Participants: Abdel Bizid, Daniel Bombaert, Alan Brown, Andrew Herbert,

Beatrice Henricot, Gerald Hinchon, Denzil Morgan, Bob Tallyn

After years of planning we finally delivered our inaugural tour of Mongolia, with the best itinerary possible in a short timeframe. Overall, we did very well, hitting most of our intended targets in the dry and windy conditions, highlighted by the superlative, 15 minute views of a nervously stationary male Black-billed Capercaillie, quickly followed by our first Chinese Grasshopper Warbler. Moving westwards, our first great saline lake was heaving

with birds – Brown-cheeked Rail, Paddyfield and Pallas’s Grasshopper Warblers and ‘Mongolian’ Pallas’s Buntings  before  reaching the Khangai  Mountains,  a tour highlight,  with singing Hodgson’s  Bushchats,  proper Pallas’s  Buntings,  ‘Khangai’  Rosy Finches,  Altai Accentor,  a surprise Black-throated  Accentor and a splendid encounter with eight vocal Altai Snowcocks. Heading south into the fringes of the Gobi Desert, Pallas’s Sandgrouse  were common and conspicuous,  truly  wild Mute Swan, Saxual Sparrow,  Henderson’s Ground-jay, Oriental Plover, Wallcreeper and Mongolia’s single breeding endemic, Kozlov’s Accentor were all enjoyed.

A special  mention to the mammals observed on the tour too – four  species  each  of both jerboa and ground- squirrel, Great Gerbil, Asian Wild Ass, Mongolian and Goitered Gazelles, Siberian Ibex, an inquisitive Sable and finishing with with Przewalski’s Horse.

After arriving into Genghis Khan International Airport, it soon become apparent just how this revered historic warrior still lives and breathes through Mongolian folklore, airports, monuments and even vodka brands! A brief walk around the hotel in the late morning by a few who didn’t need to catch up on some much- needed sleep after a weary Aeroflot flight recorded Azure Tit, Amur Falcon, Azure-winged Magpies, a Barred Warbler for Alan, and  migrant  Pallas’s  Leaf Warblers.  The tour proper started  immediately  after lunch, with the  nearby  pool providing us with a pleasant  introduction to the water-birds  we would become  accustomed  to over the next couple of weeks including breeding Whooper Swan, Demoiselle Crane and elegant White-winged Terns daintily picking prey from the water surface. The first birding site most birders visit is the willow and scrub along the Tuul River, and we were no different.  Bordering the southern edge of Ulaan Baatar,  the sprawling,  polluted

capital of Mongolia, which contains nearly half of the population of the country – a mere 1.4 million people. We only need 20 minutes to clean-up on the targets, as we ended up finding two nests occupied by White-crowned Penduline-tits,  several  pairs of Azure Tit and a stunning  singing  male Long-tailed  Rosefinch. An adult male Amur Falcon was circling over the city, while a surprise was a Hawfinch dropping down from the canopy to take a drink, oblivious to our presence just metres away made for an excellent start as we waited for the adventure to begin.

Azure Tit and White-crowned Penduline-tit, Tuul River

Up bright and early we made our way east, through Ulaan Baatar and into the open plains, which would become a very familiar  sight over the course of the next two weeks,  as would  striking Mongolian  Larks, Asian Short- toed  Lark,  Horned  Larks,  aggressive  Isabelline  Wheatear  that  chase  anything that  dares  venture  into their territories and pairs  of elegant Demoiselle Cranes. Our first stop was more  mammal than bird  as we enjoyed our first Mongolian Gerbils,  followed by a surprise Mongolian Gazelle duo, wandering above the road. Gun Gaalat has long been known as a productive birding site, and the lake gave us our only Stejenger’s Scoter of

the tour – seven of them, and a lone drake Falcated Duck. The main lake and marshy pools held thousands of

birds,  much of which is familiar to the European birders  among us – Pied Avocet,  Citrine Wagtails,  single Temminck’s  Stint,  Garganey  and more  White-winged  Terns with  a handful of Whiskered  Terns. We arrived  in the heat of the day at our secluded camp right on the edge of an extensive area of Taiga forest, already setup for  us by our wonderful crew who always  went on ahead to prepare things  for  us. The afternoon  was spent

walking (and walking…) in the searing heat with little to show for our efforts, Gerry got onto a very brief Black-

billed Capercaillie – the reason for our visit here – but it saw us before we saw it. The odd passerine appeared, starting with a pair of courting Brown Shrike at camp, followed by a stunning Siberian Rubythroat, then Taiga Flycatcher,  Willow Tit, Tree Pipit, Daurian  and Eurasian Redstart,  and  later  on a fine Three-toed  Woodpecker taking it out on a dead tree. Walking back in the evening we got an excited call from the driver, parked a long way back who had found a female capercaillie, a mad dash ensued, though the bird didn’t hang around forever allowing most, but not all of us to see it, making for a frustrating end to the day, though it was only a female! The wind picked up in the evening, blowing a gale, with a Ural Owl heard distantly a couple of times.

