Mandarin Duck misery

  It's upsetting to see such beautiful wild birds with their wings clipped, in a small pond in a hotel lobby. See the full report here (expertly co-written by Dr. Nial Moores):
 http://www.birdskorea.org/Birds/Miscellaneous/BK-BM-Mandarin-Ducks-in-hotel-lobby.shtml

Jeju Island, October 10 - November 21, 2013

Eastern Buzzard Buteo japonicus

female Blue Rock Thrush Monticola solitarius

Brown-eared Bulbul Hypsipetes amaurotis thrashing a caterpillar

Late Blue-and-white Flycatcher Cyanoptila cyanomelana (October 11)

Large-billed Crow Corvus macrorhynchos and Eastern Buzzard Buteo japonicus

Mandarin Duck Aix galericulata with  
Eastern Spot-billed Duck Anas zonorhyncha

Green Sandpiper Tringa ochropus

Eastern Great Tit Parus minor

Grey Heron Ardea cinerea

Japanese Bush Warbler Horornis diphone

Japanese Bush Warbler Horornis diphone

Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis

female Daurian Redstart Phoenicurus auroreus

Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus

Varied Tit Sittiparus varius

Varied Tit Sittiparus varius

Eurasian Wigeon Anas penelope - why is the one in the back so richly chocolate brown?

White Wagtail Motacilla alba

Yellow-throated Bunting Emberiza elegans

  Time flies. I've been doing a lot of birding in my local patch mostly, and the Seogwipo area isn't as birdy as it was even a few years ago. Some of the best little spots are getting degraded/noisy, as the whole island becomes increasingly developed for lucrative tourism. Yay.

  A trip to Mara-do on October 20th was very quiet - my attempts to visit the island when it was going off a few weeks earlier were repeatedly thwarted by unreliable ferry service. A trip to the 'Recreational Forest' the same day led to some great close looks at some Varied Tits and Yellow-throated Buntings, and a brief glimpse of a Eurasian Wren.

  I went up north a few weeks ago to hang out with the Birds Korea boys, I'll write about that soon, perhaps.

  There was an Imperial Eagle spotted on Jeju the other day, I'll try to check it out on Sunday. It's getting cold on Jeju.