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Mongolian Owls @ minus 50C
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<blockquote data-quote="Frogfish" data-source="post: 3170332" data-attributes="member: 94817"><p>Thanks Viator. Lots of owls here <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></p><p></p><p>...................</p><p></p><p><strong>Day 2 : Sunday 1st February 2015 </strong>(distance covered 221 kms)</p><p></p><p>Mr Zhang was to pick me up at 08.00 (dawn being at 07.45 and he says first thing in the morning the birding is very poor here). And right on cue .... Mr Zhang. </p><p></p><p>We were to stop for breakfast just 1 min. up the road, however the power out that the hotel suffered for an hour from 06.30 (or so, before that I was asleep ! ) seems to have hit the whole town so breakfast gets a pass, no problem for me as I'm not a breakfast person anyway. </p><p></p><p>I won't describe every road and turn as much of it looks alike anyway : huge open spaces filled with nothing much, plus both small and extremely expansive patches of arboreal forest and everything covered by 30-50cms of snow - even though it hasn't snowed here for a couple of weeks or more ! </p><p></p><p>The decent enough road in town finishes a few kms out and from then on the roads are either bumpy or shall we say 'agricutural'. This is excluding the somewhat exciting off-road excursions through fields 50cms deep in snow. </p><p></p><p>I was only 2 hrs into the field side of the trip when we came across the first of my 5 main targets for the trip (Great Grey, Snowy, Northern Hawk, Eagle, and Ural..... in that order). As per usual with this the species, it was sitting atop the highest tree in the row, moving on to another 400m away before I could get a shot in, but luckily stayed there ignoring my approach and setup, after I exited the Pajero and walked the next 200m through the snow, allowing me to get some snaps. Target #3 on my list ticked in fine style, and what a gorgeous bird too. </p><p></p><p>The rest of the day was a similarly confusing continuation of drive > minor road > field and all with nary a sign in sight, other than by checking my Garmin GPS I hadn't the faintest idea where we were.</p><p></p><p>In the afternoon the highlight was a screeching halt (OK, actually more like a 50m slide sideways on the icy road, to a semi-controlled stop and then reverse back) for 3 Black Grouse feeding atop trees that barely looked capable of supporting the substantial weight of these large birds. Two females and a male almost hidden, we’re all I could see. A very good tick indeed, and surprising too. </p><p></p><p>On returning to 'town', Dev & Kai had arrived and checked in and off we went for dinner (60-80rmb goes a long way on food and beer and the portions were simply huge), after confirming our pickup, with Mr Zhang, our excellent guide, for 07.30 the following morn. </p><p></p><p>A word or two on the small hotel (8 rooms, only 2 with a private bathroom), it was very clean, very warm and importantly had very hot water in the showers ! At 150rmb it was well overpriced for a rural town in China, for example in Yakeshi (ca. 90 to 100 mins drive away) a 3 star is 85 rmb and a 4 star 125 rmb, but since there are very few options in Wuerqihan then there is really little option but to pay the going rate. I would have no hesitation staying at this tiny hotel again though.</p><p></p><p>TIP : Make sure you have everything prepared the night before and a torch handy - the electricity went off around 06.00 (all over town) on three of the nights we stayed there. </p><p></p><p><strong>Day 2 List : 17 </strong> No number given means numerous viewings. </p><p></p><p>Owl, Northern Hawk (can I write that again) ?! (1) <strong><span style="color: Red">L </span></strong></p><p>Bullfinch, Baikal (cineracea) <strong><span style="color: Red">L </span></strong></p><p>Bullfinch, Eurasian (2)</p><p>Bunting, Snow (2) <strong><span style="color: Red">L </span></strong></p><p>Crow, Carrion </p><p>Grouse, Black (2xF & 1xM) <strong><span style="color: Red">L </span></strong></p><p>Jay, Eurasian (brandtii) : I have to say this bird looks so different from the Eurasian Jays I have been used to I can hardly believe it's still classified as the same species.</p><p>Magpie, Eurasian (1)</p><p>Pheasant, Ring-necked (1)</p><p>Pigeon, Hill <strong><span style="color: Red">L </span></strong></p><p>Redpoll, Common, </p><p>Redpoll, Hoary (5) (ssp of Arctic) <strong><span style="color: Red">L </span></strong></p><p>Rook</p><p>Rosefinch, Long Tailed (6) <strong><span style="color: Red">L </span></strong></p><p>Tit, Silver Tailed (newly split from LT Tit) (5) <strong><span style="color: Red">L </span></strong></p><p>Tit, Marsh</p><p>Woodpecker, White-backed (1) <strong><span style="color: Red">L </span></strong></p><p></p><p>Trip List now stands at : 17</p><p>* New For The Trip</p><p><strong><span style="color: Red">L </span></strong>= Lifer</p><p></p><p>N.B. Photos will not necessarily correspond to the Day Lists !