Breakfast was from 7.00 so we took a pre-breakfast walk along the road to Dino park. The park was quite overgrown and neglected which meant there were a few wild flowers and lots of Tree-Sparrows plus Amur Wagtail. Martin heard a Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler but we couldn’t find it again later. As this was the day of the Nadaam Festival, we saw a man walking through in traditional costume. Along the road was a statue of Chinggis Khan grandson. After breakfast we were collected and driven to farm area on outskirts, our last two cars got lost following the wrong car. We parked and walked in over the fence taking a good look at our first Ger.
In the bushes we found Daurian Shrike, Hoopoe, Hawfinch and Barred Warbler plus a Long-eared Owl which gave good flight views.
We drove on to the Bulagtai steppes and spent some time searching for Oriental Plovers. We drove around in line abreast seeing lots of larks including Asian Short-toed and Horned Larks and Desert Wheatear. We also found a couple of Greater Sandplovers.
Lunch at tourist ger camp where we were met by girl in traditional costume with whey crumbs. Lunch was Soup and meatballs, our first experience of the inside of a Ger, and we were introduced to the local game of fortune telling using knuckle bones. In the courtyard we found a small Toad-headed Agama.
More driving around with lots of Toad-headed a and Mongolian Agama. We saw more larks and then a call from Alan had us driving across to look at a flock of Greater Sandplovers when we realised that the flock also included eight Oriental!!! More prolonged views also revealed 6 lesser/Mongolian plovers with one Greater. After lots of photos and discussion it was time to move back to Dalanzadgad and Tumen’s house, seeing Tolai Hare on the way, to pick up supplies etc.
We had a cup of tea with honey and then Brenda and I were called out to join a group of wrestlers who had competed at the local Naadam Games, with one of their team winning. They had come to their practise grounds to give thanks and celebrate. It was especially pleasing for them as they had won their own local games when it often went to someone from the other provinces. It was a real privilege to watch and listen to their songs and watch them in their trad costumes.
We then went for a walk round the wetland area with a couple of White-cheeked Starlings, Amur Wagtails, Richard’s Pipits, Little Ringed Plovers, Ruddy Shelduck and a Chinese Pond-heron, Pacific Swifts. A call back to the house and we jumped in the cars and set off for base camp. We headed for the Three Beauties Mountain range, called this after a legend about three beautiful young girls who were being forced into marriages they didn’t want, so they changed into the three mountains. We were going to the Eastern Beauty. A short way out of Dalanzadgad we turned right onto dirt tracks and we hardly saw a tarmac road for the next seven days. The scenery became more rugged as we drove further into the mountains finishing up in a small gorge with our Ger camp set up on a small, flattish site just up from the valley floor. There was a camp toilet tent with a long drop and a suitably designed seat. The camp had several birds flying about, with Snowfinches and Twite coming quite close.
We settled into our Gers and collected in the food ger for our lovely evening meal, prepared by Oyunna on a two burner gas camping stove with her trusty pressure cooker.
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