Mongolia – 18th May (Day 11) – Barig Mountain to Sangiin Dalai Lake

Mongolia – 18th May (Day 11) – Barig Mountain to Sangiin Dalai Lake



We were up at 05:15 to the sound of screaming Saker Falcon, packed our bags and after a quick coffee headed back up Barig Mountain at 06:00 for a last try for Hodgson’s Bush-chat. After climbing the steep grassy and rock strewn slopes of the mountains in the vehicles we parked at the summit and spread out to look for the bird.

The wind had dropped since yesterday and there were evidently migrants coming through and I recorded Black-faced Bunting , , Ortolan Bunting , Pallas’s Bunting , Blyth’s Pipit , and Siberian Rubythroat , plus breeding species such as Tibetan Lark, Horned Lark and Water Pipit. These birds were largely sheltering amongst the rocks as there was no scrub cover.

We met back at the vehicles at 08:15 to the news that half of the group had seen a male Hodgson’s Bush-chat but despite further searching for at least one hour we could not relocate the bird. At 10:00 we descended the mountain for breakfast and departed – gutted for missing the Bush-chat.

ET9I0784

Bar-headed Goose – Sangiin Dalai Lake

ET9I9483

Water Pipit of subspecies blakistoni – Barig Mountain

ET9I9499

Water Pipit of subspeciesblakistoni- Barig Mountain

ET9I9534

Water Pipit of subspeciesblakistoni- Barig Mountain

ET9I9513

Horned Lark – Barig Mountain

ET9I9598

Siberian Rubythroat – Barig Mountain

ET9I9617

Tibetan Lark – Barig Mountain

ET9I9488

Tolbagan Marmot – Barig Mountain

IMG 7734

Barig Mountain

IMG 7737

I assume this is a Primula species or maybe a Saxifrage – Barig Mountain

As the dusty track to Barig Mountain met the asphalt road of the A201 Arvaikheer to Bayankhongor Road, just before joining the tarmac we stopped at a small gully which held Small Snowfinch, Daurian Redstart and a nesting Saker.

Once on the road the landscape became a little lusher with horse and goat grazed plains. A short roadside stopped produced two Himalayan Griffon and a Cinereous Vulture feeding on goat afterbirth.

ET9I9678

Small Snowfinch – Near Barig Mountain

ET9I9741

Saker – Near Barig Mountain

ET9I9749

Cinereous Vulture and Himalayan Griffon – Along the A201

ET9I9778

Cinereous Vulture – Along the A201

ET9I9819

Himalayan Griffon – Along the A201

ET9I9839

Himalayan Griffon – Along the A201

ET9I9853

Himalayan Griffon – Along the A201

ET9I9851

Himalayan Griffon – Along the A201

ET9I9861

Himalayan Griffon – Along the A201

After approximately 70km we stopped for lunch beside a small lake (45°48’17” N 101°59’3″ E) between Nariinteel and Khairhandulaan. While the crew were preparing lunch we birded around the lake. This was very birdy and we recorded the following Whooper Swan ,  hybridSwan x Bean Goose , Bar-headed Goose (c.40), Ruddy Shelduck (c.50), Shelduck, , Gadwall, Mallard, Teal, Wigeon, , Teal, Garganey (c.25), Green Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Avocet, Black-winged Stilt, Temminck’s Stint (100’s), Long-toed Stint (10’s), Sanderling ,Curlew Sandpiper , , , , Kentish Plover (35), Common Swift , Pacific Swift and Citrine Wagtail .

A flock of around 100 Common Tern (of the subspecies longipennis) dropped out of nowhere onto the lake shore to preen and bath and before long took flight and after circling to a high altitude headed west into the desert. While having lunch we enjoyed the site and sound of Blyth’s Pipit, Mongolian Lark, Horned Lark and Asian Short-toed Lark displaying overhead.

ET9I0002

Ruddy Shelduck and presumed Bean x although in this image it perhaps looks more Bean Goose like – Unnamed lake alongside A201

ET9I0103

Pacific Golden Plover – Unnamed lake alongside A201

ET9I0127

Curlew Sandpiper, Long-toed Stint and Temminck’s Stint – Unnamed lake alongside A201

ET9I0192

Black-tailed Godwit and Asian Dowitcher (centre bird), the latter was remarkably difficult to detect amongst the godwit – Unnamed lake alongside A201

ET9I0259

Black-tailed Godwit and Asian Dowitcher – Unnamed lake alongside A201

ET9I0285

Curlew Sandpiper – Unnamed lake alongside A201

ET9I0314

Whooper Swan and Avocet – Unnamed lake alongside A201

ET9I0350

Asian Dowitcher and Pacific Golden Plover – Unnamed lake alongside A201

ET9I9884

Garganey – Unnamed lake alongside A201

ET9I9903

Bar-headed Goose – Unnamed lake alongside A201

ET9I9911

Pochard, Pintail, Shoveler, Ruddy Shelduck, Black-tailed Godwit, Wood Sandpiper and Avocet – – Unnamed lake alongside A201

