Because of the late night yesterday we agreed to meet up with the crew at 10.30 for our drive to Terelj. I didn’t get up until around 7.00 and then I went out to look for Daurian Jackdaws. I met up with David and Martin who had been watching a flock in the trees at the edge of the hotel but they flew just before I got there. We looked around the other side of the hotel but couldn’t find anything other than a Black Kite in a tree. There were a pair of Long-tailed Squirrels which were very entertaining, attracting the attention of a trio of dog who chased them back down their burrows. As we made our way back towards the hotel we noticed a couple of lads up in the branches of the bushes so we went over to see what they were doing. They were picking some berries and the two girls on the ground had buckets with berries in them which they let us try.
Back to hotel David found a lovely lily in the grassy area at the back, with clumps of a different species of geranium and pinks. A High Brown Fritillary was also seen.
Following breakfast we set off for Terelj. Because of the late night and lack of water we gave Gun Galut a miss in order to be able to visit the Chinggis Khan monument and be back around 6. We drove out the way we came in so were able to photograph the wooden bridge over the Tulle.
The drive highlighted the difference between the arid, desert area south and the greener, wetter northern areas with trees on the hillsides. We arrived at Terelj hotel and took an early lunch before walking down to the lower riverside area. It had this interesting sign in the toilets.
The first surprise was a Siberian Chipmunk foraging just beside the path.
As we crossed the bridge there were birds everywhere, including Taiga Flycatcher, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, White-backed Woodpecker, Siberian Nuthatch and a very orange red squirrel was on the grass. Poplar Admiral, a glider species and Silver-washed Fritillary flew by and it was nice to see a yak cart driving round the area.
Further on were Daurian Jackdaws and another squirrel, this time a dark one. We were heading to an area for Siberian Rubythroat but the rain over the last few days meant that the path was difficult so we turned back to the vans, finding a juv Red-throated Thrush on the way which proved quite difficult to see well.
We then drove back down the valley to another spot for Rubythroat and Pine Bunting. Parking in a space opposite a nice looking boggy area, we heard a bunting but couldn’t see it. There were some fritillary butterflies flitting around the puddles and then a Dusky Warbler was found just up the valley in some scrub. We had reasonable views among the branches and could hear it but difficult to see enough to photo. Further up the valley, Tumen found a Brown Shrike and there were a couple of nice flowers in the field edges.
We then drove on down and turned left at a junction for a while before the amazing sight of the Chinggis Khan statue appeared around the shoulder of a hill. It was certainly an impressive sight and got better as we approached closer. There is a statue to his mother on the opposite hill. The entrance was through an archway with the nine Royal Guards on top before parking and getting out to admire this amazing, and large statue. We didn’t have time to go up the statue but we took some photos, looked at the accompanying horsemen statues and spent a little bit of time in the memento ger. We celebrated with an ice cream before setting off back to the Mongolica.
The traffic around Ulan Bataar was very congested so the decision was made to stop at a restaurant and eat before heading back, letting the traffic die down. The meal was excellent and we took the opportunity to say thank you to our really top class team. They then thanked us for a great trip and gave each one a pair of slipper and a key ring as mementoes of our visit. The trip back was much easier except for negotiating back along the edge of the river Tulle where Tumen saw a Corsac Fox but it disappeared before anyone else got to see it. A very sad farewell to our drivers and team before we went in, packed up ready for our early call in the morning for the airport and home.
As we crossed the bridge there were birds everywhere, including Taiga Flycatcher, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, White-backed Woodpecker, Siberian Nuthatch and a very orange red squirrel was on the grass. Poplar Admiral, a glider species and Silver-washed Fritillary flew by and it was nice to see a yak cart driving round the area.
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