"Historical post" - Jeju Island, February 2010

Western Osprey Pandion haliaetus

Northern Goshawk Accipiter gentilis & Large-billed Crow Corvus macrorhynchos

Cinereous Vulture Aegypius monachus

 Seogwipo area, Jeju island, February 21, 2010
  It feels like summer in Seogwipo, with sunny skies and weather much milder than last year. Two regular Ospreys in the harbour circled and swooped, but never dove into the water. A Japanese Bush Warbler was heard singing its 'summer song' loudly, rather than the regular 'check-check-check' call I'm used to hearing in the winter. In the hills northwest of Seogwipo, a Northern Goshawk dueled with two Large-billed Crows, and held its own for a few minutes. It left in a hurry when reinforcements arrived in the form of another six crows, one of which was missing most of its tail feathers. Two massive Cinereous Vultures were spotted just outside Seogwipo.

Brown-eared Bulbul Hypsipetes amaurotis

Brown-eared Bulbul Hypsipetes amaurotis

Jungmun, Jeju island, February 15, 2010
  While walking around Jungmun with some friends, I was surprised to see a half dozen Barn Swallows doing slow and low laps around the harbour near a yacht pier. These are the earliest Barn Swallows I've seen in Korea. Brown-eared Bulbuls and Japanese White-eyes were busy gorging themselves on berries and flowers in the trees, oblivious to nearby foot traffic.

Eurasian Wren Troglodytes troglodytes dauricus

Bibimbap - my post-birding go-to

Seogwipo, Jeju island, February 4, 2010

  A sunny and crisp day in Seogwipo. Two Striated Herons remain on their respective streams, and about 10 Pale Thrush were seen or heard, as well as two Meadow Buntings. A tiny Eurasian Wren scuttled across rocks in a riverside park (a personal first for Jeju). It's call was similar to a Japanese Bush Warbler, but 'wetter'.

 (*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.)