Ryukyu Minivet - Pericrocotus tegimae, Gageo Island, May 9, 2013

  I spotted this minivet two days ago, and it struck me as different from the presently abundant Ashy Minivets.  It turns out it's a male Ryukyu Minivet.  This is a noteworthy record because it's the first confirmed sighting of a Ryukyu Minivet for South Korea.

Gageo update

I've been on lovely little Gageo for two weeks now, and it's been an education!  More of a boot camp, really.  Spring migration in the Yellow Sea is pretty spectacular!
  I've had about a dozen lifers, and great views of birds that are not normally easy to come by in Korea.  I managed to get a report in to Birds Korea, but was unable to get my laptop connected or blogger working on the ancient computer in the post office, so for now you can find it by going to www.birdskoreablog.org/?p=8640.
  I'm hoping to get a lot more stuff up when I hit the mainland on Sunday.
  It's been relatively quiet here for the past week, bird-wise, but tomorrow's rains ought to bring some interesting stuff in!

Zappey's Flycatcher - Cyanoptila cumatilis (armchair tick!)

Zappey's Flycatcher - Cyanoptila cumatilis (Seogwipo, Jeju, South Korea, April 2010)

Zappey's Flycatcher - Cyanoptila cumatilis (Seogwipo, Jeju, South Korea, April 2010)

Blue-and-white Flycatcher - Cyanoptila cyanomelana (Seogwipo, Jeju, South Korea, April 2009)

Blue-and-white Flycatcher - Cyanoptila cyanomelana (Mara-do, Jeju, South Korea, April 2011)

  Well it's always fun to get an armchair tick!  When I spotted this mostly blue flytcatcher in a glorious Seogwipo park a few years ago, it initially had me scratching my head.  It was showing a solid blue face and breast, and my mind was racing to something exotic like a Verditer Flycatcher (which is actually much more of a turquiose colour).  When it turned around I saw the white breast of a Blue-and-White Flycatcher.  It was probably fresh in, as it was uncharacteristically lethargic for a flycatcher.  I watched it for a while, and got a few record shots.
  It turns out it was a Blue-and-white Flycatcher of the cumatilis subspecies.  It took me a little while and some internet searching to figure this out, as the illustrations of the cumatilis in the Brazil guide show a bird that looks almost identical to the nominate B+W, with a blackish face and breast.
  The cumatilis has recently been split, and is now known as...drumroll please...Zappey's Flycatcher!  Great name, I think.  I'll be keeping an eye out for both of these gorgeous flycatchers on Gageo next week.  Gageo!  Next week!

Parc des Rapides/Cap-Saint-Jaques - April 14th

The Rapids

Parc des Rapides

I actually spotted a fox down by the reeds!

Precarious ice bridge at Cap-Saint-Jaques

Swamp birding

Dan, goose

Canada Goose

Song Sparrow

American Robin

American Robin

Tree Swallow

Wood Duck, Mallard

Red-winged Blackbird

Photog scrum

Pileated Woodpecker

  Nice and fresh today, good day for what was probably my last Montreal birding session for a while.  Spotted 30 species today - best was luxuriant view of a Pileated Woodpecker working on a stump at Cap-Saint-Jaques.  Highlights at Parc des Rapides included American Wigeon, Hooded Merganser, and Song Sparrow mania.  A phalanx of photographers were very interested in a Great Blue Heron and a Great Egret skulking in the reeds.  

Click on the link to witness the perils of spring birding...
Leaping the ice bridge

  One week til Gageo! :o

Back to the ROK

It's a bird...it's a MISSILE!  No wait, it's just a bird.

  In 12 days I will be on Gageo-do, a small island in the Yellow Sea.  I will be there for perhaps a month, staring at a dizzying array of migrating birds from before dawn to post-sundown every day, before heading to another island.  To say I'm excited is a definite understatement.

  Ratcheting up of tensions!  Bellicose rhetoric!  Yeah yeah.  Some skirmishes will happen, but is it wrong of me to limit my concern to the possibility of not being able to head north to Socheong in mid-May to follow the migrants?  Possibly.  When I see the strangely grainy footage of good old KJU admiring shining artillery pieces I'm staring at the habitat in the back and listening for familiar birdsong.  

Titmouse Oddysey - Mount Royal Park, April 5th

Brown Creeper

Tufted Titmouse

Downy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

American Goldfinch

Common Redpoll

Red-shouldered Hawk

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

American Robin

Turkey Vulture

Bohemian Waxwing

  Taking advantage of wonderful snowy and chilly weather, Dan and I headed to Mount Royal Park to investigate recent reports of Tufted Titmouse (via Zofia Laubitz on the BPQ Yahoo group).  We ended up seeing 20 species, with a few pleasant surprises among them.  The feeder stations were bustling with plenty of action, mostly Common Redpolls (still) and Black-capped Chickadees, with lesser numbers of American Goldfinch and White-breasted Nuthatch.
  Notable sightings included a shreeping flock of about 40 handsome Bohemian Waxwings, a ridiculous Golden-crowned Kinglet that resembled a ping-pong ball, a low-level dogfight between an American Crow and a Red-shouldered Hawk, a close encounter with a swooping Turkey Vulture near the cross,  and nearby some good views of a Brown Creeper and a striking Yellow-bellied Sapucker.
  Our goal however, the Tufted Titmouse, eluded us for many long hours, with only one heard between feeders 1 and 2.  As my hands started to freeze up, we stood up to leave, finally admitting defeat.  Of course, that's when the eerily quiet and calm Titmouse materialized next to feeder 1, posing for several minutes.  High five!  Thank you, birding gods.

Ozzie memories 4 - Odds n Ends 2: 'Water birds' and an Emu (Summer 2008)

Australian White Ibis

Chestnut Teal (female)

Crested Tern

Dusky Moorhen (female)

Dusky Moorhen (male)

Emu

Jabiru

Pacific Black Duck

Pied Heron

Purple Swamphen

Red-capped Plover

White-faced Heron

  It was quite satisfying and a bit unnerving coming face-to-face with an Emu.