Norfolk Birders

                                                                                                                                                  Mongolia Trip Report                            by Sue Bryan

July 11th – July 31st 2022

Sue Bryan

 John Geeson

Chris Lotz

Introduction

Over the last few years, having achieved a life’s dream of seeing over half the world’s birds I have focused much more on the birds and mammals that I really want to see. This usually means birds but there are iconic animals too that have conjured up images in my mind since childhood that I have watched many times on the television dreaming about seeing them for myself. Recently I have travelled the world seeing such wonders as Jaguar, Mountain Gorilla, Tiger and Orang-utan having been really spoiled seeing Lion, Cheetah, Elephant, Giraffe, Hippopotamus and Rhinoceros on my numerous visits to Africa in the past.

One of the iconic animals most difficult to see is Snow Leopard and after watching Mike Edgecombe’s talk with his superb photography my appetite for seeing this wonderful animal only increased. Luckily for me John also wanted to see this iconic animal but like me was not keen to stand for hours on end in sub-zero conditions in Ladakh in snow and ice freezing to death. Tales of the cold involved abounded and I had serious doubts whether I would be able to tolerate the conditions for very long despite the stunning scenery. I also have a low boredom threshold and I knew that the concentration that would be necessary in my case would wander, given that there would be very few birds available to watch at the same time. Days and days of scanning mountainsides would be necessary for distant views of the Snow Leopard even if we would be lucky enough to see it at all!

It was against this background that John and I approached Chris Lotz at Birding Ecotours www.birdingecotours.com with our thoughts as Chris has put several tours together with our wishes in the past. We invited Chris over and talked through our thoughts for future trips and he proposed a scouting trip in Mongolia where he had contacts with a ground agent who thought that they could come up with a trip to satisfy our wishes. They also proposed to add in a site for Pallas’s Cat as well as one of the owners of the ground agents being a keen birder who would act as our guide throughout.

We were beset with problems as the pandemic struck and after an acceptable trip with dates was booked it had to be cancelled. As time went on the UK eased its restrictions but Mongolia remained firmly shut to tourists and we thought we would have to cancel again for this year. However Mongolia suddenly opened up and we had a bit of a scramble to obtain visas in time and for me to get the necessary permission from work for a lengthy holiday at a busy time of year. John and I realised that the bird list would be small as we had to change dates due to Chris’s other commitments. However we both enjoy adventure and being a scouting trip we realised that not all would go according to plan but we agreed to expect changes as we went along. So on July 10th we packed our bags and set off for a hotel at Heathrow for a few hours sleep!

Guides Bayanmunkh Dashnyam (Bino), Yumchin Batkhuu (east Mongolia) Davaasuren Davka (12th July)

Itinerary

11th July   Heathrow

12th July   Heathrow – Istanbul - Ulaanbaatar

13th July   Ulaanbaatar – Khovd – Twin Leopard’s Ger Camp

14th July Twin Leopard’s Ger Camp area – Lake Durgun

15th July  Jargalant Mountains

16th July  Jargalant Mountains

17th July  Jargalant Mountain canyon

18th July Lake Khar

19th  July Builaas Valley, Bumbat Mountains

20th July Hudoo Lakes

21st July Manhan Sum

22nd July Khar-Us Lake

23rd July Khar-Us Lake

24th July Khovd

25th  July  Khovd – Ulaanbaatar - Altanbulag area

26th July Altanbulag area

27th July Hustai National Park – Lake Lun

28th July Ulaanbaatar, Hotel Mongolica

29th July Ulaanbaatar - Altanbulag area

30th July Altanbulag area - Ulaanbaatar, Hotel Mongolica

31st July Ulaanbaatar – Istanbul - Heathrow

Flights

International return flights to Ulaanbaatar via Istanbul with Turkish Airlines www.turkishairlines.com cost £1620 each.

Costs

This was a scouting trip. The final tour price was £6287.50 each. We had a few incidentals (tips and drinks etc) amounting to around £130 each.

Visa

We applied for a tourist visa online with the Mongolian embassy which was returned within an hour at a cost of US$50.

Money

Chris obtained some local currency at the ATM in the airport at Ulaanbaatar for incidentals and tips and kept a record which John and I were billed for our share at the end of the trip.

Climate

We were advised before the start of the trip to take clothing for all weathers. At the Jargalant Mountains whilst we were searching for Snow Leopard at over 10 000 feet, it was extremely cold and I was glad that I had packed my thick fleece as well as my thick padded winter anorak both of which I wore over another two fleeces! At night at the ger camp I was also extremely cold and I would advise anyone to take a hot water bottle with them. After telling the ger camp owner how cold I was, he arranged for a fire to be lit in our ger an hour before we went to bed to warm us up, which helped considerably.