Up and out early with the gale still howling away, though early on we picked up a male capercaillie flying through the canopy (!), and away. We carried on walking here-and-there, as optimism slowly drained until we looked to our side and in  astonishment, there was a male  Black-billed Capercaillie sat totally stationary in an attempt to conceal itself three metres up a conifer, but in full view! Excited whispers kept the bird alert, but not too alert as it dared not move, giving us outrageous views for 15 minutes, as it started looking from side-to- side  before finally disappearing  into the forest,  allowing  us to finally let out  all  of the excitement! Just as we reached the vehicles to look at each others photos and celebrate, a speculative attempt at Chinese Grasshopper Warbler, as the habitat looked alright, revealed a bird already ready-and-waiting for us! Over the next while we enjoyed  repeated  views  as it sat up and  sang,  or crept  about,  mouse-like  in front of us. One of the  latest returning migrants of a species so difficult to see anywhere away from this area of Mongolia. We could return for breakfast, and as the gale was still blowing strong we decided to up camp early and head to a different area of forest. On the way we stopped at an area of scrub, still with the gale swirling all around us making birding not particularly  enjoyable,  or productive.  But still, we plugged away, several Pine  Bunting and Common Whitethroat appearing, a Monk Vulture just overhead  peering  down  at us, and  most  pleasingly was a singing male Yellow-breasted Bunting that oddly preferred to sit on the ground in the densest bushes due to the wind before finally sitting up for an extended period, being blown left-and-right as he attempted to sing. As great as it was to see such a beautiful bird, it’s also a rather sobering sighting as this bird was once positively abundant over much of north-east  Asia but due to immense levels  of trapping  during migration  it is now Critically

Endangered and missing from most of its historical range – the tip of the iceberg of all these eastern migratory buntings that have all suffered catastrophic declines.

Our different area of forest, in the scenic Terelj area held a few more birds in general but it’s still amazing just how quiet  the Taiga  forest  actually  is here  in Mongolia.  An afternoon and pre-breakfast  walk was in very

pleasant, albeit windy conditions and yielded several  new birds – Oriental  Cuckoo, Yellow-browed Warbler, more Three-toed Woodpeckers, abundant Willow Tits and Pine Buntings, Dark-sided Flycatcher and great views of both Red-throated  and Eye-browed Thrushes.  In the deciduous  valley bottom  a pair  of friendly  Lesser Spotted Woodpecker  even began  feeding  on the ground,  Two-barred Leaf Warbler  sang its heart out just in front of us, and Eurasian Redstart was a common sight, while a Mandarin Duck was found on the river.

Hodgson’s Bushchat and Chinese Grasshopper Warbler

It was now time to head west, arriving at Bayan Lake in the mid-afternoon for a superb afternoons birding. The reed-fringed pools were bursting with life both in and over the water, marshy edges and surrounding grasslands.  Richard’s  Pipits were a common sight, performing their display flight frequently overhead, Asian Short-toed Lark were also numerous, and would be for the duration of the tour while a pair of Mongolian Short-

toed  Lark also appeared – a surprisingly scarce bird when you actually look  for  them, now it’s split  from Greater.  White-winged  Terns dashed across,  back-and-forth, a species  we never tired  of watching, Eastern Marsh  Harriers were  regularly flying by and three pairs of White-naped Crane,  perhaps  the world’s  most attractive crane, were active and vocal and several pairs of Swan Geese included at least two broods, while 9 brick-red  Asian Dowitcher rested  just across  from  us. Plenty of ducks also included a fine  pair of Slavonian Grebe and several Red-crested Pochard. The reedbed provided the most excitement however, Reed Buntings, Oriental  Reed and Paddyfield Warblers  were common and conspicuous  while  several Pallas’s  Grasshopper Warblers sang largely out of view, the Bearded Reedlings however, were both numerous and conspicuous. As

the air started to cool, an attempt to see any of the calling Brown-cheeked Rails proved rather laughable with

just Daniel and James getting views – something to look for in the morning!

The rails kept some  of us up most  of the night,  as they  screeched  all  night long  near  our marsh-side  camp, making us more determined as we wandered through the marsh in our waders. We had amazing views of the previous days warblers, including song-fighting Pallas’s Grasshopper Warblers and numbers of Bearded Reedling once again. Finally, luck was on our side as we all had great views of Brown-cheeked Rail, just in time for a marsh-side breakfast. Checking the dry Achantherum grass away from the lake we soon located several singing male ‘Mongolian Buntings’, an undoubted and distinctive should-be-split race of Pallas’s Bunting, and is probably an endangered taxon, as it favours Manchurian grasslands that are now largely heavily degraded and reduced drastically in size. Having had our fill here we headed south to Bayankhongor, the last ‘city’ we would see for over a week. A lunch-stop at Sangiin Dalai lake brought us next to a colony of Rock Sparrow, another Asian Dowitcher,  our first Black  Stork,  and loads of song-flighting  Blyth’s  Pipit, a nice  comparison  to the mornings Richard’s Pipits. A total of 86 Monk Vulture en-route was noteworthy, with three groups sat around carcasses. The Soviet-styled hotel and Bayankhongor was nothing to shout about, but did make us look forward to heading back into the wilderness the following morning!

‘Mongolian Bunting’ and Pallas’s Bunting

4wd packed-and-loaded  we headed northwest, into  the heart of the Khangai mountains.  It was an exciting experience driving 350km along dirt roads the entire way. Stopping on the way for Pere David’s Snowfinch, a common bird along this route, Saker, Monk Vulture, Steppe Eagle and Upland Buzzards all appeared at some point,  while  a single  lake held a pair  of distant  Black-throated  Diver. Occasional stops  to work out where we were  going exactly were  required so we jumped out and had occasional scans, picking up our first Brown Accentors  and White-winged  Snowfinch.  Finally, in the mid-afternoon  we arrived  at our  destination,  Khukh Lake, situated at 2600m and in the middle of nowhere, it’s a grand sight with rolling hills surrounding the vast lake  and wilderness.  Keen  to get out  and  make the most  of our  time here we had a brilliant  hours  birding, locating  four  of our six targets here in quick  succession.  First  was a pair  of Eversmann’s  Redstart  feeding among the grass and boulders, then a splendid male Hodgson’s Bushchat, the main reason for a visit here, was found  singing  from  a lichen-covered boulder. Venturing a little higher we soon located a single Altai Accentor then a pair of ‘Khangai Rosy-finch’, a very distinctive, silvery-pink taxon from the Asian Rosy-finch complex and endemic to this mountain range.

Next morning, in gale-force conditions that would follow us for the next week unfortunately, we climbed up a hillside  in search of Altai Snowcock, which we found relatively easily, though distantly as a pair were feeding and calling on a distant ridge. With this in the bag we continued along the lakeshore for the morning. A pair of Black-throated Diver were close inshore, in full breeding plumage. ‘The’ bushchat was still there, accompanied by a female, before  we located  a pair  of Pallas’s  Bunting, a nice comparison  of this, the upland  Siberian nominate  taxon to the grassland birds  a couple  days  previous.  Further  along  the lakeshore we scoured the

bushes in difficult conditions but pulled up an impressive list – breeding Dusky and Hume’s Leaf Warblers, two more  Pallas’s Bunting pairs, another Eversmann’s  Redstart, Güldenstädt’s  Redstart,  great  views of Willow Grouse flushed twice, a brief male Merlin overhead, but the biggest surprise was a Black-throated Accentor we

found – presumably the first record of the species in Mongolia away from its Altai breeding post. The afternoon was wet and windy, and another area we checked had no insect life and hence, no birds, just loads of Tarbagon

