Pennington Marsh - 4th August

With a spare Sunday I thought it was time I popped to Pennington Marsh for some late summer birding and the chance of a passage wader or two. Arriving on site at 07:00 I walked out to Jetty Lagoon back around via Butts to Keyhaven Lagoon and the back past Fishtail Lagoon. The bushes were alive with juvenile Whitethroat and there were good numbers of Reed Warbler in the ditches and reedbeds. Overhead small numbers of Swift, Sand Martin and Swallow moved west into the wind and a single Yellow Wagtail called overhead. It was low tide and so the lagoons were not as lively as they could have been, there were around 270 Black-tailed Godwit on Butts Lagoon, nine Dunlin, 12 Lapwing, two Greenshank and four Spotted Redshank. The only ducks of any note were three Shoveler on Fishtail Lagoon. On the mudflats there were three Goosander, 15 Ringed Plover and small numbers of Dunlin while at sea there were ten Common Tern. The marshes were being terrorised by two Peregrine chicks and they seemed to delight in flushing the Canada Geese and Avocet (five adult) on Fishtail Lagoon.

Black-tailed Godwit - Pennington Marsh

Black-tailed Godwit - Pennington Marsh

Black-tailed Godwit - Pennington Marsh

These Curlew were in a boundary dispute and paced back and forth side by side over the same length of mud for at least five minutes - Pennington Marsh

Oystercatcher - Pennington Marsh

Shoveler - Pennington Marsh

Juvenile Black-headed Gull - Pennington Marsh

Eyeworth Pond and Milkham Inclosure, New Forest - 12th January

I at last had a spare weekend and so decided to head into the New Forest for a few hours. There had been a White-tailed Eagle present on and off in the Roe Inclosure/Bratley Plain area south-east of Linwood since 16th December. While the bird had been seen yesterday, sightings had become sporadic and I treated this more like a wander in a part of the forest which often produces some interesting birds with a chance of seeing the eagle rather than as a concerted hunt for the eagle.

I started in the semi-dark at Eyeworth Pond just to the north-west of Fritham. On the pond were a couple of male Goosander, 16 Mandarin Duck and two Gadwall. I wandered north-east through the woodland to the adjacent heathland at Howen Bottom and picked up half a dozen Marsh Tit and a male Goshawk circling over the heathland before it headed south towards Fritham.

Mandarin Duck - Eyeworth Pond, Fritham

After leaving Eyeworth Pond I took a slow drive south-westwards through the forest picking up a few Stonechat, Mistle Thrush and other common forest species. As I passed Janesmoor Pond I picked up a nice group of three male and a female Goosander and so, pulling into the carpark here I spent a little time photographing them. They were a little distant and the light was poor and so the beautiful greens of the males heads are difficult to see but the pinkish tones of the white feathering is apparent.

Goosander - Janesmoor Pond, Fritham

Goosander - Janesmoor Pond, Fritham

Goosander - Janesmoor Pond, Fritham

I headed on and parked in the carpark at the eastern end of Milkham Inclosure. I then walked a large loop through Milkham Inclosure and into Roe Inclosure hoping to bump into the White-tailed Eagle but it was not to be. There were good numbers of Siskin, a calling Goshawk and half a dozen Common Crossbill but it was a little slow going. After a couple of hours I headed back to the car and decided to call it a day.

Common Crossbill - Milkham Inclosure, Linwood

Common Crossbill - Milkham Inclosure, Linwood

Common Crossbill - Milkham Inclosure, Linwood

Mongolia - 21st May (Day 14) - Terelj National Park and Gachuurt

After a great nights sleep in a bed at the Ulaanbaatar Hotel 2 in Terej National Park we were up at 05:00 to a very cold and frosty morning. Birding the woodlands near to the hotel it was quickly evident that most of the migrants from yesterday had departed and largely we were left with the breeding species. A quick check of the bushes near the rubbish dump produced no Siberian Rubythroat unlike yesterday but a single male Common Redstart showed well. Waking into the forest a pair of Goosander fed along the river. A bit of pishing near to some willow scrub produced a few Willow Tit and then a call which I knew immediately was an Azure Tit, I called Barry and Jon over and we were soon getting great views of this fantastic bird. The rest of the morning produced a range of nice species but no hoped for White-backed Woodpecker, we saw Grey-faced Woodpecker, Lesser spotted Woodpecker, Wryneck, Lesser Whitethroat and Brown Shrike.

