Jeju: Mara-do April 11, Seogwipo April 12-23, 2014

Blue-and-white Flycatcher Cyanoptila cyanomelana

Narcissus Flycatcher Ficedula narcissina

Grey Thrush (Japanese Thrush) Turdus cardis

'Mandarin Muscovy'

Jeju: Mara-do April 11, Seogwipo, April 12-23

Mara-do

1.    Black-tailed Gull Larus crassirostris

2.    Ancient Murrelet Synthliboramphus antiquus; two from the ferry

3.    Pacific Swift Apus Pacificus

4.    Eurasian Magpie Pica pica

5.    Great Tit Parus major

6.    Far Eastern Skylark Alauda japonica; several remain

7.    Barn Swallow Hirundo Rustica

8.    Japanese Bush Warbler Horornis diphone

9.    Japanese White-eye Zosterops japonicus

10.   White’s Thrush Zoothera aurea; one remains in the woods

11.   Grey Thush Turdus cardis; two males in the woods, one female on the rocks

12.   Pale Thrush Turdus pallidus

13.   Brown-headed Thrush Turdus chrysolaus; three in the woods

14.   Red-flanked Bluetail Tarsiger cyanurus; still a dozen females

15.   Stejneger’s Stonechat Saxicola stejnegeri

16.   Blue Rock Thrush Monticola solitarius

17.   Eurasian Tree Sparrow Passer montanus

18.   White Wagtail Motacilla alba

19.   Olive-backed Pipit Anthus hodgsoni; two on the rocks

20.   Grey-capped Greenfinch Chloris sinica

21.   Yellow-throated Bunting Emberiza elegans

Seogwipo, April 12-13

  Seogwipo’s parks are buzzing with flycatchers! Cracking male Narcissus Flycatchers were spotted in two riverside parks, with six seen in total. Blue-and-white (5), Asian Brown (3), and Dark-sided (1) Flycatchers were also seen gorging themselves on insects. Also notable in these parks was a freshly-marked Eastern Crowned Warbler, and a Striated Heron on a familiar patch of stream (where I’ve seen Striated Herons overwintering in the past, but not this past winter). A presumably escaped Muscovy Duck was also seen here, with a head and bill structure strongly recalling a Mandarin Duck.

  In my neighbourhood, small groups of Ashy Minivets have been heard twice more in the past week, with a single bird spotted circling aimlessly around the area for several days.