Nottingham RSPB
local group

Birding In Xanadu

Black-eared Kite

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After about 25 km we reached a fast flowing river, which was wooded on both sides and this is where we spent our first day birding. On leaving the bus we could hear Common Cuckoo, a bird that we would hear and see on 15 out of the 19 days we spent in Mongolia. What is happening to this bird in Britain? And by the way, no I do not know which birds' nest they lay their eggs in here. We crossed the road and headed down to the river Tuul, stopping to watch a small flock of Daurian Jackdaws which had flown down to check us out. As we moved on to check out a noisy flock of White-cheeked Starlings we bumped into a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker drilling a nest hole which was only two foot from the ground, and in another tree nearby was a stunning Daurian Redstart that was sitting in the open fly-catching. Mick Cunningham – one of guests – suddenly shouted "Raptors!"  We all looked up and there circling high above us were a Black Vulture, Steppe Eagle and a Black Stork, as we watched them a pair of Hobbies shot through. We slowly headed down stream and saw four more Woodpeckers: three Lesser Spotted and one White-backed. At 6 pm we headed back to the bus where we had two more good birds to finish the day, a very close Dusky Warbler and an Oriental Turtle Dove. Other good birds of the day were Common Rosefinch and a flock of five Hoopoes. We had dinner at 7.30 pm and were in bed for 9.30 as we had to get up at 5am to catch a flight into the Gobi desert.

At 6.30 am we boarded a twin propeller aeroplane and after a two hour flight we landed at Bayanhongor. On leaving the plane we were told that this would be the last bit of tarmac we would see until our flight back. We were met by our ground crew and headed into town to pick up some beer, (I mean supplies). After we had loaded up the van the driver checked his map, pointed the bus in the right direction and then drove into Gobi Desert. We found out later that the driver had never been to any of the places that we visited, also most of the places were not on the map and over the two weeks we only got lost once. Not bad considering that there are no roads, never mind road signs. Today was going to be a day of travelling only stopping for a leg stretch, which would be the only time we could do any birding.  After the 4^th or 5^th leg stretch the excitement of Isabelline Wheatears and Horned Larks (Shore Lark) was wearing a bit thin as we had seen well over 100 of each. As we headed deeper into the desert a raptor was noticed on a telegraph post so we went to investigate. It turned out to be an Upland Buzzard. We were told that they are more closely related to Long-legged Buzzard than Common Buzzard.

At 3 o'clock we arrived at Boon Tsagaan Nuur a large lake of about 250sq kms, where we would be camping for the next four nights. Whilst the ground crew set up camp we went off birding. We headed along the coast, which was covered in birds, mainly Little Ringed, Greater Sand and Kentish Plovers - the latter two in full breeding plumage. Also in the grass about 100 yards from the water's edge were large flocks of Swan Geese, Ruddy Shelduck and Bar-headed Geese. It's nice to see these in the right environment rather than at Slimbridge. As we headed up the coast we approached a small Gull roost where sat two of the best looking Gulls and Terns in the world, Pallas's Gull and White Winged Black Tern. No field guide does these justice, especially the Tern in flight and the Gull's fantastic head. I also had chance to see a bird that I missed in Nottinghamshire a few years ago, Blyth's Pipit and we could compare it with the other common Pipit here - Richard's Pipit. Other common birds here were Asian Short-toed Lark, Rock Sparrows and more Horned Larks and Isabelline Wheatears. After we had walked a good mile Mick asked "what pond Heron do you get here?" and sure enough in the only cover for miles around (and I mean miles around unless you count our tents), in a small bush about two foot high and a foot wide was a Chinese Pond Heron which was trying its best to hide. As we watched the Heron, a Citrine Wagtail dropped into the same view. We watched these for about a quarter of an hour and as it was getting late we headed back.