ET9I9921

Black-tailed Godwit and Asian Dowitcher in flight, the latter very like a Bar-tailed Godwit – Unnamed lake alongside A201

ET9I9934

Flock of Common tern heading off over the desert – – Unnamed lake alongside A201

ET9I9947

Flock of Common tern heading off over the desert – Unnamed lake alongside A201

ET9I0381

Tibetan Lark – Unnamed lake alongside A201

ET9I0401

Tibetan Lark – Unnamed lake alongside A201

IMG 7738

Lunch stop

ET9I0504

Black Stork alongside the A201

We arrived at Sangiin Dalai Lake (46°41’17” N 103°17’6″ E) at around 18:30 and left the support team erecting the tents and preparing our food while we went off birding around the lakes. There are four lakes here, one large lake with many diving duck, two smaller shallow lakes with waders and a shallow scrape.

These are surrounded by tussocky rushes and horse grazed grassland. This mix of habitats made for some great birding. I concentrated on the three smaller lakes and spent a great couple of hours and saw White-winged Black Tern, Black Stork , Mongolian Gull , Citrine Wagtail (many), Mongolian Lark, Sky Lark, Asian Short-toed Lark, Blyth’s Pipit, Pallas’s Bunting , Long-toed Stint, Temminck;’s Stint, Common Crane, Demoiselle Crane and Whooper Swan.

Back at the campsite for dinner at 20:30 we sat outside and enjoyed the sites and sounds of the lakes. In our tents for around 22:00 we went to sleep to the sound of calling Demoiselle Crane and Common Crane.

ET9I0528

Demoiselle Crane – Sangiin Dalai Lake

ET9I0538

Demoiselle Crane – Sangiin Dalai Lake

ET9I0606

– Sangiin Dalai Lake

ET9I0618

Spoonbill – Sangiin Dalai Lake

ET9I0659

Mongolian Gull – Sangiin Dalai Lake

ET9I0669

Mongolian Gull – Sangiin Dalai Lake

ET9I0704

Eurasian of subspecies kaborti – Sangiin Dalai Lake

ET9I0707

Sangiin Dalai Lake

ET9I0730

Sangiin Dalai Lake

ET9I0736

Sangiin Dalai Lake

ET9I0725

Wood Sandpiper – Sangiin Dalai Lake

ET9I0744

Bar-headed Goose – Sangiin Dalai Lake

ET9I0790

Bar-headed Goose – Sangiin Dalai Lake

ET9I0799

Mongolian Gull – Sangiin Dalai Lake

ET9I0811

Mongolian Gull – Sangiin Dalai Lake

ET9I0818

Mongolian Gull – Sangiin Dalai Lake

ET9I0826

Mongolian Gull – Sangiin Dalai Lake

ET9I0833

Mongolian Gull – Sangiin Dalai Lake

ET9I0841

Mongolian Gull – Sangiin Dalai Lake

ET9I0843

Mongolian Gull – Sangiin Dalai Lake

ET9I0869

Black-tailed Godwit – Sangiin Dalai Lake

ET9I0913

Citrine Wagtail – Sangiin Dalai Lake

ET9I0930

Citrine Wagtail – Sangiin Dalai Lake

ET9I0965

Pallas’s Bunting – Sangiin Dalai Lake

ET9I0974

Mongolian Lark – Sangiin Dalai Lake

ET9I0753

Mongolian Lark – Sangiin Dalai Lake

 

Subscribe to our FREE Newsletter

 

 

Dive in!

Discover hidden wildlife with our FREE newsletters

We promise we’ll never spam! Read our Privacy Policy for more info

Simon Colenutt

Simon Colenutt

I began birdwatching at the age of nine when living on the Isle of Wight. After obtaining a copy of the Isle of Wight Bird Report from 1976 I realised that Manx Shearwater, Arctic Skua, Pomarine Skua and Black Tern were regularly seen at St.Catherine's Point, only five miles from my home village of Chale Green. To a nine year old these birds were near mythical and so I just had to go and try to see them. Little did I know that these birds were seasonal and after a long winter of seeing nothing I eventually started to bump into other birdwatchers as March drew to a close. It was then that Dave Hunnybun, Dave Wooldridge, Paul Castle, Peter Gandy and Audrey Wilkinson introduced me to the art of seawatching and the joys of bird migration, I have not looked back since.

Simon Colenutt

Simon Colenutt

I began birdwatching at the age of nine when living on the Isle of Wight. After obtaining a copy of the Isle of Wight Bird Report from 1976 I realised that Manx Shearwater, Arctic Skua, Pomarine Skua and Black Tern were regularly seen at St.Catherine's Point, only five miles from my home village of Chale Green. To a nine year old these birds were near mythical and so I just had to go and try to see them. Little did I know that these birds were seasonal and after a long winter of seeing nothing I eventually started to bump into other birdwatchers as March drew to a close. It was then that Dave Hunnybun, Dave Wooldridge, Paul Castle, Peter Gandy and Audrey Wilkinson introduced me to the art of seawatching and the joys of bird migration, I have not looked back since.

Share this post with your friends




Leave a Reply

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments