September in Mongolia

September is the best time for birdwatching due to fall migration. Mongolia is part of the migration routes from the Pacific and Indian Oceans to the Mediterranean Sea, the Arctic Ocean and northern tundra. The country is home to over 440 species of birds which include rare species such as Swan Goose, Pallas’s Sandgrouse, White-naped Crane, and Saxaul Sparrow. In September, birds are on the move every day, particularly as the days become increasingly short. Migration can be spectacular to watch, and birders can take plenty of pictures at locations where migrants stop, such as lakes with isolated stands of willows and small ponds in the desert. In some lakes, hundreds of swans gather for a long journey to warmer lands. According to the lunisolar calendar, September is considered an auspicious period for festivity. Thus, the Wedding Palace gets busy around this time each year. In Ulaanbaatar, you might find many newlyweds in the monasteries, as it is customary to pray to Buddha on their wedding day. For herders, September is yet another busy month. The school year begins on the 1st of September, so herders’ children stay in a dormitory away from their parents, barely returning on the weekends. Thus, parents would have no helping hand in their daily choruses.

In September in Mongolia, nomadic families brand young horses to demonstrate ownership. Brands traditionally indicated ancestral positions of owners in patrilineal kin-groups, including offices held, aristocratic or serf standing, and religious or lay status. From ancient times, horse-breeders have been branding the foals right before cutting the tethering line and letting them join their mothers as milking season ends in September. To perform a branding ritual, a fire is set near the tethering-line. There an iron brand is made red hot. Each foal or colt is then branded one by one, after which the brand is dipped into a bucket of fermented mare’s milk. The bucket is brought into the ger to be served at the “Feast for Branding Foals”, where guests are invited to celebrate the joyful occasion.

In September in Mongolia, the average high-temperature is 16.7°C (62.1°F), and the average low-temperature is 3.6°C (38.5°F).