Pallas's Fish Eagle

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Demoiselle Cranes in flight

At 6 am I was up to check the Gull roost but again no Relict Gull. After breakfast we headed off to a small lake about the size of the Hoveringham sailing lake, which had a large reed bed on one side. First new birds spotted were a pair of Isabelline Shrikes, which were hovering over the reeds. As we walked around the reed bed we started to pick up singing Warblers, first Savi's and then Oriental Reed Warbler, the song of which is very like the Great Reed Warbler you get in Europe. As we watched these, a Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler started to sing and with the help of an MP3 player we all got great views. As we watched the Pallas's, Tseveen watched the Savi's, as he had never seen one before. In fact Savi's is as rare in Mongolia as Pallas's Grasshopper is in Britain. As we walked around to the back of the reed bed there were a couple of islands which were covered in ducks, mainly Red-crested Pochard, and on the edge of the lake there were hundreds of waders, mainly common ones you get in England like Redshank and Greenshank, Avocets, Lapwings, Marsh Sandpipers, and Godwits, but with ten scopes scanning through them we soon turned up something more interesting in the way of a very approachable Long-toed Stint.

We had lunch at the side of the lake where we picked up some more good birds in the way of a male Smew, which was displaying to everything that swam past it, including Black-necked Grebe, Garganey and Ferruginous Duck. Later in the afternoon we headed back to the bus and half of the group asked to be dropped off at the edge of the large lake to walk the 3 miles back to camp. The only new birds we got were a Bewick's Swan and a Little Egret, which started a bit of a debate between James, Mick and Tseveen when it was noticed that it didn't have yellow feet, and it was too small for Great White Egret. So photos were taken and Mick took down notes and some line drawings.

After dinner with the aid of photos, notes, drawings and the computer it was agreed that it was an Intermediate Egret which is a awful name for such a good looking bird. With the aid of Bazara (the interpreter), Tseveen told us that the Egret was a first for Mongolia. Before it got dark we checked the Gull roost and again no Relict Gull so we went back to camp to watch the Sandgrouse coming to drink. In the morning I got up to find the camp overrun with Camels and Horses, and guarding the tents were two Dogs. Bizarrely both of them only had three legs. I checked the Gulls and again no Relict Gull, but a strange Lapwing like bird flew past and I will talk about this mystery bird later. After breakfast we did the same as the previous day, with more or less the same birds with a few exceptions in the way of Paddyfield Warbler, a very obliging Baillon's Crake and a very unhelpful Little Bittern. Also we saw a Golden Eagle and a fantastic low-flying hunting Saker. What a sight - Saker Falcon buzzing a flock of Red-crested Pochard!

For lunch we went back to camp and as we got there our cook came out to tell us that a bird had made a nest and was sitting on eggs right in the middle of the camp, so we had a quick look and it turned out to be a Horned Lark.  After lunch we headed to the other side of the large lake where some Japanese birders had told us that there was a large Gull roost where they had seen some Relict Gulls. When we got within ten kms of the site the ground was covered in hundreds of skeletons, and we were told that this is where the shepherds keep all the animals in winter, and if they die they are left there. That would probably explain the good populations of Black Vultures, Steppe Eagles and Upland Buzzards in the area. We reached the roost and checked through all the Pallas's Gulls and we finally got our Relict Gull.  Wow! How disappointing as it looked like a Black-headed Gull but a bit bigger. After about 10 seconds my interest in this Gull started to wane and I noticed a small group of waders, which turned out to be all Little Stints excerpt one. So I asked the group for their input.
"Temminck's Stint?"
"No it's too red," said James, "how about Red-necked Stint?"
"No it just did not look right," so photos were taken.

After about ten minutes spent trying to get closer, Mick turned to us and said "You know what I think it is?"
"What?"
"Sanderling"
Then it dawned on us, of course a breeding plumage Sanderling. As the Mosquitoes were becoming annoying we decided to leave and on the way back to the bus one of us flushed a Pallas's Sandgrouse, which rolled around the floor squawking to distract us from her nest, so it was eyes down and don't tread on anything egg shaped. When we got back inside the bus we watched as she calmed down and walked back to her nest. Happy that everything was ok we headed back. It was an early night as we had a long journey ahead of us travelling to Baatsagaan and it was going to take two days to get there.

