Sunday, March 29, 2009

"Historical post" - Jeju Island, March 2009

Hado-ri
Temminck's Cormorant Phalacrocorax capillatus
Bar-tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica
Bar-tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica
Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius
Stejneger’s Stonechat Saxicola stejnegeri
Northeast Coast, Hado-ri, Seongsan-po, Jeju island, March 29
  An overcast and chilly day for a scooter/birding trip along the northeast and east coast of Jeju. At a small beach a few kilometres past the wind farm at Haengwon-ri, six Little Ringed Plovers scuttled along the shoreline. On every exposed rocky shoal along the coast, groups of 10-15 Temminck’s Cormorants could be seen drying their wings, with several Pelagic Shags mixed in among them. Five Pacific Reef Heron, four Little Egrets, two Pacific Loons, and three Black-throated Loons were also seen along the north coast.
  At Hado-ri, a Bar-tailed Godwit stood on a rock near the shore.Three Black-faced Spoonbills huddled with several Grey Herons on a group of rocks, while an Osprey patrolled overhead. The duck numbers have decreased since January. Five Northern Shovelers, about 100 Spot-billed Ducks and Mallards, a dozen Common Shelducks, about 400 Gadwall, perhaps 300 Eurasian Wigeon, eight Pintails, about 20 Tufted Ducks and a similar number of Pochard were seen. Seven Moorhen and about 150 Coot were mixed in among the ducks. One Hawfinch was seen in a pine tree, and a single Grey-faced Bunting moved among the reeds by the water’s edge.
  Near Seongsan, a Stejneger's Stonechat perched in a field of rapeseed flowers, and groups of Barn Swallows flew low aerobatics. Ten Bar-tailed Godwits and 30 Common Sandpipers worked the tidal sand nearby.


(*Note: This is a “historical post.” Whereas I started birding in Korea in 2005, this blog has only been active since early 2012 - these posts are an attempt to consolidate my early birdventures from the various blogs and websites where they reside, largely from the “Archived Bird News“ section of Birds Korea’s excellent website: http://www.birdskorea.org/Birds/Birdnews/BK-BN-Birdnews-archive.shtml. Find more historical posts by clicking on the "Historical posts" tab at the bottom of this post.
  For this post, most of images are lamentably poor-resolution screensaves, as many of the original photo files were lost in the infamous computer crash of 2011.)