Mongolia: May-June 2025

It took a year and a half, but I finally got to collecting my media from Mongolia and put together a video trip report of sorts!

Birding trips to Mongolia are logistically difficult for foreigners to organize. Outside of Ulaanbaatar, this nation of nomads lacks much in the way of infrastructure. Basically there are a few major travel arteries that link cities to one another, and the popularity of the Gobi desert as a travel destination has led to the development of an industry there. But for anyone who wants to access some of the most remote and interesting parts of Mongolia in search of wildlife, planning such a trip on your own is a bit daunting. Yes, it could and has been done, but it would take quite a bit of effort and is not for the inexperienced traveler.

First there is the issue of lodging or lack thereof. You'll have to camp at many of the birding sites. So you'd need to travel with camping gear or rent it when you arrive in Ulaanbaatar.

Second is finding roads/tracks to your destination. Dirt track maps do exist, but I am unsure how reliable/updated they are.

Third potential obstacle is gathering detailed intel so you know where to look for your target species. EBird usage is improving there, so that is probably your best bet for mining details. But outside of the increasingly popular central Mongolian loop that we did, EBird information is scant.

Fourth is wilderness safety. To reach certain sites, you'll be off-roading over difficult terrain, quite far from any settlements or medical care. Taking two vehicles feels like a must, if for nothing more than redundancy if there is trouble with one of them. Satellite communication also seems necessary.

Then you have all the minor logistical stuff to worry about, such as mapping refueling stations along your route.

While such an adventure does sound like fun, at the time I was putting together this trip I had neither the time nor the testicular fortitude to make it happen in time for spring 2025. On the flip side, I had no desire to hire a bird guide either. It was really the logistical stuff where we'd need the help.

So I read through some trip reports on Cloudbirders and came across a few local tour operators whom I could contact with a proposal: a group of 4+ birders wanted to hire vehicles and a driver, but no bird guide. I received a couple "we can't really do that" replies, but a guy named Bolormunkh Erdenekhuu of Snow Leopard Tours was very happy to accommodate the request. He would arrange for us 1-2 drivers and a cook with all camping gear. In addition, he would coach us on where to look for key species en route. Sold!

The result was a safe adventure, if that makes sense, to a fascinating central Asian country. The open spaces are vast and humbling, the scenery is gorgeous, and the amount of over-grazing is... depressing. The variety of birding styles kept things fresh for the entirely of the trip. We enjoyed taiga forest, vast steppe, the Gobi desert, migrant traps, alpine meadows, large lakes, and freshwater marshes. Weather varied from hot and sunny to cold and windy with snow flurries. Mongolia serves as a meeting place for several closely-related taxa, such as stonechats and house-martins and short-toed larks, which will scratch your advanced identification itch. On the flip side there are plenty of obvious and showy species like Black-billed Capercaillie, Oriental Plover, and Mongolian Ground-Jay.

The plan worked beautifully. We hit that overlap period between migration and the breeding season, which made for an impressive trip list of 261 species. The rare and local breeders were a treat. For instance, seeing a species like Oriental Plover displaying in alternate plumage was a top moment. But my favorite aspect of the trip from a birding perspective was the migration. Whether an oasis of trees in the desert or a muddy lake edge, you never knew what would pop up next. It also forced us to take our Old World warbler ID skills to another level as we could not rely on breeding range or habitat for clues. Fantastic stuff.

Mongolia is full of super cool mammals, many of which are nocturnal. Severin took the mammaling seriously and got all of us many lifers we would have otherwise not seen or been able to ID. Thanks, Sev!

I would highly recommend enlisting Bolormunkh's services if you are in need of help planning a Mongolian birding adventure. Let him know we referred you.

Here is the aforementioned video. It was really created for the crew and not for a broader audience, but I think it is worth sharing for anyone who wants a feel for what late spring Mongolian birding looks like. Enjoy!

And here is the link to the eBird trip report:

Mongolia 2025

- Nick