Larry Sweetland
Formerly 'Larry Wheatland'
Moscow to Beijing
As expected birding from Moscow to Beijing from the train in Winter wasn't that productive, but it did have it's moments. There were very few get-out stops each day, and they were invariably for less than 20 minutes in a birdless built-up spot.
The first two days passed pretty much solidly through flat snow-covered land made up of a patchwork of Birch woods and open areas. The majority of birds seen were common corvids, which was to be the case for most of the trip. Highlights were 7 Black Grouse (including a group of 5), a Goshawk, a flock of Waxwings, a Great Grey Shrike, and painfully sh1te views of what must have been an Azure Tit :'D. There were notably few birds at all, even unidentified ones. Great Tits and House Sparrows appeared at most stations for the first 4 days.
Days 3 and 4 took us through more hilly terrain with denser mixed forest, and we passed alongside lake Baikal and on into more open steppe with areas of willow scrub.... but still no AT. From here on Hooded Crows were replaced by all black crows, presumably races from the Oriental Crow group, (a "C" list lifer perhaps). Day 4 also produced a couple of Common Gulls at Lake Baikal, 4 Hawfinches, Short-eared Owl, a few flocks of larks, at least some of which were Shore Larks, and my first "B" list lifer, Asian Azure-winged Magpie. These were a bit of a shock so close to lake Baikal in the snow, as I hadn't checked their range and wasn't expecting anything quite so weird yet ! On day 4 Nicky gripped me off with a male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker when the train was stationary and I was in the loo.
We were arriving at Ulaan Baatar when we woke at dawn the next day, and soon to leave behind our last patch of willow scrub, and with it my hopes of A.T.. We climbed up into higher altitude frozen steppe, and incredibly still had Mapies with us. This bird and Raven were to follow us all the way. The most frequently seen birds on the day long journey south across this flat frozen section of Mongolia were (to me) predominently unidentifiable Buzzards on posts, and flocks of predominently unidentifiable Larks. At least a couple of the buzzrds were Japanese Buzzard, hopefully I'll be able to unravel others later. Many of the Larks were Shore Larks, but the undoubted highlight of this section was 2 large Lark flocks which between them included many (100+) Mongolian Larks, a full blown "A" list lifer. Other birds included 8 Black Vultures, 3 Golden Eagles, 2 Little Owls, 2 Chough, a Great Grey Shrike , and some Hill Pigeons, some of which were rather dodgily hanging out with feral pigeons.
When we woke the next day we were passing through Chinese arable land, and went on to pass round and through some quite spectacular steep rocky gorges. The arable land (still snow-covered) produced Collared and Spotted Doves, a flock of Grey-capped Greenfinches, and perhaps surprisingly a couple of Grey-headed Woodpeckers. It was looking down into the river gorges that produced the best birds though, bird of the trip so far, Mandarin Duck, when a group of 6, and later a lone male, were spotted on unfrozen stretches. A single Crested Kingfisher, 2 Red-billed Blue Magpies, Large-billed Crow, Little Owl and more Asian Azure-winged Magpies, and Hill Pigeons were also seen before finally arriving in Beijing after 6 nights on a train. So finally worth dipping the Welsh Pechora Pipit after all !
Any comments on taxonomy on any of these birds welcome. Also in the likely event that I've probably made a glaring ID boob, and seen something I shouldn't have somewhere on this trip please tell me !
So new additions (with "A" lifers in bold caps and "B" lifers in bold little ):-
112 Black Grouse
Oriental Crow (tax ?)
113 Asian Azure-winged Magpie
114 Shore Lark
115 Short-eared Owl
116 Chough
117 Hill Pigeon
118 Golden Eagle
119 Japanese Buzzard (tax ?)
120 Black Vulture
121 Little Owl
122 MONGOLIAN LARK
123 Grey-headed Woodpecker
124 Spotted Dove
125 GREY-CAPPED GREENFINCH
126 Large-billed Crow
127 MANDARIN DUCK
128 Crested Kingfisher
129 Red-billed Blue Magpie
As expected birding from Moscow to Beijing from the train in Winter wasn't that productive, but it did have it's moments. There were very few get-out stops each day, and they were invariably for less than 20 minutes in a birdless built-up spot.
