My 2024 tour schedule has officially wrapped up. A couple weeks ago I returned from leading my first “Cats of Mongolia” tour. Compared to my 2022 scouting trip, things were very different. A different environment greeted us in the eastern steppe, making spotting much more challenging, and in general wildlife numbers were down in every location we visited. I took and have published about 1/6th of the photos compared to that scouting trip.
You can jump to the very small gallery in the archive to see all the images. Here are a few highlights.
This was actually an excellent sighting, perhaps the best I’ve had. In part because we let the cat move on its own.
While many tourists pressure the cats to make them move, we waited this one out and it gave us some nice profile views.
We were fortunate to see this Little Owl during our first afternoon exploring the steppe.
This was my first time seeing and photographing the Common Kestrel.
In general, the foxes we saw were quite shy, but this one individual (which was quite beautiful) was a bit more tolerant.
We had this snow leopard lined up in the perfect spot, but it would not budge from behind the rock shelf. Many folks would’ve sent their guides or spotters in to scare the animal, but we waited and let it be.
This was our best open view of any of the leopards.
View the full Mongolia 2024 gallery (25 images).
Interested in joining me in a search for snow leopards and Pallas’s cats in Mongolia? A future visit is still up in the air. If it happens it would be in late 2026 or early 2027 (at the earliest). Get in touch if you’d like to learn more and get on a waiting list.
