MONGOLIAN BIRDING EXPERIENCE by Melanie Simmons (4-19th August 2015)

After a very successful trip with Sicklebill Safaris to Papua New Guinea in 2009 we booked our birding trip to Mongolia with great anticipation. Our prior knowledge was very limited but our experience with Mongolia – the people, our itinerary, our wonderful guides and our overall adventure far exceeded all expectations.

Asian Dowitcher, Limnodromus semipalmatus

From the time we were met at the Ulaanbaatar airport by our guide Sundev Gombobaatar (Gomboo) we felt relaxed and welcome. Our comfortable locally owned and managed city hotel was well located, run by helpful staff and included a good restaurant. We enjoyed a spectacular performance by the Mongolian National Song and Dance Ensemble on our first evening. Next day we thrilled to a full day with Gomboo birding around the city ponds (gravel pits), along the beautiful Tuul River and the old railway, we saw Demoiselle Crane, Hoopoe, Tufted Pochard, Great-crested Grebe, Azure Tit, Azure-winged Magpie, Grey Wagtail and White Wagtail. Our lunch in the first of many tourist ger camps will long be remembered for the amazing content of Mongolian artifacts. With this introduction to Mongolia we knew we were destined for a  privileged birding safari.

Przewalski's wild horse, Equus ferus przewalskii

Beyond the country’s capital for the next two weeks in taiga forests, mountain steppes interspersed with lakes, marshes and rivers, semi-desert regions and adjoining high rocky mountains we were guided by Gomboo firstly and then by one of his well-trained guides. With their expert spotting eyes and well-tuned ears our guides offered us unforgettable birding memories.

Siberian Crane, Grus leucogeranus

Around the lakes and marshes in the steppe country migrating waders and shorebirds still in full breeding plumage were replenishing fat stores en-route from their breeding grounds in Siberia to the southern hemisphere along the Pacific flyways. We lost ourselves in wondrous hours of close up birding learning finite details differentiating the many sandpipers, stints, curlews, plovers and waterfowl. Our tits in the taiga moment where for one glorious mid-afternoon we were surrounded by twittering long-tailed, coal, willow and grey tits simultaneously made for a magic memory. With our guides’ enthusiasm and passion they managed to raise raptors to a higher level in our birding desires, the oft maligned vultures now being recognised for the magnificent birds they are.

Demoiselle Crane, Anthropoides virgo

Beyond the birding experience life in rural Mongolia was opened to us through visits to nomad gers, fermented fares’ milk and hard cheese hospitality, the large herds of goats and sheep, yaks, domesticated horses, the Argali sheep, deer sightings, the successful reintroduction of the Takai, the stunning wildflowers, a seabuck-thorn plantation, an old monastery and numerous Shaman shrines. Our accommodation beyond Ulaanbaatar was mostly in tourist ger camps. This unique experience was warm and comfortable with adequate mainly Mongolian meals provided.

Eurasian Spoonbill, Platalea leucorodia

Our last few days in Ulaanbaatar the many museums, the Winter Palace, the Gandan Kilid Monastery (“the great place of complete joy”), the high quality Cashmere House and the central Chinggis Khaan Square provided us with a rich introduction to the glorious past and hopeful future of this little known country to us and many of our Australian compatriots.

Demoiselle Crane, Anthropoides virgo

Our three week trip was well organised, guides were exceptionally knowledgeable and caring, the Mongolians a very friendly people and we were treated with the greatest of respect. Above all –it was FUN. Thank you Mongolia!

Melanie Simmons, Queensland, Australia Download Birdlist

BIRDING MONGOLIA - Birding with Miksture (16 June – 3 July 2014)

Pallas's Reed Bunting Emberiza pallasi.

Dear Birdwatcher,

The very name Mongolia conjures images of a vast, remote and distant land; the land of Genghis Khan (Chingis Khaan) and the Mongol hordes. While Mongolia is certainly vast and much of it is remote, it is also home to an exciting array of poorly known and rarely observed birds that occur only here. As we traversed this vast land, we travelled on rarely used roads, and occasionally drove across steppe grasslands using GPS to navigate our way to exciting wetlands where no roads venture.

In Mongolia the nomadic lifestyle, even today is still the norm, a land of awesome landscapes, pro-fuse wildflowers and fantastic birdlife. Mongolia conjures up images of endless grasslands, the wastes of the Gobi Desert, yurts and wild horsemen. This is the land from whence came the hordes of Genghis Khan and his successors, newer less colorful history followed and today Mongolia is an unknown land, far away in the heart of Asia, about which one hears little.

Nomadic Family in Khangai High Mountain.

