Cold weather birding

It looks like temperatures are about to increase a bit. That is very nice since it has been very cold for quite long now. At temperatures below -25 C birding it is unpleasant if there is just a little breeze. But it is doable with ski-underwear, two knitted jumpers and a wind-proof jacked, and trousers with isolation. Some people have asked just how I dress up, when I go out in these temperatures, so here is a bit on that first.

Warm shoes are important – I use Crocks winter boots. Good woolen socks need to fit in to the shoes, so they should no be too small. My experience is that if shoes are too tight my feet easily get cold. So rather thin socks and good space in the booth than thick socks that squeeze your feet.

The tricky part is your head. I have a Mongolian hat made of fur. It is very warm, but all the fur blocks my view when I need to cover my ears completely. So I bought another one with flaps to cover the ears. And it is very nice and warm. But it is so tight around the ears, that it blocks my hearing annoyingly much. And after all hearing is almost as important as seeing when it comes to forest birding. So I bought a cheap cap with isolation. In itself it is not warm enough, but the shade is priceless. I combine the cap with a bandit mask that covers all the face except the eyes. This gives both warmth and the ability to hear fairly well.

When it comes to equipment I do have my camera and bins out pretty much all the time. Focusin with the bins becomes harder, but it works after all. The camera looses battery capacity much faster, but I’ve found out that having the camera on all the time helps a lot. I could also leave it in my bag, but then I’d be too lazy to get it out – and the bird would probably have flown anyway.

The camera doesn’t like the cold as image stabilization and EVF doesn’t work when the camera gets really cold. But manual focusing can still produces some nice pictures. I bought some camouflage fabric for my lens. This means that my fingers don’t touch the cold metal on the lens anymore. So no more frost-bites for me.

So… the question still remains. Besides almost empty Siberian taiga forests where can one go birding in January around Ulaanbaatar? Luckily Abu is in town. A few days ago we went out birding together west of UB.

The first place he showed me was a rather large plantation with Seabuckthorn. The plantation is sealed off, so we could only check it with telescope from the distance. Seven Red-throated Thrushes were sitting is some distant poplars. The area really looked promising, but we couldn’t find anyone to ask about permission to enter the area and thus headed off.

We checked the so-called “Botanical Garden”, which also has some Seabuckthorn, but apart from a fly-by female Hen Harrier we didn’t see much. Abu says it’s just about the worst year ever for winter-birding around UB.

We then continued further west to check the riparian forest. A few Ruddy Shelducks gave amazing views along the few open areas along the Tuul Gol.

In the forest we flushed an Eagle Owl. Always an amazing species to encounter. Sadly if flew off quickly and didn’t allow for close-up portraits. Due to its relative small size it could be a male – and maybe the female is already incubating nearby. The habitat looked good with steep cliffs near by.

Apart from the owl we didn’t see much except Azure Tits and Meadow Buntings. So we went to have some tea in the car. Suddenly I spotted a woodpecker on the other site of the Tuul River. As it turned its back to me I could identify it as a White-backed Woodpecker – the rarest and most elusive of the Mongolian woodpeckers.

As woodpeckers are one of my most beloved bird-groups I got rather excited and grabbed my camera and started walking towards the woodpecker. As I crossed the ice all of a sudden I found myself standing in water to my knees as the ice broke. Due to excitement I didn’t check the ice well enough – and it wasn’t strong enough to carry me.

Luckily nothing really happened except that I spooked the White-backed Woodpecker, that disappeared for good. My clothes were water-proof, so birding continued to the area below Songino Khairkhan. It is an area with scattered mature trees along the Tuul river.

We found about 15 Azure-winged Magpies, Hawfinch, Great Spotted and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers. And then I heard a woodpecker drumming with a slight crescendo in the end. After a few minutes I located the bird – and it was a stunning male White-backed Woodpecker.

Sadly if flew off, but I relocated it a bit later further away. I got some poor pictures as it was always behind branches – and then it flew off. Amazingly right after a female flew in and sat down less than 10 meters away. I was able to watch it for more than five minutes before it flew off. What an experience…

I’ve seen the subspecies lilfordi a few times in Turkey, but this is my first encounter with ssp. leucotos. I don’t know the most recent development. HBW suggests lilfordi as a possible species, and from physical appearance I couldn’t agree more. Furthermore I’ve only seen Lilfordi in alpine pine forests, whereas at least Norwgian White-backed prefer slopes with Beech and the Mongolian birds breed in riparian (and other deciduous) forest.

White-backed Woodpecker ssp. lilfordi from Turkey. Check out the back!

The plantation that we first visited really intrigued me. It is only 30 minutes drive from home, so a few days ago I visited again. This time there were people around and I got permission to enter the area.

And it was like the garden of Eden. So many good birds feeding on the berries. The highlights included 19 White-cheeked Starlings, two European Starlings, a few Hawfinches and 20+ Red-throated Thrushes.