In the west of the country down at the lakes during the day, it got very hot and I was soon dressed in T-shirt and shorts with temperatures nearing 30 degrees.  It was a very dry air everywhere we went. A sun hat is a must for both Snow Leopard searching and birding at the lakes. In the east it was not so hot but still very warm in the middle of the day when the sun was out.

Habitat

The mountains in the west of the country were over 10 200 ft high where we searched for the Snow Leopard and consisted of vast rolling vegetated landscapes as far as the eye could see, interspersed with rugged rocky outcrops. We drove up to the top of the Jargalant mountains in a Landcruiser with suitable tyres for the rugged terrain.

The lakes in the west of the country were located in a great depression nestled in an arid rocky landscape at 7000 ft sparsely vegetated with some wonderful alpine flowers suited to the dryness of the region.

In the east of the country it was much more lush with low lying vegetation but still mostly tree-less with an abundance of flowers.

Daily Log

11th July

John, Chris and I boarded a flight to Istanbul in the early hours after having had part of a night in a Heathrow airport hotel where we left the car. Later we flew overnight from Istanbul to Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia.

12th July

The scenery was stunning and the air quite cold but after breakfast we drove the surrounds of the hotel along a very bumpy track. Here we watched Azure-winged Magpies with Black (eared) Kites and an Amur Falcon mobbing them at every opportunity. White-cheeked Starlings had bred in a nest hole as Red-billed Chough called from all around us.

On the way back to the hotel we watched Horned Lark before having lunch back at the hotel.

13th July

John and I were up early and went for a pre-breakfast walk watching many Tree Sparrows and Magpies! After breakfast we drove along the riverside and watched two Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers and a family party of Ruddy Shelducks. Long-tailed Ground Squirrels were popping out of holes in the ground and disappearing as we approached as we admired Cinereous Vultures and Upland Buzzards overhead.  I attempted more photos of Azure Tits before heading for the airport for our flight to Khovd.

                                                                           Route to Twin Leopard Ger Camp and the interesting toilets in the middle of nowhere!

We stopped to admire a Daurian Shrike, Asiatic Short-toed Lark and a Golden Eagle en-route, stopping at shallow lakes to watch Greater Sandplover, Mongolian (Vega) Gull, as well as adding Kestrel and House Martin to our lists. Upon arrival Pallas’s Pikas were chirping everywhere, it was a sound that we would get used to over the coming days.

We were allocated our ger, fed and went to bed on the hardest mattress that I have ever encountered and was very cold! Unfortunately as we went to bed it rained and we heard the camp staff pulling over the Ger roofing to close the hole in the roof thankfully!

14th July

We stopped at a rocky outcrop where we watched Rock Sparrows after stopping at a few small puddles to watch Mongolian Finches. A Gobi Altai Mountain Vole scurried around as I tried to take its photo with difficulty as it was just so fast as it ran around the rocks. Pere David’s Snowfinch and White-winged Snowfinch were added to the list too.

Once down on the plains Black Kites and Sakers were in evidence as we searched in vain for Oriental Plover. It was now very hot and heat haze became an issue as we noted a Corsac Fox and Saiga. I have never seen gazelle run so fast as they do before like Olympic sprinters across the steppe. Herds of horses also ran across the steppe.

Horned Larks seemed to be everywhere as Cinereous Vultures wheeled overhead.

We reached the lake where water birds abounded and we watched Greater Sandplover, Black Tern, Kentish Plover, Caspian Tern, Black-throated Diver, Black-winged Stilt, Little Tern, Great White Egret, an abundance of Red-crested Pochards, Sand Martin, Western Marsh Harrier, Avocet, Greylag Goose, Spoonbill, Lapwing, Curlew Sandpiper, many White-winged Black Terns, Spotted Redshank, Temminck’s Stint and Whimbrel. The Pallas’s Gulls were spectacular in their summer plumage as they stood out amongst the Black-headed Gulls being much bigger in size.

The Mongolian steppes and the route to Lake Durgun with Sue admiring the scenery

15th July

We had an early start and headed up to the top of the Jargalant mountains. It was a treacherous route up to the top but full of adventure and anticipation of whether we would be lucky enough to see our target species: Snow Leopard !

                                                                                  Packing the vehicle for our adventure up to the top of the 10200 ft high top of the Jargalant Mountains

After arriving at the top of the Jargalant Mountains which my altitude App said was 10200 ft high I was already in trouble. I suffer very badly with altitude sickness which I had let the tour operators know well in advance. Birding Ecotours in the past have managed to obtain oxygen cylinders for me but on this occasion it proved impossible. However having had a few days at 7000 ft to acclimatise, I was hoping not to be too bad. It wasn’t long before I was suffering from a bad headache and feeling very woozy. After a couple of hours of trying to focus my eyes I had to give up scanning and lie down before I fell down. I took my medication and I fell asleep in the very cold but very sunny weather on the top of the mountain for over an hour. On waking up I felt a lot better but still struggled to focus my eyes properly. My scope was being put to good use though by one of the trackers.