We set off first thing and said goodbye to our three legged waste disposal units and headed deeper into the Gobi. There were not many birds to speak of except Steppe Eagles and Upland Buzzards. Oh! -  Nearly forgot Horned Larks and Isabelline Wheatears. Two thirds of the way to Baatsagaan we decide to set up camp at a place called Oroe Nuur, a largely dried-up lake that was completely covered in reeds. There was a large flock of feral Horses in the area and around their feet were lots of Citrine Wagtails, Blyth's Pipits and Richard's Pipits. Also in the reeds were Paddyfield Warbler, Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler and Oriental Reed Warbler, plus every where we walked we were flushing Common Snipe. It was early to bed as it had been a long day and whilst lying in my tent the air around was full of the sound of calling Pipits and Drumming Snipe and on the nearby hills came the weird sound of Goatsuckers (European Nightjars).

The next day was spent travelling. After about two hours we headed into a gorge so we decided to take a comfort stop and do half an hours birding. Apart from all the Horned larks and Isabeline Wheatears we also got a cracking view of a Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush, and a distant view of a Himalayan Griffon Vulture. There were also quite a lot of Mongolian Trumpeter Finches here. After an hour we left the gorge and entered a large area of Saxaul Forest. Well, they said it was a forest but it was comprised of bushes between one and five feet high and one bush per one hundred square yards. We drove for about an hour until we came across an area, which had a lot more trees, so we decided to pull over to look for a Mongolian speciality - Henderson's Ground Jay. The first bird to be seen was a Steppe Grey Shrike sitting on the top of a bush. As we walked around the scrub someone flushed a Jay and as it flew across us it reminded me of a Hoopoe. Luckily it landed on top of a nearby bush, so up went the scopes to get a better view. We were told that they are more closely related to Tits than a member of the Crow family. While we watched the Jay one of the drivers shouted to us to get back in the bus.

As we headed back Bazzara told us that we needed to hurry as there was a sand storm coming. As we got to the bus the storm hit, and boy did it hit? The whole bus shook, as it was sand blasted. The visibility dropped from 20 to 30 miles down to 5 feet. After 5 minutes it was bright and sunny again so we decided to move on and find somewhere to camp for the night. Other good birds of the day were Desert Warbler, Steppe Eagle, Golden Eagle and I think there was a Horned Lark or two and maybe Isabelline Wheatear or fifty but I'm not sure.

The next day we headed towards Juulchin Gobi 1 ger camp. To have our lunch we looked for a good place where we might find Saxaul Sparrows. Tseveen suggested we should find a place where there was some thick scrub, which we eventually found. So we pulled over and after a bit of searching I noticed a small bird flying around me giving me a wide berth. I followed it around and around and it flew into a tree twenty feet behind me. I got quick look and I found that it was a Saxaul Sparrow, so I called every one over. It was then when I realised that it had a nest in the tree so I backed off to watch at a distance. After a couple of minutes had passed and we had all had good views we decided to leave.

It was 5pm when reached our first ger camp. We were given ours keys to our gers. These are circular tents that the Mongolian nomads live in and they are very smart and cosy, and best of all they have real beds in them. Mine had three in it. Wow! After a quick shower we arranged to meet in the car park of the camp. It was surrounded by a thick line of trees, which are a real migrant trap.  Mick and James and I were first at the car park and while we waited for the rest of the group I decided to look for an Amur White Wagtail that was here when we arrived, but it was nowhere to be seen.  Then I noticed a bird perched on the perimeter fence so I turned my scope on to it and my exact words were "Hey James, Mick. "I've got a Brown Collared Dove with a grey head." I looked up to see if they had heard me but they were already standing next to me saying "Where?" Mick told us that it was a Red Collared Dove as he had seen them before in India. The rest of the group arrived and after we had all had a good look we went to check out the trees for any migrants, leaving Tseveen who seemed very excited watching the Dove. We only got a Thick-billed Warbler and a couple of Isabelline Shrikes so we all went for dinner. After dinner a few of us sat outside the bar having a beer or three when James came running over shouting "Black Drongo". "Who's he calling a Drongo?" I thought, but anyway we all ran to where Mick was standing and started checking the trees again, but no luck. We did however find some bright pink Rosy Starlings, four Lesser Kestrels and two Amur Falcons. By 10pm it was dark so we all retied to bed.