After breakfast at 08:00 we birded an area of Birch forest a short way up the road but it was fairly slow going and we saw only Two-barred Greenish Warbler, Pine Bunting, Taiga Flycatcher and a singing Red-flanked Bluetail.

Azure Tit - Terej National Park

Azure Tit - Terej National Park

Azure Tit - Terej National Park

Azure Tit - Terej National Park

Great Tit - Terej National Park

Willow Tit - Terej National Park

Grey-faced Woodpecker - Terej National Park

Wryneck singing from the top of an Ash tree - Terej National Park

Wryneck - Terej National Park

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker - Terej National Park

Brown Shrike - Terej National Park

Goosander - Terej National Park

Goosander - Terej National Park

Red Squirrel - Terej National Park

Carrion Crow of race orientalis - Terej National Park

Chough - Terej National Park

Redstart - Terej National Park

Birch forest at Terej National Park

Birch forest at Terej National Park

Bird's-eye Primrose Primula farinosa, or a species similar to this - Terej National Park

Siberian Chipmunk - Terej National Park

We then drove back towards Ulaanbataar and up the valley to Gachuurt where we visited earlier in the trip for a final look for Siberian Jay. As we drove through the valley we stopped for Rook which here is of the subspecies pastinator and a potential split as Eastern Rook, other than a feathered face in Eastern Rook the differences between the two appear very marginal. A short way up the road a pair of Stonechat were eventually identified as Stejneger's Stonechat but they were not especially obliging.

Rook of subspecies pastinator - Gachuurt 

Stejneger's Stonechat - Gachuurt 

We arrived at our campsite and found the tents already erected and after dropping our bags to the tents we spent a little time birding the clearing and the adjacent area of damp scrub. Here were a few Black-faced Bunting, Yellow-browed Warbler and Two-barred Greenish Warbler plus a rather spectacular dark Red Squirrel.

Campsite at Gachuurt

Campsite at Gachuurt

Pasqueflower Campsite - Gachuurt

Pansy - Gachuurt

Red Squirrel - Gachuurt

Our optimism that we may see Siberian Jay due to a GPS reference that Tumen had obtained soon dwindled as we realised that the positioning was from last year! Regardless, we drove up through the forest to the conifers and slogged up the hill to the GPS reference and there were no jays. In fact, it was extremely slow going with just Siberian Chipmunk, Pallas's Pika and Willow Tit to keep us interested - our enthusiasm soon wained. We decided to cut our losses and head back to the campsite, a jay-like call as we defended produced some excitement but lead us to a stunning Nutcracker which showed extremely well in the evening light.

Siberian Chipmunk - Gachuurt

Pallas's Pica  - Gachuurt

Nutcracker - Gachuurt

 Pine Forest - Gachuurt

 Pine Forest - Gachuurt

Rod enjoying the view at Gachuurt

Back at the campsite a beer was very welcome as was a stunning Ural Owl which showed well at dusk around the clearing. The temperature dropped and a session on the vodka warmed the body and facilitated sleep in the now freezing temperatures.

Ural Owl around our campsite at Gachuurt

Ural Owl around our campsite at Gachuurt

Links to Other Days of the Trip (Click to View)
Day 1 and 2 – International flight then Ulaanbaatar to Mungum Sum
Day 3 -  Mungunmorit and Gachuurt area
Day 4 - Drive to Dalanzadgad
Day 5  – Gurvan Saikhan National Park
Day 6 - Gurvan Saikhan National Park
Day 7 - Gobi Desert and Khongor Sand Dunes
Day 8 – Gobi Desert to Bogd
Day 9 - Baga Bogd Mountain and Kholboolj Lake
Day 10 - Kholboolj Lake and Barig Mountain
Day 11 - Barig Mountain and Sangiin Lake
Day 12 (Part 1) - Sangiin Lake and Bayan Lake
Day 12 (Part 2) - Sangiin Lake and Bayan Lake
Day 13 - Hustai National Park and Terelj National Park
Day 15 and 16 - Gachuurt Area, Tuul River and International flight