Marmots! Those that went up to enjoy the spectacular views from the top of the hills enjoyed closer snowcocks, Altai  Accentor  and rosy-finches. A final morning  along  the lakeshore  brought us back to the usual male bushchat, still busy defending his territory, with a second male nearby. Above them, at least eight Snowcock put on a magnificent performance, gradually making their way down the slopes to offer wonderful scope views as they flew back-and-forth, chasing  each other, running  up the hillsides, tails cocked and pumping, it was some sight amidst the amazing scenery. With a long, and relatively unknown drive south and into the northern fringes of the Gobi we headed off in the mid-morning. Birding on the way was quiet, bar the thousands of larks flushed from the roadside, yet more Pere David’s Snowfinch before finding our first of many Pallas’s Sandgrouse. We arrived at the northern shore of Boon Tsaagan Lake in the heat of the afternoon. We abandoned  our  first camp-site  as the mosquito’s were out in force.  Mongolian and Pallas’s Gulls lined the shoreline,  as White-winged  Terns peppered the fringes and Kentish Plovers were  abundant. Heading  to the river-mouth we passed yet more groups of Sandgrouse and set-up camp. Spending the evening at the river- mouth, an adult Pallas’s Fish Eagle circled overhead as we sifted through the hoards of gulls and water-birds, failing to locate any Relict Gulls that might be around. Still, we enjoyed the large numbers of Swan Geese, yet more Asian Dowitchers, hundreds of Eurasian Spoonbill, 200 Caspian Tern, beautifully plumaged Pallas’s Gulls and a whole range of breeding water-birds. We were back at sunrise until the late morning, repeating the same procedure with similar results. Additional species included Ferruginous Duck, pair of Red-necked Phalarope and even three Smew (including a drake).  An immature  Pallas’s  Fish Eagle  made us question where  this  species

breeds – presumably on the distant crags given the complete lack of trees for hundreds of miles. As it turned out, the river-mouth is ‘owned’ by some thuggish looking local rich men, so we got to enjoy quite a shouting match  between our crew and theirs for some time before things somehow  calmed  down! Heading  east, we stopped for lunch by a waterhole, complete with our first Mongolian Finches. In the late afternoon we reached the much smaller Kholbooj Lake, which was surprisingly quiet. We did, of course, have more Asian Dowitchers

(it’s obviously a bumper year for them), noisy Avocet yelping continuously overhead as their chicks fed on the opposite shoreline  and  the odd  Swan Goose dotted about.  As the gulls  were noticeable by their  absence we opted to camp at the nearby Orog Lake, a huge, 40km long lake. At camp we noticed a Steppe Grey Shrike

twice passing by with food – we would have to find its nest at some point during our stay here.

‘Khangai Rosy-finch’ and Altai Accentor

We had a day and a morning  here, and covered much  of this huge lake. Gulls were once again thin on the ground, though an odd 1^st winter Black-headed Gull in suspended moult got the pulses at least vibrating for a time as we clutched straws. Mute Swans were surprisingly well numbered, we probably had in excess of 7, and maybe into double figures by the end. For the purists amongst us it was a lifer (including for James, at long last!), and a spectacular encounter was watching a pair fly off being chased by an aggressive Whooper Swan, which sent the male tumbling in the air. On the water itself, the usual variety of ducks surprisingly held little of note. Whiskered Tern was found among the throng of White-winged, and we enjoyed yet more Gull-billed and Caspian Terns, 56 pairs of Kentish Plover, and no shoreline would be complete without another Asian Dowitcher! In the surrounding grassland one vehicle lucked out with an Asian Badger scuttling across the road in front of them, while the rest of us had Tolai Hare and Mongolian Gerbils! Along the south shore the rockier terrain held our only Little Owl, a couple of Long-legged Buzzards along with the usual suspects. Back at camp, our short walk found where the Steppe Grey Shrike had been taking its prey, with a minimum of six fledglings

being accompanied by at least one of the parents,  though the pair  of Henderson’s  Ground-jays, just  metres away were superb, even for those that have seen them before.

The water-bird section of the tour was now over, as we headed south again, venturing into the Gobi. Our lunch stop  was  at ‘The White Cave’,  the past  home of Neanderthal’s,  unfortunately we just had to make do with a roosting Eurasian Eagle Owl, Lesser Kestrels and some Pied Wheatear, and another pair of Ground-jay nearby.

It was a long afternoons drive with few birds but stunning scenery, especially when the huge Khongoryn Els –

sand  dunes –came  into view, which can  reach as high as 300m. We finally had a night in a Yurt camp, and enjoyed  both  showers  and  dinner inside a building, and  use up all  available electrical  points  to charge up all batteries, phones and mp3 players! Some of us opted for a night-walk, which exceeded all expectations as we

found four species of jerboa – singles of huge Balikun, Gobi, Five-toed Pygmy and several Thick-tailed Pygmy Jerboas at ultra close range (or even in the hand, or hat!). Later a couple of us found Large-eared Hedgehog curled up in the camp grounds.

