The next ten or so posts will cover all the places I visited on this past trip, some familiar and well-loved and some new.
The two-week trip with Pokey emphasized the best wildlife viewing places that I’ve found. We headed west out of Ulaanbaatar on a sunny August morning….
and spent two productive days at Hustai, seeing lots of takhi and other wildlife. The wildflowers were still in bloom, too, which was lovely.
These horses were part of a group approaching a water hole right by the road; you'll have to wait for the painting to see the rest...At first this harem was a long way offBut as we watched from behind a line of rocks, they drifted closer and closerFinally, they grazed their way right past us in the fading light; it was quite wonderful to have them come so closeMarmots generally run straight for their holes when spooked, but for some reason we will never fathom, this one ran for a long way right down the middle of the roadThese darian partridges were a new species for meBlack kite in a birch tree; "Hustai" means "birch" in MongolianCinereous vulture, the largest Eurasian vulture which can weigh up to 30 lbs.This grasshopper suddenly appeared on our windshieldSaw more spiders on the trip this year than ever before, including this one on a member of the phlomis familyDeep purple globe thistlesEdelweis
Susan Fox, American Artist 