Small joys in the vastness: Amur Falcons and Gentians

Mongolia’s Hustai National Park is about 500 sq km in size, mainly hilly grasslands with rocky granite outcrops, on a smaller scale than the Altai, but open and empty nonetheless (though apparently in the summer it can get crowded.) At dawn the wolves howled at the rising sun.

We walked a little, sat on the closely-grazed turf,

and admired the remaining wildflowers, all low to the ground:

We drove out of the park to a nearby river, with Ruddy Shelducks on the bank, and an endless herd of sheep and goats passing in the far distance:

In a tiny stream a Meadow Bunting was washing itself :

Everywhere there were Band-winged Grasshoppers that flew up on brightly colored wings, impossible to photograph in flight, but here is one on the ground:

And a very impressive female Armored Ground Cricket, Deracantha onos:

And all around rock piles arranged by giants (our vehicle is to the right of the further rock pile, for scale):

with domestic horses grazing nearby:

As we left the park, an Amur Falcon watched us from a fencepost: