Week two in Gangneung, October 16-20, 2018

Fields near Gyeongpo Lake

My backyard

Also my backyard

A former scrubby wetland, destroyed

suspected Amur Leopard Cat spoor

Northern Shrike Lanius excubitor

Northern Shrike Lanius excubitor

Northern Shrike in situ

Initial shrike spot

Rustic Bunting Emberiza rustica

Long-tailed Tit Aegithalos caudatus

Vinous-throated Parrotbill Sinosuthora webbiana

Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata

Dunlin Calidris alpina

Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola (top) with Pacific Golden Plover Pluvialis fulva

juvenile Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus

Carrion Crow Corvus corone with Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus

Upland Buzzard Buteo hemilasius

Chinese Grosbeak feeding

October 16
  When my Korean birding buddy Younghwan said we would be checking out the Namdaecheon (river) on Tuesday morning, I had visions of a leisurely survey of the gulls and ducks on the river here in town. I didn’t realize he meant the Namdaechon in Yangyang, which is an hour up the coast (seems most Korean towns have a Namdaechon)! We birded hard for over six hours. On the way north, we hit every one of his secret spots, and while it was a relatively quiet bird morning, my mouth was watering at the list of species he mentioned seeing at each spot. It’s going to be a solid winter! We’re even plotting a pelagic already.
  On a down note, when we got to a scrubby/marshy Eurasian Woodcock spot he had not checked out in a while, we were confronted with a sterile, tread-tracked dirt wasteland, where no doubt apartments, bike paths, and/or factories will soon stand. He stared at it for a silent, heavy minute, then shook his head and muttered “All destroyed, all destroyed.” An upsetting, if grimly familiar scene in Korea.
  Highlights included my Gangneung first Pacific Golden and Grey Plovers (side by side for handy comparison!), Meadow Bunting (looked like the wiegoldi subspecies, I think…), Azure-winged Magpies (lovely), and single examples of Rook and Carrion Crow. The mystical purple sheen on that latter species is real, I can vouch for it.

October 19
  A lazy exploratory ramble in the hills behind my farmhouse produced the tits and woodpeckers I had hoped I might see there, and plenty of habitat that looks promising for winter birds – I’m especially thinking of ‘special’ finches in the huge pines.

October 20
  Saturday’s ‘big walk’ (River--coast--Gyeongpo Lake--farm fields) did not disappoint! Under fresh cerulean blue skies, there were some welcome wintery arrivals, in spite of summery afternoon temperatures in the low 20s.
  On small bamboo/brushy islands in the river, Chinese Grosbeaks and roving flocks of Brambling (and even a Eurasian Bullfinch tucked in!) lent a finchy feel to the start of the walk. Personal Gangneung firsts included a Pallas’s Reed Bunting at the river mouth, some shy Rustic Buntings at Gyeongpo, and Northern Shovelers in the fields.

  On my river walks, I keep finding what I suspect is Amur Leopard Cat spoor – I dearly want to get better looks at this gorgeous and enigmatic species.
  At Gyeongpo Lake, the lake itself was mostly populated with a large raft of 75+ Common Coots, and still not much in the way of diving duck diversity or numbers.
  As I was headed out of the touristy bit of the lake park, I heard a Bull-headed Shrike giving an animated alarm call. When I looked toward the source of the disturbance, I saw the silhouette of a shrike that was larger and more menacing than a Bull-headed. At extreme distance and with bad lighting, I could make out the grey upperparts of what I first suspected was a Chinese Grey Shrike, but as I got closer, the wings looked 'off.' When I got as close as I could get without jumping fences, I confirmed that the wings lacked the extensive white of a Chinese Grey, and the light rump and vermiculations popped through the binoculars. It changed perches, showing no white trailing edge to the wings. Could it be…a Northern Shrike (formerly known as Great Grey Shrike)?
  When an elderly couple, out-of-bounds and foraging for herbs, flushed the bird, my heart sank...but then it flew straight for me! It perched nearby for 30 seconds, allowing me to get some better record shots, then flew east, and could not be re-found. But yes, it…could be a Northern Shrike! That’s a solid record, as the species has only been recorded perhaps less than 15 times in South Korea. High-five!
  In the fields west of the lake, frustrating flocks of restless pipits and skylarks proved challenging to identify, as they flushed from far out – the perils of birding in rice fields without a car. I was able to discern that many of the pipits (out of more than 35) were Buff-bellied, with at least two Red-throated mixed in.
  In the minus column, when it comes to calls and certain IDs, it seems I’ve forgotten twice as much as I ever knew. Specific shortfalls include picking out the various pipit and bunting calls, as well as identifying buzzards silhouettes, but at least I knew enough to question why what turned out to be an Upland Buzzard showed such oversized features. Thankfully I have good friends wiser than I who can drop the knowledge on me. Thanks to Nial and Tim for helping me confirm several IDs.