With its tiny population of only two and a half million scattered across a huge area, it is one of the least densely settled countries on earth – a true wilderness where most of the land is still the domain of wild creatures rather than man. Mongolia is the crossroads of East Asia. In the north is the southern edge of the Siberian taiga, in the center the seemingly endless steppe and in the south the sands of the Gobi Desert. Adding further diversity to this mixture are the mountains and a multiplicity of lakes and marshes.

Flock of Swan Geese Anser cygnoides.

Mongolia is one of the important breeding and stopover sites for Palearctic species. Breeding birds occur in many different habitats (from taiga forest through different steppes to Gobi desert including wetlands). Migratory birds pass through Mongolia from Siberian Taiga to wintering grounds. It means that you will have a unique opportunity to see not only breeding Palearctic species but also migratory species during both breeding and migration seasons. Untouched landscape and nomadic lifestyle give chance to discover a new species for the birds list of the country. The peaceful country and friendly field company attract many birdwatchers to Mongolia.

Mongolian Accentor Prunella koslowi.

We started in the capital, Ulaanbaatar, where we watched Daurian Jackdaws and Pacific Swifts above the city. We soon left the city far behind as we ventured into Mongolia’s hinterland. First nights were spent in the Siberian taiga forest. Here in the cool broadleaf forest, the birds were different to those we later would encounter, with many woodland species typical of Siberia: Siberian Rubythroats dazzling us with their ruby-red throats. Pine Buntings wheeze from a tree-tops and, while Nutcrackers and thrushes called to attract our attention. The icing on the cake was the Black-billed Capercaillie.

Mongolian Ground-jay Podoces hendersoni.

We stayed in tourist ger (yurt) camps, (locally known as ‘gers’) for accommodation, and in some places, there were no accommodations, so we set up tents. Fortunately, accompanied throughout by our highly-experienced camp crew, who took care of all the camp chores, leaving us free to enjoy the wildlife. Great camping beside our personal lake, watching Relict and Great Black-headed Gulls cavorting along the shoreline. Everywhere good numbers of raptors: Breeding Steppe Eagles, Upland buzzards, and Saker falcons on small rock boulders, electric poles and pylons and feeding nestlings, and flock of Cinereous and Himalayan vultures feed on carrion on middle of steppe.

Eventually we returned to Ulaanbaatar.

Blyth's Pipit Anthus godlewskii.

The wide range of habitats is reflected in an exciting avifauna which encompasses both Siberian and Central Asian species, including species unique to Mongolia and its immediate surroundings. Prime specialties include Oriental Plover, Asian Dowitcher, Black Capercaille, Swinhoe’s Snipe, Relict Gull, Pallas’s Sandgrouse, Mongolian Lark, Hodgson’s Bushchat, Red-throated Thrush, Chinese Bush Warbler, Azure Tit, Henderson’s Ground Jay, Saxaul Sparrow, Père David’s Snowfinch and Pine and Pallas’s Reed Buntings, while a rich supporting cast includes Swan Goose, Stejneger’s Scoter, Pallas’s Fish Eagle, Upland Buzzard, Amur Falcon, Demoiselle and White-naped Cranes, Mongolian Gull, Hill Pigeon, Asian Short-toed Lark, Pale Martin, Blyth’s Pipit, Brown Accentor, Güldenstädt’s Redstart, Eyebrowed Thrush, Thick-billed Warbler, White-crowned Pendu-line Tit, Steppe Grey Shrike, White-cheeked Starling, Mongolian Finch and Grey-necked Bunting.

Late spring and early summer is a delightful season when birds are in breeding plumage, and migrants are passing through on their way north. Marvelous birding and travel through wide open spaces with very few people make for a wonderful and never-to-be-forgotten experience. A real adventure in fact. This journey provided excellent birding in this great country.

Domestic Camel.

This report solely reflects the species list.

Participants contributed with observations: Anders Grindlund, Per Undeland, Arne Holgersson, Per-Erik Pershagen, Stig Holmstedt, Birgit and Bernt Waldemarsson

Acknowledgement certainly goes to my Mongolian team. They accompanied us during the journey and are my friends.

Kind regards,

Michael Westerbjerg Andersen/Miksture, Bishkek 28.10.2014 DOWNLOAD FULL REPORT

Fascinating Bird Photographing Tour to Mongolia in July 2014 By Akira Nomura

Bearded Reedling (Panurus biarmicus) was a bonus bird to me. This male came out of reeds suddenly with 3 females to stare at us with dignity. At first glance, his magnificent bearded face reminded me of the hero of Mongolia, that is, Chinggis Khaan.