The first two days passed pretty much solidly through flat snow-covered land made up of a patchwork of Birch woods and open areas. The majority of birds seen were common corvids, which was to be the case for most of the trip. Highlights were 7 Black Grouse (including a group of 5), a Goshawk, a flock of Waxwings, a Great Grey Shrike, and painfully sh1te views of what must have been an Azure Tit :'D. There were notably few birds at all, even unidentified ones. Great Tits and House Sparrows appeared at most stations for the first 4 days.
Days 3 and 4 took us through more hilly terrain with denser mixed forest, and we passed alongside lake Baikal and on into more open steppe with areas of willow scrub.... but still no AT. From here on Hooded Crows were replaced by all black crows, presumably races from the Oriental Crow group, (a "C" list lifer perhaps). Day 4 also produced a couple of Common Gulls at Lake Baikal, 4 Hawfinches, Short-eared Owl, a few flocks of larks, at least some of which were Shore Larks, and my first "B" list lifer, Asian Azure-winged Magpie. These were a bit of a shock so close to lake Baikal in the snow, as I hadn't checked their range and wasn't expecting anything quite so weird yet ! On day 4 Nicky gripped me off with a male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker when the train was stationary and I was in the loo.
We were arriving at Ulaan Baatar when we woke at dawn the next day, and soon to leave behind our last patch of willow scrub, and with it my hopes of A.T.. We climbed up into higher altitude frozen steppe, and incredibly still had Mapies with us. This bird and Raven were to follow us all the way. The most frequently seen birds on the day long journey south across this flat frozen section of Mongolia were (to me) predominently unidentifiable Buzzards on posts, and flocks of predominently unidentifiable Larks. At least a couple of the buzzrds were Japanese Buzzard, hopefully I'll be able to unravel others later. Many of the Larks were Shore Larks, but the undoubted highlight of this section was 2 large Lark flocks which between them included many (100+) Mongolian Larks, a full blown "A" list lifer. Other birds included 8 Black Vultures, 3 Golden Eagles, 2 Little Owls, 2 Chough, a Great Grey Shrike , and some Hill Pigeons, some of which were rather dodgily hanging out with feral pigeons.
When we woke the next day we were passing through Chinese arable land, and went on to pass round and through some quite spectacular steep rocky gorges. The arable land (still snow-covered) produced Collared and Spotted Doves, a flock of Grey-capped Greenfinches, and perhaps surprisingly a couple of Grey-headed Woodpeckers. It was looking down into the river gorges that produced the best birds though, bird of the trip so far, Mandarin Duck, when a group of 6, and later a lone male, were spotted on unfrozen stretches. A single Crested Kingfisher, 2 Red-billed Blue Magpies, Large-billed Crow, Little Owl and more Asian Azure-winged Magpies, and Hill Pigeons were also seen before finally arriving in Beijing after 6 nights on a train. So finally worth dipping the Welsh Pechora Pipit after all !
Any comments on taxonomy on any of these birds welcome. Also in the likely event that I've probably made a glaring ID boob, and seen something I shouldn't have somewhere on this trip please tell me !
So new additions (with "A" lifers in bold caps and "B" lifers in bold little ):-
112 Black Grouse
Oriental Crow (tax ?)
113 Asian Azure-winged Magpie
114 Shore Lark
115 Short-eared Owl
116 Chough
117 Hill Pigeon
118 Golden Eagle
119 Japanese Buzzard (tax ?)
120 Black Vulture
121 Little Owl
122 MONGOLIAN LARK
123 Grey-headed Woodpecker
124 Spotted Dove
125 GREY-CAPPED GREENFINCH
126 Large-billed Crow
127 MANDARIN DUCK
128 Crested Kingfisher
129 Red-billed Blue Magpie
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