A few of us were up at 5am to check the trees, but again no Drongo. But this time we found a Golden Oriole and a Common Redstart so we gave up and went for breakfast. Whilst having breakfast Tseveen had checked his records and told us that it was the first record of Red Collard Dove in Mongolia. Wow I've found a first for Mongolia, Well if Mick and James had been looking in the same direction as me they would have probably seen it before me, but they didn't, so there.

At 8 am we set off to Yoltn Am, a deep gorge where the sides were over 1500 feet high in places. As we entered the gorge a shout went up "Raptor!" And what a raptor. 200 feet above our heads struggling to gain height in the cool of the morning was a Lammergier. At such a low level you really could see how big this bird really was with its 8 ½ foot wing span, and all its markings - its reddish-brown body its wedge-shaped tail plus its face pattern could all be seen well. What a bird! One hundred yards up the gorge we came across a small pool with a small flock of Twite drinking and bathing, and it was suggested that we should watch this pool to see if any thing else came down to drink. This turned out to be a good idea. No sooner had we set up the scopes than in came a mixed flock of Rock Sparrows, Mongolian Trumpeter Finches and a few Common Rosefinches, one of which was absolutely gorgeous with its Ferrari red head and body. What a stunner! Thirty seconds later a Brown Accentor came in for a drink, soon joined by a Beautiful Rosefinch, which is in fact its real name not what I thought it was even though it was beautiful. But it was not as beautiful as the next bird, a Black Redstart, which looked a lot better than the ones you get in England, and still they kept coming. It was the near-endemic Kozlov's Accentor's turn to steal the limelight. Just as we were getting to grips with it, a Godlewski Bunting dropped into the party, then a pair of Water Pipits. After about three quarters of an hour a few Horned Larks and then five minutes later an Isabelline Wheatear decided to gate-crash the party so we decided to move on.

Two hundred yards into the gorge it narrowed to about one hundred feet wide and well over a thousand feet high, when the magical words echoed around the bottom of the gorge. "Wallcreeper!" And there it was, not five hundred feet up, but thirty and then somebody said calmly "There's another". "Wow we've found a pair." As my arms began to ache I put my bins down for a moment and I noticed a small bird on the ground about fifty feet in front of us. A quick check through the bins to confirm what I thought and yes, Alpine Accentor. We had only walked a quarter of a mile into the gorge and all the target birds had been found, which meant that James could take it easy for a bit, and we had more time to admire these little gems. We walked for about two miles into the gorge where we came across a glacier blocking our way so we headed back. When we reached the small pool we found another new bird, a Pere David Snowfinch. By the time we had reached the bus we had seen four Wallcreepers all good views, twenty Accentors ten Brown's six Kozlov's and four Alpines plus six Godlewski Buntings and a single Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush. While we had lunch we were pestered by Snow Finches, which were so tame, they would take breadcrumbs from our hands.

After lunch we checked out another part of the gorge which was full of rodents like Marmots, two kinds of Souslik, two kinds of Pika which we were told are the original carriers of Bubonic plague, which the Mongols brought to Europe at the time of Genghis Khan. Which was nice as we were camping there that night. Also there were what looked like Gerbils and Hamsters. I bet you are thinking "Ahhh". Well you wouldn't think so if you were woken up in the middle of the night by Hammy and his mates burrowing under your tent.     

