Participants: Brian Foster, Jon Hornbuckle, Dave Pitman, Dave Woodford.

This was a highly enjoyable trip. While planning a China trip, we decided to include a week in Mongolia, as it was adjacent to China and much cheaper to reach than from home. Dave Woodford researched the logistics and proposed that we should book a bird tour with Tumen (Tumendelger Humbaa) and his wife Oyunaa, to which we agreed, an excellent choice as it turned out. We saw all the key birds we were looking for, spectacular scenery such as the 100m high sand dunes of Khongoryn Els and the snow-covered Altai Mountains, and experienced Mongolian culture and hospitality, all at a very reasonable cost. I can’t thank Tumen, his brother Ganaa and Oyunaa highly enough – contact them on oyunaa_bavuu@yahoo.com or Tumen106@yahoo.com. Birding highlights included lekking Black-billed Capercaillies and displaying Oriental Plover and Wallcreeper, a relatively close Altai Snowcock on a snow-covered ridge, a family party of Henderson’s Ground Jays, superb views of nesting Lammergeier and Saker, and an unexpected off-course Hodgson’s Bushchat. We were too early for peak migration and species such as Chinese Bush-Warbler, unlikely to be seen before late May, but may not have seen Capercaillies displaying had we been later.

ITINERARY

May 8^th  We arrive at Ulaan Baator (UB) at 19.10 on a Tianjin Airlines’ flight from Hohot in Chinese Inner Mongolia and stay at the Mongolian Guest House, Peace Ave opposite Post Office.

May 9^th. 05.00. Tumen collects JH, DP and BF at the guest house. Go to UB ponds with Tumen then Tool(Tuul)  River where we see Long-tailed Rosefinch. To airport for DW’s 10.50 arrival from Beijing. Depart to Capercaillie site, drive 215km (130km on asphalt). 5 p.m. arrival at the mountains. Find 1 B-b Capercaillie. Over-night (O/n) stay in a family ger at the Sum Centre 12km from the mountain site.

May 10^th. Morning at Capercaillie site then drive to UB with stop at the large Gun Galuut lake. O/n at Tumen’s apartment.

May 11^th. 06.00-11.00 Tool River for W-c Penduline Tit and Azure Tit, travelling further than expected because of late snow and ice. 13.00 go to the Airport for 15.10 flight to Dalanzadgad (at 1500m elevation) in the Gobi. Visit nearby wetland and farm to check migrants, o/n at Tumen’s apartment.

May 12^th. Leave at 06.20 for three and a half day Gobi trip, delaying visit to Altai mountains because of recent snow there. First major stop is for displaying Oriental Plover, then “Juulchin Gobi I” camp, c. 35 km from town for migrants and breakfast. Long drive to Khongor sand-dunes, south at first to Ireedul, then west through mountains, south to Bayan tuhmen nuur lake and west to the sand-dunes. Many stops for birds such as Pallas’s Sandgrouse, including around “Adag nuur”(small lake), almost dried out, and sites for Mongolian Ground-Jay (near almond bushes) without success. O/n at Ger camp near Travel and Tourist information centre.

May 13^th. 06.00-07.00 visit Saxaul woodland to see the Sparrow, followed by a Lesser Kestrel site near the ger. After breakfast go east to Junkin Gobi, another unsuccessful site in the hills for Ground-Jay, then drive west and right around the sand-dunes, heading east to another site where we find a pair with 2 large young. Drive 150 km to Lonkh valley in the Altai “Eastern Beautiful Mountains”, o/n at a nomad family ger.

May 14^th. 05.15 drive for 20km through the Altai mountains, then walk up to a ridge at 2600m with Tumen and wait for Snowcock until 11.00 while Ganaa looks for it in the surrounding mountains. No joy so walk down and take car to the next mountain where watch Ibex near the ridge for some time. Scramble up higher, flushing the Ibex then see a single Snowcock on the ridge at c.14.00. This area is called Zuun Sai Khany Nuruu, some 10km west of Yolyn. Drive through the mountains for 2 hours, alive with raptors, passing Yol valley, and reach the Museum at 19.30. O/n at nearby family ger – cold clear night with multitude of stars.

May 15^th. 06.25 – 07.30 to the Yol valley (Yolyn Am), seeing Golden and Steppe Eagles and Kozlov’s Accentor. Walk through the icy valley for 4-5km – Wallcreeper, Great and Chinese Beautiful Rosefinches. Cross the desert to Dalanzadgad where we re-visit the wetland and farm from 14.00 till 15.30. Farewell to Tumen and Oyunaa. 16.30 flight to UB, taken to Tumen’s apartment by a friend, o/n at the apartment.

May 16^th. After breakfast in apartment, JH and DP visit large monastery in UB on foot. Departure to airport for 11.55 flight on Mongolian Airlines to Beijing.

LOGISTICS

DW agreed the tour details with Tumen by email without any pre-payment. We paid, in US$, on arrival at Ulaan Baator; sterling would probably have been acceptable.Visas were readily obtained at the Mongolian embassy in London BUT passports and papers had to be delivered and collected personally by one individual, postal applications being unacceptable. We belatedly discovered this could all be done on the same day by payment of an extra £20 each.

Three of us flew from Hohot in Chinese Inner Mongolia (c.£140) as we wanted to visit the relatively close Lake Hongjian, the main breeding site for the scarce Relict Gull. DW flew from Beijing at greater expense and we all returned to Beijing by that route.

We travelled in a large Russian jeep for the first 2 1/2 days and in a Land Cruiser driven by Tumen, with his brother Ganaar and Oyunaa are in another as support in the Gobi. Food and accommodation (mainly in yurts) was fine for us. It was cold at times but very little rain was encountered. Tumen knew all the sites and most of the birds and their calls.

Useful information, mainly thanks to Axel Brunlich

The cheap route used by Mongolians and Chinese is to fly from Beijing to Erenhot (or Ereen = Erlian in Chinese) on the border, or take express buses; cross the border and take the night train to UB, arriving at 07.10 in the morning. A bit tedious but a practical and bookable route.

Another place to stay in UB is Zaya Guesthouse, Peace Avenue. 63 10 12 Sukhbaatar District. UB. Tel. +976-11-331575.

The weather in early May can sometimes be very cold (minus degrees at night) – spring is normally rather unpredictable with snowstorms occurring in the Gobi even in June! However, bad weather might result in lots of migrants being forced down, which can be quite spectacular. You need to be prepared for all kinds of weather, warm, cold, wet, dust storms … all possible. Never hike without protective clothing.

At the edge of UB the “UB ponds” area is the most diverse site, and can be easily reached on the way from/to the airport. Although very close to town, this area is not regularly birded, so it’s not easy to find local birders. Better than UB ponds is a wetland 2-3 hrs drive from UB to the east, Gun Galuut (http://www.argalipark.com). A full day could be spent here but there are no special birds that are easier to see than elsewhere, except for White-naped Crane which breeds here [but not seen by us].

Black-billed Caper occur in pine-forested hills about 200km east of UB. We heard and saw 3 lekking fairly early in morning after a 15 min easy walk uphill from where parked, having seen 1 there previous evening about 1 hr before dusk.

Altai Snowcock is on the high ridges in Gurvan Saikhan NP and regularly seen on the ridges above Yolyn Am. We stayed at a yurt near the Museum, then drove round the other side of the mts and trekked up to ridge where there were lots of droppings but no birds and no calling. Tried another place and saw 2 parties of Ibex higher up, Tumen said Snowcock often associate with Ibex. We couldnt see any so tried to get closer and immediately flushed both Ibex and Snowcock over the ridge. Walked a bit higher and 1 came back onto the ridge where we watched it for some time, climbing fairly close to it.

Oriental Plovers are found (local breeders) between Dalanzadgad and the “Juulchin Gobi I” camp, arriving in early May so can be seen displaying in the Gobi then. Poplar trees were planted at the camp in the 1970s, making it like an oasis in the desert (no such place anywhere else in the region). Several vagrant (incl. first records for Mongolia) & rare migrant species have been recorded from here, e.g. Black-naped Oriole, Black Drongo, Forest Wagtail, Red Turtle Dove [we added White-breasted Waterhen]. There are also some sites within Dalanzadgad (the central avenue, a small garden in the western “outskirts”), and especially a “farm” just outside town and the water-treatment area, that are very good for migrants.

Pallas’s Sandgrouse are fairly common and widespread, eg between Yolyn Am and Dalanzadgad. 1000s can be seen coming to drink water, eg by Sunbird tour group in 2011 in evening near Travel and Tourist information centre, Khongor sand-dunes.

Kozlov’s Accentor – common in Yolyn Am, especially at the Museum end of the valley.

Long -tailed Rosefinch (form here is said to be a potential split) occurs along the Tool river – we saw a pair along the river not far from UB, near UB pools, after driving over the railway to the river.
White-crowned Penduline Tit is along the Tool river, we saw it nest-building maybe 30km from UB where there were quite a lot of largish trees between the river and mountains.

Thrushes – migrants such as Red-throated occur in the Gobi, eg at the irrigated farm on the edge of Dalanzadgad.

Hodgson’s Bushchat breeds in the far west – no chance to see it on our itinerary except for an off-course migrant as we were lucky to find.

Chinese Bush Warbler should be in the wetter patches at the Caper site and around the lakes but we were too early.

SPECIES LIST

For photos see   http://jonathanhornbuckle.webs.com/

No.s the max recorded per day in each area UB=UB region, F=forest and lakes, D=Dalanzadgad, G=Gobi