</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Frogfish, post: 3170332, member: 94817"] Thanks Viator. Lots of owls here ;) ................... [B]Day 2 : Sunday 1st February 2015 [/B](distance covered 221 kms) Mr Zhang was to pick me up at 08.00 (dawn being at 07.45 and he says first thing in the morning the birding is very poor here). And right on cue .... Mr Zhang. We were to stop for breakfast just 1 min. up the road, however the power out that the hotel suffered for an hour from 06.30 (or so, before that I was asleep ! ) seems to have hit the whole town so breakfast gets a pass, no problem for me as I'm not a breakfast person anyway. I won't describe every road and turn as much of it looks alike anyway : huge open spaces filled with nothing much, plus both small and extremely expansive patches of arboreal forest and everything covered by 30-50cms of snow - even though it hasn't snowed here for a couple of weeks or more ! The decent enough road in town finishes a few kms out and from then on the roads are either bumpy or shall we say 'agricutural'. This is excluding the somewhat exciting off-road excursions through fields 50cms deep in snow. I was only 2 hrs into the field side of the trip when we came across the first of my 5 main targets for the trip (Great Grey, Snowy, Northern Hawk, Eagle, and Ural..... in that order). As per usual with this the species, it was sitting atop the highest tree in the row, moving on to another 400m away before I could get a shot in, but luckily stayed there ignoring my approach and setup, after I exited the Pajero and walked the next 200m through the snow, allowing me to get some snaps. Target #3 on my list ticked in fine style, and what a gorgeous bird too. The rest of the day was a similarly confusing continuation of drive > minor road > field and all with nary a sign in sight, other than by checking my Garmin GPS I hadn't the faintest idea where we were. In the afternoon the highlight was a screeching halt (OK, actually more like a 50m slide sideways on the icy road, to a semi-controlled stop and then reverse back) for 3 Black Grouse feeding atop trees that barely looked capable of supporting the substantial weight of these large birds. Two females and a male almost hidden, we’re all I could see. A very good tick indeed, and surprising too. On returning to 'town', Dev & Kai had arrived and checked in and off we went for dinner (60-80rmb goes a long way on food and beer and the portions were simply huge), after confirming our pickup, with Mr Zhang, our excellent guide, for 07.30 the following morn. A word or two on the small hotel (8 rooms, only 2 with a private bathroom), it was very clean, very warm and importantly had very hot water in the showers ! At 150rmb it was well overpriced for a rural town in China, for example in Yakeshi (ca. 90 to 100 mins drive away) a 3 star is 85 rmb and a 4 star 125 rmb, but since there are very few options in Wuerqihan then there is really little option but to pay the going rate. I would have no hesitation staying at this tiny hotel again though. TIP : Make sure you have everything prepared the night before and a torch handy - the electricity went off around 06.00 (all over town) on three of the nights we stayed there. [B]Day 2 List : 17 [/B] No number given means numerous viewings. Owl, Northern Hawk (can I write that again) ?! (1) [B][COLOR="Red"]L [/COLOR][/B] Bullfinch, Baikal (cineracea) [B][COLOR="Red"]L [/COLOR][/B] Bullfinch, Eurasian (2) Bunting, Snow (2) [B][COLOR="Red"]L [/COLOR][/B] Crow, Carrion Grouse, Black (2xF & 1xM) [B][COLOR="Red"]L [/COLOR][/B] Jay, Eurasian (brandtii) : I have to say this bird looks so different from the Eurasian Jays I have been used to I can hardly believe it's still classified as the same species. Magpie, Eurasian (1) Pheasant, Ring-necked (1) Pigeon, Hill [B][COLOR="Red"]L [/COLOR][/B] Redpoll, Common, Redpoll, Hoary (5) (ssp of Arctic) [B][COLOR="Red"]L [/COLOR][/B] Rook Rosefinch, Long Tailed (6) [B][COLOR="Red"]L [/COLOR][/B] Tit, Silver Tailed (newly split from LT Tit) (5) [B][COLOR="Red"]L [/COLOR][/B] Tit, Marsh Woodpecker, White-backed (1) [B][COLOR="Red"]L [/COLOR][/B] Trip List now stands at : 17 * New For The Trip [B][COLOR="Red"]L [/COLOR][/B]= Lifer N.B. Photos will not necessarily correspond to the Day Lists ! [/QUOTE]
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Mongolian Owls @ minus 50C
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