Mongolia *1 spot left*
Join Portland Audubon on a trip of a lifetime! Mongolia is a place of staggering beauty with extraordinary birds and mammals. Enjoy traditional Mongolian food in a communal setting and experience first-hand the unique Mongolian life by staying in ger camps. We will explore its varied habitats, which include the Siberian Taiga in the north, the Mongolian Steppe and the Gobi Desert, and Gobi Altai Mountains in the south. Wildlife high points include Demoiselle Crane, Lammergeier, Wallcreeper, and Przewalski’s Wild Horse. Przewalski’s Wild Horse is a conservation success story, having come back from the brink of extinction.
We will visit the famous Khongorian Els of the Gobi desert, known as the Singing Dunes. These incredible sand dunes “sing” from the sound of the wind moving shifting sands. We hope to spot the magnificent Goitered Gazelle as well as Long-legged Buzzard and Desert Wheatear during our time driving along the steppe. The view of camels grazing on the desert steppe against the backdrop of a picturesque dune sunrise is guaranteed to be one of the trip’s best moments. Other cultural highlights include visiting the National Museum of Mongolia and the Gandan Monastery in Ulaanbaatar. A Tumen Ekh performance, traditional Mongolian folk music, will be arranged in the evening of our last night.
Target birds include Demoiselle and White-naped Crane, Oriental Plover, Altai Snowcock, Spotted Capercaillie, Siberian Rubythroat, Saker and Amur Falcon, Golden Steppe, Pallas’s Fish Eagle, Henderson’s Ground Jay, and the fabled Lammergeier.
At Hustai National Park, we will search for Przewalski’s Wild Horse. Other mammals we hope to see are Argali Wild Sheep, Goitered Gazelle, Siberian Ibex, Gobi Jerboa, and the odd Long-eared Hedgehog.
Other highlights will be some of the smaller birds like Pine, Godlewski’s, and Meadow Bunting, Small and White-winged Snowfinch, Beautiful Rosefinch, Saxaul Sparrow, and Azure Tit, but also iconic species like the Wallcreeper, Pallas’s Sandgrouse, Himalayan, and Cinereous Vulture, and the rare Relict Gull.