We watched Bearded Vultures, Himalayan Vultures, Alatai Snowcock, Water Pipit, Guldenstadt Redstart, Hill Pigeons and Crag Martins whilst scanning for the Snow Leopard.

We had lunch at the top of the mountain as it was a glorious day but sadly we could not find any Snow Leopards.

We gave up scanning for the day and made our way back down the mountain back towards our ger camp. The route is very difficult as we followed water courses and remnants of a track but mostly drove anywhere we could get the vehicle over the boulder-strewn land. We stopped to take a photographs of Camels and a Tolai Hare on the way back down.

                                                                                Driving over the mountain top and watching the Yaks as we drove back down the dry water course

16th July

During the night we heard a lot of laughter outside our ger and wondered what was happening. Something was quite clearly being chased around. We wondered what it was but didn’t dare look out.

We were up early and ventured outside our ger to be greeted with a couple of cardboard boxes. Inside them were a Gobi Jerboa and a Mongolian Five-toed Jerboa. Our guides let them go and they hopped off very quickly with one of them disappearing into a burrow before I had a chance of a photograph. Luckily the Gobi Gerboa paused long enough for me to get a couple of photographs. After the fun of following them we packed the vehicle for the drive up to the top of the Jargalant Mountains once again.

Today we were going back up to 10200ft and I was a bit concerned as I know how ill I can be. I started a headache as we climbed up and took my medication leaving me very woozy once again! Luckily we didn’t have to walk very far at all and the medication worked and after an hour or so I was ok.

We stopped for a short while to watch Barred Warblers before continuing up the track. The track, what there is of it, follows a valley where it is possible to drive on the riverbed which is usually dry at this time of year. However 3 days ago rain had altered the bed and it was now strewn with boulders making the going very tough in places. Once out of the valley we drove across the mountain tops where the views are stunning. We also stopped once we were near the top to admire a Brown Accentor as we were looking for an Altai Accentor which we eventually found. I also took photographs of Mongolian Finches and White-winged Snowfinches on the way up.

We spent most of the day scanning the mountainsides without success for Snow Leopards and watched Himalayan Vultures, Cinereous Vultures, Black Kites, Swifts and Crag Martins.

We sat and watched it for ages as the Snow Leopard got up and walked down the slope, posing for a while on a rock before walking over to retrieve its kill and dragging the poor foal down the bank. We could not believe the views that we were having. Most trip reports talk about watching Snow Leopard from over 1 kilometre away and here we were watching it at about 400m away!

It was time to leave so that we could complete our treacherous journey back down the mountain in the light as we needed to be back in camp before nightfall. What a day we had all had. I shall never forget the amazing thrill of speeding across the mountain tops and through boulder fields in the hope of seeing a Snow Leopard in the wild. A BIG thanks to all the hard work that the trackers put in for us enabling us to see this magnificent animal.

17th July

Having had a very successful day yesterday and arriving back at camp late last night we were fortunate to have a bit of down time today to catch up with our photos, notes and general domestics. The stunning scenery here is out of this world and I realise just how lucky I am to be here far away from the strains and stresses of modern-day living.

We have been lucky in that our guide has made his phone available to have as a hotspot so that we can use wi-fi, a treat that we were not expecting. Usually we only have the generator on for a few hours in the evening for charging up our laptops, phones, camera batteries and light etc. but today it has been on all day as we are in camp and I have been able to catch up with my website and postings on Twitter and Facebook.

A big thank you must go to over 1300 of you that have sent me messages and have liked my photos of the Snow Leopard that I put on Twitter.

This afternoon we went for a walk up a canyon by our campsite where we watched Bearded Vultures, Hill Pigeons, Black Redstarts and Mongolian Finches as well as White-winged Finches. Upland Buzzards also soared overhead as we enjoyed our amble up the canyon before returning to the gers for a delightful evening meal.

18th July

After an early breakfast we set off for Lake Khar, a two hour drive away. It was already very hot and we were soon down to t-shirts and shorts. Pallas’s Sandgrouse were good to see on the plains as we drove. Blyth’s Reed Warblers and Paddyfield Warblers were in the reeds as we scanned the lake edge.