Our  targets were quickly thinning out in the desert  so it was a short  mornings  birding as we visited a small colony of five breeding pairs of Saxual Sparrow close to the yurts then on to see a pair of Asian Desert Warbler

feeding in the scraps of vegetation that call home. Moving on we ventured into a grazing area for mammals –17 Asian Wild Ass and 36 Goitered Gazelle loitered around here, the stony terrain making it a safe haven for them here as hunters are unable to race after them here.

Henderson’s Ground-jay©Denzil Morgan and Wallcreeper

Yolyn Am – ‘The Valley of the Lammergeier’ is a narrow, craggy mountain range rising steeply out of the desert and  our  base for our  final (YAY, I can hear from some of us!) nights camping.  White-winged  Snowfinches dropped down to the valley floor to welcome us, feeding on our lunch hand-outs, and true to form, Lammergeier’s floated low overhead. A Saker nest held three chicks before we visited  a scenic gorge that

contained a load of tourists – our first sighting of the tour! Kozlov’s Accentor, that bundle of colour, character and charisma, and also Mongolia’s only breeding endemic (that is the one thing it does have going for it) was soon  sighted,  feeding next to the path, our first of several.  Alashan Ground Squirrel,  a localised species was found  among the Pallas’s  Pika  and Mongolian  Gerbil colonies. Further down we found  Himalayan  Beautiful Rosefinch, more snowfinches, Golden Eagle, Lammergeier and a group of Siberian Ibex wandering impossibly

down a vertical cliff-face  with  impressive dexterity – while  watching  the male in the distance a Wallcreeper landed next to him, giving direction for a Wallcreeper on a distant rockface is not easy, fortunately, to save the straining we found another that decided to feed on a tiny rock right next to the path at eye-level, offering the best views any of us have had of this truly charismatic species.

A night-drive offered much promise but delivered so little, unless you have a liking for Red Foxes, of which we found nine! Back inside the gorge we enjoyed more accentors, Water and Blyth’s Pipit’s and, the birding must have  been slow,  as we managed to finally  identify  a Midday  Gerbil  (yellow vs dark  claws!). Heading to a different  valley we located a vocal  Chukar  and yet more  Lammergeier  before  it was time to head out of the mountains  and back into the flatlands. We visited a small  apple grove to see a Long-eared  Owl nest,  that contained five healthy looking, large chicks. Amazingly, despite it being mid-June there were still migrants here

–  Siberian Chiffchaff and Pallas’s Warblers, presumably why the Daurian Shrike’s had made this place their

home! The biggest bonus was a Daurian Starling, particularly for Denzil, a long-time bogey bird finally laid to rest.

Letting the midday heat cool down somewhat before we headed out to the steppe we finally found a handful of Oriental  Plover, including a male that burst into its wonderful display, twisting high in the air before settling down just in front of us. We finished the day off with the monstrously large Great Gerbil, that took some of us a long time to locate due to James slightly over-emphasising the true size of this rather non-descript rodent!

A bird-free early morning as we took the short flight north from Dalanzahgad to Ulaan Baatar and checked into our hotel  in time for some  late morning birding in the garden.  Amazingly,  we found a Chinese  Grasshopper

Warbler – obviously a late migrant – in a willow.  How times  change, at the beginning  of the tour we found several  other migrants here and birds were conspicuously  getting ready to breed but now it was all quiet, a single Azure Tit showed extremely well, and we located another pair of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers, feeding young, and our only White-backed Woodpecker of the trip.

Our final birding session was spent at Khustain Nuruu National Park, one of three localities in Mongolia where the  Przewalski’s  Horse  has been reintroduced.  The only truly  wild horse  that survives  today,  and has never been domesticated, it was last sighted in the wild in 1966 before the reintroduction program began, with 320 now being found inside  the park.  We saw about 30 of them,  and we told all about their  plight,  history  and future intentions by a local PhD researcher. Bird-wise, we saw a few things; Golden Eagles swirling around once

more, Meadow Bunting was new for the list but, most excitingly was our fourth ground-squirrel – the localised Daurian  Ground-squirrel  which we made a special  effort  to see amongst  the numerous  Long-tailed.  Yes, the park isn’t too rich in birdlife! After a final fill of the larks, including the favourite Mongolian Lark it was time to head back to Ulaan Baatar and toast to our success and no more camping!

Oriental Plover and Kozlov’s Accentor

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Bird of the Tour

1           Black-billed Capercaillie

2           Altai Snowcock

3           Hodgson’s Bushchat

4 Henderson’s Ground-jay 4= Kozlov’s Accentor