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