As a bird photographer, my ultimate satisfaction is to photograph all bird species occurring in Japan and designated by The Ornithological Society of Japan as ‘Bird of Japan’. This was the first trip to Mongolia to commemorate the 25th year of my bird photographing career as well as to take photograph the birds that I have not seen before among the ‘Bird of Japan’. I gained an opportunity to know Prof. Sundev Gombobaatar from The Mongolian Ornithological Society when I contributed my photos to the publication for Mongolian Red List of Birds of 2011. I call him ‘Gomboo san’ intimately in Japanese through the cooperation and I was very glad that he invited me. I sent him the email of the list of birds that I wanted to photograph in order to increase the percentage of my satisfaction as much as possible. Thanks to his arrangements for the itinerary and transportation, I could take almost the listed birds.

Red throated Thrush(Turdus ruficollis) is a common breeding visitor to Mongolia. It is a rear wanderer and adult and juvenile never visible at the same sight in Japan.

He walked around in the habitats and found out my expecting birds. Indeed! He found out them much earlier than I did and what I have done was to press the shutter of my camera after his instructions. Moreover he found out the birds that I did not expect among the ‘Bird of Japan’ and subspecies as an exciting bonus! I visited Mongolia on July 5th of 2014 when it was late for breeding season. Instead it was good for me that I could take photograph lovely juveniles of many species and sometimes with their adults.

Pied Wheatear(Oenanthe pleschanka) is a common breeding to Mongolia. It is a rare wanderer and such beautiful white and black plumage hardly visible in Japan.

During my stay in Mongolia, I was too busy searching and photographing the birds to enjoy all the different habitats and beautiful scenery in Mongolia. Mongolia is such a vast and attractive country that many foreign bird watchers are fascinated to visit. I saw 89 species of birds which were rather few and the reasons were because we mainly looked for the listed birds and I spent much time on photographing to get my satisfactory image and finish. Therefore I decided to come back to Mongolia in next season in order to go to other districts such as Gobi desert where I could not go and to see other many Mongolian birds.

Common Rosefinch (Carpodacus erythrinus) is a common breeding visitor to Mongolia. It is a rare wanderer and such a bright red plumage hardly visible in Japan.

Lastly, I thank Gomboo san and a driver for their attendance of whole 8-days stay, even in the Naadam Holiday. Without their cooperation, I could not end my first trip to Mongolia in satisfaction and with great fun. DOWNLOAD FULL REPORT

Mongolia Birding Trip Report by R. & B Mearns

Altai Snowcock. @ R. & B Mearns

This 3-week birding trip to Mongolia was organised for the two of us by the Mongolian Ornithological Society and Mongolica Co.Ltd. We requested a fairly slow-paced trip to give us plenty of time on our feet watching birds, mammals and butterflies etc. We wanted to get to know the habitats and species well, but did not especially want the longest possible list of birds. Because of our long interest in early naturalists we particularly wanted to see some of the birds that are named after people. We wanted to spend almost all our nights camping, with time for good walks, a little nest finding and a little photography – and that is exactly what we got!

Juvenile Pallas's Fish-Eagle chased by Common Tern. @ R. & B Mearns.

Our team was excellent and looked after us well each day. They chose all our camp sites and lunch stops carefully, all of them being in excellent places in terms of scenic quality and abundance of wildlife. We thoroughly enjoyed all the different habitats we were in and had a fantastic time.

Henderson's Ground Jay. @ R. & B Mearns.

 Yumi, our camp manager, proved to be a terrific cook and produced wonders from the back of the vehicle. One of us has a restrictive diet and she followed it carefully, indeed we were both fit and well throughout the trip. Bayanaa, our English speaking guide, was enthusiastic and energetic on our behalf and helped us to find almost all the birds we especially hoped to see, as well as some unexpected ones. Otto, our driver, was truly excellent, on difficult roads as well as in city traffic, and was always willing to help around camp and to see to our comfort. They were good at keeping to time, more so than was really necessary, so we always knew how much time we had for walks, how long until lunch etc. We cannot praise them highly enough.

Ruddy Shelducks. @ R. & B Mearns.

 Almost every day was dry, clear and sunny. The only rain we experienced was during the last three days at Terelj. We saw over 180 bird species, 15 species of mammals, three reptiles, two amphibians and nearly 20 species of butterfly. Over 50 of the birds were completely new for us and many others we had not seen since 1985, in Israel. READ FULL REPORT

Central Mongolia Birding Trip Report by Anne Murray

This was our first birding tour in Mongolia, with the aim of finding birds and other wildlife in some of the more accessible parts of the Mongolian steppe. It would not have been possible without the expert assistance of our team from the Mongolian Ornithological Society who organized the itinerary, transportation, meals and accommodation, as well as providing full-time interpretation, birding and cultural guidance. We observed 145 confirmed bird species on the 12-day trip and several other possible species. Many thanks to our enthusiastic young guides and our reliable and friendly driver, Bayasaa.

Saker Falcon is one of the commonest breeders in Mongolia. This is adult male Saker with food in his beak.

Bird identification challenges for us included not having a detailed field guide specifically for Mongolian birds and little access to the internet for sound identification. During the trip we used Norman Arlott’s Guide to Birds of Europe, Russia, China and Japan, together with the Smithsonian Guide to the Birds of East Asia, together with a check list provided by Professor Gomboobaatar and his photographic guide book. Prof. Gomboo’s new guide book was not yet ready. Some European birds were already very familiar; the Central Asian species were generally new for us.

Pere David's Snowfinch is a mysterious species in the steppe.

Thousands of Swan Geese can be encountered in Mongolia.

We were very pleased to get excellent views of the majority of the 145 species we confirmed, including sought after birds like the Great Bustard, White-naped Crane, Pallas’ Fish Eagle, Bar-headed Goose, Relict Gull, Pallas’ Sand Grouse, and Oriental Plover. Our distant sighting of the Dalmatian Pelican in very inclement weather at Lake Ugii was an exciting bonus! As well as birds, we saw many other wildlife species, beautiful scenery, and fascinating cultural sites. In all, it was an excellent tour and great fun. Download full TRIP REPORT.

The Ultimate Expedition across the Mongolian Steppes

Mongolia birding trip report By Hadoram Shirihai
Photograph copyrights © Hadoram Shirihai

Some 5 years ago Prof. Sundev Gombobaatar (Gombo) from Mongolian Ornithological Society, Mongolia invited me for cooperation in ornithological field research in his country. We decided to plan a major exploration for 'collecting' all the breeding birds of Mongolia. However, instated of shooting them with guns, as it was used to be even until not so long ago. is to actually documenting their beauty, elengance and life-secrets with highly powerful camera equipment - the 'modern ornithological collecting'. However, we decided going for it only when we are ready for such task, and only when we can do it on the best way, and actually as compete as possible.

Shirihai is a comsummate birder, having added 50 previously undocumented new bird species to the list of birds of Isreal, and 10 new species to the Western Palearctic list of birds. He published The Complete Guide to Antarctic Wildlife, and commenced a 10-year project to produce the Photographic of Birds of the World. See his bio on WIKIPEDIA.

Finally in May-July 2013 we have taken the plans to practice, and conducted 45 days field expedition, and across the whole vast areas and habitats of the country. The field work was under wings of the Photographic Handbook of the Birds of the World (H. Jornvall & H. Shirihai), Natural History, Bloombury Publishing, and in cooperation with the Mongolian Ornithological Society & Mongolica Co. Ltd.

Our goal was to photograph as much as possible species and subspecies, including much of the range of age and sex related to plumage variation. But we also set to familiar ourselves with the still poorly known geographical variation of Mongolian birds.

Altai Snowcock Tetraogallus altaicus is a resident species in Gobi Altai and Khangai High Mooutains in Mongolia. © Hadoram Shirihai

Well, I cannot describe the success of this expedition in just few words, perhaps as it titled above: The ultimate expedition across the Mongolian steppes. In comparison with any published trip reports during similar season of the year, late spring-summer in Mongolia, we succeed in locating the largest number of species and subspecies. We recorded no less than 260 species, and photographed over 230 of them! I am here please to share with other our success, in showing 68 files, that coverts 100+ species that documented during the expedition... and which I phrased as Mongolia at its best sites...

Globally near threatened Asian Dowitcher is a breeding species in Mongolia. © Hadoram Shirihai

What more, we also recorded and worked out several unsolved taxonomic issues that we could not fit with the pattern or solutions that the literature is offering, across the board! And these are the subjects: ← I will complete them later on... (HS).

The almost native species Kozlov's or Mongolian Accentor is distributed along High Gobi Altai Mountains. © Hadoram Shirihai

Well, as one can imagine, to achieve such record of success we had to work very hard, and actually to visit all major regions and habitats of Mongolia, with many days crossing huge unspoiled, pristine nature, and for days we only met very few nomad local people, or no human at all, and for days we just approach by navigation with no road in sight. However, we met highly traditional native Mongolians the always welcomed us, with great hospitalities.

All in all, we check the Great Lakes area in the remote west, and the steppe, lakes and river valleys of the extreme east of the country, as well as the Altai Mountains, the Gobi Desert, and also the taiga to the north. Beside of documenting virtually every breeding/summer species of Mongolia, by starting at the end of May it gave us the possibility to experience the last but very powerful waves of many Siberian breeders were still migrating north... Click here for full report or WATCH YOUTUBE