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Mongolian Owls @ minus 50C
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<blockquote data-quote="Frogfish" data-source="post: 3171957" data-attributes="member: 94817"><p>Thanks Mike & Jeff !</p><p>------------------</p><p></p><p><strong>Day 3 : Monday 2nd February 2015 (distance covered 214 kms) </strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>A Day of Contrasts. </strong></p><p></p><p>We had such high hopes for owls when we set off. Spirits were sky high and although we picked up a couple of fine woodpeckers, and an unexpected Siberian Accentor, the owls were conspicuous by their absence despite Mr Zhang trying his hardest to find them for us. We searched high and low, through fields of snow (in which we became bogged down twice and Mr Zhang had to shovel us out), in clearings in the centre of dense forests, down remote tracks lined by kilometre after kilometre of leaf-less sentries, Silver Beech & Siberian Larch, and across many kms of terrain, often driving for up to an hour without seeing a single bird. </p><p></p><p>Compensation came in the form of two stops at farms, hidden in copses down snow-covered tracks. The rosefinches, Long-tailed, & Pallas’, fearless Eurasian Nuthatches in their Eastern garb, Baikal Bullfinches and Common Redpoll, feeding on seeds & grain still remaining from the Autumn, kept us royally entertained. </p><p></p><p>And yet the Great Grey, Ural and even the accommodating Northern Hawk Owl evaded us this day. This was really tough birding. </p><p></p><p>I'm getting ahead of myself with the pics below as 1-3 show a hunting Northern Hawk Owl as it is :</p><p>1) just about to crash land on an unseen (to us) rat in the snow, </p><p>2) popping it's head up after 5 mins to check for danger and </p><p>3) carrying the rat way for lunch. </p><p></p><p>It was a frustrating sequence as I had stood there for near on 15 mins (or at least it seemed like that to me) after the owl hit the snow but my fingers (in liners outside the mittens) were now frozen solid and of course, in the 1 minute I spent trying to warm them up on the heat pad inside the mittens, the shot I was waiting for, of the owl lifting up with the rat, passed me by .. c'est la vie ! Maybe Dev or Kai got the money shot :king:</p><p></p><p>4) Black Grouse (heavy crop)</p><p>5) Siberian Jay (backlit, heavy crop)</p><p></p><p><strong>Day List : 17 </strong>No number given means numerous viewings. </p><p></p><p>Accentor, Siberian (1) * <strong><span style="color: Red">L</span></strong> </p><p>Bullfinch, Baikal (cineracea) </p><p>Bullfinch, Eurasian </p><p>Buzzard, Rough-legged (1) * <strong><span style="color: Red">L</span></strong> </p><p>Crow, Carrion </p><p>Hazel Grouse * <strong><span style="color: Red">L</span></strong> </p><p>Jay, Eurasian (brandtii)</p><p>Kestrel *</p><p>Nuthatch, Eurasian (arctica) (7) * <strong><span style="color: Red">L</span></strong> </p><p>Pigeon, Hill</p><p>Redpoll, Common</p><p>Rosefinch, Long Tailed </p><p>Rosefinch, Pallas' * <strong><span style="color: Red">L</span></strong> </p><p>Sparrow, Tree </p><p>Tit, Marsh</p><p>Woodpecker, Grey Headed (4) *</p><p>Woodpecker, Lesser Spotted (1) * <strong><span style="color: Red">L</span></strong> </p><p></p><p><strong>Trip List now stands at : 24</strong></p><p>* New For The Trip</p><p><strong><span style="color: Red">L</span></strong> = Lifer</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Frogfish, post: 3171957, member: 94817"] Thanks Mike & Jeff ! ------------------ [B]Day 3 : Monday 2nd February 2015 (distance covered 214 kms) A Day of Contrasts. [/B] We had such high hopes for owls when we set off. Spirits were sky high and although we picked up a couple of fine woodpeckers, and an unexpected Siberian Accentor, the owls were conspicuous by their absence despite Mr Zhang trying his hardest to find them for us. We searched high and low, through fields of snow (in which we became bogged down twice and Mr Zhang had to shovel us out), in clearings in the centre of dense forests, down remote tracks lined by kilometre after kilometre of leaf-less sentries, Silver Beech & Siberian Larch, and across many kms of terrain, often driving for up to an hour without seeing a single bird. Compensation came in the form of two stops at farms, hidden in copses down snow-covered tracks. The rosefinches, Long-tailed, & Pallas’, fearless Eurasian Nuthatches in their Eastern garb, Baikal Bullfinches and Common Redpoll, feeding on seeds & grain still remaining from the Autumn, kept us royally entertained. And yet the Great Grey, Ural and even the accommodating Northern Hawk Owl evaded us this day. This was really tough birding. I'm getting ahead of myself with the pics below as 1-3 show a hunting Northern Hawk Owl as it is : 1) just about to crash land on an unseen (to us) rat in the snow, 2) popping it's head up after 5 mins to check for danger and 3) carrying the rat way for lunch. It was a frustrating sequence as I had stood there for near on 15 mins (or at least it seemed like that to me) after the owl hit the snow but my fingers (in liners outside the mittens) were now frozen solid and of course, in the 1 minute I spent trying to warm them up on the heat pad inside the mittens, the shot I was waiting for, of the owl lifting up with the rat, passed me by .. c'est la vie ! Maybe Dev or Kai got the money shot :king: 4) Black Grouse (heavy crop) 5) Siberian Jay (backlit, heavy crop) [B]Day List : 17 [/B]No number given means numerous viewings. Accentor, Siberian (1) * [B][COLOR="Red"]L[/COLOR][/B] Bullfinch, Baikal (cineracea) Bullfinch, Eurasian Buzzard, Rough-legged (1) * [B][COLOR="Red"]L[/COLOR][/B] Crow, Carrion Hazel Grouse * [B][COLOR="Red"]L[/COLOR][/B] Jay, Eurasian (brandtii) Kestrel * Nuthatch, Eurasian (arctica) (7) * [B][COLOR="Red"]L[/COLOR][/B] Pigeon, Hill Redpoll, Common Rosefinch, Long Tailed Rosefinch, Pallas' * [B][COLOR="Red"]L[/COLOR][/B] Sparrow, Tree Tit, Marsh Woodpecker, Grey Headed (4) * Woodpecker, Lesser Spotted (1) * [B][COLOR="Red"]L[/COLOR][/B] [B]Trip List now stands at : 24[/B] * New For The Trip [B][COLOR="Red"]L[/COLOR][/B] = Lifer [/QUOTE]
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