Geoje Island birds, lately

Little Egret Egretta garzetta

Black-tailed Gull Larus crassirostris

Oriental Turtle Dove Streptopelia orientalis

male Red-flanked Bluetail Tarsiger cyanurus

female Red-flanked Bluetail Tarsiger cyanurus

female Daurian Redstart Phoenicurus auroreus

Varied Tit Sittiparus varius

  Still pretty quiet on Geoje. I have been talking to some other birders, and we all agree it's been a slow and strange winter on the bird front. Almost no thrushes, and no finches so far. There are big plans afoot to head up the east coast this weekend to twitch a Canvasback on Saturday, and take a boat trip on Sunday to check for juicy pelagics. Wicked.
  Up in the hills, I've had a male Red-flanked Bluetail leading me up the trail lately, which is notable in that I usually only see the drab females. Yesterday I saw about 30 Grey Herons circling over a wet reedy area. Since mid-January, I've been seeing nice flocks of 20-50 Olive-backed Pipits in a wide range of habitats, like farm fields, wooded mountains, and coastal brush.