The following day was Atal Snowcock day, which was not going to be easy as Snowcocks live above 2500 metres (8000 feet). At ground level we were already at 1500 metres so we were nearly there, so I thought. Six of us started up the gorge while the rest stayed at the bottom to watch Wallcreepers and Accentors. It was a two and a half hour climb, and I mean climb, to get to the top, where we spent four hours scanning the surrounding valleys with my scope, that I had foolish volunteered to take up, but we had no luck finding any Snowcocks. However, we did get good views of a Black Vulture on its nest. Also fantastic views looking down on Lammergeiers, Himalayan Griffon Vultures and a Golden Eagle as they passed us on their way up.

On our way down I could not believe my eyes and ears, I turned to James and said "Tell me that's not a Common Whitethroat sat on top of that bush." And sure enough at nearly 8500 feet that's what it was. In the afternoon we headed onto the steppe grasslands before going back to the ger camp just in case. This turned out to be yet another good idea. We drove around for about two hours with only Horned Larks and Isabelline Wheatears to show for it, when a voice from the back of the bus shouted, "Stop!"
"What have you seen?"
 "There's a wader out there."
So we all piled out of the bus and about fifty yards away from us was a stunning Oriental Plover that was one of the birds that Mick wanted more than any other bird on the trip list. Strangely that day Mick got a text from his friend back home saying "White-tailed Plover, Scotland." So he texed back "Oriental Plover, Mongolia." That night was an early night as we had an early flight back to the capital.

We were up early the next day and we visited a river, which ran next to some large sand dunes, which were over 400 feet high. As we approached a bridge a flock of Saxaul Sparrows took off, which we later found out were nesting in the bridge, which was a bit annoying, as we had spent half a day looking for them earlier in the week. We crossed the bridge and as we did so a Grey-headed Lapwing walked away from us on the opposite side of the river. We all had a quick look, and as time was pressing and we had a flight to catch we headed back to the bus, where we were intercepted by a large flock of Pallas's Sandgrouse, which must have numbered well over 1000. We watched gob-smacked as they passed us about 100 feet from the ground.  After they had gone we got on the bus and headed for the airport. When we arrived at the airport we said goodbyes to our ground crew who had looked after us so well. Thanks again.

We landed at around 10am where we picked up our new driver and headed north-east into what would be all new habitats, like forest, mountains, marsh and rivers which would mean new birds. Well, apart from Horned Larks and Isabelline Wheatears, which were the first birds, we saw as we left the airport. We would be driving most of the day with some birding on the way. Our first stop was at a large meadow with a scattering of pine trees. As we left the bus we could hear the unmistakable sound of Yellowhammer, but you don't get Yellowhammers out there. So a quick scan of the trees and the culprit was found - a male Pine Bunting, which is just as pretty as a Yellowhammer. Also as we were getting back on the bus a Golden Eagle was spotted. We travelled on and enter the tree line.

Our next stop was at a river bridge, which was surrounded with thick scrub and as the road had been raised to cross the river we had a good view of the scrub. As we walked up the road the first bird to show, which would turn out to be a very common woodland bird here in Mongolia was a Two-barred Greenish Warbler. I carried on, turning back now and again just in case any one had spotted anything. As I got about 100 yards in front of everyone I turned to look back and noticed everyone was running back to James. On returning to the group I asked,
"What have you got?"
"There's a Siberian Rubythroat singing."
So we scanned the bushes where the singing was coming from but the only birds we found were a Black-faced Bunting, which was nice and a Dusky Warbler. After 10 minutes James decided to bring in a bit of technology in the way of his MP3 but nothing. There was probably a good reason why the bird was keeping its head down as nobody had noticed circling above the valley was an Upland Buzzard, Golden Eagle, Saker Falcon and a Goshawk. After the raptor spectacle had moved on so did we.

With a few more stops we finally got to Buuveit ger camp which strangely was next to a golf course, probably one of the best golf courses I have ever seen, the reason for this was not because of the challenging 18 holes or the 19^th hole having a buy one get two free offer (which it didn't by the way).  It was the fact that there were a lot of Citrine Wagtails and the odd Pied Wheatear dotted around it, plus a Saker Falcon circling overhead. You don't get that at Bulwell golf course. The ger camp that we were going to stay at was surrounded on three sides by Steep cliffs, and on one side there was a small wood.  After dinner, half the group decided to take a walk to the wood. The first bird we saw was a Red-throated subspecies of Dark-throated Thrush. This species comes in two colours - there is also a Black-throated variant. As it got dark a Long Eared Owl started to call from the woods, and then from the other side of the camp a Grey Nightjar started to sing. Well that's if you can call a strange rapid knocking sound singing. Half an hour later there were three Nightjars singing and as it was now pitch black and we still had not seen one of theses mysterious birds we gave up and went to bed.

The next day our birding was at a large wooded area next to the river Tuul, which bizarrely was next to another golf course. As we entered the woods it started to rain. Undeterred, we carried on and walked straight into an Asian Brown Flycatcher. Later the rain starting to become very heavy and finding birds was becoming very hard, so after two hours and only turning up two Red-throated Thrushes, Two-barred Greenish Warbler and a Taiga Flycatcher we gave up and went back to the bus for an early lunch. As we had parked in the golf course car park James asked Bazara if he would ask the management if the women could use the facilities. So he disappeared inside and came back saying: "Yes we can use the bar."

I think he got the wrong idea of what facilities James meant but I wasn't complaining. We sat down in the restaurant part of the bar and James ordered some drinks, and then things got a bit strange when Bazara came to the table with a box full of our picnic lunches and started to give them out.
James asked "Is this OK?"
"Is what OK?" said Bazara turning to the bar maid and saying something in Mongolian.
"Eating our own food in their restaurant" replied James.
Bazara looked at us with a puzzled look on his face. Then the barmaid came over with some plates and cutlery. We had to explain that in England you could not sit in a restaurant at a golf club wet through, covered in mud and eating our own food with their cutlery.
"In fact we wouldn't even be allowed to park in their car park" I added. He was amazed that people in Britain would be so inhospitable.

 After lunch we went back to the camp for a change of clothes, and at 2 pm it had stopped raining so we decided to visit a marsh, which was south of the golf course. The marsh was mainly mud, and had a small stream running through the middle and dotted around were a scattering of trees and bushes. James, Mick and me waded through the mud while the rest of the group followed at the edge. As we walked along, a small bird flew past us and landed in a small tree in front of us with the unmistakable calls of a Wryneck. As we locked onto it someone noticed another bird about fifty yards behind it, so scopes were diverted to see what it might be and it turned out to be a Brown Shrike. This marsh was getting better and better, as it also seemed to be full of birds, especially Citrine Wagtails, and to our left on top of the taller trees were Olive-backed Pipits. As we walked on another Wryneck was found. As we watched the second Wryneck, James turned to us and said, "I think I can hear Yellow-breasted Bunting." We all started to scan the area where the sound was coming from.  Brooke, one of the Americans said. "Is this it at the bottom of that bush?" And with a bit of manoeuvring we were all getting cracking views of this male Bunting with its bright yellow breast, deep black face and reddish-brown back. It was one of the birds of the holiday. It can't get any better than that, or can it?

That night I tried again for the Grey Nightjar but I only got a distant brief glimpse of a flying bird, but in the dark it could have been a Nightjar or a Chough - who knows? I did get to see hunting Long-eared Owl earlier in the night so it was not a complete waste of time.

The next day was 5am starts for six of us as we were going to a nearby tree-covered mountain where we would be looking for Black-bellied Capercaille. I will tell you right now we didn't see one but the 3000 metres (9000 feet) climb was well worth it. As we entered the forest the main birds were Pine Buntings and Olive- backed Pipits. As we reached 2000 metres the main birds were Willow Tits, and that cracking little bird Pallas's Leaf Warblers and also the odd Yellow-browed Warbler. When we reached the top of the mountain another five-star bird took centre stage, a bird that I have seen before in Finland but it was well worth the climb to see another, and by the end of the morning we would have seen three Red-flanked Bluetails. As we were following him through the trees a Woodpecker drummed in the distance so James with the aid of his MP3 replied, and straight away a bird flew in and landed in a tree right near to us. With a quick check we were looking at a Three-toed Woodpecker.

"While I have the MP3 out I'll try Spotted Nutcracker." said James jokingly, and 30 seconds later one joined us, landing ten feet above us.  Which way do you look? After a few more Bluetails and Pallas's Warblers we finally got down. What a cracking morning. Who needs to see a big black Turkey anyway when you see birds of this quality? We headed back to the ger camp to collect the rest of the group as we were moving to another camp. As we were collecting our luggage a Booted Eagle came down and landed behind the bar where it grabbed something and flew off. We got on the bus and said our goodbyes and headed off.

 We arrived late at Jalman Meadows, which was another ger camp. It was an area of large rolling grassy hills and at the foot of the hills was the Tuul River, the banks of which looked a real migrant trap full of thick scrub and some tall mature trees. We didn't have much time until dinner so we only had time for a quick shower. While James and Mick and I waited for our turn we did a bit of birding around the camp, and what do you know? Isabelline Wheatears but no Horned Larks. Had we finally lost the ones that been following us over the past two weeks? The larks that were there were Mongolian Larks, which look a bit like White-winged Larks. Other good birds we got there were both types of Vultures - Black and Himalayan Griffon plus a Golden and several Steppe Eagles plus a Black Stork.

While I was having a shower James came banging on the door shouting "Oriental Honey Buzzard!"
"This had best not be a wind up." I thought, so I grabbed my bins, (always get the most important thing first). "Now where did I put that towel?"
Then out into the field to find the Buzzard. God knows what the other tourists thought with me standing in the middle of a field with a towel around my waist, wet through staring at the sky, but any way he drifted off and I finished my shower.

The next day we headed to the river. Approaching it, we could hear a bird in full song so we crept quietly. There it was. Sitting on the top of a bush sixty feet away was one of the most desirable birds in the Western Palaearctic, a stunning male Siberian Rubythroat. This is one bird that even if you hate people who go twitching you would be mad not to be a hypocrite for a day to see one of these. That's if you were lucky enough to have one near where you live. The bird sat there for a good 5 minutes and the only reason it dived for cover was when a Sea Eagle flew up the river valley. That also set off a Black Woodpecker, which called loudly on the other side of the river. With the aid of the MP3, not one, but two Black Woodpeckers flew over to investigate us. Then James said "I will have a go for Grey-headed Woodpecker" and sure enough one could be heard replying in the distance and soon joined us. We had only walked 100 yards up the river and we were off to a good start. As we watched the Woodpeckers a small white bird flew past us and simultaneously three people shouted "Azure Tit!" We watched it fly into some distant trees so we all headed off towards them. As we got about half way it flew past in the opposite direction. "I wonder if it's got a nest," stated James, so we waited and sure enough it flew past us again and food could be seen in its bill. We headed slowly towards the trees and again it flew past us in the opposite direction. Eventually we found the tree where its nest was so we set the scopes about fifty yards from the tree and watched their reaction to us.  They didn't seem to care about us so we stayed for about ten minutes watching this little white and blue gem feeding its young.

We moved on, checking out more of the scrub where we turned up more common birds like Olive-backed Pipits, Black-faced Buntings, and Two-barred Greenish Warblers. After lunch we headed off to a different part of the river where we saw more of the same. Then Mick got our attention so we headed towards him and as we got closer he pointed into a bush where there was a pair of Long-tailed Rosefinches, and these pretty little birds turned out to be the last new birds of the day.