Temminck’s Stints, Greater Sand Plovers, Kentish Plovers were all noted feeding along the lake edge along with White-winged Black Terns, Black Terns and Gull-billed Terns flying over the lake. Vega Gulls, Pallas’s Gulls were in abundance as we enjoyed watching Spoonbills, Curlew and many Red-crested Pochards. Black-throated Divers with chicks were a delight to see close by as we noted Shoveler, Pintail, Slavonian Grebe, Goldeneye and Shelduck on the water. Bearded Tit, Reed Bunting and Great Reed Warblers were seen as well as a hepatic Cuckoo that flew across the lake. We watched a few Red-necked Phalaropes twizzle around delighting us all.

We drove a bit further but  were stopped in our tracks as a bridge was broken and we had to turn around as our vehicle was quite clearly not going to make it across

We stopped to have lunch in a shaded area underneath trees by part of the lake as it was so hot. We could hear other birds in a nearby tree and watched as many Common Starlings and a Rose-coloured Starling flew out followed by two Hoopoes.

After lunch we drove back across the steppe noting Asian Short-toed Larks and a Desert Wheatear but not the expected Oriental Plover. We did enjoy a Steppe Eagle on the way home to our ger though.

19th July

We set off after breakfast for the Bumbat Mountains. The route was interesting as no roads were involved! We used some tracks but mainly drove wherever the vehicle headed in the direction that we wanted to go......streams, riverbeds, boulder-fields and steppe. It was a good job that we were in a 4x4 vehicle!

We had our evening meal in the ger and put on our fleeces as the wind had got up. We will need the fire lit in our ger tonight!

A Terek Sandpiper fed on the edge of the lake whilst Kentish Plovers, Temminck’s Stints and Black-winged Stilts also fed running along the edge. Vega Gulls, Common Terns, Whiskered Tern and many White-winged Terns flew around but we could not find any Relict Gulls but added a Wigeon to our list.

At lunchtime a young Swallow alighted on the car door and then sat on Chris’s scope. It was not a bit frightened of us during the heat of the day and sat with us for ages as we took photos of it. Eventually  we had to ask it to leave so that we could drive back to camp.

The goat herd had arrived as we got back and a thunder storm appeared out of nowhere. It’s interesting in our ger with an open roof! The generator that we have on for a few hours each day is also intermittent and so drying my hair is also interesting at times!

Part of a rainbow back at camp

 22nd July

We had 3 hours of birding before breakfast around Lake Khar-Us. After a bit of a drive over the bumpy terrain we stopped and watched Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler, Paddyfield Warblers and Bearded Tits all singing. Black-winged Stilts seemed to be everywhere as the youngsters now fully grown were adding to much confusion before we got a scope on them and looked properly. I spotted a snipe in the long marshy grass but after showing John we could not relocate it before it crouched down and disappeared from view.  We watched Yellow Wagtails with grey heads and a Little Owl perched on a cattle pen. A Western Marsh Harrier flew along as we drove back to breakfast.

After breakfast we drove along another section of the lake but I was unfortunate that I could not see very much as I was sitting the wrong side of the vehicle. As all the birding was out one side of the vehicle for several hours I was getting very frustrated and eventually I asked if it could be a bit fairer and turn the vehicle around at the next stop so that I too could participate. Bino our Mongolian guide,  soon responded and made sure that at the next stop he made sure that I could see.  It was nice to see a big flock of Pallas’s Gulls along with Vega Gulls and Black-headed Gulls but we once again failed to find a Relict Gull. Grrrr... At one stop we all got out of the vehicle and scanned the enormous lake and Chris located two family parties of Swan Geese. Bingo! Result! Bar-headed Geese were also noted as well as Common Cranes and a family part of Demoiselle Cranes. Marsh Sandpiper and Wood Sandpiper were added to the list too.

We stopped at an observation tower where Bino spotted a very distant eagle sat on a mound and so we drove much nearer to the bird as we were challenged by heat haze and distance. By getting closer we could see it was a White-tailed Eagle. It eventually took off and joined another White-tailed Eagle with which it interacted.

23rd July

We spent the day birding around the vast lake of Khar-Us where we watched 28 White-headed Ducks , a number that e-bird doesn’t like as they don’t believe that so many are here! We also re-saw the family party of Demoiselle Cranes and many wader species including a Greenshank which was new for our list. Garganey were also present. The small pools in the marshes at the edge of the lake were alive with waders, a real treat for someone that would appreciate wader watching! I don’t think I have ever seen so many Temminck’s Stints on a trip before besides a real glut of Greater Sandplovers and Kentish Plovers.

The day was very hot and after lunch we watched birds for a few more hours stopping at some disused buildings where we watched a family party of Daurian Shrikes. Yellow Wagtails of various head colours were flitting around but they did not like a close approach and were very difficult to photograph.