The Deskbound Birder: Chough

Showing posts with label Chough. Show all posts

Wednesday, 23 August 2017

Cornwall - 23rd to 30th August

We had a week booked at our cottage in Cornwall, four nights of which were to be camping in the garden as we had family staying in the house. The weather for much of the week was hot, sunny, still and generally glorious, great for camping and the beach but not so good for birding - and in particular seawatching.

On 25th I was up early and went to Pendeen for a brief seawatch and then on to Kendijack. At Pendeen the sea was like a millpond and I saw relatively little a single Sooty Shearwater and a Balearic Shearwater plus 1000's of Manx Shearwater moving west. At Kenidjack the highlights were three Tree Pipit moving west, Blackcap, Whitethroat, 12 Chiffchaff, a single Common Sandpiper and a Greenshank over. The resident pair of Chough put on a good show at the seaward end of the valley.

Chough - Kenidjack

Sleeping in the garden in a tent overnight was fantastic, not a breath of wind and lovely mild evenings. During the four nights we had Barn Owl over the cottage and Little Owl and Tawny Owl calling a little more distantly plus we heard Curlew, Whimbrel and Dunlin during the night.

On 28th I walked out from the cottage and west along the coast path, it was absolutely still and I didn't see many birds. Highlights being thrree Yellow Wagtail and two Tree Pipit plus a couple of family parties of Stonechat. Offshore there were large numbers of Manx Shearwater many becalmed and loafing around in large rafts. There were around 25 Common Dolphin (including at least five calf) and two Bottled-nosed Dolphin offshore while an lovely female Adder was new for the patch.

View from Pen Enys Point west towards Carn Naun Point. This is the nearest stretch of coast to our cottage

Stonechat (juvenile male) - Pen Enys Point

The parasol mushroom Macrolepiota procera - Pen Enys Point

Speckeld Wood - Trowan

Common Dolphin off Trowan

On 29th the forecast was for a force 4-5 north-west wind and so I headed for Pendeen and spent the morning seawatching. It was not as busy as I had hoped but 18 Sooty Shearwater, five Balearic Shearwater, one Storm-petrel, one Arctic Skua and a Bonxie plus a constant stream of Manx Shearwater made the morning enjoyable.

I ran the moth trap at the cottage on four nights but it was fairly slow going. Highlights were Frosted Orange, Small Wainscot and up to six Delicate, a species often thought of as a migrant but it certainly breeds around Trowan. A list of species recorded is provided below.

Frosted Orange - Trowan

Delicate - Trowan

Small Wainscot - Trowan

Rosy Rustic - Trowan

Macro-moths

Angle Shades

Brimstone Moth

Burnished Brass

Common Carpet

Common Rustic agg.

Common Wave

Dark Arches

Delicate

Double-striped Pug

Early Thorn

Flame Shoulder

Flounced Rustic

Frosted Orange

Garden Carpet

Green Carpet

Hedge Rustic

Knot Grass

Large Yellow Underwing

Lime-speck Pug

Lychnis

Mullein Wave

Orange Swift

Peach Blossom

Pinion-streaked Snout

Poplar Hawk-moth

Purple Bar

Rosy Rustic

Ruby Tiger

Setaceous Hebrew Character

Sharp-angled Peacock

Shuttle-shaped Dart

Small Square-spot

Small Wainscot

Snout

Spectacle

Square-spot Rustic

Straw Dot

Micro-moths

Acleris comariana

Acleris variegana

Agapeta hamana

Agriphila straminella

Agriphila tristella

Agrotis segetum

Celypha lacunana

Elophila nymphaeata

Epiphyas postvittana

Evergestis forficalis

Lobesia littoralis

Nomophila noctuella

Udea ferrugalis

Sunday, 21 May 2017

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wednesday, 17 May 2017

Mongolia - 17th May (Day 10) - Kholboolj Lakes and Barig Mountain

We had a very peaceful nights sleep in our tents beside Kholboolj Lake (45°20'12" N 100°49'36" E) and awoke to the sounds of Pallas’s Sandgrouse commuting to the lake for their morning watering. After breakfast beside the lake watching Pallas's Sandgrouse come and go plus two Pallas’s Gull fly-by we packed the Land Cruiser’s and headed northwards toward the town of Bayankhongor. En-route we made occasional stops for Small Snowfinch, more views of Pallas’s Sandgrouse and two Henderson’s Ground-jay. Richard was busy counting Pallas's Sandgrouse and eventually made it to 99 while I counted Steppe Eagle and eventually got to 32 many of the latter sitting in the desert along a 5km stretch of the Arvaikheer to Bayankhongor Road, in pairs, and presumably migrants. This was our first tarmac for many days.

Female (left) and male Pallas's Sandgrouse - Kholboolj Lake

Male (left) and female Pallas's Sandgrouse - Kholboolj Lake

Two male and two female Pallas's Sandgrouse - Kholboolj Lake

Male (left) and female Pallas's Sandgrouse - Kholboolj Lake

Male Pallas's Sandgrouse - Near Kholboolj Lake

Female Pallas's Sandgrouse - Near Kholboolj Lake

Steppe Eagle along the Arvaikheer to Bayankhongor Road

Cuckoo outside of Bayankhongor

After a stop for Small Snowfinch we lost contact with the lead vehicle but our driver seemed confident enough in heading for Bayankhongor. After some time with no sighting our driver stopped and Barry, Richard and I took the opportunity to bird a roadside area of willow just outside of town and quickly recorded Taiga Flycatcher, Pallas's Warbler and Taiga Flycatcher - I was convinced I was going to see my longed for Thick-billed Warbler but it was not to be and we were summoned back to the vehicle, made a u-turn and headed back to town where the other vehicles were now waiting. We faffed around in the town for around an hour looking at prayer wheels and Chough and I questioned why we weren't birding while the support crew did the shopping - this was costing me Thick-billed Warbler! Eventually the supplies had been gathered and we headed back south-east along the road before turning north off the tarmac and headed up the very dusty valley to our campsite at the foot of Barig Mountain. It was fairly windy when we arrived and while the support team set up tents we birding the grass and rock slopes surrounding the campsite. We saw relatively little but for Northern Wheatear, Citrine Wagtail, Steppe Eagle, Black Vulture and Brown Accentor.

Bayankhongor

Temple in Bayankhongor

Prayer wheels Bayankhongor

Chough - Bayankhongor

Steppe Eagle - Barig Mountain

Red-cheeked Ground-squirrel - Barig Mountain

Barry birding the slopes of Barig Mountain

After lunch we drove up Barig Mountain to around 2700m, there was no road we simply drove up the mountain side and through a boulder field. It was even more windy at the top than at our campsite, hardly surprise really! We spent the rest of the afternoon driving and walking the barren rocky plateau of Barig Mountain (46°4'52" N 101°19'2" E), it was very windy and the birding was tough going. We saw relatively little but for Horned Lark, Water Pipit, Brown Accentor, Lammergeier, Steppe Eagle and others had White’s Thrush, Red-throated Thrush and Red-throated Pipit. There was no sign of the hopped for Hodgson's Bush-chat or Asian Rosy-finch and not a sniff of Altai Snowcock. After a very steep descent in the vehicles from the mountain we had the opportunity for the first hot shower for four days and planned the itinerary for the next five days in Mongolia. It was back up Barig Mountain tomorrow but I don't think any of us were optimistic about seeing any of the target birds.