"Historical post" - Jeju Island, June 2009

female Black Paradise Flycatcher Terpsiphone atrocaudata

male Black Paradise Flycatcher Terpsiphone atrocaudata

male Black Paradise Flycatcher Terpsiphone atrocaudata

male Black Paradise Flycatcher Terpsiphone atrocaudata

Example of research area

Bird News from Matt Poll and Youngho Kim
Jeju island, June 28, 2009  
  I had the pleasure of accompanying Youngho Kim and one of his colleagues as they did field research on nesting Black Paradise Flycatchers. This work included putting up warning signs that spelled out the harsh penalties that await anyone caught robbing the nests. The only recent nest robbing appears to have perpetrated by Large-billed Crows. We got spectacular long looks at several pairs, as well as good views of four nests, which were mostly suspended over the sides of steep valleys. Several Fairy Pittas were heard, but remained frustratingly unseen.
  About a dozen Yellow-throated Buntings, a male Blue-and-white Flycatcher and a nearby juvenile were also seen. A White’s Thrush was heard, as were many Lesser and Common Cuckoos. Several White-backed Woodpeckers noisily worked at producing a steady hail of tree debris from above.

Mandarin Duck Aix galericulata

Eastern Spot-billed Duck Anas zonorhyncha

The hills of Halla

Roe Deer Capreolus capreolus

Phasmid Stick Bug Sp.

Yongsu Reservoir and Seogwipo, Jeju Island, June 8, 2009
  A mostly overcast and warm morning at Yongsu reservoir. Fairly quiet overall on the bird front, but three massive circling Cinereous Vultures were great to watch. A Peregrine also circled over the water, but much lower. Several Little Grebes in summer plumage dove on the reservoir, while Little and Intermediate Egrets paced the shoreline. Two vocal Common Cuckoos shared a stand of pines with an elusive Lesser Cuckoo.
  While showing some friends Cheonjiyon falls in Seogwipo, I spotted two uncharacteristically bold Mandarin Ducks waiting for tourist handouts alongside Spot-billed and domestic ducks. Perhaps a liking for the easy handouts explains why they’re still here in June? One of the Mandarins was looking scruffy as it started to moult into eclipse plumage. Several Spot-billed chicks kept up with the pack.

(*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.)