Thursday, November 28, 2013

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.