

Best regards
Lubomir Peske

Black Stork, Khovd. Photo © A. Braunlich

Bird Checklist of Ikh Nart

The Ikh Nartiin Chuluu Nature Reserve (Ikh Nart) is a nature reserve located in the Dornogobi Aimag or East Gobi Province of Mongolia. Established in 1996, Ikh Nart covers an area of about 66,000 hectares of grassland and semi-desert steppe environments and harbors one of the last remaining populations of Argali Sheep.

A downloadable, printable checklist of birds recorded in Ikh Nart that may be of interest to bird enthusiasts and other visitors to the area is now available. To download the list (~100 kb pdf), go to http://ikhnart.com/birdlist.html

KHOVD anniversary – 2 years!



My local spot: Khovd stadium. Photo © A. Braunlich

Two years ago to the day my wife Katja and I moved to Khovd. I remember very well coming here. The first days were spent with organisational matters. It was cold and grey … and I had the feeling that most migrants had already passed through, and I didn’t know the good local birding spots yet. However, a first walk through my local spot for two years to come gave me a big surprise: Mongolia’s first European Greenfinch Carduelis chloris (23 Oct 2005). Two years later I have seen over 210 species in Khovd, and birds are still on the move … Almost exactly a year after the first European Greenfinch Valdemar Holmgren found Mongolia’s second here in Khovd and showed it to me (two birds on 18 Oct 2006), and – surprise – today I found another one!


European Greenfinch, Khovd 17 October 2007
Photo © A. Braunlich


European Greenfinch and Tree Sparrow, 17 October 2007
Photo © A. Braunlich

And I saw my personal first Goldcrest here in Khovd today while walking home with Katja at noon. The only other observation of the species I have from Khovd is an observation by Valdemar from April 2006.

Later today I had with my friend Andrew Laurie one of my typical walks here: Two hours in the afternoon/evening until sunset (c.18:30 local time), covering a plantation near the airport and the wooded area behind the stadium. On the occasion of today’s anniversary I give a list of all species seen:

Chaffinch 2, European Greenfinch 1, Long-tailed Rosefinch c.30, Guldenstadt’s Redstart c.50, Mongolian Gull 1, Wood Pigeon 4, Brambling 7, Water Pipit 7, Yellowhammer 2, Pine Bunting 2, Siberian Accentor 2 (the first this autumn), Black-throated Thrush c.45, Taiga Flycatcher 1,


Taiga Flycatcher. Photo © A. Braunlich

Steppe Buzzard 1, Rustic Bunting 2, Northern Raven 2, Cinereous Vulture 1, Carrion Crow – many, Tree Sparrow - many, Masked Wagtail 1, Evermann’s Redstart 6, and Yellow-browed Warbler 1. Only my second observation of a Yellow-browed Warbler in Khovd, the first I saw a few days ago. The migration routes are somehow an enigma for me – I expected to see many moving through Khovd before I came… and I had to wait for almost two years before I found one! May be I have overlooked a few among the many Hume’s Leaf Warblers, of which I have logged 150 observations involving c.2800 birds in the same period!


Female Pine Bunting in first winter (formative) plumage.
Photo © A. Braunlich

Recently I have neglected this blog a bit. Right now I am catching up, and soon a report on a trip in July/August (>50,000 shorebirds at one site!) + a summary about the migration in Khovd in September and in the first half of October will be posted to Birding Mongolia.

Wild Birds and Emerging Diseases:
Avian Influenza Transmission Risk and Movements of Wild Birds from Kazakhstan

Dear all,

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has been working in partnership with the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), the Wildlife Conservation Society Global Avian Influenza Network for Surveillance (WCS-GAINS) and Wetlands International (WI) to study the role of wild birds in the geographic spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1.

In September 2007, we partnered with the Institute of Zoology of the National Academy of Sciences of Kazakhstan for a study at Kyzykol ("Red Lake") in southern Kazakhstan. Our aim was to capture and test wild waterbirds for the presence of avian influenza virus and fit 10 ducks with satellite transmitters in order to track their movements during the southward migration period.

During our mission to Kazakhstan we deployed satellite transmitters on 7 Mallard Anas platyrhynchos, 2 Ruddy Shelduck Tadorna ferruginea, and 1 Gadwall Anas strepera. The birds were captured using mist nets, catching individuals during dawn and dusk flights. USGS scientists from the Western Ecological Research Center and Alaska Science Center will monitor the satellite movement data to better understand migration chronology, routes, and potential risk factors associated with the spread of HPAI H5N1.

Check out http://www.werc.usgs.gov/sattrack/kazakhstan/index.html and download the latest files to view on Google Earth.

With best wishes, Taej

Taej Mundkur, PhD
Assistant Wildlife Coordinator for Avian Influenza
Infectious Disease Group / EMPRES
Animal Health Service
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
email: taej.mundkur at fao.org

Armenian website

Not a neighbour of Mongolia, but nonetheless sharing many species with it: Armenia. A new website has been launched by Vasil Anianan and Chris Bradshaw. It gives a lot of information about the country as well as its birds, a checklist and latest news. Take a look: www.armeniabirding.info