In the morning we left Jalman Meadows and headed for the final ger camp of our holiday. We arrived at Gun Galuut ger camp where we would be spending the next night. It had been a long uneventful morning and the temperature was well in the thirties and it was decided to go out at 3pm when it would be a bit cooler. When the time came we left for some large disused open cast mines, which had filled with water. One of the lakes was empty but the smaller lake was full of wildfowl. Checking through what was mainly Ruddy Shelducks we started to turn up some more interesting birds like a small group of Smew, a couple of Black-necked Grebes and a few Garganey. We were looking for one bird in particular, Asiatic White-winged Scoter that was going to be split into a new species.  Right, as I understand it, the European bird would remain Velvet Scoter, the American bird would stay as White-winged Scoter, the main Asian bird would be Asiatic White-winged Scoter, and this one would now be called Stejnegeri Scoter. I hope I've got that right. I'm sure there's somebody out there who will correct me if I am wrong. Anyway the Dutch have already split them, and the rest of Europe including the British are in the process of following suit. Any way we didn't see any. Only joking - we saw quite a lot and we all had a lecture from James pointing out the unique differences. To cut a long story short, it's not the best looking duck in the world; its bill shape and colour were the interesting bits that set it apart from the other species.

The next day we visited a large marsh passing a large flock of over a hundred Demoiselle Cranes, some of which had chicks with them. As we got closer to the marsh we could see a lot of White-winged Black Terns flying backwards and forwards catching insects. Then pair of Cranes were noticed on their own which were well worth a look as we had been told that there were a few White-naped Cranes in the area. As we got closer it was becoming obvious that these were they, and they had a couple of chicks with them, so we pulled over to watch from a distance.

After we had all had a good look we moved on, keeping our eyes peeled for a Siberian Crane that had been seen there the previous week. The ground was getting a bit too soft for the bus so it was agreed to walk the last mile into the middle of the marsh. The main birds here were Terns and Waders, mainly Marsh Sandpipers, Black-tailed Godwits and Lapwings. There were also a lot of Citrine Wagtails and the usual Pipits there. These Wagtails seem to be the most common Wagtails in Mongolia, and amongst these we found our first Yellow Wagtail and no, I do not know which sub species it was.

As we walked around, a large flock of Black-tailed Godwits flew in and James noticed a strange bird with them, and after 20 minutes we managed to find it - an Asiatic Dowitcher. In fact we found three of them. After lunch we headed back to UlaanBaatar for our last night in Mongolia. On the way back we stopped for a leg stretch where we picked up an Artic Warbler and a flock of around nine Lesser Whitethroats. A few of us took advantage and went to spend a penny. As Mick and I walked into the bushes we disturbed a Siberian Rubythroat, which landed in a bush about ten feet from us. These have got to be the best public toilets I've been to, where the piped music is the song of Siberian Rubythroat. We arrived back in the capital and checked into our hotel, some people went shopping but I decided to repack and have a lay down. At 7.30 pm we went for our end-of-tour dinner.  After dinner we had a vote for the best bird, and in 3^rd place was Siberian Rubythroat, 2^nd Wallcreeper, and 1^st Isabelline Wheatear, hooray! Only joking it was Oriental Plover. After more wine and beer we eventually slipped off to bed.

We arrived at the airport in time for our 6.30am check in and at 8.30 we left. We landed in Moscow for a one-hour stop, but seven hours later we were still there which meant we had missed our connecting flight in Berlin. As we started to board the plane James arranged with British Airways to get us on a later flight, but we did not have a second to spare. As we got off the plane at Berlin we were put straight onto another. We finally made it to Heathrow where we discovered that our luggage hadn't, so we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. There was nothing to worry about as two days later my luggage was delivered to my door. OK, it wasn't washed and ironed but I was still glad to see it. I can highly recommend Mongolia, I could not pick fault with any part of this holiday, well except the roads, and by the way the most common birds there are Horned Larks and Isabelline Wheatear. There really were thousands of them.